Telangana Development : Regional Imbalances In Human Development In Andhrapradesh – Srinivas Ranabothu

 1.     Introduction:

  This report is based on the Human Development Report, submitted to the Government of Andhra Pradesh, by Center for Economic and Social Studies (CESS).  It is aimed to show the existence of regional imbalances in Human Development.

        Most of the data in CESS report was from early 1990s to early 2000s. Since, this is from a recent decade, after Economic Reforms, and after better infrastructure and communication establishments, it is a very good indicator of the disparities that exist in the development of the different

       CESS took each district as a unit in their data collection and different statistical calculations. Since the arguments are based on the regions (Telangana, Andhra and Rayalaseema), I have taken each region as a unit. I have computed each value in simple averaging method. Telangana consists of 10 districts, so I averaged each value for those 10 districts. Similarly, for 9 districts in Andhra and 4 districts in Rayalaseema regions. Though, the current arguments are between Telangana and Seemandhra, I have separated 3 regions in my analysis. Because major arguments are between Andhra & Telangana and I am not sure what Rayalaseema representatives want? Sometimes, they want a united state, and sometimes they want their own Greater Rayalaseema. Since, that is not clear to me, I kept that as a separate region.

     It is also being argued that Telangana is developed by looking at the development in and around Hyderabad; I divided Telangana as Telangana with HYD and Telangana without HYD. This is to insist that “Developed Hyderabad does not represent developed Telangana”.

      This is not to interpret the Cess report for wrong reasons, since Cess report is considered to be more genuine and unbiased; it is being used to study the genuine differences.

    Also, this report does not cover other aspects of Telangana movement, like Political, cultural and employment indifferences.

Objectives of the Report:

1. To obtain information on where Telangana as a region stands, in terms of development, compared to whole AP and Andhra region
2. An attempt to get facts to all those who argue, without any basis, on the development of Telangana
3. To recognize the existence of genuine regional imbalances between Telangana and Andhra, in terms of development, whether these imbalances are a result of organized discrimination or not is secondary, but first of all, everyone should recognize the underdevelopment of Telangana compared to Andhra region
4. To show that, Hyderabad alone is developed exponentially, but not the rest of the Telangana.

There are other undeveloped/underdeveloped areas/districts in all 3 regions, since there is a strong demand for a separate Telangana; this report is targeted to view the development aspect of all “regions” as units.

2. Analysis:

2.1   Human Development Index (HDI):

CESS Definition of HDI:

     The concept of development has been extended to be more comprehensive and go beyond the mere material dimension of increase in per capita income, complemented by the non-material dimensions (like levels of education, status of health and access to basic amenities). Thus development, apart from income, relates to general well-being and economic capabilities of the people.

     The Planning Commission of India considered the following indicators for three dimensions of HDI in NHDR: literacy rate (7+ years of age) and adjusted intensity of formal education for education, life expectancy at age one and infant mortality rate (IMR) for health, and consumption expenditure (per capita per month) for command over resources (NHDR, 2001). Each of these parameters are analyzed separately in the later part of this report

Table 1: Human Development Index (HDI) in different regions (Higher the value, better the situation)

Interpretation: In this Table, though the absolute values seem to be very close to each other, we have to see the net difference between these smaller values. There is definitely difference between the regions. Since the indicators considered are smaller in absolute values, these differences look small.  For those, who have been arguing that Telangana(with HYD) is more developed than Coastal Andhra, the statistics show that Coastal Andhra is more developed than Telangana (w. HYD), though they don’t have a capital city in the region. If the comparison is Telangana (w/o HYD), the difference is higher.

      Obviously, this difference trickles down to the rural areas when they compare their life style with the other regional counter parts. I believe, this is the main reason for a stronger Telangana movement in rural areas.

2.2   Human Poverty Index (HPI)

CESS Definition:

While the HDI measures the overall progress in achieving human development, the HPI measures the distribution of progress through the level of deprivation. The broad dimension by which this deprivation is measured is the same as those of HDI – health, knowledge and standard of living – but there is a slight variation in the indicators. Moreover the level of deprivation is the yardstick for measurement while achievement levels are considered for HDI. Therefore, the indicators taken are as follows: adult illiteracy rate and percentage of children not attending school for education; infant mortality rate for health; and percentage of household not having access to basic amenities like drinking water, housing, sanitation, cooking fuel and electricity for command over resources

      Table 2: Human Poverty Index (HPI) in different regions (Lower the values, Better the situation)

Interpretation: The difference of HPI between the regions is not high. Hyderabad helped Telangana in this calculation, by reducing the HPI value in the region. But, rest of the Telangana is almost equivalent to Coastal Andhra & Rayalaseema

2.3   Gender Development Index (GDI)

CESS definition

     The gender-related development index (GDI) is the third important index in the series used by the UNDP. It measures achievements in the same dimension and uses the same variables as the HDI does, but takes into account the inequality in achievement between women and men. The greater the gender disparity in basic human development, the lower is the GDI of a region when compared with its HDI.

       Table 3: Gender Development Index (GDI) in different regions (Higher the value, better the situation)

CESS Analysis of all 3 Indices:   

     There seems to be some convergence across districts in human development in Andhra Pradesh, indicating that the more backward districts are catching up with the developed districts. On the other hand, regional disparities have not changed much for human poverty index and gender development index.

        Whatever the differences seen in the Human Development got widened when each of the criterions were looked at separately.

2.4   Different aspects of Development – Individually

       Each parameter of the development is looked into, individually, to observe the statistics more closely, in the following tables.

2.4.1 Income Dimension of HDI

Table 4: Per capita GDDP (Higher the value, better the situation)

There is a clear difference across the regions, in terms of per capita Gross District Domestic Product. Reader has to observe that, the GDDP in Coastal Andhra is higher than Telangana with Hyderabad. Telangana without Hyderabad is further lower compared to Telangana (w. Hyd). So, this income dimension is clearly felt across all sections of the people. This also proves that there is not a much of dependency on Hyderabad, from Andhra region. They will still be able to maintain the same level of income, even without Hyderabad being part of their region

Table 5: Growth of Gross District Domestic Product (GDDP) 

Table 6: Growth of per capita District Domestic Product (DDP) in Rs

.

      Interestingly, though the development of GDDP is similar across the regions, the Net value of the growth in Rs. is clearly different. These Net differences in the income & income growth are felt in Telangana region across all sections of people

2.4.2 Health Dimension of HDI

      Table 7: Infant Mortality Rate (Lower the value, better the situation)

         Health dimension (Infant mortality) seems to be equal across the region. Though, there were differences in 1991 and Telangana had an edge then, Andhra region caught up by 2001. This is a good sign.

      Table 8: Health Facility Available per ten lakh population, 2004-05

                Though, there are slightly higher number of hospitals and PHCs, there is a substantial difference in number of doctors compared to other regions. I don’t think number of facilities would help the population without enough staff

2.4.3 Education Dimension of HDI

               The differences in education dimension seem to be very high and Telangana region did not catch up with the Andhra & Rayalaseema in any of the following areas of education dimension. This should have been primarily the Government’s responsibility to realize differences amongst the regions and the backward regions should have been taken care with utmost importance.

       Table 9: Percentage of Children 5-14 Age group Attending School (Higher the value, better the situation)

        Table 10: Literacy Rate for 7+ yrs Children (Higher the value, better the situation)

Table 11: Adult literacy is for the age group 15 years and above (Higher the value, better the situation)

Table 12: Literacy rate for the age group of 15+ yrs, in 2001

LRP+: Literate person with education level primary and above

           LMD+: Literate person with education level middle and above;

          The incidence of Non-Literate people is higher in Telangana region compared to the other regions.

      Table 13: Drop-out Rate in Primary and Upper Primary Stages, 2005 (lower the value, better the situation)

        It is highly important to note the difference in dropout rates. Telangana is definitely neglected in this case in terms of curbing the dropout rate. Again, this falls under Government’s responsibility to concentrate on the backward region and ensure effective implementation of Govt. schemes.

2.4.4 Agriculture dimension

    Table 14: Percentage of Irrigated Area by Different sources, 2004 – 2005

         Agriculture being the main occupation for the people across all regions, it is a MAJOR indicator of the backwardness. This is one of the major indicators of the backwardness of Tealangana. These differences are genuinely felt across, because of the fact that Agriculture is the main occupation for the people of all regions.

      Though the major rivers, Krishna & Godawari enter Telangana first, the percentage of Net sown area is much less in Telangana compared to Andhra. This is due to several reasons some interdependent.

 Where people from Telangana are dependent more on Wells/Borewells,( due to the non-availibility of canal systems) Andhra region is dependent more on Canals & Tanks which allows for a larger cultivable land as compared to well irrigation.. There are regions in Telangana where people sold some of their land to dig Wells/Bore Wells.  Telangana is completely dependent on Electricity to get water out from the wells, they have to pay the electricity bills without fail, till 2004, whereas, people from Andhra have to pay nominal water tax for canal water.  Higher bills for digging wells & electricity mean higher production cost for the crop. Though, both the regions grow similar crops, one region’s production cost is always higher than the other region. But, the final crop goes to the same markets and both get the same price. At the same time, irregular supply of power for the agriculture sector & higher production cost caused many losses to the farmers of Telangana, especially in 1990s. This triggered the spate of farmers’ suicides in Telangana region. These suicides were witnessed by the younger generation of the region.

     Subsequent Governments, since the formation of Andhra Pradesh, should have concentrated on developing the irrigation projects in Telangana region, to make sure that those differences are balanced.

    Table 15: Share of the Value of Crop Output and Livestock in the GDDP and their Growth across Districts

1. The data considered here is components of Gross District Domestic Product (GDDP);

          2. Crop output includes value of output from all the agriculture and allied activities excluding livestock;

          3. Growth is exponential growth rate.

        Again, this table is interesting to observe. Differences in Crop output, Live Stock & other Agricultural products are not huge. But, the NET income to the farmers has always been lower for Telangana region due to higher investment (production cost) as explained by reasons above.. That difference in income is clearly visible in the Table below.

        Table 16: Per Capita Gross District Domestic Product per Worker Agricultural (Aggregate Value of   Corp) output across Districts

 2.5   Other aspects of Development Index

       Table 17: Infrastructure Index, in 2004

       All the parameters observed in this Table, Andhra region is higher than the AP state’s average, and it is more advanced than Telangana with Hyderabad. When Telangana (w.o. HYD) is compared, the differences are much higher. Though, the major economic capital, Hyderabad, is in Telangana region, Road density is higher in Andhra region. If not all of the above, Roads are completely in control of the State government, which neglected Telangana area in this regard.

        Table 18: Urbanization

      Table 19: Degree of Urbanization

The major contribution from Hyderabad to Telangana region is this Urbanization calculation. Since Hyderabad is considered as 100% Urbanized, Telangana (w. HYD) shows more urbanized than Andhra region. But, if Telangana (w.o HYD) is compared, there is not much difference. We have to remember the fact that, the same Hyderabad did not help Telangana in terms of Human Development in any other means.

Table 20: Percentage of Households without selected Basic Amenities, 1991-2001

Dwelling – Percentage of households with one or none dwelling rooms;  Tap Water – Percentage of households without tap water for drinking; Electricity – Percentage of households without electricity connection; Toilet – Percentage of households without toilet facility; Traditional Fuel – Percentage of households using traditional fuel for cooking including fire wood, charcoal, etc.,

   Numbers in this Table are another true representation of discrimination. Whether it is organized OR unorganized is a different argument, but these are the very basic necessities that people feel difference in. To observe, the very fact that the numbers in Telangana region for Dwelling have increased from 1991 to 2001 is very saddening.  There is more number of people in Telangana without the access to Tap Water & Toilet. This situation is not at all acceptable. People who use fire wood and charcoal are more in Telangana region.

      Interesting observation on this is Table is, growth rate in Andhra region in all these parameters is more than Telangana, during the period of observation (1991-2001).  The only exception, Telangana shows better percentages in Electricity.

   When people of Telangana compare their standard of living with that of Andhra region, they can clearly feel the difference within these factors.

1. 3.   Conclusions
   1. Cannot discount the existence of regional disparities
   2. Statistical evidence shows that Telangana region is behind Andhra region, in-terms of every aspect of development
   3. Hyderabad, being part of Telangana, did not help the region in terms of development. It should be noted that “Developed Hyderabad is not a Developed Telangana”
   4. Most of the data collected by CESS for this report is from early 1990s to early 2000s. Differences in this period are felt strongly by the younger (10 – 20 yrs age) generation of that decade. I believe this is the reason for the large participation of youth (20 – 30 yrs) in the present Telangana movement. When they compare their standard of living of the same age group in other regions, they obviously feel the differences

Reference:

      CESS Report can be found here:http://undp.org.in/sites/default/files/reports_publication/Andhra.pdf

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