Main factors responsible for slow economic progress of Rajasthan

Rajasthan economy has been lagging behind Indian economy in various sectors  such as agriculture, industry, Infrastructure-both economic and social, etc. There are many factors which have been responsible for this state of affairs so that the state may bridge up its gap with the national economy in future by adopting suitable policy measures in this regard.

1. Economic Base of Rajasthan was Very Weak at the start of Planning in 1951 :

 Economic position of Rajasthan was very dismal in the initial stages of planning. In 1950-51, the installed capacity of power was only 13 MW, gross irrigated area as a ratio of gross cropped area was only 12 per cent, state had electricity in 42 places only and the road mileage was 17,399 kms only. Industrial development was not possible due to lack of roads, water supply and electricity generation. There was lack of social services as well, and educational and medical facilities were lagging far behind the national average in different parts of the state. With such low economic base, it was not possible to make up the gaps in a short period of time. However, during the plan-period significant improvements have been made in several directions.

2.  Adverse Geographical and Physical Conditions :

 The state has desert area in 61 per cent of the geographical area of the state, which is frequently visited by famines and droughts. The surface water resources of the state constitute 1 per cent of the total surface water resources of the entire country. The per capita expenditure on making basic services available to the people in backward and remote areas is quite high. Due to lack of adequate funds, development is adversely affected. Monsoon is uncertain in India, but it is more so in Rajasthan. It leads to drastic fluctuations in agricultural output in the state, more particularly in the output of khariff food grains, which causes hardship to the people from time to time.

3. High Growth Rate of Population :

 The growth rate of population in Rajasthan during 1991- 2001 was 28.41 per cent and in 2001-2011 it was 21.4 per cent. These growth rates are higher than the national averages for the respective periods. The per capita income and per capita availability of goods and services have been adversely affected due to this single factor. There is also some correlation between high population growth rate and social backwardness of the state.

 4.  Problems Related with Groundwater in the State  :

Due to droughts water-table have been receding continuously in the state. In some areas, water is brackish and unfit for human and cattle consumption, and even for agricultural purposes. People, particularly women-folk, have to walk a long distance to fetch potable water in some parts of the state. Due to excess use of groundwater in recent years, some parts of the state may face a situation of severe water-famine in the near future.

5 . Social Backwardness :

 In 2001, the proportion of SC people in the state was 17.2 per cent and that of ST people it was 12.6 per cent. With other backward class people, the proportion of socially backward people in the population is likely to exceed 30 per cent, which poses several problems for the planners. Massive investments are needed to remove the social and economic backwardness of these communities. There are organizational problems too in implementing the programmes for the upliftment of these people.

 6. Lack of Financial Resources :

 Although a lot of expenditure has been incurred during the plan-period for making improvements in  various sectors of the economy, particularly in sectors like power, irrigation and social services; yet further planned development is constrained due to financial difficulties. The total debt burden on the state at the end of March 2011 was a sum of Rs. 98,881 crore, which is likely to cross the level of Rs. One lakh crore by the end of March 2012, this has increased interest burden on the state. The state tried to improve its fiscal situation under Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act of 2005. It has to reframe the FRBM Act, again in the light of the changing fiscal position of the State.

 7. Poor Implementation of Plans  :

Although the Planning Department has been preparing five year plans and annual plans in the state, yet high level technical and academic work was not carried out on state planning process in the past. Moreover, decentralized planning could not take root in the state, and there could not be proper coordination between local resources, local manpower and local requirements of the people. With the setting up of New Panchyati Raj Institutions after the enactment of 73rd constitutional Amendment act in the State, a new situation during 1995-96, a new situation emerged in the state for better planning at the grass-roots level.

Way Forward :

Time has come to give a new orientation to the entire planning process in terms of need-based local planning in the state. Planning at the state-level need a new face-lift in terms of planformulation, plan-implementation and plan-evaluation. The state has to tackle issues related with: (I) Power development in the private sector; (II) Industrial development of backward regions; (III) Agricultural development by spreading the use of drip-irrigation and sprinkler-irrigation, and watershed development as well as wasteland development programmes; (IV) Rapid development of mineral resources, roads and cattle-wealth; and (V) Increasing literacy rate, particularly in rural areas for the women-folk.

The production and productivity need to be improved in all the sectors of the economy so that problems of poverty, unemployment and inequality may be tackled more effectively during the next few decades in Rajasthan. The state possesses potential for providing full employment to its people in future. With large external assistance, particularly from the World Bank  for large project in agricultural and other sectors the state can hope to build a bright future for itself, and thereby help in accelerating the economic growth of the entire country.