modi : the development myth

7/29/2019 Modi : The Development Myth

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1. Is GDP the sole criteria for measuring Development? Even if that's the case, Gujarat is not in the 1st

position, Its 5th in the list. Even the so called misruled states like UP & Maharashtra is better positioned

than Gujarat. Even if you consider, the annual growth rate in GDP states like Bihar & west Bengal has

performed better than Gujarat in the last 5 years. So, don't talk as if Gujarat is the only state that is

getting developed.

2. Now lets take Per capita income: Gujarat is at 10th place, nowhere near the top despite being 5th in

GDP. Delhi, Haryana, Goa, Kerala, TN, perform much better

3.. Now, take the case of Human development Index(HDI): Gujarat is at 8th place and our own Kerala is

at first. Actually, during Modi's rule Gujarat fell from 6th place in 2001 to 8th place in 2011-2012.

3. Now, take Literacy rate: As we all know, Kerala is at the first place in that too. To add to Mr. Modis

glory, the ranking of Gujarat in literacy actually fell from 16 in 2001 to 18 in 2011 ! Also, percentage of

enrollment of women in higher education actually reduced in Modis Gujarat, and this reduction is the

highest among all states.

4. Now, take the case of Sex ratio: Gujarat is 24th place (921 females per 1000 males). Kerala is at

first(1083 females/1000 males) While he posed as the champion of the girl-child, what he did not say

was that under his watch proud Gujaratis were killing more unborn female babies than before: the sex

ratio in Gujarat worsened from 921(20th place) in 2001 to just 918(24th place) in 2011. A marginal

decline one could say, but significant since in that decade, the overall all India sex ratio improved from

933 to 940.


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The self proclaimed "Vikas Purush" Narendra Modi with the help of his PR agency APCO has been hyping

up development in Gujarat over the past few years. Now lets see what the actual facts are

1. Is GDP the sole criteria for measuring Development? Even if that's the case, Gujarat is not in the 1st

position, Its 5th in the list. Even the so called misruled states like UP & Maharashtra is better positioned

than Gujarat. Even if you consider, the annual growth rate in GDP states like Bihar & west Bengal has

performed better than Gujarat in the last 5 years. So, don't talk as if Gujarat is the only state that is

getting developed.

2. Now lets take Per capita income: Gujarat is at 10th place, nowhere near the top despite being 5th in

GDP. Delhi, Haryana, Goa, Kerala, TN, perform much better

3.. Now, take the case of Human development Index(HDI): Gujarat is at 8th place and our own Kerala is

at first. Actually, during Modi's rule Gujarat fell from 6th place in 2001 to 8th place in 2011-2012.

3. Now, take Literacy rate: As we all know, Kerala is at the first place in that too. To add to Mr. Modis

glory, the ranking of Gujarat in literacy actually fell from 16 in 2001 to 18 in 2011 ! Also, percentage of

enrollment of women in higher education actually reduced in Modis Gujarat, and this reduction is the

highest among all states.

4. Now, take the case of Sex ratio: Gujarat is 24th place (921 females per 1000 males). Kerala is at

first(1083 females/1000 males) While he posed as the champion of the girl-child, what he did not say

was that under his watch proud Gujaratis were killing more unborn female babies than before: the sex

ratio in Gujarat worsened from 921(20th place) in 2001 to just 918(24th place) in 2011. A marginal

decline one could say, but significant since in that decade, the overall all India sex ratio improved from

933 to 940.

5. Life expectancy: An average Gujarati lives upto the age of 64, compared to 75 for Kerala. The Indian

average is 63.5.


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6. Vaccination Coverage for children: Only 45% Gujarati children get vaccinated compared to 81% and

75% in TN & Kerala.

7. Infant mortality Rate: Gujarat is at 21st place (41 deaths/1000 live births) and Kerala is at 1st 12 per

1000. Gujarat has shown not much improvement under the last 10 years.

8. Maternal Mortality rate: Mod often speaks about the power of the mother. But clearly, on the ground

Modi's government has not paid enough attention to reduction of maternal mortality rates. Gujarat

MMR fell by 12 points between 2004-06 and 2007-09 from 160 to 148. But in the same period both

Kerala and Tamil Nadu reduced maternal mortality rates by 14 points each and Maharashtra brought it

down by a good 26 points from 130 to 104. Now, take the case of institutional deliveries. only 55%

Gujarati women deliver in hospital, compared to 100% in Kerala.

9. Hunger and Malnutrition: Gujarat is 13th out of 17 States ranked and is followed by Chhattisgarh,

Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. 44.7% of Gujarats children were under-weight, compared to an

all-India figure (of the States included) of 42.5%. And undernourishment is not because people are

beauty conscious as Modi responded.

10. Percentage of Households having electricity: Gujarat is at 16th place at 90.4% . In fact in 2001 it was

at 12th place- 80.4%. ,ie, a 10% rise under Modi. In the same period, Kerala, Uttarakhand & Tripura

achieved more than 25% rise.

11. Road Density is one of the benchmarks for development and Gujarat is at 19th place, Kerala is 1st.

12. Going by the Gujarat governments figures, MoUs for FDI worth $876 billion were signed during its

five biannual Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summits from 2003 to 2011 and a whopping 84 per cent

of the projects have already been implemented or are under implementation.

This would mean Gujarat has overtaken all of China, whose FDI inflows during this period were to the

tune of $600 billion. And, interestingly, after the 2013 Vibrant Gujarat Global Investors Summit, the

government chose not to give out any MoU numbers when Chief Minister Narendra Modi declared that,

Gujarat is now the gateway to India.


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Behind the envelope calculations show that if the State had implemented even 60 per cent of the

investments promised, it would have left the dragon behind.

But, as it were, the latest figures of FDI inflows for the financial year 2012-13 up to January this year

indicate that Gujarat ranks sixth in the country with Rs. 2,470 crore or 2.38 per cent share.

Maharashtra continues to top the FDI numbers with FDI of Rs. 40,999 crore or 40 per cent, followed by

Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

The overall FDI inflow into India fell by some 30 per cent during 2012-13, Gujarat has beaten this, as the

numbers suggest, with a bigger decline close to 50 per cent.

12. Debt: Modi can be proud of the fact that he outperformed most of the states in this case, having

tripled the debt from 45000 crore when he became CM to 1.3 lakh crore in 2012-13.

modi : the development myth

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