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One
of the objectives of the Centre for Security Analysis
(CSA) is to carry out research into issues of
immediate interest to civil society and government
policy planners. India's economic growth has picked
up momentum in recent years. At this juncture
it would be of interest to note which of the regions
are progressing and which are lagging behind.
A detailed analysis would help policy planners
to take corrective measures to enhance the overall
growth rate and contribute to the betterment of
the civil citizen.
With
this view, the CSA has undertaken this study on
the Socio-economic Security of Peninsular India,
which comprises the states of Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Kerala, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu.
The
general perception is that the states of Peninsular
India are ahead of the rest of the country on
most socio-economic indices. This is true if we
go by the conventional division of India into
North, South, East and West. However this does
not necessarily provide an accurate picture since
the performance of some of the other regions is
undermined by one or two poorly performing states.
Therefore,
for the purposes of this study, India was divided
into three regions based on per capita income:
Peninsular India, High Income India and Low Income
India. In carrying out an inter-regional comparison
that is based on the performance of the regions
and not merely their geographical location, this
study has managed to highlight many trends that
were hitherto not known.
The
study finds that Peninsular India has performed
considerably below par as compared to High Income
India, despite a higher share of Central funding.
The reasons for this disparity are explained and
several policy recommendations for the socio-economic
security of Peninsular India are enumerated for
the benefit of policy makers.
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