Gujarat slips to 15th rank among 20 states in child development index; Chhattisgarh, Assam, Odisha "perform" better

In an important exposure, Gujarat, touted till recently by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the “model” state for others to follow, has been ranked No 15 among 20 major Indian states in child development index (CDI). The ranking has been calculated for 2013-14 by two top economists Reetika Khera and Jean Dreze on the basis of the Government of India’s recently released summary findings of the Rapid Survey On Children 2013-14 (RSOC).

Both Khera and Dreze are development economists. While Khera teaches at the Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi, Dreze is a visiting professor at the Department of Economics at Ranchi University. Both are known for their closeness to Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen’s school of thought, which believes in a development model in which combines economic freedom, social protection and democracy.
The new ranking suggests that Gujarat slipped by a point, from No 14 in 2005-06, when the third National Family Health Survey (NFHS) was carried out. The economists’ calculation also shows that while Gujarat’s CDI was 0.561 on a scale of 1 in 2005-06, which was above the national average (0.502), in 2013-14 it was 0.484, which is below the national average of 0.530.
The state, which ranked No 1 both in 2005-06 and in 2013-14, was Kerala. This followed by Tamil Nadu in 2005-06 and Himachal Pradesh in 2013-14. The worst performer in 2005-06 was Bihar, which ranked second from bottom in 2013-14, even though it witnessed considerable progress – from the CDI of 0.070 to 0.294 over the eight years. Uttar Pradesh ranked last in 2013-14 with a CDI of 0.144, down from 0.333 eight years earlier.
What is particularly significant is that it is not just the “developed” states, which score much better than Gujarat in the 2013-14 CDI – such as Himachal Pradesh (0.866), Tamil Nadu (0.863), Punjab (0.789), Maharashtra (0.769), Andhra Pradesh (0.762) and Karnataka (0.759). Even the “poorer” states such as Chhattisgarh, Assam and Odisha performed better than Gujarat with a CDI score of 0.616, 0.553, and 0.525 respectively.

The CDI has been worked on the basis of taking into account four different categories – proportion of children aged 12-23 months who are fully immunized, female literacy rate in the age-group 10-14, proportion of births preceded by health checkup, and proportion of children below age 5 who are not underweight.

The two scholars comment, despite all this, there have been “budget cuts”, which “threaten to undermine child nutrition programmes”, adding, “The ranking is quite similar in both years and its basic features are familiar. At the top of the list come Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu – states that might be called "supermodels" if Gujarat were a model, which it is not.”
“Predictably”, they point out, the “lagging states” include the “undivided Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.” Yet, there are “some important contrasts”, with Chhattisgarh “detaching itself from the rest as far as child development is concerned”, ranking “above the all-India average, and of course above Gujarat.”
Though Bihar is “still close to the bottom”, the scholars comment, “In absolute terms, it has progressed a great deal (from an abysmally low base) between 2005-6 and 2013-14. The proportion of births preceded by an ante-natal checkup in Bihar shot up from 34 per cent in 2005-6 to 85 per cent in 2013-14 – the largest improvement among all major states by a long margin. Similarly, the proportion of children fully immunised jumped from 33 per cent to 60 per cent.”

Comments

Despite Hindutva hold claim, 18% Hindus in US don't want to be identified with Hinduism!

Scanning through news items on the Google News app on my mobile — which is what I do almost every morning — I came across a story published on India.com, which I found somewhat misleading. The headline said, "Muslim population drops significantly in THIS country as over 25% Muslims leave Islam due to…, the country is…"

Adani Group a key player in Indo-Israel defence cooperation: Tel Aviv daily

Said to be one of the most influential Israeli dailies, "Haaretz" (literally: News of the Land) has identified the Adani Group—known to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi—as one of the key Indian business houses engaged in defence cooperation with Israel. Pointing out that India supplied the Israeli military with Hermes 900 drones, the daily reported that this advanced aerial vehicle came off “the production line in a factory set up in Hyderabad, as part of the cooperation between the Israeli Elbit and India's Adani Group.”

Beyond Indus water treaty suspension: A 'nationalist' push despite harsh climate realities

The suspension of the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) appears to have pushed the middle classes, at least in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, Gujarat, further towards what the powers-that-be would consider—a "positive" direction. As usual, during my morning walk, I tried talking with a neighbour about what impact it would have. Ignoring what is widely considered a "security lapse," this person, who had just returned after buying milk, compared the Modi move with Trump.

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Irrational? Basis for fear among Hindus about being 'swamped' by Muslims

I was amused while reading an article titled "Ham Paanch, Hamare Pachees", shared on Facebook, by well-known policy analyst Mohan Guruswamy, an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Guruswamy, who has also worked as an advisor to the Finance Minister with the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, seeks to probe, as he himself states, "the supposed Muslim attitude to family planning"—a theme that was invoked by Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister ahead of the December 2002 assembly polls.

Why's Australian crackdown rattling Indian students? Whopping 25% fake visa applications

This is what happened several months ago. A teenager living in the housing society where I reside was sent to Australia to study at a university in Sydney with much fanfare. The parents, whom I often met as part of a group, would tell us how easily the boy got his admission with the help of "some well-meaning friends," adding that they had obtained an education loan to ensure he could study at a graduate school.

Punishing senior citizens? Flipkart, Shopsy stop Cash on Delivery in Ahmedabad!

The other day, someone close to me attempted to order some goodies on Flipkart and its subsidiary Shopsy. After preparing a long list of items, this person, as usual, opted for the Cash on Delivery (popularly known as COD) option, as this senior citizen isn't very familiar with online prepaid payment methods like UPI, credit or debit cards, or online bank transfers through websites. In fact, she is hesitant to make online payments, fearing, "I may make a mistake," she explained, adding, "I read a lot about online frauds, so I always choose COD as it's safe. I have no knowledge of how to prepay online."

Gujarat slips in India Justice Report 2025: From model state to mid-table performer

Overall ranking in IJR reports The latest India Justice Report (IJR), prepared by legal experts with the backing of several civil society organisations and aimed at ranking the capacity of states to deliver justice, has found Gujarat—considered by India's rulers as a model state for others to follow—slipping to the 11th position from fourth in 2022.

Search This Blog