Development Disparities in India: An Inter-State and Intra-State Comparison

Abstract

Economic development reflects in the improvement of physical and social infrastructures which ease the quality of life in a society. But the pace and level of development are generally not uniform across the regions, and subsequently create regional disparities. The induced (man-made) disparities need to be quantified to analyse the cause and consequence of unequal development and the future course of action. This article is an attempt to present the socio-economic disparities among various states/regions/sectors in India. Region-wise, southern states are ahead in many indices followed by north-western states, while eastern and central parts of India are lagging behind the overall development. The north-east India still remains in isolation with some exemption of higher ranked (developed) districts of Sikkim and Tripura. Disparities also exist within the districts of a state and have been presented as intra-state disparities on some selected parameters. Districts have been ranked on the basis of development indices and mapped across the states/districts using Geographic Information System (GIS) tools. The existing disparities are total (among states), sectoral and also between rural and urban inhabitants within each state. The aim of development is to equalise the disparities and make it equitable among states and also within a state, as only resource richness is not adequate to be a developed state.