Human Development in Arunachal Pradesh
The human development index (HDI) is basically a composite index based on three dimensions of human development—income, health and education. In conventional analysis a country is called rich or poor mainly on the basis of a single indicator—the per capita income. The HDI, on the other hand, puts equal emphasis on all the three dimensions of development. Thus, different indicators of development like per capita income, life expectancy, adult literacy and enrolment ratio are used to construct a single index—the human development index.
In terms of HDI the position of Arunachal Pradesh is dismal, ranking 14th among the 16 major states of India. At a disaggregated level, in Arunachal Pradesh, the district East Siang with an HDI of 0.660 ranks first among the 13 districts, followed by Dibang Valley with an HDI of 0.659. The district of Papum Pare in which the capital complex, Itanagar is situated ranks third with an HDI of 0.573. Further it has been observed that the hilly districts have a lower HDI compared to that of the plain districts.
The spatially uneven process of development in the State has created new challenges and constraints. Usually, the districts or areas bordering Assam, and within the district areas near the urban, administrative centres have better infrastructural facilities than the interiors.
Arunachal Pradesh has been the home of a number of tribes and sub-tribes, and many of them have limited mobility beyond their well-defined local boundaries. Interregional disparities in the State, therefore, have an additional implication—as in many cases, it may reflect inter-tribal disparities to a certain extent.
Though the state has been relatively free from secessionist violence and insurgency, its development performance, particularly in terms of the human development indicators, has not been satisfactory.
Health of Human Development in Arunachal Pradesh
The right to lead a long, healthy and productive life is one of the fundamental prerequisite for human development. In fact, it is one of the essential indicators of peoples’ well-being and quality of life. Apart from the low levels of food and nutrition security, access to health care, education and income, critically conditions the survival and well-being of individuals.
Life Expectancy of Human Development in Arunachal Pradesh
The life expectancy at birth in Arunachal Pradesh is estimated to be 54.05 years, which is less than the national average of 63.30 years. Although, the health conditions in Arunachal Pradesh, by and large, have improved in the post-Independence decades, yet there are no reliable estimates of the changes in the health condition of people in the State.
Papum Pare is the district with the highest life expectancy at birth indicating the best of health status of the people among all the 15 districts of the State, followed by East Siang. At the other extreme is Kurung Kumey, which has a life expectancy of only 42.50 years.
Infant and Child Mortality of Human Development in Arunachal Pradesh
Infant mortality rate measures the health conditions in infancy and it is intricately enmeshed with the low economic conditions of the population. In general, a high IMR in a high fertility society is associated with illiteracy, low level of technology in production and poverty. As per the HDR survey, Arunachal Pradesh has a high IMR of 77.
The IMR in Arunachal Pradesh varies from 113 in Kurung Kumey to 53 in Lower Dibang Valley, the inter-district variation being quite large. In Arunachal Pradesh there are six districts with IMR higher than 90. There are five districts in Arunachal Pradesh with IMR higher than that of Orissa’, the state having the largest IMR.
Immunisation of Human Development in Arunachal Pradesh
The universal immunisation programme (UIP) was introduced by the Government of India in 1985-86 with the objective of covering at least 85 per cent of infants against six vaccine-preventable diseases by 1990. Subsequently, the programme was expanded to cover all the districts of the country and the target now is to achieve 100 per cent immunisation coverage. In spite of the programme being universal, a number of states in the country including Arunachal Pradesh have failed to really ‘universalise’ it.
Educational Attainments of Human Development in Arunachal Pradesh
Literacy Rates
The literacy rate for Arunachal Pradesh, according to 2001 census, is only 54.34 per cent, much lower than the national average of 64.80 per cent. Nevertheless, the State has made some progress in raising the literacy rate—from only 25.55 per cent in 1981 to 54.34 per cent in 2001. However, literacy rate in rural areas is as low as 47.8 per cent, and the rural-urban gap in literacy continues to be very high. Among the ST population literacy has gone up from 14.04 per cent in 1981 to 34.45 per cent in 1991 and further to 49.62 per cent in 2001. Adult literacy rate went up from 23.77 per cent in 1981 to 37.53 per cent in 1991, but in rural Arunachal Pradesh literacy was only 32.61 per cent, which was much below the other northeastern states.
Gender Gap in Literacy
The gender gap in literacy in Arunachal Pradesh as per 2001 census is 20.30 per cent points which is lower than the national average of 21.5 percentage points. The gap between male and female literacy rates in the State declined very slowly during 1981 to 2001. In rural areas, gender gap in literacy is sharper than that in urban areas. Although the gender gap in literacy has been narrowing down in the urban areas; it has remained at around 20 per cent points during the past two decades in rural areas—a fact that needs to be addressed in all future initiatives.
Enrolment
In Arunachal Pradesh, the educational infrastructure continues to be inadequate, but its expansion over the past three decades or so has been impressive. Children, as a result, have better access to schooling today in comparison with the past. Enrolment ratio in the age group 6-11 has gone up from 31.9 to 38.1 per cent, while in 11-14 age group it improved from 42.8 to 61.5 per cent during 1981 to 1991.
Dropout Rates
Improvements in enrolment, however, do not guarantee access to adequate levels of education. The dropout rates in relatively underdeveloped regions are very high. Dropout rates in classes I-V for children in Arunachal Pradesh have come down substantially from 73.9 per cent in 1981-82 to 46.85 per cent in 2004-05. It is still higher than the national average, but there seems to be very little improvement in reducing dropout rate at this stage in the past few years. The dropout rate at this stage had already reduced to 46.89 per cent in 1998-99.
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