State of the states

THE
STATE OF
THE STATES INDIA’S MOST IMPROVED STATES GUJARAT KERALA MAHARASHTRA TAMIL NADU HARYANA WEST BENGAL MADHYA PRADESH ODISHA ANDH
AMIL NA

Best of the Decade The Winners
The best performing states across
(2003-2012) This is the 10th year of INDIA TODAY’s State
of the States survey. Here are the two
nine categories in 2011 and 2012
BIG SMALL
best performing states in last 10 years. STATES STATES
1st HIMACHALPRADESH OVERALL
2012 Gujarat Delhi
Himachal Pradesh displaced Punjab in
2011 Maharashtra Arunachal Pradesh
2010 as the best state in India and has
Virbhadra Singh
Virbhadra S
dra
dr Prem Kumar Dhumal
retained the top position ever since. Chief Minister, Chief Minister, 2007 PRIMARY HEALTH
2003-2007 onwards 2012 Jammu & Kashmir Manipur

1,545 is the number of manu-
facturing units in Himachal Pradesh in
2009-10, increased from 263 in 2003-04.
34,389 is the number of teachers in the
middle and higher secondary schools of Himachal
Pradesh in 2009-10, an increase from 13,747 in 2003-04.
2011 Haryana

2012 Gujarat
Mizoram
INVESTMENT ENVIRONMENT
Mizoram
2011 Gujarat Arunachal Pradesh
2nd TAMILNADU MACRO ECONOMY
2012 Madhya Pradesh Goa
Tamil Nadu was ranked seven in overall
2011 Maharashtra Arunachal Pradesh
performance in 2003.In 2012,Tamil Nadu
J.Jayalalithaa M.Karunanidhi
displaced Punjab from second position. Chief Minister, 2002- Chief Minister, AGRICULTURE
06, and 2011 onwards 2006-2011 2012 Tamil Nadu Puducherry

16% 2,364 KG
2011 Assam Mizoram
is the annual growth in is foodgrain per
CONSUMER MARKET
Tamil Nadu’s per capita hectare Tamil Nadu
income, which grew from Rs 30,062 in that produced in 2010-11 as against the 2012 Maharashtra Delhi
2004-05 to Rs 84,496 in 2011-12. national average of 1,921 kg per hectare. 2011 Uttarakhand Goa
PRIMARY EDUCATION
particularly in manufacturing. The 2003 and 2008. By delivering good 2012 Uttarakhand Sikkim
state has, for example, attracted governance, she converted a city that
the auto industry away from had traditionally voted for BJP into a
2011 Haryana Puducherry
Maharashtra, Haryana and Tamil Congress bastion. Like Modi, she is INFRASTRUCTURE
Nadu, courtesy easy land acquisition not a perfect politician. Her govern- 2012 Maharashtra Delhi
policies, excellent road infrastructure, ment has been accused of irregulari-
2011 Himachal Pradesh Nagaland
modern ports and uninterrupted elec- ties in the execution of projects,
tricity supply. Modi’s government particularly those related to the 2010 GOVERNANCE
hasn’t promoted industry at the cost of Commonwealth Games. Yet, her ach- 2012 Kerala Goa
agriculture. The farming sector, which ievements are substantial. She
has struggled to grow at a rate beyond remains popular among her con- 2011 Assam Manipur
4 per cent nationally in the last decade, stituents. She privatised Delhi’s elec-
has grown at just over 10 per cent per tricity distribution in 2002. The rected the economic fortunes of a state
annum in Gujarat over the same Capital’s power situation is infinitely that was ranked at the bottom on all
period. Modi has leveraged the Sardar better than a decade ago. Delhi’s infra- parameters when INDIA TODAY’s State of
Sarovar project to irrigate large parts structure has also received a boost in the States Report was first launched in
of arid Gujarat and encouraged water her time in government, with the con- 2003. Seven years of his governance
harvesting to conserve water. Gujarat struction of several new flyovers and has lifted the state out of the bottom
is the poster state for Bt cotton cultiva- roads. Dikshit has other forward-look- rung. In the last five years, Bihar has
tion and horticulture in India. ing ideas on her agenda including the registered double digit growth, next
Away from Gujarat, in the heart of privatisation of Delhi’s water supply. only to Gujarat. Of course, the state
the national Capital, Congress Chief In Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish has grown from a much lower base so
Minister Sheila Dikshit has won three Kumar, who has won two terms in it has a longer distance to travel before
consecutive terms in office—1998, office (in 2005 and 2010) has resur- it can catch up with India’s richest

50 INDIA TODAY ◆ NOVEMBER 12, 2012

KHAND RAJAST
D S
HRA PRADESH KARNATAKA CHHATTISGARH ASSAM PUNJAB BIHAR UTTAR PRADESH UTTARAKHAND JHARKHAND RAJASTHAN HIMACHAL PRADESH JAMMU & KASHMI
HAND J

METHODOLOGY

HOWTHE STATES WERE RANKED
here are two broad ways to personnel, percentage of homes ufacturing, ratio of factories to

T rank states. First is asking a
group of respondents to
reply to a specific question-
naire. It’s presumed the respon-
dents know all the states which are
having tap water, registered
doctors per million population, sex
ratio and per capita expenditure on
health and family welfare by the
state government.
number of disputes, ratio of
industrial workers to urban 15-59
population, and percentage of sick
small scale industries.
Data on all the parameters was
to be ranked. In reality, this doesn’t ● Education Literacy rate, propor- normalised. To obtain a state’s per-
happen. Second is using objective tion of 10-plus children having com- formance under any one head, vari-
data. There’s a third alternative of pleted primary education, ratio of ables have to be aggregated. We
splicing subjective and objective, but boys to girls in elementary school, used principal components analysis,
that’s neither here nor there. We teacher-pupil ratio and expenditure which churns out weights in the es-
used the objective method, relying on elementary education per six to timation process. For each head, we
solely on data from central sources, 14-year-old. have scores for each state. The eight
so that non-comparability of data ● Consumer market Households heads are aggregated into an over-
across states was not an issue. owning TV sets, affluent households all performance index for each
The next step is to identify the in urban and rural areas, per capita state. For this aggregation, we are
parameters. We picked eight heads. deposits in banks and per capita reporting equal weight aggregation.
● Macro Economy Percentage of ownership of two wheelers. In understanding the development
population above poverty line, ● Agriculture Percentage of culti- of a state, what is important is not
percentage of urban population, vated area under cash crops, agri- the base level score, but its incre-
per capita capital expenditure, in- culture GSDP per rural population, ment. And this year we move to em-
flation, per capita debt, per capita agriculture electricity consumption phasising the changes in the scores.
gross state domestic product, per rural population, foodgrain The base level depends on various
per capita revenue of scheduled yield, loans extended to farmers historical factors, and incremental
commercial banks. and net irrigated area. improvements provide a lot of impe-
● Law and order Number of police- ● Infrastructure Percentage of tus to growth. Using the increments
men per lakh people, ratio of cases homes with electricity; villages in scores, states are ranked on the
filed to pending cases in district and connected by pucca roads; basis of their improvement.
lower courts, share of murders, per capita road length, bank We acknowledge the efforts of
kidnappings, rapes and mole- branches, LPG connections, post Minakshi Chakraborty, Swati Gupta,
stations to total cognisable crimes. offices and telephones. and Sunil Bhatt of Indicus Analytics
● Health Infant mortality ratio (IMR), ● Investment Per capita capital ex- in sourcing the information as well
ratio of male IMR to female IMR, per- penditure, commercial bank credit as conducting the analysis.
centage of births assisted by trained and gross capital formation in man- by Laveesh Bhandari and Bibek Debroy

states. However, Nitish’s delivery on form of the public distribution system Even if much of the funding for projects
law and order and the construction of using technology to prevent leakages. comes from the Centre, the delivery
roads, through heavy spending of Chouhan has greatly expanded his mechanisms must be fine-tuned at the
public funds, has laid out basic condi- state’s road networks and irrigation level of states. Those states which are
tions for a sustainable turnaround in outreach. In Odisha, Chief Minister already delivering better governance
Bihar. His next challenge is to attract Naveen Patnaik has won three con- are growing faster than others.
private investment. secutive terms in office despite having The state of Indian politics is in a
In Madhya Pradesh and Chhat- a more mixed record on governance flux. Governance at the Centre is
tisgarh, which like Bihar, usually lan- than some of the other high-achieving caught in uncertainty. State govern-
guished in the rankings, popular BJP chief ministers. His greatest asset is ments, led by popular politicians, have
Chief Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan his perceived integrity and complete the potential to lift India’s economic
and Raman Singh are making a differ- commitment to the people of Odisha. potential. With a fractured mandate a
ence. Both have won second terms in States have a crucial role in plug- reality for the forseeable future at the
office (in 2008) and are well-position- ging the most serious gaps in gover- Centre, the state of India’s states will
ed to attempt a third in 2013. Raman nance—education, agriculture, health, be the real determinant of the pros-
Singh’s government has pioneered re- roads, power and social safety nets. perity of India’s citizens. ■

NOVEMBER 12, 2012 ◆ INDIA TODAY 51

THE
STATE OF
AMIL NA

How State Capitals
Can Transform
Rural Lives
A dynamic agriculture sector is crucial to a state’s
overall economic performance. It’s equally crucial for
states to create opportunities outside farming.

By Bibek Debroy and
ties. Hence, there is an agricultural
Laveesh Bhandari reform agenda and there is a rural
reform agenda that goes beyond agri-
griculture is fundamentally a culture. Within agriculture, there are

A state subject. Therefore,
there are variations between
states and the fundamental
problem of India’s agriculture is its
dry lands. States that have ensured
issues like allowing corporate sector
involvement, removal of government-
imposed restrictions on production,
marketing and distribution, refocus of
public expenditure away from input
has been lost to urbanisation and indus-
trial development. There has also been
climate change, soil degradation and
increasing growth-related consump-
tion demand. Logically, food price infla-
power, irrigation and roads have per- subsidies to infrastructure and exten- tion should trigger and stimulate
formed better. Our agricultural vari- sion services, fewer stages in the agricultural reform for supply-side
ables—percentage of cultivated area value chain, forward markets, con- changes. But in practice, it often leads
under cash crops, agriculture gross tract farming, revamping credit to greater distortions and state inter-
state domestic products (GSDP) per ru- and insurance, and freeing up land vention, at least in the short-term. This
ral population, agriculture electricity markets. All these are linked to en- is perverse. The underlying reasons
consumption per rural population, couraging commercialisation and di- behind higher food prices will not
foodgrain yield, loans extended to versification. There is also the issue of go away. Therefore, the supply-side
farmers and net irrigated area— encouraging off-farm employment responses require agricultural reform.
straddle several dimensions and pro- and this is where rural sector reforms Development is co-related with a
vide an indication of what has kick in, through provision of physical reduction in the number of people who
happened to agriculture within states. and social infrastructure. are employed in agriculture. In rela-
The successes are spread across These issues have always been tively richer parts of the world, people
India—Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra important, but they have been com- have been pulled out of agriculture into
Pradesh, Kerala and Haryana. If pounded by a food security problem. At more productive activities. People who
Indian agriculture (including allied one level, food security is posed as a bal- remain in agriculture move away from
activities) is to grow at 4 per cent, ance of payments problem, that is, a producing foodgrain to other forms of
other states across India must repli- country’s ability to pay for its required crop output, such as horticulture. There
cate these successes. imports of food. However, more com- is commercialisation and diversifica-
Development in India requires a monly, food security is defined as an in- tion. Of India’s rural labour force of
movement away from agriculture to dividual household’s access to food, not roughly 300 million, 72.7 per cent still
non-agriculture sectors and within including the areas characterised by earns a living from agriculture. This has
agriculture, a movement away from famine. Food security has become even declined from 81.4 per cent in 1983, but
foodgrain output. This involves more of an issue because there has the decline hasn’t been quick enough.
commercialisation and diversification been a switch of farmland to bio-fuels, Some comments are in order about
of agriculture, as well as the creation world oil prices have increased, popu- such figures. First, there may be a sec-
of off-farm employment opportuni- lation has grown and agricultural land ondary occupation outside agriculture.


HAND J

VEGETABLE SECTION tribution to consumers through the in-
AT A BIG BAZAAR efficient public distribution system.
STORE IN MUMBAI
Other than the crowding out of private
grain trade, this also creates perverse
price signals for producers.
The third factor is the APMC Acts.
Stated simply, the APMC Acts require buy-
ing and selling of agricultural products
through regulated markets, with man-
dated fees to be paid to market commit-
tees. Marketing boards are meant to use
these fees for developing infrastructure
in rural markets. Though the fee is
collected, it is debatable to what extent
it has been used to develop infrastruc-
ture. Cold storage and grading facilities
exist only in few of the markets. In addi-
tion, a regulated market can be quite far
away and a requirement that a farmer
should only transact through a regu-
lated market does no particular service
to the farmer. Unless amended, the APMC
Acts prevent direct marketing or con-
BHASKAR PAUL/www.indiatodayimages.com
tract farming and work against the in-
volvement of the corporate sector. Fiscal
Indeed, with the seasonal nature of the constraints have meant reductions in
bulk of India’s agriculture, that is invari- public expenditure on research and de-
ably the case. Second, there are wide Since 2003, agriculture velopment as well as extension services.
variations across states and the pace of performance index values Fourth, there is a lack of harmonisation
decline also varies. Third, there are of best states in overall of indirect taxes on agricultural prod-
gender differences. The farm to non- ucts across states. Not only does this
farm transition happens first for males performance such as exist for VAT and GST, but there are also
and then a feminisation of the agricul- Himachal Pradesh and Tamil specific entry taxes for specific locations,
tural workforce occurs. Fourth, out of Nadu have quadrupled, but such as when entering cities or bound-
those who are in agriculture, roughly for slower moving states aries of municipal corporations. Fifth,
two-thirds (64 per cent) describe them- because of ECA, APMC and fiscal anom-
selves as self-employed, that is, they are such as Punjab, Haryana alies, there are physical check-posts,
farmers. The remaining, roughly one- and Uttar Pradesh, these which affect perishable produce. There
third, are wage workers, almost invari- have barely doubled. are physical checks on trucks, thanks to
ably on casual basis. Fifth, 13.1 per cent laws like the Indian Forests Act, 1927,
of rural households are landless and non-farm does not happen. There are the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, the
only 11.2 per cent have medium or several distortions induced by policies. Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and the
large holdings, defined as those that are All these tend to prevent competition. Biomedical Waste (Management and
more than two hectares. And 44.8 per In output markets, these policies lead Handling Rules), 1988, as well as the
cent of land-holdings are sub-marginal to perverse price signals. First, there lack of uniformity under the Motor
(0.01-0.40 hectares), 18.7 per cent are are physical government-imposed Vehicles Act, 1988. The problem is with
marginal (0.41 to 1 hectare) and 12.2 restrictions on production, marketing multiplicity, rather than clearances.
per cent are small (1-2 hectares). and distribution. These are usually Competition in agriculture isn’t only
This kind of small-holder agricul- through the Essential Commodities Act, about the farm-to-fork supply chain.
ture cannot exploit economies of scale (ECA) 1955, and the Agricultural Produce It is also about input markets. Seeds,
and is subsistence-level, inefficient and Marketing and Control (APMC) Acts. pesticides, agro-chemicals and fertilis-
unproductive. For development to hap- Second, there are minimum support ers are obvious examples. Power and
pen, there must be a movement up the prices and procurement policies in water belong to a different category.
value chain of productivity. favour of foodgrain. This means pro- Distortions are created by input subsi-
Since people always want to better curement of foodgrain through the Food dies on power, water, seeds and fertilis-
their lives, there must be a reason Corporation of India (FCI), not only to ers. State governments must address
why the transition from farm to maintain buffer stocks, but also for dis- these issues. ■


THE
STATE OF
AMIL NA

OVERALL
RANK BIG STATES 2012 GUJARAT MOST IMPROVED BIG STATE
1 (1)*

The Way Forward
GUJARAT
2 (9) KERALA
3 (1) MAHARASHTRA
rom a farmer in a remote education facilities in tribal

F
4 (5) TAMIL NADU
village of the state to a areas didn’t include science
5 (4) HARYANA businessman in the heart schools, as the government
6 (17) WEST BENGAL of the capital Ahmedabad, de- initially sought to provide
velopment has reached all education only in agriculture
7 (20) MADHYA PRADESH
corners of Gujarat. Focusing to the tribals.
8 (3) ODISHA equally on all sectors is the In 2010-2011, Chief Min-
9 (12) ANDHRA PRADESH reason behind the state’s cur- TWIN TRIUMPHS ister Narendra Modi laun-
rent 10 per cent growth, the In the last five years, ched a fresh round of sche-
10 (7) KARNATAKA only one to boast of double the Gujarat govern- mes to help farmers and
11 (16) CHHATTISGARH digit growth in both industry ment has launched a people living below the pov-
and agriculture. Rs 18,000-crore erty line. One such scheme is
12 (11) ASSAM
Two schemes played a key Vanbandhu Yojana for the Garib Samriddhi Yojana,
13 (10) PUNJAB role in spurring development development of tribals to upgrade civic infrastruc-
14 (15) BIHAR in the last five years—the and a Rs 11,000-crore ture for the poor in 150 mu-
Rs 18,000-crore Vanbandhu Sagarkhedu Yojana for nicipalities. As Gujarat’s
15 (18) UTTAR PRADESH Yojana for development of coastal inhabitants. Planning Secretary V.N.
16 (8) UTTARAKHAND 42 tribal tehsils and the Maira puts it: “The key reason
Rs 11,000-crore Sagarkhedu for the government’s good
17 (14) JHARKHAND Yojana for coastal inhabitants, particu- performance is the emphasis on results
18 (19) RAJASTHAN larly fishermen, in 38 tehsils. Both against money spent.”
schemes were launched in 2007 The government is now focusing on
19 (6) HIMACHAL PRADESH
and completed in 2011. Before 2007, strengthening urban infrastructure. In
20 (13) JAMMU & KASHMIR
SHAILESH RAVAL/www.indiatodayimages.com

RANK SMALL STATES 2012
1 (7)* DELHI
2 (8) MIZORAM
3 (3) SIKKIM
4 (10) MANIPUR
5 (5) TRIPURA
6 (6) NAGALAND
7 (4) GOA
8 (9) MEGHALAYA
9 (1) ARUNACHAL PRADESH
10 (2) PUDUCHERRY
* Figures in brackets indicate 2011 rankings

Rs 3,000 cr
is the amount sanctioned by the
Gujarat government for urban
development in last two years. Chief Minister Narendra Modi addressing a crowd in Gujarat


THE
STATE OF
AMIL NA

OVERALL
the past two years the Government parative study of the agricultural to the farmers,” says Shah.
has sanctioned Rs 3,000 crore for ur- growth of Saurashtra region in The government has restruc-
ban development. But agriculture Gujarat and Vidarbha region of tured the distribution of aid to those
still remains a priority for the gov- Maharashtra in 2012. Two decades living below the poverty line through
ernment. Eight lakh hectares of ago, the two regions were on a par in the Garib Kalyan Mela started
farmland in Gujarat has come under agriculture. Today, Saurashtra is do- in 2009. Ministers and senior bu-
drip and sprinkler irrigation, com- ing three times better than Vidarbha. reaucrats hand over the benefits di-
pared to 10,000 hectares a decade “In agriculture, Gujarat has set a rectly to the poor, thus cutting out the
ago. Tushar Shah, director of great example of a sustainable middleman. It’s no wonder then that
Colombo-based International Water growth that emphasised agricultural Gujarat leads in development.
Management Institute, did a com- research, and took scientific farming by Uday Mahurkar

REUBEN SINGH/www.indiatodayimages.com

DELHI MOST IMPROVED SMALL STATE

Up for New Challenges
elhi Chief Minister 2010-11 to Rs 31.39 lakh

D Sheila Dikshit smiles
delightedly
asked about her success
when
crore in 2011-12.
Dikshit wants to make
Delhi a service centre as
mantra. “I can’t say what services contribute to 82
the secret is, but I work per cent of its GSDP. “We are
very hard. We have tried to discouraging industries
make Delhi’s governance SERVICE CENTRE like dyeing, printing and
responsive to the needs of Delhi’s gross state lathe-making. These add to
the poor and the rich in all domestic product pollution,” she says, adding
areas, from infrastructure (GSDP) growth rate of proudly, “Considering the
11.3 per cent in 2011-
to education,” she says. infrastructure demand and
12 is well above the
When asked about her national GDP rate of population density, Delhi is
biggest triumph in 2011, 6.9 per cent for one of the greenest cities.”
she says: “It’s difficult to the year. Services She talks about how her
choose one.” Her officials contribute 82 per cent government has put a
rattle off a laundry list of of the state’s GSDP. green cover on the rocky
achievements. The state terrain of Asola and Bhatti
has a 150-km world-class mines in the last seven
Metro and public transport system, years. Another achievement she is
75 flyovers, a swanky airport and proud of is regularising 917 unau-
7,000 low-floor buses. “Not to men- thorised colonies in August. Sheila Dikshit, Delhi Chief Minister
tion, wider and better roads than In June, the power tariff was
other metros,” adds Dikshit. hiked by almost 20 per cent, but on total budget allocation of Rs 33,000
The Capital’s gross state domes- October 22, it was brought down by crore has been allotted to this sector.
tic product (GSDP) growth rate of 11.3 15 per cent. The consumer will now “It is to be spent on pension, health-
per cent in 2011-12 is well above be charged Rs 3.70 per unit for con- care and schools,” says Dikshit.
the national GDP growth rate of 6.9 sumption up to 200 units, while When you have run a state for 14
per cent for the year. Delhi’s GSDP Rs 5.50 will be charged for consump- years—Dikshit has won three con-
jumped from Rs 26.45 lakh crore in tion between 201 and 400 units. Says secutive elections since 1998—some
Dikshit, “Delhi’s power privatisation things are bound to become routine.
model is the best in India. Yet people “Before I get bored, some new chal-

917 unauthorised colonies try to make a political issue out of it.” lenges come up. Delhi is an exciting
were regularised in Social sector is one of Dikshit’s place to govern,” she says with
Delhi in August 2012. priorities as 65 per cent of this year’s a laugh. by Priya Sahgal


THE
STATE OF
AMIL NA

AGRICULTURE
RANK BIG STATES 2012 TAMIL NADU MOST IMPROVED BIG STATE
1 (2)* TAMIL NADU
2 (10)
3 (5)
4 (13)
HARYANA
ANDHRA PRADESH
KERALA
More Power to the Tiller
ebastian, 48, of Adukkamparai vil- 20,000 to produce 1,025-1,500 kg rice.
5 (4)
6 (19)
GUJARAT
CHHATTISGARH
S lage, Vellore district, 160 km from
Chennai in Tamil Nadu is a relaxed
man today. On his one acre plot, he pro-
Now the yield is 1,400-2,000 kg at an ex-
pense of Rs 8,000-Rs 10,000.
In Tamil Nadu, 4,892,000 hectares of
7 (20) WEST BENGAL duces 40 per cent more rice than two available 13,000,000 hectares of land
8 (16) MAHARASHTRA years ago, and with much less man- are cultivated. The net irrigated area
power and effort, thanks to the System of
9 (3) MADHYA PRADESH Rice Intensification (SRI) launched by
10 (8) KARNATAKA the state government in 2007-08. SRI lakh tonnes of foodgrain was

105.42
has significantly reduced Sebastian’s produced by Tamil Nadu in
11 (18) RAJASTHAN expenses on seeds and irrigation. He 2011-12, a 4 per cent
12 (6) UTTARAKHAND would earlier invest Rs 15,000-Rs increase from 2010-11.

13 (1) ASSAM
14 (14) UTTAR PRADESH PUDUCHERRY MOST IMPROVED SMALL STATE
15 (7) ODISHA
16 (11)
17 (15)
18 (12)
PUNJAB
HIMACHAL PRADESH Farmers to
the Fore
BIHAR
19 (9) JHARKHAND
bdul Haiz grows paddy, chillies, bit-
RANK
1 (3)*
SMALL STATES 2012
PUDUCHERRY
A ter gourd, snake gourd, brinjal and
bananas in his one-and-a-half
hectare plot in Katterikuppam, a rural
2 (5) DELHI hamlet about 15 km from the state cap-
ital Puducherry. This year, his yield has
doubled. And despite being affected by
4 (1) MIZORAM Cyclone Thane, even the chillies yielded
more than 30 tonnes per acre. They
5 (7) TRIPURA
fetched him a price of Rs 13 per kg at the
6 (2) SIKKIM wholesale market, higher than Rs 5 per
7 (9) NAGALAND kg the year before.
Arul Murugan, 37, a BCom graduate
8 (6) MEGHALAYA and former MLA in Sandhaipu-
9 (8) MANIPUR dhukuppam village, is smiling too. He
experimented with precision farming
10 (4) GOA techniques and crop rotation. His earn-
* Figures in brackets indicate 2011 rankings ings have doubled this year using Yanmar,
a Japanese rice transplanter from
is the number of farmer suicides
Perunthaivar Kamaraj Krishi Vigyan

0
in Puducherry in 2011-12, buck-
ing a sad but palpable national Kendra, India’s first rural-based agricul-
trend that takes thousands of tural science centre. Murugan manages
lives each year. to plant paddy saplings in 12 acres of his


HAND J

is 2,864,000 hectares; the lakh tonnes of rice. It is has approved Rs 831.40 lakh to im-
rest is rain-fed. Storage inching towards self-suffi- plement the service. Other new
systems have been devel- ciency. Of India’s 257.44 schemes include the Sustainable
oped for rainwater-har- million tonnes foodgrain Sugarcane Initiative (SSI) and System
vesting. Irrigated production in 2011-12, of Pulses Intensification (SPI). SSI aims
Agriculture Moderni- sa- Tamil Nadu’s share was to improve sugarcane production
tion and Water Bodies 10.542 million tonnes (4 through drip irrigation. “I applied SSI
Restoration and Manag- MORE FOR LESS per cent of India), which on an acre of land. Earlier, I used to
ement (IAMWARM), a six- The System of Rice was a 39 per cent increase get 35 tonnes of sugarcane. I’m now
year programme, was Intensification over the previous year. expecting at least 45-50 tonnes per
implemented at Rs 98 has led to dramatic The state government acre,” says B. Ramalingam, 53, a
crore in 2007, to give im- yield in production, has successfully launched farmer from Kesavapuram village,
petus to cultivation that for lower input costs, the Tamil Nadu Agricul- Vellore district, 140 km from Chennai.
which is down from
led to rainwater harvest- tural Information Service The state agriculture department
Rs 13-14 per kg
ing. It will end in 2013. to Rs 5 per kg. Network (TN-AGRISNET), a donates small farming equipment,
In 2011-12, the state Net-based service, to give seeds and micro-nutrient mixtures
had a Rs 1,430-crore farmers necessary infor- worth Rs 3,000 to farmers who attend
budget for agriculture. In that period, mation on agriculture, such as data- SSI demonstrations. Farmers have
the state produced 105.42 lakh base on soil and availability of never had it better in the state.
tonnes of foodgrain, including 77.50 produce and fertilisers. The Centre by R. Ramasubramanian

150 acres plot per
day, a far cry from
the time till 2009,
when scarcity of
labourers forced
him to toil more
for less. “The new
NEXT MOVE methods help us
To reduce post-
harvest losses,
produce more
estimated at 9 per with lesser man-
cent of total pro- power,” he says
duce, the state will proudly.
provide improved Puducherry is
threshing floors on its way to re-
and rural godowns. duce post-harvest
losses, estimated
at 9 per cent of
total produce, which is now mainly
due to non-availability of sufficient
threshing floors and storages. Under
a new scheme, the state is now plan-
ning to make available improved
threshing floors and rural godowns.
“Most ministers in Chief Minister
N. Rangaswamy’s Cabinet, including
the Chief Minister and Agriculture
Minister M. Chandrakasu, are
Chief Minister Rangaswamy
(second from right) and farmers. So they understand our
Agriculture Minister problems,” says A. Ramamourti, ad-
Chandrakasu (extreme right) ditional director of the state agricul-
on a paddy transplanter ture department.
by J. Binduraj


THE
STATE OF
AMIL NA

CONSUMER MARKET
RANK BIG STATES 2012 MAHARASHTRA MOST IMPROVED BIG STATE
1 (2)* MAHARASHTRA
2 (6)
3 (14)
GUJARAT
KARNATAKA
GETTY IMAGES

Retail Boom Bucks Trend
4 (9) JHARKHAND
5 (15) UTTAR PRADESH
6 (7) HARYANA
7 (5) TAMIL NADU
8 (17) BIHAR
9 (4) CHHATTISGARH
10 (8) WEST BENGAL
11 (1) UTTARAKHAND
12 (19) ANDHRA PRADESH
13 (3) ODISHA
14 (13) MADHYA PRADESH
15 (12) KERALA
16 (10) HIMACHAL PRADESH
17 (20) RAJASTHAN
18 (18) ASSAM
Customers at a mobile phone showroom in Mumbai
19 (11) PUNJAB
ast year, Akshay Shah, According to excise dep-

RANK
1 (6)*
SMALL STATES 2012
DELHI
L 32, a software engineer
with a leading IT firm in
Powai, Mumbai, bought a one
artment data, Maharashtrians
spent the maximum on food
and beverages in 2011. The
BHK apartment in Mulund for department collected Rs 8,622
2 (1) GOA Rs 50 lakh. He took a Rs 40- crore revenue in 2011-12
3 (5) PUDUCHERRY lakh bank loan and paid the WINNING TOUCH from the sale of liquor, 47 per
rest from his savings. Shah is High growth in cent more than 2010-11.
4 (9) MIZORAM one of the 20,000 people in the savings has led to Though people drank 272 lakh
5 (4) SIKKIM state who bought their dream growth in the state’s litres less in 2011-12, they
home in 2011 despite real es- consumer market, paid higher taxes on it. Higher
6 (7) MEGHALAYA
tate prices going up by 33 to which saw a boom prices did not affect the spen-
7 (3) NAGALAND 40 per cent over a year. in real estate and ding capacity of people in the
retail last year.
High growth in savings has state. Mumbai residents pay
8 (10) MANIPUR
Rs 79 per litre of petrol, the
led to considerable growth in
9 (8) TRIPURA Maharashtra’s consumer mar- highest in India, and the state
ket. According to the Directorate collected Rs 14,815 crore from sales tax
of Economics and Statistics, Rs 15 lakh and VAT on petroleum products in 2011-
* Figures in brackets indicate 2011 rankings crore was deposited in Maharashtra’s 12, the highest in the country.
banks in 2011-12. The state’s per capita The state also witnessed a boom in

Rs 15 lakh cr
was deposited in Maharashtra’s
income during this time was Rs 87,686.
At 16.18 per cent, Maharashtra’s
share in processed food production
2011. According to a research paper pre-
sented by management consultancy firm
Tata Strategic Management Group in
banks in 2011-12. is highest in the country. April 2011, increasing urbanisation and


THE
STATE OF
AMIL NA

CONSUMER MARKET
rising incomes will be major growth ised retail,” states the report. The However, the state’s consumer
drivers for this industry in Maha- Government’s decision to give tax market is focused only on six major
rashtra. At 42 per cent urbanisation, benefit to retailers has given industry cities—Pune, Mumbai Metropolitan
it is the most city-oriented state in a boost in the state. Earlier, retailers Region (MMR), Nashik, Aurangabad,
India. “Mall space in Mumbai and used to get 4 per cent tax concession Nagpur and Kolhapur—where
Pune is expected to grow by 17 lakh on 50 per cent of their turnover. This 87 per cent of the state’s rich live.
sq ft by the end of 2012. Tier II cities has now been raised to 5 per cent. “MMR, Pune and Nashik contribute
such as Nashik, Aurangabad, “Maharashtra will be first state to im- 75 per cent in the state’s GDP. We
Solapur and Amravati are expected plement FDI in retail,” says Chief need to focus on other areas too,”
to see a rise in penetration of organ- Minister Prithviraj Chavan. says Chavan. by Kiran Tare

DELHI MOST IMPROVED SMALL STATE
REUBEN SINGH/www.indiatodayimages.com

Shoppers at
Select Citywalk
mall In Delhi

The Capital of Deep Pockets
er capita income in Delhi is kets such as Connaught weekends is 50,000-60,000.

P about three times the national
average. In 2011-2012, per
capita income in Delhi was
Place, the posh Khan
Market, M-Block in Greater
Kailash I, the favourite
The government has
also created an environ-
ment for the growth of the
Rs 1,75,812 which is a rise of hangout of college goers, consumer market in the
Rs 25,159 from Rs 1,50,653 in 2010- the busy Lajpat Nagar mar- state. Several malls are al-
11. “Delhiites have the money and ket, favoured by bargain lowed to remain open till 11
want to spend. It’s in their culture,” hunters, and Sarojini SHOPPERS’ STOP at night, while restaurants
says Chief Secretary P.K. Tripathi. Nagar, a hit with street By government are allowed to be open till
Apart from traditional retail mar- shoppers, Delhi has 30 policy, malls remain midnight. In the last 12 days
malls. Experts estimate open till 11 p.m.; of 2011, Delhiites consumed
that about 30-40 per cent of restaurants are open alcohol worth Rs 400 crore.
till midnight—just

Rs 1.75 lakh
India’s retail mall space is The excise department ear-
cornered by the NCR-Delhi what retailers dream ned Rs 1,707 crore between
region. The average footfall of everywhere else April-December 2011, a 24
is Delhi’s per capita income in 2011-12, against in a Delhi mall on weekdays in the country. per cent jump from the year
the national figure of Rs 60,972. is 35,000-40,000 and on before. by Shravya Jain


THE
STATE OF
AMIL NA

EDUCATION
RANK BIG STATES 2012 UTTARAKHAND MOST IMPROVED BIG STATE
1 (15)*

Elementary Lessons
UTTARAKHAND
2 (7) CHHATTISGARH
3 (17) WEST BENGAL
4 (6) MAHARASHTRA
avi Kumar, 11-year-old son of a puter Technology’ scheme of the Uttara-
5 (13)
6 (5)
JAMMU & KASHMIR
ODISHA
R rickshaw puller, studies in a gov-
ernment school in Ghantaghar,
Dehradun. With a monthly income of
khand government. Like Ravi, 60 other
students are trained in computer use
every year in Gandhi College.
7 (10) TAMIL NADU Rs 3,000, Ravi’s father cannot afford to It’s not just computer education.
8 (19) MADHYA PRADESH buy him a computer. Yet, the Class VI Uttarakhand, a state known for out-
student is a computer wizard, thanks standing educational institutions such as
9 (18) ASSAM to Avadhesh Kumar Chaubey, principal Doon School, Sherwood College,
10 (1) HARYANA of Gandhi Intermediate College. The Woodstock College and Oak Grove
winner of the best teacher of the state
11 (14) PUNJAB

182
award in 2007 and 2010, 40-year-old
12 (16) GUJARAT Chaubey enrolls students from poor schools and 147 colleges were
backgrounds who receive free computer added to Uttarakhand’s 15,677
13 (12) RAJASTHAN education under the ‘Information Com- schools and 2,814 colleges in 2011.
14 (20) UTTAR PRADESH
15 (8) KERALA
SIKKIM MOST IMPROVED SMALL STATE
16 (3) BIHAR
17 (2)

How to
HIMACHAL PRADESH
Chief Minister Pawan
18 (9) KARNATAKA Kumar Chamling with
schoolchildren
19 (11) ANDHRA PRADESH
20 (4)

RANK
JHARKHAND

SMALL STATES 2012
Learn a
1 (8)*
2 (7)
3 (3)
SIKKIM
MIZORAM
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
New Skill
4 (4) erhaps it helps that Sikkim has a

P
TRIPURA
population of just over 600,000. It
5 (9) MEGHALAYA has been able to create a wide net-
6 (10) MANIPUR work of educational institutes that puts
schools within walking distance of
7 (5) DELHI both the urban and rural population.
8 (6) NAGALAND According to the 2011 Census, Sikkim
has a literacy rate of 82.2 per cent,
9 (1) PUDUCHERRY
compared to 68.81 per cent in 2001.
10 (2) GOA The state, which has three-quarter of its
people in villages, has a rural literacy
rate of 79.82 per cent, higher than the Abhiyan in 2010.
national rural literacy of 68.91 per cent. Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar

1:16 is the teacher-student In a bid to achieve 100 per cent literacy Chamling’s innovative policies have
ration in 800 government by 2015, the Sikkim government played a key role in increasing aware-
schools in Sikkim. launched the Mukhya Mantri Saksharta ness on education. He has set aside 20


HAND J

School, has made giant new primary schools. In the Mohini Thapliyal. Some initiatives
strides in the field of edu- hills, the government has have also been taken in the field
cation in the last one year. set up a primary school of technical education. At the
The state has 15,677 within a radius of 1 km for a Uttarakhand Technical University, a
schools, 2,814 colleges, population cluster of over team from IIT-Delhi, Delhi School of
106 technical institutes 200. In the plains, a popula- Economics and Punjabi University,
and seven medical col- tion cluster of 300 has a Patiala, is preparing a new syllabus
leges. In 2011, 182 STUDY SMART school within a radius of 1.5 that will replace the current one
schools and 147 colleges The Uttarakhand km. The 2011 Census re- which has not changed for 16 years.
were added to these num- government has ported a 79.03 per cent lit- The state government will also
bers. The state’s govern- earmarked Rs 40 eracy rate in Uttarakhand, a set up a call centre-based monitor-
ment schools have over crore for 2012-2013, jump of 8 per cent ing system by 2013 to gather infor-
to build 250 new
15 lakh students while from 2001. “Our aim is to mation. Through this, officials will
primary schools.
around 1.7 lakh are achieve 100 per cent liter- check the availability of teachers. If
enrolled in the colleges acy,” says Chief Minister an institution is facing a problem,
and technical institutes. Vijay Bahuguna. principals will inform the call centre
The school dropout rate in The focus is on woman’s educa- and officials will take the required
Uttarakhand has gone down from 15 tion. The state’s largest women’s col- steps, says Education Director of
per cent in 2001 to 0.31 in 2011. lege, Government Girl’s Inter College the state, Chandra Singh Gwal.
For the financial year 2012-2013, in Dehradun, has over 800 students. Uttarakhand is leading the way to
the Uttarakhand government has “The number has increased from 500 quality education in the country.
earmarked Rs 40 crore to build 250 to 800 in five years,” says principal by Ashish Misra

SMART LEARNING
The government has
set up 34 livelihood
schools for vocational
training in fields like
aviation and software
development.

been as low as 3.49 per cent in 2007-
08 and 4.46 per cent in 2008-2009.
But it went up to 7.11 per cent in
2009-10. Hence education was given
more emphasis after this. “We want
our children to adopt life-oriented ed-
ucation and pursue professional edu-
cation that will help them emerge as
world-class citizens,” says Chamling.
Envisioning an education beyond
the ABCs, Sikkim government has set
up 34 livelihood schools and institutes
that hone skills of educated youth in
vocational fields such as aviation and
software development. The Sikkim
government has roped in the Centre
per cent of the Rs 1,877 crore plan says the Chief Minister, who took over and the private sector to open univer-
outlay of the state budget for the ed- in 1994 and is now in his fourth term. sities, colleges and academies for
ucation sector. But that is just one In the 800 government schools in the medical, information technology and
step. “The next major focus is to im- state, the teacher-student ratio is engineering across the state.
prove the quality of education itself,” 1:16. The school dropout rate has by Joel Rai


THE
STATE OF
AMIL NA

GOVERNANCE
RANK BIG STATES 2012 KERALA MOST IMPROVED BIG STATE
1 (4)* KERALA
2 (10)
3 (1)
4 (2)
WEST BENGAL
ASSAM
BIHAR
The People’s CM
erala Chief Minister cer. But can we ask the people
5 (19)
6 (16)
7 (12)
UTTAR PRADESH
PUNJAB
HIMACHAL PRADESH
K Oommen Chandy can’t
stand for more than 15
minutes. According to his
to wait forever till the system is
reformed even to get their sim-
ple needs solved?” asks the 69-
doctors, the debilitating pain year-old Chief Minister.
8 (14) UTTARAKHAND in his legs is a legacy of the The law and order situation
9 (15) HARYANA round-the-clock marathon in Kerala has shown remark-
mass contact programmes CRIME PATROL able improvement in the last one
10 (18) TAMIL NADU the Chief Minister held be- 493 rapes have been year. In the first six months of
11 (17) GUJARAT tween May and June in each reported till June, 2012, Kerala recorded 80,229
of the state’s 14 districts. 2012 as against 1,132 cognisable crimes, over 50 per
12 (11) ODISHA Each programme was at- in 2011 while murders cent less than 172,137 in 2011.
13 (6) JHARKHAND tended by thousands of ag- have almost halved Till June 2012, 493 rapes had
at 183 in 2012 from
grieved citizens. Chandy been reported as against 1,132
14 (20) MADHYA PRADESH 521 in 2011.
listened to all their problems in 2011; number of murders
15 (9) CHHATTISGARH and offered on-the-spot solu- have almost halved at 183 in
16 (8) RAJASTHAN tions. In every district, the 2012 from 521 in 2011.
programme would start at 8 a.m. and go Kerala’s police-population ratio is
17 (7) ANDHRA PRADESH on till the easy hours of the next day. 1: 725 in 2012 compared to 1: 800 in
18 (5) MAHARASHTRA By the time the mass contact pro- 2009. With 16,000 new recruits in the
gramme was over, the Chief Minister had last five years, the total strength of the
19 (13) KARNATAKA
heard a total of 545,298 cases, found Kerala Police force is over 50,000.
20 (3) JAMMU & KASHMIR immediate solutions to 297,212 cases “Kerala is the only state where there is
and doled out Rs 30.19 crore at an aver- no vacancy in the police force,” says
RANK SMALL STATES 2012 age of Rs 1,017 per person. Jacob Punnuse, who retired as the direc-
“Critics call it tokenism and ask me tor general of police in October.
1 (7)* GOA why I should do the job of a village offi- by M.G. Radhakrishnan
2 (1) MANIPUR
3 (8) DELHI C SHANKAR

4 (10) MIZORAM
5 (4) NAGALAND
7 (3) MEGHALAYA
8 (5) TRIPURA
9 (9) SIKKIM
10 (2) PUDUCHERRY

2 97,212 number
of complaints the chief minister
resolved during his month-long mass
contact programme in 14 districts. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy (left) with his colleagues


HAND J

GOA MOST IMPROVED SMALL STATE
MANDAR DEODHAR/www.indiatodayimages.com

Chief Minister
Manohar Parrikar
listens to citizens’
grievances at the
Secretariat

Public Comes First
tension in Margao in 2011
over a Muslim graveyard
but timely action by the po-
lice brought the situation
oa has made remarkable holds the home portfolio. In under control. “There has

G progress in maintaining law
and order in the last one year.
According to Chief Minister Manohar
the first six months of this
year, there were 66 cases in
which tourists visiting Goa CM’S DURBAR
been no riot in Goa in the
last one year,” says Kishan
Kumar, DGP, Goa.
Parrikar, 64 per cent crimes were fell victim to thefts, burgla- Every Thursday, the The otherwise lethargic
solved in 2011-12, a big leap from just ries and accidents. The Chief Minister meets administration is moving
39 per cent the previous year. The number was 129 in 2011. people at the in fast gear since Parrikar
police-population ratio in the state is The state government is secretariat to listen took over in March this
287 per 100,000 population as also working towards to their grievances year. “Earlier, a junior
against 216 per 100,000 population bringing transparency to and delivers engineer would take at
verdicts instantly.
at the national level. The state gov- the police force. least 12 hours to fix water
ernment will soon raise the number of In November 2011, two supply problems in my
police stations from 24 to 32. policemen were suspended constituency. Now, he
Between February and May, 22 for misbehaving with a female jour- reaches the spot within a few minutes
cases of rape were reported and nalist whom they allegedly called a of a phone call,” says Prabhakar Naik,
arrests were made in 20 of them, sex worker because she had been a resident of Sanguelim.
claims the Chief Minister, who also roaming around Miramar beach at Parrikar’s people-oriented gover-
10 p.m. The same year, police busted nance has won over Goa’s middle-
is the number of police an international narcotics syndicate class. Every Thursday, he meets

287 personnel in Goa for a
population of one lakh.The
national figure stands at 216.
and two senior officers were sus-
pended for their alleged involvement
in the racket. There was communal
people at the secretariat to listen to
their grievances and delivers his ver-
dict on the spot. by Kiran Tare


State of the states

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