Which way HDI in Sikkim is heading?

Which way HDI in Sikkim is heading?

Marchang Reimeingam

Sikkim Express, Sikkim, 15^th September 2011

Since the first published of Human Development Report (HDR) for the global level in 1990 by UNDP a similar preparation and publication are done by different countries including India. Government of India published the National Human Development Report (NHDR) in 2002.  Sikkim was the first state among the north eastern states to publish HDR in 2001 followed by Assam in 2003, Nagaland in 2004, Arunachal Pradesh in 2005, Tripura in 2007 and Meghalaya in 2008 with the sponsorship of UNDP and the Planning Commission, Government of India. For Mizoram it is currently preparing by the Institute for Human Development, New Delhi. NHDR gives information up to 1991 about the status and growth of human development in different Indian states including the north eastern states. The north east is topographically blended with hills and plains inhabited by different ethnic and cultural groups speaking various rich languages. A varied level of education, income and life longevity has attained by different north eastern states.

According to the report the Human Development Index (HDI) value in the region varied from the lowest figure of 0.242 in Arunachal Pradesh to the highest of 0.461 in Manipur as against the national average of 0.302 in 1981. Similarly, in 1991, the lowest and highest figures were 0.328 in Arunachal Pradesh and 0.548 in Mizoram as against the national level of 0.381 indicating that some of the north eastern states were much ahead of the national average. In 2005, HDI value was lowest in Assam with 0.534 and highest in Mizoram with 0.790. Sikkim’s HDI value was positioned at top 3^rd rank in 1981 however it slip at 4^th rank in 1991 and 2005 indicating a slower course of action in terms of either income or education or life longevity as compared to the other counterpart states among the north eastern states. Nevertheless, if Sikkim’s HDI value is compared with the national average then one can examine which way HDI in Sikkim is heading. Human development in Sikkim was much ahead, as the HDI value was greater by 0.004, 0.044 and 0.109 in 1981, 1991 and 2005, of the national average. At present and in near future it is expected to experience a similar trend if higher process of HDI indicators are achieved. The increased in HDI value over the years in Sikkim was of national trend. However, the extent of its increased was significantly larger than the national average during 1981-1991 and 1991-2005 indicating the quicker development of all the indicators in the state. For example, during 1981-1991, the educational attainment measured in terms of literacy rate has grown by 22.89 percentage points from 34.05 to 56.94 percent; in the latter period, here the 2011 figure is used for literacy, it has grown by 25.26 percentage point from 56.94 to 82.20 percent for Sikkim against the increased by 8.64 and 21.83 percentage points in the respective periods for the national average showing a higher pace of spread of education in the state. 

As expected, HDI value in rural and urban areas has a wide disparity. The rural-urban disparity of HDI varied from the lowest figure of 0.113 in Manipur to the highest of 0.234 in Tripura in 1981. In 1991 the situation deteriorated as the disparity ranges from 0.115 in Manipur to 0.292 in Meghalaya. Further in 2005, the disparity were reduced in all the north eastern states excepting Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura, as compared to the earlier estimates, however it continue to experience a wide ranges of disparity from 0.068 in Manipur to 0.320 in Arunachal Pradesh. The ranking position in the disparity for Sikkim was at top 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th rank among the north eastern states in the respective years. To some extent this tells about an account of an effort made consistently to reduce the rural and urban disparity among the north eastern states. The disparity value of Sikkim with 0.213 was much higher than the national average of 0.179 in 1981; and the value rose to 0.220 for the state against the national average of 0.171 in 1991. During 1981-1991 Sikkim’s disparity value has increased most likely due to the greater emphasis in urban than in rural areas resulting to unequal distribution of income and educational and health infrastructures in rural and urban areas. However, the 2005 data, supposedly comparable, tells a different story that Sikkim’s rural-urban disparity eventually became much lower by about 0.066 than the national average of 0.221. It signals that Sikkim has given increasing effort in rural areas to reduce the disparity; however, at national level the check and balance system seems to be errant as the disparity is widening.  

For citation: Marchang Reimeingam, Which way HDI in Sikkim is heading? Sikkim Express, Sikkim, 15^th September 2011.