In order to map the progress of States in terms of their social parameters, the Economic Survey for the first time highlights inclusive development by including nuggets from the 2001 Human Development Report of the Planning Commission.
Inter-regional disparities
A grim picture emerges around inter-State and inter-regional disparities. For instance, the highest incidence of poverty is in Orissa, followed by Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh.
Income inequality in rural areas is highest in Haryana, followed by Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. In urban areas income inequality is highest in Madhya Pradesh, followed by West Bengal, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
Infant mortality rates were highest in Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Bihar. On the upside, Kerala was the best performing State and came far above Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. Birth rates too were the lowest in Kerala, while in Uttar Pradesh they were the highest, followed by Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Regarding health parameters, the maximum number of primary health centres under the National Rural Health Mission was operating in Tamil Nadu, followed by Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Basic amenities
Where basic amenities are concerned, the number of households with electricity was much lower in Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa. The States where a larger percentage of households had electricity were Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana.
The number of households with access to toilet facilities was at the lowest in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh.
“There is much that still needs to be done in terms of improving the social sector and human development outcomes at the State-level, which highlight inter-State variation in important socio-economic indicators,” the survey said, hinting that responsibility for better delivery in social and infrastructure services, barring sectors such as telecom, civil aviation, railways and ports, lay with the States.