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Will special status boost human development?

Hyderabad Karnataka region remains at the bottom on most welfare indicators

There is a sense of déjà vu every time a report related to any aspect of human development in Karnataka is released, with the districts of Hyderabad Karnataka (HK) region invariably at the bottom on all indicators.

The 2011 Census data and the Housing, Household Amenities and Assets Survey for Karnataka, released this year, too showed HK districts at the bottom on all indicators, ranging from female literacy to mobile phone connectivity.

Continuing gap

While the six districts of the region saw some improvement compared with where they stood in 2001, what cannot be missed is the continuing gap in development between the southern districts and those of the HK region.

The 2011 Census reveals that Yadgir has the lowest female literacy rate of 41.31 per cent, and the other HK districts of Raichur, Gulbarga, Bidar, Bellary and Koppal fall below the State average of 68 per cent. At the other end of the spectrum are Bangalore and Dakshina Kannada at 85 and 84 per cent respectively.

Interestingly, the report submitted last year by the Shivaraj V. Patil committee on prevention on child marriage, drew a correlation between child marriage and low literacy rates. District Level Household Survey (DLHS), 2008, showed that districts of low literacy in HK and those in its neighbourhood had an alarmingly high number of girls marrying before 18. It noted that the situation in districts like Koppal and Gulbarga had not changed much between DLHS 2002-04 and 2007-08.

This, in turn, is connected to child and maternal health and mortality. State’s Health Department has classified all districts of HK region (barring Bellary) as requiring special attention on maternal mortality. It is also no coincidence that the worst cases of child malnutrition are reported from this region, especially Raichur and Koppal.

Development chain

Clearly, these human development issues are intrinsically linked to one another and point to failure of the State to create awareness and make focussed investment on welfare measures. The Housing, Household Amenities and Assets Survey released earlier this year further illustrates how this chain of deprivation and skewed development continues.

If the persistence of large family sizes is an indicator of the continued dependence on agrarian feudal economy, it is significant that Yadgir has 35.7 per cent of households with 6 to 8 members. It also has the highest number of households with more then nine members at 13.8 per cent, as against the State average of 5.2 per cent.

The gap is glaring in amenities too. Dependence on firewood is the highest in Yadgir at 86.5 per cent. LPG connectivity in Yadgir is as low as 9.5 per cent. Maximum number of households with no source of lighting are in Bidar, Raichur and Yadgir (all 0.8 per cent), with Bidar having made no improvement since the last census.

On educational indicators too, HK districts predictably figure at the bottom. Yadigir reports the highest transition loss (15.77 per cent) between primary to high school. Bidar has been at the bottom on the ranking of SSLC pass percentage for two years in succession now, with all others figuring in the bottom 10 bracket.

Backward pockets

A close look at the districts within the region also points to the most backward pockets within this backward region, with districts like Koppal, Yadgir and Bidar figuring at the very bottom.

Whether amending Article 371 of the Constitution to provide special status to HK region translates to greater State intervention and investment to improve crucial parameters of health and education remains a moot question.

More:http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article3842580.ece