Money spent per student three times the national average More affordable houses needed for the poor. The 2012-2013 economic survey of Delhi which was tabled in the Assembly on Tuesday threw up some interesting facts with regard to the transport,housing,environment and education sectors in the state. Despite governments efforts to strengthen public transport in the state,commercial vehicles taxis and auto-rickshaws have registered a sharp increase over the years. However,the resultant rise in air pollution is something the government has failed to address adequately,the survey shows. According to the economic survey, pollution,depletion and degradation of resources did not get as much attention as compared to the issues of growth and development. Here are some of the findings of the survey. HOUSING With the regularisation of unauthorised colonies a big ticket poll promise for the Congress the emphasis on housing for economically weaker sections of society has grown. Experts assert that the several hundred unauthorised colonies came up in Delhi due to the lack of affordable housing. Incidentally,the Economic Survey shows that the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) was unable to utilise funds to construct EWS houses under JnNURM since 2009. .Such funds were not allocated to DDA in the revised plan outlay for 2009 to 2012, the survey reads. According to the survey,more than 56 per cent of households were under the category of owned, 37 per cent constitutes rented and seven per cent constitutes other categories. EDUCATION Education in the national capital seems to come at a high price. The Economic survey of 2012-2013 states that the annual expenditure on education per student in Delhi was more than three times that of the national average. The annual expenditure per student in Delhi is Rs 9,377 compared to the national average of Rs 3,058 while the per capita expenditure on education increased from Rs 1,050 in 2005-2006 to Rs 2,969 in 2011-2012. According to the survey,28 per cent of primary and middle students attend private schools. At the secondary and senior secondary level,the figure increased to 43 per cent. Despite the governments efforts to strengthen public transport in the national capital,the demand for taxis and other passenger vehicles only seems to increase. And with travel demands in the city only rising,the economic survey of Delhi for 2012-2013 shows a phenomenal increase in the number of taxis and other passenger vehicles,while mass public transport lags way behind. Figures show that taxis and other passenger vehicles have increased by a whopping 707 per cent and 313 per cent in the last decade,while buses have increased only by 120.77 per cent. According to the survey,The number of vehicles in Delhi is increasing at a high rate,from 31.64 lakh in 1999-2000 to 74.53 lakh in 2011-2012. The highest growth of vehicles in this period was observed in taxis,while other passenger vehicles and cars and jeeps follow. According to the economic survey,the economics of environmental pollution,depletion and degradation of resources did not get as much attention as compared to the issues of growth and development,despite Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit holding the environment portfolio. the survey also shows that air and water pollution in the national capital show an alarming increase in recent years. According to the report,SO2 and NO2 levels have risen since 2007 to an all-time high since 2000. The 48-km stretch of the Yamuna River in Delhi is highly polluted due to the flow of untreated sewage and the discharge of inadequately treated industrial effluents, the survey states.
