Meghalaya growth low, says report

Urban-centric pointers

Shillong, Oct. 12: The first state development report released by Meghalaya chief minister D.D. Lapang today pointed out that the human resource development of Meghalaya was poor and urban-centric, leaving the rural areas in a state of total neglect. The report, which was completed after six years, suggested that human development in Meghalaya is urban-centric, registering less percentage of human development in the rural areas. Human development is a combination of people’s entitlements and attainments relating to education, health and livelihood. Experts who prepared the first state development report had analysed various reports related to the human development index (HDI) in the country released by the Centre over the years. After analysing the reports, the state experts said Meghalaya ranked 26th in the human development index out of the 35 states and Union Territories. Stating that Meghalaya figured “poorly” in the level of human development, the report said while the state was placed 24th in terms of HDI in 1991, it had fared better with a rank of 21 in 1981. “A closer look at some of the components of the HDI suggests that there has been stagnation or no development in Meghalaya in some areas,” the report said. The report highlighted that the infant mortality rate (IMR) of Meghalaya has remained more or less constant in recent years. In 2007, the IMR for the state was 52.28 percent per thousand live births with South Garo Hills recording the highest rate (102.01%). “The deterioration in the ranking of Meghalaya in HDI implies that the rate of development is slower than in most of the states and hence many states have improved their rankings while Meghalaya has lagged behind,” it added. The report, however, added that there has been an improvement in the spheres of income and education in the state from 1981 to 2005. The district with the highest HDI is East Khasi Hills followed by West Garo Hills. “The two major towns in the state, Shillong and Tura, are in these two districts and the relatively higher HDIs of these two districts seem to suggest that human development in Meghalaya gas been urban-centric,” the report said. The other five districts have HDIs that are lower than the state average. Among the northeastern states, Meghalaya fared better than Assam and Arunachal Pradesh only.