Rajasthan:  Human Development Index

Rajasthan:  Human Development Index

The prime objective of any planning and policy is to enrich human development. It represents the process of expanding people’s choices to live long, healthy, and creative lives. It is argued that the long-term patterns of economic growth do not necessarily correlate with progress in human development, therefore, development needs to be seen broadly as enlarging people’s choices and reinforcing human capabilities and fostering access to meaningful opportunities for exercising choice. In other words, it is clear from the overwhelming acceptability that development should be viewed broadly rather than through a single indicator like per-capita income as it was measured earlier. The human development definition of poverty is much broader than the conventional definition of measuring poverty by using only a single indicator.

The idea of measuring achievements and deprivation through human development and human poverty indices was conceived and developed by Prof Mahbub-ul Haq and subsequently followed by United Nation Development Programmes and many independent researchers. Later on, new dimensions and methodologies have been developed and incorporated into the HDI framework to bring improvement in the process.

The Human Development Index (HDI) relies on a composite index of different dimensions of human life, with a focus on quantifiable elements such as longevity, knowledge, and a decent living standard. Human Development Index (HDI) and Human Poverty Index (HPI) are widely acceptable measures to keep track of the progress of ‘human well being’. When level of achievement is captured through HDI, the HPI captures the levels of deprivation. The Human Development Index (HDI) provides a composite major of mainly three dimensions: Living a long, healthy life (measured by life expectancy at birth) Access to knowledge (measured by adult literacy and combined enrolment ratio) Having a decent standard of living (measured

by purchasing power parity and income).

In Global Human Development Report-2015 “Work for Human Development”, India has ranked 130 among 188 countries across the world, with a medium level HDI of 0.609, five rank upper as compared to 2014.This Human Development Report explores how work can enhance human development, given that the world of work is changing fast that substantial Human Development challenges remain. As per this Report, from last decade, India has created numerous jobs and other activities due to the growth, especially in Information & Communication Technology sector,

Clean Energy Projects and MGNREGS.

The first Human Development Report of Rajasthan was launched in 2002. Its main theme was ‘Promoting sustainable livelihoods in an era of Globalisation’. It was focused on agriculture on the one hand and the sectoral imbalances on the other. Gender and health issues were identified to be of paramount importance. It prioritised the imperatives for fiscal reform, macroeconomic stabilisation and a strategy for sustainable human development. An Update on Human Development for the State was prepared in 2008. The preparation of “Human Development Report 2015” of State is in progress. The theme of ongoing report is ‘Equity and sustainability’.

Sector-wise State Scenario

The current status of various components of Human Development is discussed in subsequent sections:

EDUCATION

Education has a multiplier effect on other social sectors like health, women empowerment, employment, child development, labour etc. It is also of great instrument value in the process of economic growth and development. Education not only improves the quality of life of the people, but it also provides opportunities for progress. The

Major Indicators of Education

S.No. Education Indicator (Current level)                    Rajasthan     India

1. Total Literacy Rate (Census 2011) 66.1               73.0
2. Male Literacy Rate (Census 2011) 79.2                80.9
3. Female Literacy Rate (Census -2011) 52.1               64.6

4 Gender Gap in Literacy (Censu s-2011 )                     27.1               16.3

5. Average Annual Drop-out Rate at

Primary Level – 2014-15

(U-DISE 2015- 16)

5.02                4.13

6. Net Enrolment Ratio at Primary Level

2015-16 (U-DISE 2015-16)

79.2                87.3

7.Gender Parity Index at Primary Level

2015-16 (U-DISE 2015-16)

0.98                1.03

As per the Census 2011, Rajasthan has recorded a literacy rate of 66.1 per cent compared to 60.4 per cent in 2001, as registered a net increase of 5.7 per cent points during 2001-2011. The figures for male and female literacy rates are 79.2 and 52.1 per cent, respectively in 2011. As a result, the gender gap between literacy rates in the State has decreased by 4.7 per cent during 2001 to 2011, whereas

The Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) of Rajasthan at primary level has increased from 77.8 to 79.2 over the period 2014-15 to 2015-16, whereas, at national level NER has slightly decreased from 87.4 to 87.3 during this period.

Gender Parity Index for Rajasthan in primary education was 0.98, whereas; it was 1.03 for India in 2015-16.

HEALTH AND NUTRITION

The current level of major indicators of health in the state vis-à-vis India is shown in table

Major Indicators of Health

Health indicators                                                    Rajasthan                             India

1. Infant Mortality Rate (per thousand live births)

(SRS-December, 2016)

43                                            37

2. Maternal Mortality Ratio (per one lakh live birth)

(SR S-2011-13)

244                                         167

3. Total Fertility Rate (Births per women) 2013

(SRS Report-2013)

2.8                                           2.3

4 Child Mor tality Rate (0-4age group) 2014

(SRS Report 2016)                                                 12                                            11

5 Crude Birth Rate(CBR) -2015

(SRS Dec. 2 016)                                                     24.8                                        20.8

6 Crude Death Rate (CDR) – 2015

(SRS Dec. 2 016)                                                    6.3                                           6.5

7Life Expectancy at Birth

(SRS based abridged life tables

2010-14)

Total                                                                           67.7                                        67.9

Male                                                                           65.5                                        66.4

Female                                                                       70.2                                        69.6

8. Malnutrition Among Children (0 -5 years)

(National Family

Health Survey-4 2015-16)

(underweight, low weight)

36.7                                        NA

9. Anaemia Among Currently Married Women

(15-49 years)

(National Family Health Survey-4 2015-16)

46.8                                        NA

10. Sex Ratio (0-6 years)

(females per 1000 males) (Census -2011)          888                                         919

The mission focuses on rural as well as urban health Therefore, National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and National Urban Health Mission (NUHM) are working as sub-missions of National Health Mission(NHM).

Many schemes or new initiatives have been implemented by the State Government to improve the health indicators in the State in past recent years.

LIVELIHOOD

Rajasthan is characterized with sharp variations in terrain, livelihood, settlement pattern and social identity. Distribution of income and assets is also very uneven. Agriculture and animal husbandry are the major sources of livelihood. However, on account of vagaries of monsoon, the agricultural output suffers with wide fluctuations.

According to the 2011 Census, it is estimated that Rajasthan has 299 lakh workers, out of which 244 lakh resided in the rural area and 55 lakh in urban area. However, work participation rates (WPR) have increased from 36.6 per cent in 1981 to 43.6 per cent in 2011. In 2011, the WPR for the overall population was 43.6 per cent; for males it was 51.5 per cent and 35.1 per cent for females.

Comparative per Capita Income

Year                                        At Current Prices                 At Constant (2011-12) Prices

All India         Rajasthan                  All India         Rajasthan

2011-12                                 63460            57391                         63460             57391

2012-13                                 71011             63775                         65568             58526

2013-14                                 79146             69018                         68717             60315

2014-15                                 86513             75201                         72712            63123

2015-16                                 94178             82325                         77524             66342

2016-17                                 103007           90447                         81805             69730

Rajasthan Skill and Livelihoods Development Corporation (RSLDC)

RSLDC was incorporated as non profit company under section 25 in Company Act 1956. Presently Additional Chief Secretary, SJE (GoR) is the  chairman of the corporation. As part of its major action, it established skill training mechanism by involving more than 350 partner agencies to execute the training program across the State. In its journey of 3 years, it has trained around 1,75,000 persons/youth by offering 200 courses in 34 sectors.

The State Government has issued an order for convergence of all skill development schemes under various departments in the State to be implemented under the aegis of Rajasthan Mission on Livelihood (RMoL). Under the convergence order, Rajasthan Mission on Livelihood (RMoL), an umbrella organization is implementing schemes through Rajasthan Skill and Livelihoods Development Corporation (RSLDC). In order to make the convergence effective, RMoL is acting as a hub of all

skill related activities in the state.