Poll-bound Karnataka has always been a better performer than most Indian States when it comes to the social sector, data show. An analysis of the National Family Health Surveys 3, 4 and 5 shows that the State’s performance in access to basic needs like water, electricity, housing, health and education has historically been good and has improved in the last few years.

Earlier on, in 2005-06 itself, a majority of Karnataka houses had electricity (89.3 per cent houses). By 2021, it grew to 98.8 per cent. On top of that, unemployment data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy indicates that the State has been doing very well in terms of combating unemployment. The unemployment rate in Karnataka was lower than the national average in 83 out of 87 months, between January 2016 and March 2023. In March 2023, the unemployment rate in the State was just 2.3 per cent, while the all-India figures were 7.8 per cent. The lowest was in August 2020, when the unemployment rate was just 0.5 per cent, against the national average of 8.3 per cent. 

The State’s per capita Net State Domestic Product is also far better than its counterparts. According to the RBI data, Karnataka’s NSDP per capita was ₹2.78 lakh, the third highest in the country, after Sikkim and Delhi, indicating that the people in the State have been well-off financially, compared to their peers in other States. Karnataka’s NSDP per capita has been the highest among south Indian States since FY17. 

Swacch test 

The NFHS-3 was conducted between 2005 and 2006. At that time, just 45.6 per cent of Karnataka’s houses had toilets. Even though this was better than the national average, the majority of the population in the State lived in houses without loos. The proportion of houses with toilets grew to 65.8 per cent between 2015-16 and between 2019 and 2021, it was a massive 82.3 per cent increase. This growth was after the launch of the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission.

Between these years, the State also improved its under-five mortality rate from 54.7 out of 1000 live births in 2005-06 to 30 in 2019-21. Also, the proportion of births that happened in health facilities improved from 64.7 per cent in 2005-06 to 94 per cent in 2015-16 and to 97 per cent in 2019-21.

Literacy rate

Most people in Karnataka are literate. Like the rest of the country, the proportion of literate men is slightly higher than women. While 73.4 per cent of Karnataka’s women can read and write, 85.2 per cent of men can do so in 2019-21.

While the proportion of literate men was lower than the all-India average in 2005-06 and 2015-16, it has improved in 2019-21. 

Good job? 

The low unemployment rate in Karnataka was also recently acknowledged by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), in a recent report.

However, a report by CMIE also says that the labour participation rate (LPR) in the State is also quite low. “In September-December 2022, while the LPR among youth in India was 18.1 per cent, for youth in Karnataka, it was lower at 13 per cent,” it notes. 

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