Sustainable Development in Himachal Pradesh

“The chances that the future
will be a reflection of the past are high,” it says “The World Bank Report released today, highlights how Himachal Pradesh has effectively balanced
economic growth with good human development outcomes and has successfully
reduced poverty among different groups in the state. However, it has also
captured issues of concern for the state such as the decline in the female
child sex ratio, undernutrition in children and an aging population.

Further, Himachal Pradesh is ahead of many other Indian states in
demonstrating a sense of environmental consciousness; says the report “Himachal
Pradesh stands apart from many states in India with its strong track record of
poverty reduction, service delivery, and human and social development outcomes said
Maitreyi Das Lead Social Development Specialist, World Bank and an author of
the report While future economic growth is expected to result in significant
economic gains, it can also entail potential costs as the state will have to
deal with new challenges. The state government is conscious of this and is
putting mechanisms in place to adapt to a new development context she added. The labor market in Himachal Pradesh has been another arena for inclusive outcomes,
when compared to elsewhere in India. Men’s employment rates are similar to the
rest of the country, but the bigger success story is in women’s employment. In
2011–12,
about 63 percent of rural women in the state reported themselves as
being employed. This places Himachal Pradesh second in female labor force participation
in the country, after Sikkim, and significantly above the all-India average of
27 percent. However, female labor force participation in urban areas was much
lower, at 28 percent in 2011, but nonetheless much higher than other north
Indian states and on par with states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The report identifies two factors as having driven the state’s inclusive
labor market outcomes. First, almost half of urban men and one-fifth of urban
women of working age, in Himachal Pradesh had regular salaried jobs in
2011. Further, among those who were employed in 2011, almost
one-third held public sector jobs. In contrast, only 10 percent of all employed
Indians work in the public sector. The second reason for Himachal Pradesh’s
high employment rates is that agriculture is still the mainstay of its largely
rural economy, and predominantly agricultural economies tend to have higher
labor force participation rates.
Himachal Pradesh also outperforms its neighbors and other Indian states
on many human development indicators. Not only does it have the lowest share of
individuals who received no education among northern states, but it has made
significant progress in improving educational attainment, particularly among
excluded groups. More members of the SCs and STs have completed secondary or
higher levels of schooling, both in rural and urban areas, compared to other
states, including southern states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Himachal
Pradesh has also done remarkably well in the area of sanitation and is the
first state in northern India that is close to being “open defecation free”.
The Possible Drivers of Social Inclusion in Himachal Pradesh.The report
suggests that while Himachal Pradesh’s “special category” status allowed for
fiscal space to spend on the social sectors, the foundation for progress was
laid by land reforms that were first introduced in the 1950s and deepened later
in the 1970s. These reforms have meant that almost 80 percent of rural households
in the state possess some land. Crucially, distribution of land across social
groups is more equal in Himachal Pradesh compared to the rest of India. For
instance, SCs who are historically overrepresented among the landless across
India tends to own land in Himachal Pradesh, with the differential between them
and other groups, in terms of average landholding size, converging over time.

Looking Ahead Himachal Pradesh is on a path of high growth that will
likely be driven by sectors such as energy, watersheds, tourism, and industrial
development. Among the state’s
Concerns are its adverse child sex ratio and high level of child malnutrition.
About one-third of children under age five in the state were underweight in 2011,
almost similar to levels recorded by the National Family Health Survey in 2005-06.
The state is also likely to face new challenges in areas where progress
has been made. For instance, while the work of primary education seems nearly
done, quality of education and ensuring that large, educated youth cohorts have
adequate skills for jobs will be a key policy issue. Even as the present youth bulge
is of policy concern, a rising median age in the state suggests that very soon,
Himachal Pradesh will have a high share of the elderly. When combined with
increasing urbanization, larger cohorts of older people may imply a change in
living arrangements with implications for the care of the elderly.
Similarly, although improvements in infrastructure have played an important role in improving human development outcomes in rural areas, many of
these outcomes currently appear better in rural areas. As urbanization levels
increase, the state may have to ensure that urban residents are able to access
key services and partake in opportunities that cities and towns offer, the report says Finally, fieldwork undertaken for the report suggests that although
people’s attitudes toward economic development are positive, their support for
the current growth trajectory is conditional on the extent to which the state’s
social and environmental heritage will be protected. The state has put in place
policies such as a system of benefit sharing in hydropower projects to address
such concerns, but their success will depend on the transparency with which
these policies are implemented.
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