Punjab has produced a number of paradoxes. Punjabis are in all parts of the globe but the state\'s economy is least globalised.
The state\'s agriculture is relatively developed, but with few direct linkages with industrial development.
It has a high per capita income, but dismal social development indices -drug abuse, female foeticide, rural suicides, etc, are quite prevalent.
Poverty levels in the state are low but poverty among scheduled castes (SCs) is higher and their access to health and education is lower than SCs in several other states. Again, Punjab has relatively advanced infrastructure, but the quality of public services is poor.
Punjab needs a paradigm shift. But, unfortunately, during the last decade or so, perspectives on development in Punjab have hinged merely on `government debt\'.
The state\'s debt is no doubt worrisome. But there are states under heavy debt that are maintaining their pace of development. The crises in Punjab are not that the state\'s debt is mounting, unemployment is rising, Dalits are getting pauperised, opportunities for women\'s productive engagement are not multiplying, agriculture is becoming less remunerative for a large number of farmers, landless labourers are in a bind, and drug addiction, female foeticide and farmer suicides are becoming pervasive. The real crisis is the manner in which these problems are being addressed or ignored.
WHAT AILS THE ECONOMY
In Punjab, the agriculture sector, which is considered to be the mainstay of the economy, has experienced a massive slowdown. The investment in agriculture in India has declined from 2.2 % of the GDP in 1999-2000 of GDP at constant prices (1999-2000) to 1.9% of the GDP in 2005-06. This is also reflected in the decline in the agricultural growth rate to 2.2% per annum in 200506 at the all-India level.
No initiative has been taken to increase public sector investment in agriculture. This has led to a decline in agricultural productivity and damage to the ecology and environment.
Punjab has not been able to diversify to cash crops. There is an urgent need to enhance agricultural productivity. Land released after increase in productivity of grains can be utilised for crop diversification and non-farm activities. This will also arrest mindless urbanisation.
TAKE ADVANTAGE
Punjab has a historical advantage thanks to its small-scale industries in places such as Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Mandi Gobindgarh and Batala.
It is unfortunate that policy has not paid any attention to these traditional industries in terms of technology transfer, skill upgradation, marketing and maintenance of environmental standards. If Lijjat Papad can have a turnover of around Rs 300 crore, why has Amritsari Papad (a known brand name) not been able to capture the market?
MIXED FIGURES
Public expenditure has dropped from 66% in the early eighties to 40%. The education development index has shown that Punjab\'s overall rank is 12 out of 35 states and union territories.
A disaggregate analysis has shown that Punjab has done well in terms of physical infrastructure. It ranked three only behind Kerala and Haryana. On accessibility for primary education, Punjab was ranked 16th and on teachers at 13th. Paradoxically, its performance is dismal on educational outcomes as it ranked 29th.
Education system is required to impart quality education. Around 30% schools have teachers who do not have a higher secondary certificate. As a result, the quality of education has deteriorated and most of the educated youth, particularly rural youth, have become unemployable in Punjab.
Punjab has a better reach in terms of government hospitals, but health outcomes in terms of disease prevalence is high as compared to the national average.
MANAGING THE FLUX
The core element whether seen from the perspective of debt management or fiscal mismanagement (doles-centric politics) is enhancement of productivity with equity to remain globally competitive.
If policies are examined from this position, it becomes evident that Punjab is in a flux. The votaries of debt management advocated reduction in public expenditure, retrenchment or reduction in government jobs and disinvestment of public sector. The so-called new paradigm (PPP mode) of `leveraging public resources for private profits\' is being implemented without building adequate safeguards to protect the interest of farmers.
No doubt, with all these negative prescriptions, government expenditure on salaries of staff has been reduced and public sector units, productive or unproductive, have been made defunct.
Consequently, when the government ceased to be functional and the citizens demanded services, a convenient logic was advanced that there was no staff.
When the students demanded quality education, untrained and unqualified teachers on contract were appointed.
DIRECTION OF DEVELOPMENT
The economy needs to be diversified for creating productive avenues. In agriculture, the focus has to be on increasing productivity by technological innovations and move away from anti-grain policies to the production of a crop basket.
Similarly, in education and health sectors, the guiding principle should be to improve education and health outcomes rather than privatisation. In governance, the need is to shift from disinvestment to productive investment, from retrenchment to employment generation, from subsidy reduction to rationalisation of subsidies and from anticorruption drives to corruption-free governance. There is an urgent need to evolve political consensus on the direction of development.
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BY DR. PARMOD KUMAR, DIRECTOR , IDC, CHANDIGARH , COURTESY : HINDUSTAN TIMES SEPT., 27,2011,
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