Development Disparity in India: A Sum Up

This chapter provides the summary, conclusion and some policy prescriptions about the nature of regional disparity prevailing in India. The study shows, widespread regional disparity prevails in economic development, human development and agricultural performances in India. Regional variation which takes into account both the temporal and spatial disparity shows a concern for a balanced economic and social development for the country. It has been observed that some southern states and group of northern states made remarkable improvement during the period. High growth has been accompanied by the growing levels of inequality and polarization and thus poses problems for equitable and balanced development of the economy. Agricultural sector is found to play an important role behind the observed widespread inequality in per capita income in India. There is a clear trend of divergence in per capita net state domestic product (PCNSDP) and agricultural output especially in the post-liberalization period. The evidence of convergence is observed in human development indices among the states of India. Interestingly, along with the reduction of inequality among the Indian states, there is a tendency of growing polarization in the level of human development. To achieve a balanced human development, it is thus, desirable to take initiatives for the targeted level of human development in the states of India.