Regional inequalities in human development in India

This paper evaluates the relative performance of fifteen major Indian states on education, health and human development. It examines the regional disparities in the human development indicators and their association with per capita income and per capita expenditure on social services. The results show regional convergence in human development despite divergence in per capita income, indicating that the poor states that have failed to catch up with the rich ones in terms of per capita income have managed to catch up in terms of human development. Higher per capita income and per capita social sector expenditure have improved human well-being by raising HDI, LR, GER and ELB, and lowering IMR. The states with higher per capita incomes which were able to spend a higher per capita amount on social services, performed better in improving human development. This suggests that improvements in human well-being and reductions in regional disparities in various dimensions of human development require increasing public investment in the social sector activities, including education, health, water supply, sanitation, housing, social security and welfare of the weaker sections of the population.