Three states A 10-year journey

Here is a piece of statistic where Jharkhand leads: eight chief ministers in the last 10 years. The other two states have had relatively more stable governments,but that’s because the political space is primarily occupied by the two major national parties,the Congress and the BJP,who are pitted against each other. Jharkhand,on the other hand,has a large number of regional parties—Shibu Soren’s JMM,Lalu Prasad’s RJD,Ram Vilas Paswan’s LJP,Babulal Marandi’s JVM and Nitish Kumar’s JD(U). The two national parties here aren’t strong enough to form governments on their own. Result: kissa kursi ka plays out almost every year in Jharkhand.

The economy

The three states have almost doubled their Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) since their inception. Chhattisgarh grew at 8.78 per cent in the period between 2000 and 2008-9 while Uttarakhand grew at 9.45 per cent. Only Jharkhand,with an average growth of 7.6 per cent,is marginally behind the average annual national GDP growth of 7.9 per cent.

Given that these states started with a low economic base as compared to their parent states,their annual GSDP growth rate was expected to be better than that of their parent states. This,in fact,has been the case for Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand,both of which grew faster than Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh respectively every year since they were carved out. Jharkhand,on the other hand,has fared worse than Bihar in the last four years.

What is heartening is that all the three states have increased their tax revenue (as percentage of GSDP) during the 10-year period,with Uttarakhand outperforming the other two. While Uttarakhand has managed to increase its tax collections from about 2 per cent in 2000-01 to 13 per cent during 2008-09,Chhattisgarh has increased its tax collection from 3 per cent to 8 per cent during the same period and Jharkhand’s has increased from a little over 2 per cent to 7 per cent.

Socio-Economic

If one were to take power generation and infant mortality as two indicators for the performance of states on the infrastructure and social sector front,the record of these states are mixed. Jharkhand seems to have faltered with virtually no power generation since 2000 (stagnant at 1,390 MW). In contrast,both Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand have enhanced their power generation capacity by over 40 per cent in the last 10 years (Chhattisgarh: from 1,400 MW in 2000-01 to 2,058 MW in 2008-09,Uttarakhand: 954 MW to 1,358 MW during this period).

In the social sector,estimates of Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) by the Registrar General of India suggest improvement by all the three states between 2000 and 2008. While Chhattisgarh reduced its IMR (number of deaths per 1,000 children born) from 79 to 57,Jharkhand’s came down from 70 to 46,and Uttarakhand’s from 54 to 44. In the same period,the national IMR came down from 68 to 53.

Challenges

While Uttarakhand’s economy has benefited from the Special Industrial Package offered to the industry by the NDA-led central government in 2003,these special benefits—in the form of tax holidays and other concessions—came to an end this year. The state is pressing the Centre hard to extend this package till 2020,but it will have to create its own incentive structures to attract private investment.

While Jharkhand will need political stability to infuse investors’ confidence,it has to grapple with the challenges of Naxalism,given the fact that 11 of the country’s 35 worst Naxal-affected districts are here.

Chhattisgarh has come up with innovations in areas of governance. However,the state needs to tackle Naxalism since seven of the country’s worst-hit Naxal districts are here.

-Ravish Tiwari

Uttarakhand

Ground report: Health

108 helps cover some distance,a long road ahead

Rohit Kumar is only in his twenties but has already helped usher in many new lives. As an emergency medical technician with Uttarakhand’s 108 emergency service,he attends about 8 to 10 calls every day,most of them from people involved in accidents or pregnant women wanting to get to a hospital. “Often,the women deliver in the ambulance itself. I have undergone training at the women’s wing of Doon Hospital to deal with such situations,” says Kumar.

As Uttarakhand celebrates 10 years of statehood,its residents may be divided over the progress the state has made,but 108 is a three-digit success that nobody disputes. The toll-free emergency service is a public-private partnership between GVK Emergency Management and Research Institute and the Uttarakhand Government and was launched two years ago in the state. Uttarakhand was the first state in north India to adopt this service.

In a state where access is difficult and transport is lacking,access to medical care remains the biggest problem. So,while health remains a field where a lot needs to be still done,the state government appears to have responded to at least this need of the people.

Anoop Nautiyal,COO of the GVK Institute in Uttarakhand,says institutionalised deliveries in the state have gone up. “We are not saying all of them have happened because of this service but a large number of them have. About 35 per cent of our calls are regarding pregnancies,15 per cent are related to road accidents,” he says. Between May 15,2008,and October 31,2010,1,859 births have taken place in these ambulances itself.

While Dehra Dun has a fleet of fifteen such ambulances that serve both the urban and rural regions of the district,there are 108 such ambulances in the state,stationed at every block headquarter.

The ambulances are fitted with a life support system,two oxygen cylinders,an ECG machine and stretchers and ropes to help patients down tricky slopes and administer aid to them during the often tough journey. A doctor is available at the centre’s call centre in Dehra Dun 24×7 to advise the technician on what to do in case of an emergency.

“When Uttarakhand signed the MoU in March 2008,it became the third state to do so. In fact,the government moved quick and the agreement was signed in nine days,” says 40-something Nautiyal who studied in Delhi,worked abroad and had a long stint at the European clothing company H&M before he decided to return to his home state to “do something”.

The 108 service is now spreading its wings. It has signed MoUs with the police department,the state women’s commission and with the Forest Department,which means it can be called in case of a crime,natural disaster and even a forest fire. Uttarkhand is also set to become the first state to extend this service by soon launching boat and helicopter ambulances.

-Devyani Onial

Jharkhand

Ground report: Roads

So far,a bumpy ride

Ask Chief Minister Arjun Munda to cite one achievement Jharkhand has made since its inception in 2000 and he says,“As of now,none. But we are determined to put the state on the fast track to development.”

But so far,there are no fast tracks and the state’s story has been one of long,bumpy rides along its potholed,or even non-existent,roads. This is a state where nearly 40.4 per cent villages are cut off from the rest of the state due to lack of roads despite having got over Rs 600 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna in 2009-10.

Dalit and adivasi villages in Latehar,Garhwa and Dumka districts have never seen pucca roads. It’s no coincidence then that these are some of the worst Naxal-affected areas of the state.

The latest data of the state Road Construction Department shows the average road density per 1,000 square km in Jharkhand is 14.66 km,well below the national average of 16.12 km.

But none of this is due to lack of funds. As per a statement of accounts released by the Union Ministry of Rural Development,Jharkhand received over Rs 600 crore under PMGSY in 2009-2010 and the state spent only Rs 450 crore.

The failure of the state government to utilise the funds was attributed to lack of staff and unavailability of competent contractors and extortion by Naxalites.

-Manoj Prasad

Chhattisgarh

Ground report:

Public Distribution System

A bagful of reform

The yellow truck brings good news. Food is on its way. These are vans of Chhattisgarh’s Food Supplies Department and are proof of the state’s success in reforming its Public Distribution System (PDS). Ten years after Chhattisgarh was carved out of Madhya Pradesh,if there is one big success story in the state that is battling poverty and Naxalism,it’s PDS.

Even in tribal areas,where Naxals have a strong presence,PDS is not an issue as the rebels and their sympathisers acknowledge that majority of the 36 lakh Below Poverty Line (BPL) card holders in the state are genuine.

About 42.52 per cent of the state’s 2.08 crore population—including those in the impoverished tribal areas of Bastar in the south and Sarguja region in the north—are covered under PDS. By the sixth of every month,the state’s 10,465 fair price shops get their supply of commodities.

Under the Chief Minister’s Food Security Scheme,Chhattisgarh provides 35 kg of rice every month at the rate of two rupees per kg to BPL families and one rupee per kg to Antodaya families or the ‘poorest of the poor’.

Streamlining the PDS involved breaking the nexus between powerful rice mills,fair price shops and staff of the food and civil supplies department. A year after the December 2003 polls,the BJP government led by Raman Singh cancelled the licences of 2,852 privately-run shops.

The reforms followed. Ration shops were allotted to 4,058 cooperative societies,4,043 gram panchayats,2,278 self-help groups and to 170 multi-purpose societies. The State Civil Supplies Corporation was entrusted with the responsibility of door-step delivery to all the fair price shops,a move that eliminated multiple agencies and reduced the chances of pilferage once the commodities reached the villages. Besides,all vehicles carrying PDS commodities were coloured yellow so that people could raise an alert if it was diverted.

Another unique feature is the extensive use of Information and Communication Technology —automated allotment calculation for PDS schemes,monthly submission of sales details by fair price shops and a computerised database of ration cards.

“The role of citizens in monitoring PDS has achieved better results. Whenever PDS commodities are dispatched to a shop from the warehouse,an SMS is sent to all the mobile numbers registered with that particular fair price shop,” explains Deputy Director (Food) Rajeev Jaiswal.

State Chief Secretary P Joy Oommen says,“A focused system as ours will succeed only if there is constant and rigorous monitoring at all levels.”

“People began thinking that an effective PDS and timely availability of commodities in fair price shops is their right. That’s the real success,as this awareness will further strengthen the system,” says Chief Minister Raman Singh.

-Joseph John