Poll-bound Gujarat ranks among the lowest in socio-environmental measures, regressed in last 15 years

The performance of poll-bound Gujarat on many social indicators has worsened in the past 15 years compared to other States

With the Gujarat Assembly elections scheduled to take place in two phases on December 1 and 5, an analysis of economic, social and environmental indicators brings forth contrasting results. While Gujarat is economically one of the most advanced States in India, it fares poorly on social indicators, even featuring at the bottom of the list on some of them. The State tops the list on manufacturing-related indicators. But this has come at a cost as Gujarat features at the bottom of the list on several environmental measures.

Table 1 shows Gujarat’s rank on social indicators and its actual score in a parameter in 2019-20, 2015-16 and 2005-06. The table also lists the change in Gujarat’s rank in 2019-20 compared to 2015-16. The top three States in a parameter are also given for comparison. For instance, Gujarat had 39% of stunted children (low height-for-age) in 2019-20 and ranked 26 out of 30 States. The three best States that year were Kerala (23.4% of stunted children), Punjab (24.5%) and Tamil Nadu (25%). On this indicator, Gujarat’s ranking fell two spots in 2019-20 from 2015-16, the year when the State was placed 24th out of the 30 States.

Chart appears incomplete? Click to remove AMP mode

Notably, across most social indicators, there was no considerable improvement in the last few years. For instance, the population of females who attended school was 72% in 2015-16 and increased to 72.9% in 2019-20. Only females aged six and above were considered.

The share of wasted children (low weight-for-height) improved marginally from 26.4% to 25.1%, while the share of underweight (low weight-for-age) children recorded a small rise from 39.3% to 39.7%. On both these indicators the State ranked 29 of 30 States analysed in 2019-20.

What is striking is that the State’s relative performance worsened in 2019-20 compared to 2005-06 on most social indicators. In the share of the female population who ever attended school, the State ranked 15 of 28 States in 2005-06; in 2019-20, it ranked 19 of 30. In the share of wasted children, the State’s rank worsened from 16 out of 28 States to 29 out of 30 States. In fact, on all the social indicators analysed, the State’s ranking worsened in the 15-year period.

However, Gujarat’s economic performance was among the best in the country. In both 1993-94 and 2020-21, the State ranked 6 of 27 States in Per Capita Net State Domestic Product (current prices) as shown in  Table 3.