Internal disparities: The state of Indian states matters

Reform action is expected to move to Indian states and it's important for our laggards to catch up

- NARAYAN RAMACHANDRAN

Ask a question about the relative performance of Indian states and most Indians will recall the term 'BIMARU'. This acronym, attributed to analyst Ashish Bose, was coined in the mid-1980s and referred to laggard states in terms of economic and human development indicators (HDI): Bihar, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (UP). The word was used pejoratively, since it translates from Hindi as 'sick'.

In the intervening 40 years, much has happened. First, these four states have become seven states, with Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand having been carved out in 2000 from Bihar, MP and UP respectively. Since birth, Uttarakhand has been a well-performing state in terms of state GDP per capita (GSDP per capita) as well as HDI. Having broken away from the pack, Uttarakhand ranks in the middle of the all-states charts on GSDP per capita, in the bottom third on population growth and in the top quartile on GSDP growth, while it is below the national average on its fertility rate and well above the same on its literacy rate.

Rajasthan has moved up from the bottom of the chart to a lower-middle level in terms of GSDP per capita and in terms of its fertility rate, but still lags on some indicators like its literacy rate, on which it is about 8 percentage points below the national average of 78%. Its proximity to Delhi and focus on tourism have helped the state greatly. On current trends, it seems likely that Rajasthan will gradually rise above the 'BIMARU' acronym by the end of this decade. MP too has grown its GSDP significantly, particularly on the back of strong agricultural production.