Human development indicators across the poorer States with a high concentration of marginalised groups are catching up with the national average, according to the latest figures released by the Institute of Applied Manpower Research (IAMR) under the Planning Commission. The data suggest that these socially disadvantaged groups are starting to share benefits of the process of human development.
However, when comparing the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes with Muslims in terms of human development input and outcome indicators, Muslims have consistently improved better than other marginalised groups.
The eight poorer States — Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand — are home to nearly 48 per cent of all the SCs, 52 per cent of all the STs and 44 per cent of all Muslims in the country.
The report — an updated version of the Human Development Report-2011: Towards Social Inclusion — ranks Delhi, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab among the best performing States in human development indicators, while Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha are the worst performers. Most other States, including Gujarat, have more or less remained the same.
The report further points out that the importance of good governance and massive social mobilisation by State governments gets reflected in the performance of all the social groups. For instance, the SCs and the OBCs in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are better off than the upper castes in Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh in terms of various health indicators.
Similarly, the SCs in Delhi and Kerala have higher literacy rates than the upper castes in Bihar and Rajasthan. Muslims in Jammu & Kashmir and A.P. are better than Hindus not only in their own States but also in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat in terms of some health outcomes.
As the mainstream population in the northeast, the STs have social indicators that are a lot better than the forest dwelling STs in the central and eastern belt of India. The STs, especially in States affected by extremist violence, are only worse off than other social groups not only in their respective States but also their counterparts in the rest of the country.
