Purusottam Nayak

Efficiency of Pena’s P2 Distance in Construction of Human Development Indices

The paper is an attempt to evaluate the efficiency of Pena’s DP-2 method over a host of methods used to make composite indices. To undertake this exercise, variables and data used and methodology adopted in Human Development Report 2011 are employed along with nine other methodologies employed by other scholars. Although there is no agreed principle of judging an index to be best among alternative indices, it may be suggested that the composite index which is most informative among all other indices may be considered as the most acceptable one. The present study reveals that Pena-DP2 index and Penmax index have close similarity. Computationally, Pena’s method of construction of index is much simpler, but the interpretation of Penmax index is more straightforward. On the other hand, Maxmin index is norm-based and has a justification on Wald’s principle of decision-making. The Maxmin index also is the most egalitarian index against the Principal Component based index, which is known to be most elitist. On ‘sum of absolute correlation’ and ‘sum of squared correlation’, too, the Maxmin index is superior to other indices. It appears, therefore, that the Maxmin composite index which is obtained by maximization of minimum of correlation between the composite index and the constituent variables is a better than others. Further, if we go by the argument of Neumann and Morgenstern none of the composite indices is a cardinal measure in the strict sense of measurement.

Gender Inequality in North East India

The present paper is an attempt to analyze the status of gender inequality in North East India using various indicators based on secondary data. The study reveals that the northeast is better off than that of the nation as a whole in terms of gender equality. However inequality between women and men exists in the region in spite of the predominance of various ethnic groups who by and large do not believe in sex discrimination. The study reveals that women are relatively disempowered and enjoy somewhat lower status than that of men in the region. Gender gap exists in terms of access to education, employment and health. A large gender gap exists in political participation both at the levels of state and nation. Among the northeastern states, Meghalaya, Manipur and Mizoram show relatively lesser degree of gender inequality in terms of work participation, literacy, infant mortality and sex ratio. The situation is however adverse in case of Tripura, Assam and Sikkim. The study concludes with an observation that access to education, employment and health are only the enabling factors that may not guarantee the achievement towards the goal, which however, largely depends on the mindset of the people.

Women Empowerment in Assam

The present paper is an attempt to analyze the status of women and their empowerment in terms of various indicators such as access to education, employment, household decision making power, financial autonomy, freedom of movement, exposure to media, political participation, experience of domestic violence etc in the state of Assam using secondary data obtained from various sources. The study reveals that development process in the state is not gender neutral; women enjoy quite inferior status as compared to the average women in India. Percentage of women in the government services and their political participation is quite low and does not show any sign of significant improvement. Sex ratio though not in favor of women is improving over time. Women enjoy better status in the state as compared to women in India in terms of decision making power at the household level while the situation is reverse in case of their financial autonomy and sexual violence. Inter district disparity is rampant in the state. Districts like Kamrup and Tinisukia in spite of having high per capita DDP have not been able to transform the development effort to bridge the gender gap. Districts with high literacy rates are having high proportion of female main and marginal workers and low proportion of non-workers. Higher the literacy higher is the female workforce participation rate. Female enrolment rate is below fifty per cent in spite of universalisation of primary education and provision of mid day meal schemes. Although Government has undertaken a number of steps the situation has remained gloomy mainly because the educated women are not forward looking and cherish the baseless age old customs. There is a need to create awareness towards achieving the desired goal of women empowerment in the state.

Human Development in Northeastern Region of India: Issues and Challenges

The paper is a brief account of findings of various human development reports published either by UNDP or Govt. of India or by individual state governments on the states of northeast India. The findings reveal that achievement of northeastern region is quite reasonable in comparison to all India average situations in respect of human development indicators for both the sexes but it has miserably failed in bringing commensurate economic growth. There exits wide spread disparity of socioeconomic achievements across different states and from urban to rural areas. In spite of being a tribal belt and in some cases having matrilineal society women are to be at par with that of men. If the problems of poor economic growth, overall development and gender disparities are not properly addressed the region may fall into the trap of vicious quadrant instead of moving to a virtuous one.The paper is a brief account of findings of various human development reports and studies undertaken by individual researchers on the states of northeast India. The findings reveal that achievement of northeastern region is quite satisfactory in comparison to all India average achievements in some dimensions of human development but it has miserably failed in bringing commensurate economic growth and equitable distribution. There exists wide spread disparity of socioeconomic achievements across different states and within, from urban to rural areas and between male and female. If the problems of poor economic growth, poverty, gender disparity and general health of the people are not properly addressed the region may fall into the trap of vicious quadrant instead of moving to a virtuous one. The way out from this trap is through achievement of a productive, balanced and sustainable economy with appropriate intervention in health sector and poverty alleviation programs.

A State Level Analysis of the Status of Social Sector in India

Social sector with the objective to satisfy the welfare needs of the people and to correct the imbalances in the economy claims a sizeable proportion of the public expenditure and has emerged as a significant sector. This paper in this regard is a state level analysis on the growth of public expenditure vis-a-vis status of social sector in India using secondary data for the period from 1990-91 to 2012-13. Status of social sector has been ascertained through construction of composite indices based on available important techniques using 12 indicators variables on health and education. The findings reveal that in India, especially after the year 2000-01, the allocation of resources on the social sector has gained momentum. It is observed that population-wise smaller states such as Mizoram, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Puducherry and Uttarakhand with more development-oriented attitude have achieved a good progress on social sector. On the other hand, states such as Punjab, Kerala, Jharkhand, Bihar, W. Bengal, Nagaland, Tamil Nadu and Tripura are at the lower end. To further improve the status of social sector in different states/UTs it is important that the public expenditure on this sector keeps its pace undaunted, but, perhaps, it is more important that fiscal and financial management is streamlined and its governance is improved.

Vicious Circle of Insurgency and Underdevelopment in North East India

The present paper is an attempt to assess the nexus between insurgency and underdevelopment in North East India. To achieve this end first various dimensions of insurgencies towards achievement of different goals in different states in the region are narrated. The impact of insurgency on infrastructure, industry including petroleum and tea, and environment are then analyzed. The origin and persistent existence of ethnic separatism in the form of insurgency is explained through the theory of Cooperative Conflicts. The authors state that it is not easy to break the vicious circle of insurgency and underdevelopment. The problem cannot be tackled solely by administrative, political or economic measures in isolation. It requires a holistic approach and a great deal of patience and understanding of the specific problems of different socio-cultural-ethnic groups. Since conflict between equity and efficiency is very sharp in the region, development projects must have social approval at the grass-root level given the diversities of population. Besides, projects must be ecologically sustainable. Centrally allocated fund to the region need to be matched by significant amount of resource generation at local levels in order to make the ethnic groups realize the hazards of wasteful expenditure and the sense of responsibility towards nation building.

Status of Development of NE States in India in the National Perspective

The present paper intends to bring out the position of the North Eastern States vis-a-vis the other states of India in matters of prosperity on the basis of the most recent available as well as comparable data compiled from secondary sources. Development or prosperity encapsulates and represents a multidimensional connotation. To capture the multidimensionality of development, this paper visualizes eight aspects of development, namely (i) physical infrastructure, (ii) social or institutional infrastructure (ii) industrial performance (iv) service sector and openness of the region, (v) human development, (vi) employment of the human resources, (vii) privatization of industry and investment and (viii) public efforts expressed in terms of govt. expenditure to facilitate promotion, maintenance and governance of development activities. Applying the Principal Component Analysis the study measures the indices of prosperity and rank of different states accordingly. The findings reveal that although overall infrastructure is unsatisfactory in the entire northeast, the state of Tripura has done commendably well with respect to industrialization and Assam has done well in privatization. In other aspects of development there is a mixed scenario mainly due to rigidities, gaps, and imbalances in priorities and the efforts made to promote different aspects in coordination with each other. Success in achievement in human development in some states is mostly due to the contributions made by the missionaries and easy flow of funds from the Centre. Impact of globalization is unobservable and privatization is at the back end. Private investment from within the region is not coming up and investment from outside is not encouraged due to protectionist attitude. Two important factors such as land and labor that are crucial to private investment are the major stumbling block in the region because of prevalent land laws and the so-called problems associated with migration of laborers from outside the region.

Gender Disparity and Women Empowerment in Assam

The present paper is an attempt to analyze the status of women vis-a-vis men and their empowerment in terms of various socioeconomic and political indicators such as access to education, employment, household decision making power, financial autonomy, freedom of movement, exposure to media, political participation, experience of domestic violence etc in the state of Assam using secondary data obtained from various sources. The study reveals that development process in the state is not gender neutral; women enjoy quite inferior status as compared to the average women in India. Percentage of women in the government services and their political participation is quite low and does not show any sign of significant improvement. Sex ratio though not in favor of women is improving over time. Women enjoy better status in the state as compared to women in India in terms of decision making power at the household level while the situation is reverse in case of their financial autonomy and sexual violence. Inter district disparity is rampant in the state. Districts like Kamrup and Tinsukia in spite of having high per capita DDP have not been able to transform the development effort to bridge the gender gap. Districts with high literacy rates are having high proportion of female main and marginal workers and low proportion of non-workers. Higher the literacy higher is the female workforce participation rate. Female enrolment rate is below fifty per cent in spite of universalization of primary education and provision of mid-day meal schemes. Although Government has undertaken a number of steps the situation has remained gloomy mainly because the educated women are not forward looking and cherish the baseless age old customs. There is a need to create awareness towards achieving the desired goal of women empowerment in the state.