Karnataka, once considered one of the top states in terms of Human Development Index, has been categorised as a “less developed state” by a committee headed by RBI Governor Raghuram G Rajan.
Of the four states in the South, Karnataka, with a composite index of 0.453, stands third ahead of Andhra Pradesh (0.521) while Kerala (0.095) and Tamil Nadu (0.341) are listed as “relatively developed’’ states in the report on “Evolving a Composite Development Index of States’’.
The only consolation for Karnataka is that it stands ahead of Gujarat (0.491).
There is worse: Karnataka, along with other Congress-ruled states like Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Mahasrashtra and Assam, will get less funding from the Centre.
According to the committee’s calculation, Karnataka will get 3.73 percent of the total funds allocated for states by the Centre as against its current share of 4.13 percent. AP will get 6.85 percent as against its current share of 7.34 percent. Kerala will get 0.38 percent as against 1.95 percent now.
The panel considered 10 parameters to calculate the index: monthly per capita consumption expenditure, education, health, household amenities, poverty rate, female literacy, percentage of SC-ST population, urbanisation rate, financial inclusion and connectivity.