Improvement in human development in Bihar: Report

The primary results of Bihar's first Human Development Index (HDI) indicate that there has been improvement in the human development compared to the past due to better facilities created in the education and health sector.

The HDI value has gradually increased since 1981, but Bihar has been lagging far behind among the 15 major states. The indicators used for districts in Bihar to construct composite index are per capita district domestic product, adult literacy and infant survival rate, said project head Jagdish Prasad who is a senior faculty member of A N Sinha Institute of Social Studies (ANSISS).

The ANSISS has been entrusted with the task of preparation of Human Development Report (HDR). The project, which was sponsored by the department of planning and development, Government of Bihar, is likely to be completed by next month.

A substantial difference across districts has been found. Prasad told that there is a large regional disparity in the state which needs attention from development policy point of view.

He said that the indicators of HDI will certainly help Bihar to integrate human development concerns into its development strategies. He said that along with HDI, human population index and gross development index and district development index would also be prepared so that sectoral gap could be identified.

The report will consist of 14 chapters which mainly include development challenges and specifications of Bihar, human development in Bihar, health and nutrition, agrarian economy, social security, environment issues, gender equality and district development index: a comparative view and a road ahead.

Recently, the ANSISS had organized a day long workshop to introduce the theme of the HDR. It was also aimed at getting feedbacks from the experts of different fields on the coverage of the subject in the report. It was essential as the HDR would be an independent assessment of human development in the state, Prasad told.

Bihar's principal secretary, planning, Rameshwar Singh said that the HDR would be marked as beginning of new developed Bihar. It would be the first step towards monitoring the process of development in a manner that directly captures the quality of life of the state, Singh said.

Singh said that a major objective of the HDR was to bring about a certain consensus on the adoption of the human development approach in Bihar. The final report is likely to be submitted to the government next month, said an official.link