Industrialised Gujarat fails to score in social sectors

The figures are drawn from the state government’s own report titled ‘Gujarat Among the States of India 2010’,compiled by the state Directorate of Economics and Statistics,Gandhinagar.

Gujarat is the second most industrialised state in India after Maharashtra and figures in the top ten in terms of economic indicators such as GDP and Net State Domestic Product (NSDP). But its performance is far less impressive in terms of social indicators like education and health,even doing worse than the national averages in some.

The crime rate in Gujarat,however,remains low when compared to other large states.

HEALTH INDICATORS (Malnutrition and Infant Mortality Rate)

The malnutrition level for children below 5 years (45%) is higher than the national average (43%). Also,there are more malnourished children under five in Gujarat than in many large states like Tamil Nadu (30%),Maharashtra (37%),Rajasthan (40%),Orissa (41%) and Uttar Pradesh (42%).

The above are the latest figures available,the same statistics the Gujarat government is using,and which are based on the National Family Health Survey-3 of 2005-06.

According to the 2008 statistics from the Ministry of Home Affairs,Gujarat’s infant mortality rate (50 infant deaths per 1000 live births) is better than the national rate (53 per 1000).

Gujarat stands 16th in the list. In other words,states like Kerala (2nd),Tamil Nadu (5th),Punjab (11th),Karnataka (13th),and even Jharkhand (14th),do better to prevent infant mortality. But states like Uttar Pradesh (24th) and Orissa (25th) do much worse.

EDUCATION (Dropout rates)

As far as education is concerned,a smaller number of children enroll in schools when compared with the national average. At the same time,more number of students drop out when compared to the national average.

According to the 2007-08 figures of the Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD),the drop out rate in Gujarat in classes I to X is 57.5 per cent for boys (against the national average of 56.4) and 61.2 for girls (against the national average of 57.3).

The state government has said the drop out rates have come down in the last three years,but the final figures are yet unavailable.

CRIME (Cognizable crimes and Crimes against women and children)

As many as 1,23,808 cases of cognisable crimes were registered in Gujarat in 2008. This includes 1,106 cases of murder and 1,809 cases of clash. Another 20,715 cases of theft,5,053 of burglary and 1,322 of robbery were also recorded.

Nationally,Madhya Pradesh (MP) topped the list with the highest numbers of cognisable offences followed by Maharashtra (2,06,243) and Karnataka (1,27,540). Bihar followed Gujarat with 1,22,669 cases. The lowest was recorded in Sikkim (730 cognizable offences).

The overall incidences of crime in Gujarat may be lower compared to other states but in crimes against women and juveniles it is considerably high. The total number of crimes against women in Gujarat was recorded at 8,616. Andhra Pradesh topped the list with 24,111 cases,followed by Uttar Pradesh (23,569) and West Bengal (20,912) cases.

In Gujarat,374 cases cases of rape and 828 of molestation were recorded.

The cases of domestic violence cases,especially cruelty from husband and relatives was high (6,094). The highest number of rape cases was recorded in M P (2,937) followed by West Bengal (2,263) and Maharashtra (1,558). West Bengal recorded the highest number of domestic violence cases (13,663) followed by Andhra Pradesh (10,306).

The cases of juvenile crime in Gujarat was recorded at 1,074. The highest number of juvenile crime cases was found in M P (4,259) followed by U P (4,078) and Maharashtra (2,709).

As many as 59 cases of juvenile murder and 99 of juvenile rapes were registered in Gujarat. The highest cases of juvenile murders were recorded in U P (316) followed by Maharashtra (175) and Bihar (115). Juvenile rape cases were recorded highest in U P (900) followed by M P (892),Maharashtra (690) and Rajasthan (420).

ECONOMY

According to the Annual Survey of Industries (Factory Sector) of 2007-08,Gujarat stood second in the country after Maharashtra.

According to the state’s comparative report,the state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stood at Rs 3,03,734 crore and was the 6th highest in the country in 2007-08 (Provisional) at current prices.

The state’s Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) stood at Rs 2,55,780 crore,the 6th highest in the country in relation to its GDP.

The state was preceded in both GDP and NSDP rankings by Maharashtra (1st),Uttar Pradesh (2nd),Andhra Pradesh (3rd),West Bengal (4th) and Tamil Nadu (5th).

Gujarat ranked 7th in terms of per capita NSDP (current prices) at Rs 45,453 and 8th in terms of NSDP (constant prices,1999-2000) at Rs 31,594.

Goa stood first in per capita NSDP in current and constant prices (2007-08) followed by Delhi,Puducherry and Haryana.

On per capita NSDP current prices,Maharashtra stood 5th followed by Punjab at 6th place and Gujarat at 7th place. On per capita NSDP constant prices (1999-00),Kerala stood fifth,followed by Maharashtra (6th),Punjab (7th) and Gujarat (8th).