Zoning Development

The Indian economy is doing well and seems to have broken away from the 6.5 per cent growth trajectory of the 1990s to a 9 per cent growth trajectory, although one can continue to debate whether this is structural or cyclical. This isn't about growth alone, but also about its trickle-down effects. The National Sample Survey (NSS) data for 2004–5 shows a drop in poverty ratios, though not as much as one had originally hoped. Education indicators (gross enrollment in elementary schools) have gone up. Even health indicators show some improvement. This is the India Shining story. But there continue to be concerns about whether these improvements are broad-based enough and whether segments of society are deprived and disadvantaged and are being marginalized in the growth process. This is the concern in the divides and disparities section of the Approach Paper to the 11th Five Year Plan (2007–12). Divides and disparities can be interpreted in different senses, individual or collective, gender, caste, religion and even geography. The geographic identification is usually expressed in terms of a rural/urban dichotomy, but is a bit of an over-simplification. There are States (Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, not to forget the North- East) that aren't doing particularly well. 200 of 600 districts are backward. 125,000 of 600,000 villages have no physical or social infrastructure worth the name.