Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Regional Imbalances in India’ for class 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Regional Imbalances in India’ especially written for school and college students.
Essay on Regional Imbalances
Essay Contents:
- Essay on the Introduction to Regional Imbalances in India
- Essay on the Indicators of Regional Imbalance
- Essay on the Causes of Regional Imbalances or Disparities
- Essay on the Measures Taken by Indian Government to Control Regional Imbalances
- Essay on the Weaknesses of Regional Planning in India
Essay # 1. Introduction to Regional Imbalances in India:
Regional Imbalances implies that there is difference in ‘economic development’ of different regions. In India ‘region’ means a state or district or union territory. Regional imbalances may be inter-state or intrastate. Economic development of an economy like India is possible only when there is balanced economic development of all regions in the country i.e. of 28 states and 7 union territories. Balanced economic development of different regions does not mean that rate of development of regions should be uniform. It implies that difference in the economic development of different regions should be minimised.
Regional imbalances may be:
(i) Natural Regional Imbalances:
These are the imbalances in inter regional or intra-regional development due to unequal distribution of natural resources by the nature. Each region is different from the other region in respect of natural resources, water capacity, transport etc.
(ii) Man Made Regional Imbalances:
There may be some regions where more efforts have been made for development by giving preference for investment and other development efforts like – subsidies, grants etc.
Prof. N.J. Kurion has divided the regions in two categories:
(a) Regions situated in the centre of India; like, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Bihar etc. are considered backward regions as far as economic development is concerned. These are also termed as ‘Backward States’.
(b) Regions situated at the periphery of India like Punjab, Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have developed more. We can also call these ‘Forward States’.
Essay # 2. Indicators of Regional Imbalance:
There are a number of factors which have to be studied and understood in detail to understand the pattern of regional development of the Indian economy.
In a country like India socio-economic indicators are very prominent to reflect the regional imbalances.
1. Per Capita Income:
The most important indicator of regional imbalance in India is per capita income. The following table shows this per capital income in descending order.
The table clearly indicates that Goa is the state with highest per capita income amongst these states. Haryana stands second in number with Rs. 78,781. Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have more than average per capita income of India. Bihar has the lowest per capita income. States of the southern region of India, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala etc. seem to be better developed, than most of the states of northern India. The present trend of growing income disparity among various states of India has been continuing in recent years.
2. Population:
State wise analysis of population reveals that maximum population of India is concentrated in four states i.e. Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh (BIMARU). The major task of Population Commission is to bring about a decline in birth rate in BIMARU states which are the main contributors to population growth in the country. To step up its efforts, the outlay for the Department of Family Welfare has been increased from Rs. 6,500 crores in the Eighth Plan to Rs. 15,120 crores in the Ninth Plan.
Bihar, U.P., Orissa and M.P are four states which have the highest percentage of population below poverty line. Punjab is a state maintaining the status of lowest percentage of population living below poverty line because of a strong production base and distribution of income in Punjab.
3. Agricultural Production and Agricultural Productivity:
While discussing the share of agricultural production of different states we concentrate on production of food-grains as it forms the major proportion of agricultural production in India. Share of food-grain production has been highest in case of Uttar Pradesh. Next stands Punjab although it is seventh in India with regard to area.
Madhya Pradesh is the largest states of Indian area wise but it stand third in production of food grains:
Agricultural productivity is calculated per hectare of yield of different crops. Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have maximum productivity in rice and wheat. One of the main items of daily consumption in food is rice in Kerala, but it’s per hectare productivity is low. Punjab and Haryana have maximum productivity of wheat. Southern states i.e. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka have shown maximum productivity of sugarcane while Rajasthan has shown the minimum productivity.
4. Net Domestic Product:
The following table shows contribution of few important states to net domestic product of India.
It is quite evident from the above table that Maharashtra’s contribution to National income of India is the maximum. Bihar is a state which contributes the minimum.
5. Development of Factories and Employment:
Although Industrial development in India has been at a fair rate but distribution of industries to different states is quite uneven. 15 percent of total factories in India are located alone in Maharashtra. Also the credit goes to four states i.e. Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh only for having more than 50 per cent contribution in respect of factories, industrial production, employment generated by factories and investment in India. Bihar being rich in mineral wealth and Punjab being an agricultural state their share in respect of number of factories, output, generated employment and investment has been very low. It has been observed that states maintaining higher degree of industrialisation are maintaining higher proportion of industrial workers to total population.
6. Infrastructure Disparities:
Development of infrastructure is the backbone of economic and social development of any economy.
Sh. Montek S. Ahluwalia, “Good infrastructure not only increases the productivity of existing sources going into production and therefore helps growth, it also helps to attract more investment which can be expected to increase growth further.”
Table below shows wide disparities in infrastructure Development in India.
The above table reveals few following finding:
(a) Consumption of Power:
This indicates level of energy consumption in different states. Punjab has shown maximum per capita consumption of power which is an indicator of high level of economic activity in Punjab. Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have shown the figures below National average of 338 kWh, which means unless the industrialisation speeds up in these states the disparities, cannot be removed. All Forward States are above National average.
(b) Road Transport:
Vehicles per thousand persons cannot be treated as an index of development of whole transport as it does not take into account railways. It is an indicator of development of road transport. Except in few rich states of India, the development of road transport has not been satisfactory.
The development of state in terms of Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) and per capital NSDP should also be taken into account to find out how effectively the transport system has been created and utilised. That is the reason Orissa has 134.8 kms of road length per 100 sq. kms of area but in terms of NSDP it ranks very low which shows the under-utilisation of roads.
(c) Telecommunications:
Development of Communication system is highest in Punjab. The poorest state of India is also lowest in development of telecommunication system as it has below average density of telecommunication i.e. only 0.58 telecom lines per 100 persons. Rajasthan is near average density of telecommunications out of all other backward states.
(d) Irrigated Area:
Besides the production of food grains, the percentage of irrigated area on gross cropped land also indicates the development of agriculture in the state. Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh cover the maximum irrigated area. Kerala is least developed in this respect.
(e) Combined Infrastructure:
It includes the entire above plus social infrastructure like education, health, banking etc. Punjab has shown tremendous progress in respect of infrastructure, index being almost double than national index. Kerala has also show considerable progress (except in irrigation) especially in the field of education.
7. Intra State Imbalances:
There is a growing tendency among most of the advanced states to concentrate its development activities relatively more towards developed urban and metropolitan areas of the state while allocating its industrial projects. These can be seen from the example of West Bengal where 70 percent of new units are located in Hoogly district. About 86 percent of factories of Maharashtra are located mostly in urban areas.
Essay # 3. Causes of Regional Imbalances or Disparities in in India:
1. Historical Factors:
Regional imbalances in India started from its British regime. British industrialists mostly preferred to concentrate their activities in two states like West Bengal and Maharashtra and more particularly to three cities like Calcutta, Bombay and Madras and neglecting the rest of the country to remain backward. The uneven pattern of investment had resulted in uneven growth of some areas keeping other areas neglected.
2. Geographical Factors:
Geographical factors play an important role in the developmental activities of a developing economy. Adverse climate and floods are also responsible factors for poor rate of economic development of different regions of the country which is shown by low productivity and lack of industrialisation. Natural factors resulted in uneven growth of different regions of India.
3. Locational Advantage:
Due to some locational advantages, some regions are getting special favour in respect of site selections of various developmental projects. Regional imbalances arise due to such locational advantages accrue to some regions and the locational disadvantages to some other regions.
4. Inadequacy of Economic Overheads:
Economic overheads like transport and communication facilities, power, technology and insurance etc. are considered very important for the development of a particular region. Due to adequacy of such economic overheads, some regions are getting a special favour in respect of settlement of some developmental projects whereas due to inadequacy of such economic overheads some regions of the country i.e. North-Eastern region, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar etc. remained much backward.
5. Failure of Planning Mechanism:
Although balanced growth has been accepted as one of the major objectives of economic planning in India, since, it did not make much headway in achieving this object. In fact planning enlarged the disparity among states. In respect of allocating plan outlay developed states get much favour than less developed states. Due to such divergent trend, imbalance between the different states in India has been continuously widening, inspite of framing achievement of regional balance as one of the important objective of economic planning in the country.
6. Lack of Growth of Ancillary Industries in Backward States:
The Government of India has been following a decentralised approach for the development of backward regions through its investment programmes on public sector industrial enterprises located in backward areas like Rourkela, Barauni, Bhilai etc. But due to lack of growth of ancillary industries in these areas, these areas remained backward in spite of huge investment by the centre.
7. Lack of Motivation on the Part of Backward States:
Growing regional imbalances in India have also resulted from lack of motivation on the part of the backward states or industrial development while the developed states like Maharashtra, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu etc. are trying to attain further industrial development, but the backward states have been showing their interest on political interferences and manipulations instead of industrial development.
8. Political Instability:
Political instability in the form of instable Government, law and order problem etc. have been obstructing the flow of investment into these backward regions besides making flight of capital from these backward states. Thus this political instability prevailing in some backward regions of the country are standing as a hurdle in the path of development of these regions.
Essay # 4. Measures Taken by Indian Government to Control Regional Imbalances:
It is clear that regional imbalances are threatening the development of a country. Therefore it becomes the need of the hour to control it. In India regional disparities are persisting even in recent years since the very beginning inspite of repeated attempts made from different corners to contain it.
In order to tackle the problem of regional imbalances and backwardness the Planning Commission in India has been adopting a three-fold strategy in the following manner:
(i) While transferring resources from the centre to the states, backwardness of the region has been given due recognition and weightage.
(ii) For the development of backward areas, special area development programmes are being formulated.
(iii) Necessary measures have been taken for promoting private investment in those backward regions of the country.
1. Resource Transfer and Backwardness:
While making necessary awards; the Finance Commission in India has been giving due weightage to backwardness of a state as an important criteria for resource transfer from the center to the states. The following table shows the share of backward states and special category states in plan outlay and central assistance.
Under the present system of federal fiscal transfer, the transfer of resources from the centre to the states includes central assistance for state plans. Hon plan transfer as per the recommendations of the Finance ad-hoc transfer, allocation of funds for centrally sponsored schemes, allocation of both short term and long term credit from financial institution etc.
The table clearly shows that since the 1st plan the Government is continuously giving assistance to these states. Again there are some peculiar difficulties to solve the problem of regional imbalance and backwardness/through resource transfers from centre to states. Again resources so transferred are not always utilised for the development of backward areas of such backward states.
Rather there is a growing tendency to “divert” funds intended for backward and difficult areas to more forward areas and easier programmes. Again the problem of backward areas in non-backward states remained more or less unattended.
2. Special Area Development Programme:
In order to develop hilly areas, tribal areas, drought-prone areas specific plan schemes have been designed with full central assistance. The Tribal Sub-plans are implemented through 194 Integrated Tribal Development Projects (ITDP) and 250 modified Area Development (MADP).
In this manner, different special schemes for particular target groups located in the backward areas are being included for block level planning for attaining integrated rural development and considerable employment opportunities. All these programmes, IRDP (Integrated Rural Development Programme) Drought Prone Area Programme (ODAP), Crash Scheme for Rural Employment (CSRE) etc. have been formulated.
3. Incentives for Promoting Investment in Backward Regions:
In order to fight the problem of industrial backwardness of some backward regions and also to promote private investment in backward regions, various fiscal and other incentives have been provided by the centre, states and other financial institutions under public sector.
These incentives are as follows:
(a) Central Government Incentives:
In order to promote investment in the backward regions, the Government of India has been providing different important incentives.
These incentives include:
(i) Income Tax Concessions:
As per this concession scheme, new industrial units settled in backward areas are allowed a deduction to the extent of 20 percent of their profits for the computation of its assessable income.
(ii) Tax Holiday:
In order to give stimulus to new industries in backward regions, the Government introduced a system of tax holiday for new industrial units located in backward regions i.e. in all states in the North eastern region, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Goa and the Union Territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Daman and Diu.
(iii) Central Investment Subsidy Scheme:
The Central Government announced the scheme of Central Government subsidy which made a provision for subsidy at the flat rate of 10 percent subject to a maximum limit of Rs. 5 lakh on fixed capital investment like land, factory, buildings, plant and machinery, subsequently, this rate of subsidy was raised to 15 percent and then 25 percent.
(iv) Transport Subsidy Scheme:
In July 1971, this transport subsidy scheme was introduced for those units established in hilly and remote areas of the country. Under this scheme, these industrial units were entitled to 50 percent transport subsidy on the expenditure incurred particularly for movement of raw material and finished goods to and from certain selected rail heads to the location of these industrial units. This scheme is applicable to remote and inaccessible areas of Jammu and Kashmir and also in North-Eastern hilly areas.
(v) Promoting New Financial Institutions in Backward Region:
In order to accelerate the pace of industrialisation in backward areas the Government of India has promoted new financial institutions especially for those areas. The Government has announced the establishment of Regional Rural Development Bank (RRDB) for the North-Eastern Region. Later on this institution was inaugurated in the name and style of North-Eastern Development Finance Corporation Ltd. NEDFI for the development of North- Eastern Regions.
Moreover the Government has established a new Rural Infrastructural Development Fund (RIDF) within NABARD for the infrastructural development of rural as well as backward areas.
(vi) Other Measures:
The Government has been introducing some other measures for the development of backward regions. The Government is giving priority to backward areas in respect of issuing industrial licenses.
The Central Government has again introduced a scheme for assisting the state Governments to undertake infrastructural development projects in those identified as “no industry districts” to the extent of one third of total cost of such development projects subject to a maximum unit of Rs. 2 crore. With this scheme, the Central Government has been helping the state Governments to develop a good number of Growth Centres through the development of infrastructural facilities.
(b) State Government Incentives:
In order to attract private sector investment in backward regions, the State governments have also been offering incentives in different forms. These incentives include providing developed plots with electricity and water connection on a no profit and no loss basis, exemption from payments of water charges for some years, sales tax exemption, interest free loans, exemption from payment of property taxes for initial years, providing subsidy on industrial housing scheme, establishment of industrial estates for setting up small industries etc. In recent years more than 50 percent of loans sanctioned by institution like SFCS, SIDCO and SIIC under concessional finance scheme have gone to backward districts.
(c) Concessional Finance Available from Major Financial Institutions:
In India, there are some important public sector financial institutions which are providing concessional finance for setting up industrial projects in the backward areas of the country. These institutions include Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), the industrial Finance Corporation of India (IFCI) and the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI). These institutions are offering loan at concessional rates of interest and also at longer period repayment facilities waiving of Commitment Charges etc. They are also arranging entrepreneurial development programmes for providing necessary training to small and medium prospective entrepreneurs. Moreover these are setting up Technical Consultancy Organisations (TCOs) to provide technical consultancy services to these prospective industrial units of backward areas at cheaper rates.
Essay # 5. Weaknesses of Regional Planning in India:
It is being pointed out that inspite of adopting a long standing approach to remove regional imbalances in the country; the regional planning in India could not meet the desired rate of success due to its following weaknesses:
(a) Refusal of richer states to transfer some of their surplus resources to the poorer states.
(b) Lack of self-reliance on the part of poorer states and thereby too much dependence on the transfer of resources from richer states.
(c) Area development programmes for the backward areas are lacking an integrated approach.
(d) Failure of large central projects located in the backward areas to improve their economies.
(e) Non-approaching attitude of the entrepreneurs to seek concessional finance from the public sector financial institutions.
(f) Too much concentration of Central Government investment subsidy meant for specific backward areas into a few areas of some districts and too much of such investment subsidy on capital related investments leading to creation of lesser employment opportunities.
(g) Lack of infrastructural facilities like power transport communication etc. and lack of adequate fiscal and monetary incentives from state Government have led to no development of ancillary industries, secondary and territory industries is and around those major central industrial undertakings.
(h) Lack of proper incentives offered by the state Government for tackling the problem of intra-state imbalances existing within a state.
(i) Inadequacy of funds allotted by the State Government for the development of backward and other special problem areas.
(j) Non-utilisation of plan outlay and loans and advances given to the states for the development of backward areas.
Considering the above weaknesses of the regional planning strategy in India, the problem of regional imbalances has to be considered not only in financial terms but also in physical terms. In order to develop these backward regions, the central assistance should be directly linked with specific programmes. Development potentials of the backward areas should be clearly identified and proper steps should be taken to develop such potentialities in order to remove such relative backwardness of those areas.
Thus it is found that although the regional planning in India had achieved some degree of success but it is still far from its desired goal.