Mumbai, Dec 1 (IANS) Maharashtra’s development has seen a steady deterioration and it has been faring quite poorly as compared to the country’s four BIMARU states – Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh – a study by a University of Mumbai professor revealed.
‘Despite the large tax collection base, Maharashtra’s poor governance and apathetic attitude has brought it to this state,’ said Mala Lalvani, an economics professor at the University of Mumbai.
Lalvani’s research titled ‘Maharashtra at 50: A new entrant to the BIMARU group?’ raises some concern.
She has mentioned that the rich-poor divide in Maharashtra’s rural areas is worse than in any BIMARU state. ‘Only Madhya Pradesh has a rich-poor divide worse than Maharashtra,’ she said.
‘Maharashtra’s expenditure on social and economic services as opposed to its total expenditure is now only marginally above that of Bihar,’ she said.
‘In fact, the state’s expenditure on education in proportion to its total expenditure is lower than that of Bihar,’ she added.
Lalvani blames the government for this scenario.
‘During the 1970s and 1980s – considered to be the high growth period – the government did not invest in strengthening public services. It only concentrated on developing the Mumbai Metropolitan Region,’ she said.
‘What needs to be also taken care of is the power cuts, water crisis and poor health services in the rural areas of the state,’ she added.
Lalvani, however, says there are several other factors that still make Maharashtra stronger than other states. ‘I do not say that Maharashtra is at par with the BIMARU states. But problems on the fiscal front and lack of good governance are surely worth the concern,’ she said.
Lalvani mentioned that the state government needs to look into health issues that are cropping up due to poor budget allocation. ‘Maharashtra has registered more polio cases this year as compared to Bihar,’ she said.
Lalvani also pointed out that the state’s budget allocation for economic services in ratio to its total expenditure was less than that of Madhya Pradesh. It was, however, higher than that of other BIMARU states.
