UTTARAKHAND MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT

BY:DN BAROLA

RANIKHET: India is a welfare State, this is the reason the development of the Country is measured not by the number of people who are billionaires or trillionaires, but by the overall development of the people, poor and rich alike. The basic necessities of life like food, water, clothing, house, electricity,  medical facilities, education etc. have to be catered to by the Government or by those who have riches and they can easily afford and are willing to part with money or resources for the welfare of the people voluntarily. This is election time and everybody is confused by the propaganda of various political parties as also print and electronic media particularly because any negative event becomes news for the media.  There are debates, street gossips and speeches which would continue till elections are over. I was also lured by some people in fierce debate in the social media, particularly Facebook. At the moment people are discussing which political party or person would be able to cater to the needs of the people. Bharatiya Janta Party has been talking of Gujarat Model of development. The Congress talks of its achievements during UPA I and UPA II, but practically all political parties have their guns deployed towards the Congress, as it is the ruling party and everybody questions the Congress about the development during these 10 years. Sometimes back Am Admi Party (AAP) emerged in the scene and to the utter surprise of all achieved brilliant success in Delhi Vidhan Sabha Elections. Encouraged by this, the Party has thrown its lot in Parliamentary Elections also. Other State Level Parties have their own agendas and would be fighting the elections not only to achieve their State Level aspirations, but also to fulfil their dream of becoming the Prime Minister of India or to have their say in the selection of Prime Minister, so that they have a good bargaining capacity in the Centre after the elections. Gujarat Model of development has been highlighted in a big way. Most of the people felt that Gujarat Model of development is the best bet for the Country. Influenced by the publicity I also felt that this Model would be beneficial for the country. But I had a dig in the internet, I was startled to know that Uttarakhand can not only be compared on many parameters with Gujarat, but has performed better than Gujarat in many parameters.  The details are attached. The statistics revealed that Uttarakhand and Gujarat stand as under:

                                                            Uttarakhand at No.  Gujarat at No.

Per capita income                              8 (92,607)                    10 (89,668)

Infant Mortality rate                          18 (42)                         26 (54)

House-hold electricity                                   17  (87)                        16 (90.4)

Life Expectancy at Birth                     10 (69.8)                      11 (69.4)

Poverty percentage                            12 (11.3)                      15 (16.6)

Literacy rate                                       2   (82.5)                      13  (81.2)

Alcohol Consumption                                    4 (23.0%)                          NA

Worst Malnutrition States                NA                                 2  (16.3)

Electricity per Unit                                         Min.2.30, Max.3.35      Min.3.15 Max.5.20

State of Goa (2004.77 kWh) & Pondicherry (1864.5 kWh) account for maximum per capita consumption of electricity. While states of Bihar (117.48 kWh), Manipur (207.15 kWh) &. Assam (209.20 kWh).

Gujarat has a debt of Rs.1,38,978 Lac Crores on 31.3.2012, which is expected to touch Rs.1,76,000 Lac Crores as in 2013-14. Lacs. 10 Years back the debt was Rs. 45,301 Crores, which multiplied 4 times. Gujarat per Capita debt is 23,163 rupees.    Statistics for Uttarakhand was instantly not available. Would you believe Gujarat is the worst the worst malnutrition state of India? The following Chart tells the story.

Orissa 13.4%,   GUJARAT 16.3%,    Chhatisgarth 16.4% ,    Meghalaya 27.7%,    Bihar 24.1%,

These statistics are quite revealing. Except in House-hold Electricity, where Gujarat stands at No. 16 Uttarakhand is one step down at No. 17. I tried to know the reason behind it. We in Uttarakhand discuss and re-discuss matters of political importance at our leisure. The major political parties have continuously been lambasting time and again against each other and people start feeling that Uttarakhand is definitely a back-ward State. But this is not so. The fact is people in Uttarakhand are better off than those in other parts of India. Here you won’t find any Jhuggi, Jhopri. You will also not find people who take birth on the roadside, spend their life time and die there itself. Here everybody has a house, some agriculture land, some gold and some income which may be sufficient or insufficient for their livelihood, but starvation deaths have never been reported from the hills. The incidence of liquor has an adverse bearing on the economic condition of the poor. Otherwise life is comparatively easy going and peaceful. Crime rate is negligible in comparison to the plains. No doubt improvements are required in every field and we all have to try for this as adverse publicity gives rise to tourists getting discourage to visit the hills. Politics apart it would be a wise step if the Government and the people talk of Uttarakhand Model of development with facts and figures and attract people to visit Uttarakhand. This will go a long way to improve further the economic condition of the people of the hills. (D.N.Barola)

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                Some Statistics on

UTTARAKHAND MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT

STATE-WISE INFANT MORTALITY RATE 2005

GUJARAT – 54%o; UTTARAKHAND – 42%O

   1. Manipur……………………………… 13           LOWEST MORTALITY

18. UTTARAKHAND……………….......42         UTTARAKHAND

26. GUJARAT……………………………..54           GUJARAT

35.  Madhya Pradesh………………..76            HIGHEST MORTALITY

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All India**………………………………….58

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Source: Office of the Registrar General of India, Ministry of Home Affairs.

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Per Capita Income Of Various Indian States [2013 Update]

UTTARAKHAND NO.8; GUJARAT NO.10

1)  2,01,083…..            Delhi

8)     92,607…...Uttarakhand  

10)   89,668…...Gujarat

32)   28,317…… Bihar

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Comparison of Electricity rates per Unit in Uttarakhand and Gujarat

Uttarakhand - Minimum  rates Rs. 2.30 Per Unit

                             Maximum rates Rs. 3.35 Per Unit.

Gujarat-------- -Minimum  rates Rs. 3.15  Per Unit

                             Maximum rates Rs. 5.20 Per Unit

Indian states ranking by households having electricity 2011

1)...Lakshdweep…..99.7

2)...Delhi………….99.1

16).GUJARAT …...90.4

17).Uttarakhand…..87.0

35). Bihar………....16.4

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LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH (2011)

Gujarat stands at No.11 & Uttarakhand at No.10!!

1)…….Kerala………………..76.8

10)……Uttarakhand……..69.8

        11)…..GUJARAT…………..69.4

        28).Madhya Pradesh…..65.0

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State-wise Poverty percentage basis 2011-12

Uttarakhand at No.12; Gujarat at No.15

1)…Goa…………………….5.1

12)..Uttarakhand…….11.3

15)..GUJARAT………….16.6     

30)..Chhatisgarh………39.9

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State-wise Rate of Literacy % in India

GUJARAT NO.13; UTTARAKHAND. NO.12

1)..Kerala……………….95.5

2)..Uttarakhand……..82.5

13).GUJARAT…………..81.2

28).Bihar……………..67.2

Five states with highest number of men consuming alcohol

1) Chhattisgarh….... 31.6%

2) Jharkhand………  24.6%

3) Assam……………   23.8%
4)Uttarakhand....23.0%
5) Odisha…………… 21.0%

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WOULD YOU BELIEVE GUJARAT IS THE WORST MALNUTIRITION STATE OF INDIA?
1)Orissa……….. 13.4%,

2)GUJARAT. …..16.3%,

3)Chhatisgarth..16.4% ,

4)Meghalaya….. 27.7%,

5)Bihar …………..24.1%,

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