India’s Economic Divergence Between High, Low Income States Worrisome Says NITI Aayog VC
Aggregate employment has increased by 150 million, of which 80 million women entered agricultural work.
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Nearly 44% of contribution to the GDP comes from high income states which account for 26% of India’s population. Meanwhile, with 38% of the population, generate only 19% of GDP, a divergence that is worrisome, said NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Suman Bery as per PTI
Bery’s remarks came while delivering a lecture on ‘India’s Macro Challenge: Generating and Financing a Big Investment Push’ at the 6th Economics Conclave at the School of Economics, University of Hyderabad.
“The development strategy that’s appropriate for Tamil Nadu and for Bihar or Uttar Pradesh will necessarily be very different.” “And so it is the case that there has been divergence, and that’s something we need to worry about. As you see, high-income states account for 26% of the population but 44% of GDP, while low-income states have 38% of the population but only 19% of GDP,” he said as per PTI.
Bery added, 'I do want to bring to the Indian context the point that I made in a global context—that in principle, the further behind you are, the faster you can grow.' He noted that some of the so-called BIMARU states—an acronym for Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh—are performing well. 'There is no reason to think that individual states are destined to lag forever,' he said as reported by PTI.
Bery also pointed out that aggregate employment has increased by 150 million, of which 80 million women entered agricultural work. 'Of these, 40 million are unpaid family workers, but they are still seen as contributing to the household as an economic enterprise,' he added.
Meanwhile, in an earlier statement at annual general meeting of Crop Care Federation of India, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari stressed on the need to increase the share of agriculture and allied sector in the GDP to at least 26% from the present 18% to make India self-reliant.
The Union Road Transport and Highways Minister emphasised on reducing the cost of production to make agriculture sector economically viable.
(With inputs from PTI)
