14

INCLUSIVE GROWTH : AN INDIAN EXPERIENCE

Dyuti Sinha (email:

Avishek Chatterjee (email:

Department of Economics
The University of Burdwan

Category: Postgraduate

ABSTRACT

“Inclusive Growth” is the new mantra of the national and international agencies which came into
limelight in India in the Approach paper to the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012). The strategy
highlighted was “Towards a faster and more inclusive growth”. The paper talked of bridging the
differences between the haves and the have-nots, between the rural and the urban areas, between the
employed and the under-employed, between different states, districts and communities and finally
between genders[1]; and avoiding exclusion of large sections of our population.

Our attempt has been to study “inclusiveness” in India over the past two decades based on few social
and human development indicators. We have chosen 7 states of India but not arbitrarily. In fact these
have been selected such that they represent eastern, western, central, northern and southern India so
that we have an overview of inclusive growth across the country.

The focused states are: Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Kerala.

The entire population is divided into two categories: General, Reserved.

Reserved Category includes Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
General Category includes the major religions of India.(delete)

Further each of the categories would have gender wise sub-divisions.

The area of our research for the selected states in the mentioned categories would be based broadly on:

1. Health 2.Education 3.Employment.

THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS[2]:

Since its launch at the Millennium Summit in New York in September 2000, internationally, the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have become very widely accepted yardstick of development
efforts. The goals are:

• Halving income-poverty and hunger

• Achieving universal primary education

• Promoting Gender equality and empowering women

• Reducing infant and child mortality by 2/3 rd

• Combating HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases

• Halving the proportion of people without access to safe water and ensuring environmental
sustainability

• Developing a Global partnership for Development

The targets are to be achieved by 2015 from their levels in 1990. India cannot hope to achieve MDGs
without drastic progress in the millennium development indicators in its poorest states – Bihar, Orissa,
Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Now let us analyse the situations of the chosen states among the diversed major social groups.

HEALTH:
Infant and Child Mortality:

The high infant mortality rate in the country continues to be a cause of concern. According to the recent
study conducted by the UNICEF, India is ranked 53 among 199 countries in terms of IMR. Although
rd

the UNICEF study has revealed that the IMR and the U5MR is on compared to other developed and
developing countries. In India the present U5MR is 93 and IMR is 67 for every 1000 live births. The
accepted level of U5MR is 10 and of IMR is less than 60 for every 1000 live births. In 1960, the IMR
and U5MR in India were 146 and 242; when compared to the world average of 82 for IMR and 56 for
U5MR, the figures for India are quite high.

IMR, LIFE EXPECTANCY AT BIRTH, CRUDE BIRTH RATE, CRUDE DEATH RATE

State IMR L.E at Birth* IMRBirth Death

IMR IMR IMRL.E at
(per 1000 live births) IMR IMR IMR Birth* Rate
L.E at
(in years) Birth*
(per 1000 live
births) Rate
(per 1000 live(in
births) years)
(per 1000 live(in
births) years)
(per 1000 live
births)
(per 1000 live
births)
(per 1000 live
births)
(per 1000 live
births)
1991 2001 2003 2003 2007 2007 2007
2003 2007 2002-2006 2002-
2006

2002-
2006
2007
T T M F T M F T M F T (Per 1000)
(Per 1000)
INDIA 77 71 57 64 60 61 37 55 62.6 64.2 63.5 23.1 7.4
Bihar 60 67 59 62 60 59 44 58 62.2 60.4 61.6 29.4 7.5
Gujarat 78 64 54 61 57 60 36 52 62.9 65.2 64.1 23 7.2
Kerala 42 16 11 12 11 14 10 13 71.4 76.3 74 14.7 6.8
M. Pradesh 133 97 77 86 82 77 50 72 58.1 57.9 58 28.5 8.7
Orissa 125 98 82 83 83 73 52 71 59.5 59.6 59.6 21.5 9.2
Punjab 74 54 46 52 49 47 35 43 68.4 70.4 69.4 17.6 7.0
W. Bengal 62 53 45 46 46 39 29 37 64.1 65.8 64.9 17.9 6.3
Source: SRS, Office of RGI, Ministry of Home Affairs; Economic Survey 2005-2006, 2002-2003 and National Human
Development Report 2001, Planning Commission.

*Data relating to Bihar, MP includes Jharkand, Chattisgarh except in the IMR for the years 2003, 2001, 1991.

From the above figure it is clear that India as a whole experienced a decline in IMR during the period,
1991-2001 and a sharper decline over the period, 2001-2003. After 2003 though the IMR has declined
but it has declined slowly. Though states like Madhya Pradesh and Orissa which had very high IMR in
1991 had improved in terms of reducing IMR during the period 1991-2001 yet their performance has
not been up to the mark after 2001, Madhya Pradesh being the worst performer. Kerala continues to be
the best performing state in terms of reduced IMR.

Now let us focus on the performance of different religions and communities in terms of IMR and
U5MR.

Every year roughly 1.75 million children die before reaching their first birthday. Estimates from
different surveys as well as indirect census-based estimates show that infant and childhood mortality
among Muslims is slightly lower than the average. Muslims are more urbanized than the general
population, and it is known that urban populations have lower mortality. Among the SRCs, SCs/STs
suffer from the highest infant and under-five mortality rate followed by Other Hindus[3].

INFANT AND UNDER-FIVE MORTALITY RATES (PER 1000 LIVE-BIRTHS) BY SRCs, 1998-
1999
Source: Socio Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India -

A Report by Prime Minister’s High Level Committee, G.O.I, November,2006.

PERCENT DECLINED IN IMR AND U5MR AMONG SRCs,1993-1994 TO 1998-1999

Source: Socio Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India -

A Report by Prime Minister’s High Level Committee, G.O.I, November,2006.

The figure indicates that while infant and U5MR declined between 1992-1993 and 1998-1999 among
all groups, they declined more rapidly among Muslims than amongst other Hindus. The Muslims have
experienced some of the largest declines in infant and under-five mortality of any social groups during
the 1990s.

In context to the life expectancy at birth, although the figures have increased yet they have increased at
decreasing rate. For the period 1981-1985, the life expectancy at birth was 5.6 years which had
increased by almost 4 years to 59.4 for the period 1989-1993, i.e. in 8 years span life expectancy at
birth increased by 4 years. But according to the recent estimates of NFHS-3, life expectancy at birth in
India for the period 2002-2006 is 63.5 years which shows an increase in life expectancy by 4 years over
a span of 12 years. Thus, in the light of adverse social, economical and environmental conditions, it can
be concluded from the discussion that though life expectancy has increased over time, it has increased
at a decreasing rate which is a matter of concern.

Thus from the above analysis on mortality and birth rates it is evident that states like Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh and Orissa have very high IMRs though they show a declining trend. Of all states Kerala
continues to be on the top in terms of attaining the lowest IMR(13/1000), U5MR, highest life
expectancy at birth(74 years), the lowest CBR(14.7) in contrast to the all India levels. West Bengal has
the lowest death rate(6.3) much lower than the all India average of 7.4.

Access of Women to Medical Facilities:

ACCESS OF WOMEN TO MEDICAL FACILITIES DURING PREGNANCY IN SELECTED

STATES OF INDIA
 % who received all% delivery in a% delivery assisted% delivery
recommended typehealth facility by medicalassisted by
of antenatal care personnel medical
personnel
5 yrs Institutional
before 2005 births %
2005-2006
INDIA 15.0 38.7 46.6 48.2 40.7
Bihar 05.8 19.9 29.3 30.9 22.0
Gujarat 25.6 52.7 63.0 64.7 54.6
Kerala 63.6 99.3 99.4 99.7 99.5
M. Pradesh 07.2 26.2 32.7 37.1 29.7
Orissa 18.4 35.6 44.0 46.4 38.7
Punjab 19.6 51.3 68.2 -* -*
W. Bengal 12.3 42.0 47.6 -* -*
Source: CBHI (2006b:88, 89), NFHS-3.

* - : Data could not be accessed

In context to the above data it is clear that except Kerala no other stare has a commendable access to
medical facilities. In India, 15 women out of every 100 women receive all recommended type of
antenatal care which itself is very unsatisfactory. Moreover states like Bihar (5.8), Madhya Pradesh
(7.2) and West Bengal (12.3) are much below the average that India had in 2005-2006. In the poor
states, there are a very nominal number of deliveries in a health facility with Bihar on top for
inaccessibility to delivery in a health facility. These situations may occur due to poor economic status,
remote location of the nearest health centre, family norms, or due to unavailability of doctors. There are
families, in some states, or to be particular in some religions/tribes who prefer child delivery at homes
than in any other institution or under any trained medical personnel. Over years, in between 2001 and
2005, though delivery assisted by doctors has increased, it has increased marginally and has not been
up to the mark.

TRENDS IN MATERNAL CARE INDICATORS:

NFHS-3 NFHS-2 NFHS-1

% who

received antenatal 76.9 65.8 64.6

care
% births delivered in

a health facility 40.8 33.6 26.1

% deliveries by
assisted
48.8 42.4 35.1
health personnels
Source: NFHS-3 (2005-2006)

Evidences from the 3 NFHS surveys reveal that availability and access to health facility, antenatal care
has improved over time since 1992-1993 (NFHS-1).

Now let us look into the situation with respect to religion and castes.

% DISTRIBUTION OF LIVE BIRTHS IN THE FIVE YEARS PRECEDING THE SURVEY (NFHS-
3, 2005-2006)

Religion/Caste % delivery in aDoctor’s No. of births % delivery by a

health facility assistance skilled provider

during delivery
Hindu 39.1 35.6 44,152 47.5
Muslim 33.0 36.2 9,641 38.8
Christian 53.4 48.1 1,109 60.2
Scheduled Caste 32.9 29.4 11,693 40.6
Scheduled Tribe 17.7 17.1 5,442 25.4
OBC 37.7 33.8 22,716 46.7
Source: NFHS-3 (2005-2006)

From the above data it can be said that in comparison to the Muslims, the Hindus were better off in
accessing to deliveries in a health facility by a skilled provider. Among the reserved group the STs
fared very badly than the SCs, who had very less access and availability of medical facilities for
delivery in a health facility and by a skilled professional doctor.

Gender Disparity[4]:

Gender disparity in health outcomes is very prominent in India. India has approximately 933 females to
every 1000 males, the low ratio being prevalent for more than 30 years. The largest gender inequalities
in India are found in the Northern States, notably Haryana and Punjab, despite their relative prosperity.
Among the Indian states, only Kerala had more women than men on 2001. The low ratio of women to
men is usually attributed to a preference for sons, discrimination against girls (which results in lower
female literacy among other things), female foeticide and higher mortality levels among females.

COMPARISON OF FEMALE AND MALE OUTCOMES IN INDIA (1998-1999)

Sex and Ratio Mortality per 1000 Live Births Mortality per 1000 Live Births
Mortality per 1000 Live Births Mortality per 1000 Live Births
Neo-Natal Post Neo- Natal Infant Under 5
Female 44.6 26.6 71.1 105.2
Male 50.7 24.2 74.8 97.9
Female Male

Sex Ratio 0.88 1.10 0.95 1.07

Source: IIPS and ORC Macro (2000)

Girls start out having lower mortality rates than do boys during the first month of life (the neo-natal
period), which accounts for their lower rates of infant mortality (i.e. death in the first year of life).
However, death rates in the post neo-natal period (age 1 month – 1 year)

and the whole period up to age 5 (under 5 mortality), are higher for girls (IIPS 2000). Girls have higher
childhood mortality despite the fact that boys are reported to have a higher prevalence of ARI and
similar levels of childhood death. This paradox may be explained by the fact that boys are more likely
to receive health care: 66.5% of boys with ARI[5] are taken to a health provider compared with 60.8%
of girls (IIPS 2000). Girls have marginally higher rates of malnutrition, which places them at higher
risk of severe illness and death.

The relative neglect of women’s health is also reflected in poor reproductive health indicators re-
establishing the fact that maternal mortality is very high in India. A major reason for the poor maternal
health outcomes are the high levels of malnutrition among women. In 1998-1999, 52% of all women in
the reproductive ages (15-49) were found to be anaemic and 36% were chronically malnourished (IIPS
2000).

Now we shall look into the disparity among the castes, tribes and the rest of the population in India.

HEALTH AMONG SCs, STs AND THE REST OF THE POPULATION IN INDIA, 1998-1999[6]

Outcome SCs STs Other Rest of the the

disadvantaged population
classes
IMR (per

1000 births) 83.0 84.2 76.0 61.8

U5MR (per

1000 births) 119.3 126.6 103.1 82.6

TFR 3.15 3.06 2.83 2.66
%children
underweight 47.3

53.5 55.9 41.1

% children

with anaemia 78.3 79.8 72.0 72.7

% anaemia

among women 56.0 64.9 50.7 47.6

Source: IIPS and ORC Macro (2000)

Data on health outcomes among STs and SCs show consistently that these groups are at a disadvantage.
Of all disadvantaged groups in India, STs tend to have the highest rate of infant and child mortality,
malnutrition and morbidity, followed by SCs and then by other disadvantaged (or backward) classes.

EDUCATION:
There exist large variations in educational achievements between different Indian states, between rural
and urban areas of the country, between males and females, between members of different castes[7].
To find out whether there has been an inclusive growth in the sphere of education we begin our
analysis with the exploration of the literacy situation in the country and then move our attention to the
other basic parameters of education such as enrolment rates, drop out rates and pupil-teacher ratio.
The analysis of all the parameters will be visualized under male-female category, general-reserved
category of the population, state wise comparisons and primary and secondary category of education.

Literacy:
Source: Office of the Registrar Government of India
The above column diagram shows the overall condition of literacy in the country which confirms that
there has been a substantial improvement in the literates in the country.
In the case of both male and female categories there has been a very positive trend towards literacy.
However the gap between male and female literates remains the same throughout the three decades.
With the improvement of the sex ratio it is important to reduce this gender disparity so as to fulfill the
inclusive strategy of growth. The state of school education in India today is far from adequate. India
has still not achieved the goal of providing free universal primary education, although according to one
of the directive principles of the Indian Constitution this goal was to have been achieved by 1960.

Source: Economic Survey 2002-2003

The above bar diagram gives a clear picture of the improvement of the different states in the field of
literacy. For all the states the literacy rates have increased over the three decades. In each of the states
literacy rates for both male and female population has improved substantially over the years.
However between the different states the disparity in literacy rates continues to exist. Moreover the
disparity in literacy rates between males and females in every state is clearly noted.
The highest and lowest literacy rates are observed in the case of Kerala and Bihar respectively.
This interstate disparity also needs to be reduced for maintaining the inclusiveness of the growth
process.
Let us now look at the literacy situation of the reserved category of the population:

TRENDS IN LITERACY RATESOF SC/ST IN INDIA BY SEX

SCs SCs
SCs STs
STs
STs
Years Male Female Persons Male Female Persons
1991 44.91 23.76 37.41 40.65 18.19 29.6
2001 66.64 41.9 54.69 59.17 34.76 47.10
Source: GDI 2001b and 2007c
From the above table it is seen that both SCs and STs has improved their literacy position in the
country in the last ten years. However the literacy position of SCs is better than that of STs.
Again for both the SCs and STs the literacy rates for males outweigh that of females.

COMPARISON BETWEEN THE LITERACY OF THE GENERAL AND RESERVED

CATEGORIES:
Source: Estimates from NSSO 61st Round, Sch10 (2004-05)
The above bar diagram clearly shows that in the present situation the General category registers the
highest literacy while the Muslims and SC/ST records the lowest.
As we move above the age groups in every category of the population there is decrease in the number
of literates. For the Muslims and SCs/STs there is much larger decrease in the number of literates in
higher age groups.
Thus there is also a disparity of literacy across various categories of the population.
Through social awareness and other relevant measures this situation needs to be taken care of for
reaching the goal of inclusiveness.

Gross Enrolment Ratio:

Gross enrolment ratio is the total enrolment in a specific level of education, regardless of age,
expressed as a percentage of the eligible official school-age population corresponding to the same level
of education in a given school year.
GROSS ENROLMENT RATIOS IN PRIMARY AND UPPER PRIMARY SCHOOLS
Primary (I-V) Primary (I-V)
Upper Primary (VI-VIII)
Upper Primary (VI-VIII)
Primary (I-V) Upper Primary (VI-VIII)
Year Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total
1980-81 95.8 64.1 80.5 54.3 28.6 41.9
1990-91 114 85.5 100.1 76.6 47 62.1
2000-01 104.9 85.9 95.7 66.7 49.9 58.6
Source: Selected Educational Statistics, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India
The above table shows that there has been an improvement in the enrollment ratios for both primary
and upper primary categories over 1980-1990. However there has been a decline in the ratios in 2000-
01.
The enrollment ratios are higher in primary category than in upper primary category over the three
decades.
Once again the enrollment ratios for boys are higher than girls throughout the three decades in both the
categories of education.
A sizeable proportion of students who are officially enrolled in schools do not move up to complete the
upper primary level (or 8 grade) of education. Elementary education in several parts of India are
th

characterized by over-crowded classrooms, lack of teaching aids, absence of classroom activity, poor
teaching standards, and a high rate of students repeating the same class[8].
With such disparities in enrollment ratios inclusiveness loses its validity.

Gross Drop-out Rates:

The gross drop-out rate represents percentage of pupils who drop out from a given grade or cycle or
level of education in a given school year.
GROSS DROP-OUT RATE IN PRIMARY, MIDDLE AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN INDIA
Year Primary Primary Middle
Primary Middle Middle Secondary
Secondary
Secondary
Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total
1980-81 56.2 62.5 58.7 68 79.4 72.7 79.8 86.6 82.5
1990-91 40.1 46 42.6 59.1 65.1 60.9 67.5 76.9 71.3
2000-01 39.7 41.9 40.7 50.3 57.7 53.7 66.4 71.5 68.6
2004-05 31.8 25.4 29.0 50.5 51.3 50.8 60.4 63.9 61.9
Source: Selected Educational Statistics 2000-01, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India
The above table shows that in all the categories of the education system (primary, middle& secondary)
the dropout rates have considerably reduced over the years.
This is a positive trend towards the development of education.
The decline has been higher in case of primary category and in the case of females.
The dropout rates for middle & secondary categories remains quite high which needs to be reduced for
overall development.

Pupil-Teacher’s Ratio:

Source: India Development Report,

From the above column diagram it is observed that the pupil-teacher’s has increased over the period
1980-81 to 1995-96 for both the primary and secondary category of education. However after 1995-96
there has been a decline in the ratio.
This is a healthy development as, for the development of educational standards the reduction of the
pupil-teacher ratio has a considerable importance.
Thus we see that there has been a considerable development of education over the last three decades as
the various indicators analysed above suggests.
However so far as the inclusive character of the growth process is concerned a much concerted effort is
required to remove the prevailing disparities noted in analysing the above indicators.
An important reason for the continuance of backward social conditions in India is the failure of the
Indian state in imparting basic education to its citizens. In 1999, adult male literacy rate in India was
72%, compared with 91% in China and 99% in South Korea (Dreze and Sen 2002). In 2000, the
average years of schooling (for persons aged 15 years and above) in India was 5.1 years which was not
at all impressive when compared to its international counterparts[9].
Thus the gender disparity of education or the disparity in the attainment of education among the various
categories of the population(GEN, SC/ST, OBC, minorities etc) or the disparities noted in the various
stages of education(primary& secondary) all needs to be corrected before we can guarantee a inclusive
growth to our population.

EMPLOYMENT:
[1] Exclusive Growth – Inclusive Inequality by Bibek Debroy and Laveesh Bhandari
[2] Attaining the Millennium Development Goals in India by Anil B. Deolalikar, OUP, New Delhi, 2005
[3] Socio Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India -

A Report by Prime Minister’s High Level Committee, G.O.I, November,2006

[4] India - Social Development Report 2002, OUP
[5] Acute Respiratory Infections
[6] Health Sector, India: Social Development Report 2002
[7] India Development Report, 2004-2005, OUP
[8] India Development Report 2004-2005, pg: 137-138, OUP
[9] India Development Report, 2004-2005, OUP