Economists blame Maha breakdown of governance
Experts Say That Beyond The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Are Vast Areas Of The State That Have Been Neglected
Experts Say That Beyond The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Are Vast Areas Of The State That Have Been Neglected
Mumbai: While backward states like Bihar and Madhya Pradesh appear to have woken up from their slumber and taken giant strides towards progress,Maharashtra is facing a reversal of fortunes.Despite having a large base of its own tax collection,the state has got mired in inefficiency,poor governance and an apathetic attitude towards its own people,say experts.Government spending in various areas that indicate a states health has been poor.
Mala Lalvani,University of Mumbai economics professor,raises a very disturbing question with the title of her research : Maharashtra at 50: A new entrant to the BIMARU group Though the question might seem extreme,data put out by Malvani shows the need for concern.For example,the rich-poor divide in Maharashtras rural areas is worse than in any BIMARU state (See box).Meanwhile,only one state,MP,has a worse rich-poor divide in urban areas than Maharashtra.
Lalvani said,Maharashtras developmental expenditure (on social and economic services ) as opposed to its total expenditure is now only marginally above that of Bihar.In fact,its expenditure on health in proportion to its total expenditure falls short of all BIMARU states.Maharashtras expenditure on education in proportion to its total expenditure is lower than that of Bihar.
Lalvani sees a pattern in the decay: during the high growth period of the 1970s and 80s,the government did not invest in strengthening public services or improving the quality of life.Beyond the bright lights and sparkle of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region,power cuts,dry taps,a crumbling public health system and an apology for a public schooling system were the norm in the rest of the state.
Lalvanis conclusion is echoed by many senior economists.Maharashtra is really two states.Mumbai and its environs make up one and then there is the rest of Maharashtra,which is in bad shape.One needs to look at Maharashtra from the district and sub-district level to see the stark reality of terrible deprivation, said Indira Rajaraman,of the 13th Finance Commission of India.
Senior economists,like Abhay Pethe,blame a total breakdown of governance.Whatever indicators one looks at,if you take the Mumbai Metropolitan Region out of Maharashtra,the situation is pretty bad.The number of electoral representatives from the backward districts is falling because of delimitation and the fast urbanization of the state is causing an imbalance in growth, added Pethe.
Another economist,Tapas Sen,of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy,while validating Lalvanis findings,said the money spent by government in the social sector has been below the rule of thumb.
Lalvani does not give a unilateral thumbs-down to the state,but says anxious times lie ahead.
THE TROUBLED STATE OF MAHARASHTRA
Lack Of Wealth In Health
* In the 1980s,Maharashtras public hospitals were its showcase feature.They catered to people from across the country.But in the past 20 years,government spending has been shaved off by half.Worse,in 2009-10,the states budgeted annual health allocation as compared to total expenditure was less than that of every BIMARU state.With the states debt rising,in 2009-10 Maharashtra planned on spending Rs 3,14,560 on medical services,about half of what UP has reserved,Rs 5,33,296.Actual health expenditure per head in Maharashtra is just about equal to that of Rajasthan and UP
* “While Bihar and UP are investing in new infrastructure,Maharashtra stopped doing that a long time ago.While we have some good teaching hospitals,public health is in a troubled state as there is no input for the existing infrastructure in terms of doctors and drugs, said Ravi Duggal,programme officer of International Budget Partnership
* According to Lalvani,the poor budget allocation is reflected in health factors,like morbidity rates.A morbidity rate shows the prevalence of disease.This year,Maharashtra registered more polio cases than Bihar.Also,morbidity rates are higher in Maharashtra than all BIMARU states,excepting Uttar Pradesh.
* Duggal points to the user charges that state hospitals demand,the medicines that the poor are forced to purchase and the lack of free beds
Rich-Poor Divide
* Maharashtras per capita income may be the highest after that of Punjab and Haryana,but that translates into little for someone living in Gadchiroli,Nanded or Buldhana,districts that have the lowest income levels.According to Mala Lalvani,the Lorenz ratio for rural inequality (richpoor divide) shows that all the BIMARU states outperform Maharashtra.When one looks at urban inequality,we are better than just MP in the BIMARU group (NSSO data,63rd round)
* Planning Commission member Narendra Jadhav says that the per capita income of Maharashtra appears very high and is skewed because of Mumbai,Pune and Thane.Seventeen districts in the state earn less than the national average and,of those,10 are among the most backward in the country
* Tapas Sens paper published by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy says that though poverty levels in the state are high,propoor expenditure makes up the smallest share of revenue expenditure.”Share of pro-poor expenditure in capital outlay is also abysmally low.Clearly,poverty alleviation is not the dominant concern,”he concluded
* Economist Abhay Pethe predicts a J-curve situation that could lead to social unrest.”Imagine you are stuck in a traffic jam.The signal turns green,but not a single car can move.Suddenly,you see vehicles in the next lane moving and you are tempted to jump lanes,”he said,comparing the rest of the state,which is stuck in time,to Mumbai,which has been in the fast lane of growth
Doing Business
* In a country riding an economic wave,this decade has unprecedentedly seen state governments allocate more money for the social sector (education,public health,water,sanitation,family welfare,etc) as compared to economic services (agriculture,irrigation,industrial production,energy,transport,communication,science and technology,mines,general economic services,etc).The trend appears to be similar in Maharashtra.Yet,though Maharashtra has done little to whisk up its participation in revving up its economic growth,Lalvani found that the states budgeted allocation for economic services in ratio to its total expenditure was less than that of MP,but higher than that of other BIMARU states (if only by a few points)
Learning Curve
* Maharashtra’s allocation to education is less than that of two BIMARU states,Bihar and Rajasthan.Most of the growth in the state has been in the private sector,and funds for schooling from the Centre lie under-utilized