The Hindu Business Line : World Bank report says inequality high in AP

No rosy picture
Lagging regions of Andhra Pradesh are under threat of instability.
State needs to work hard on delivery of services like education, health and water.
Seven states failed to produce sustained accelerated growth in the 1990s.

Hyderabad , Aug. 29

Though a star performer in growth levels, Andhra Pradesh has remained a middle-of-the-pack State with regard to measures of human development outcomes and service delivery, the World Bank has said in its biennial Development Policy Review.

"Lagging regions of Andhra Pradesh are under threat of instability," Mr Lant Pritchett, Lead author of the report, said.

Addressing a press conference after releasing the report here, he said booming urban areas and lagging agriculture had been a major problem. Increasing inequality too has become a major issue.

Increasing inequality

The report was launched in Delhi last month. It was released here at a workshop in Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) as part of dissemination.

"When poverty numbers are properly adjusted rural Andhra Pradesh looks like Nepal, while urban poverty rates are half as high," he said.

Stating that the State made rapid strides, it needed to work hard on delivery of services like education, health and water.

Quality of education

He cited the example of the poor quality of education. Quoting a survey done in five districts, he said just 18 per cent of the students could do single digit addition. Only 12 per cent could do single digit subtractions.

"Only 54 per cent of students could correctly report the number of kites in a poster," Mr Pritchett said.

Replying to question on bank's alleged role in dictating or directing Government policies, Mr Pritchett and Mr Dipak Dasgupta, Lead Economist for World Bank in India, said the bank never did that.

Talking on how to bring up lagging states, the report said the gaps across states were widening in India, not because growth in the lagging states had decelerated. It was because growth in the middle-income states had accelerated.

The seven poor states that have failed to produce sustained accelerated growth in the 1990s were Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.

Mr Pritchett, however, said there was no panacea for all the problems.

Stressing on improving service delivery and inclusive growth, the report said there is a need for systemic reform.

The reforms must improve the relationships of accountability between citizens, the State and the organisations that provided services.

While reforms might share common principles, one size didn't fit all. "Reforms must be adapted to the specific circumstances of the sector and State."

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