Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Apr 13: Notwithstanding its immense importance in making planning a human development oriented exercise, J&K has failed to prepare a comprehensive State Human Development Report during the past more than a decade. In this way, the State has shown scant regard to the repeated instructions from the Planning Commission of India as well as disregarded the widely accepted concept of prioritizing the developmental needs.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that the process of preparing the State Human Development Report as per the guidelines of the Planning Commission of India was set into motion in the year 2003 when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was the Chief Minister. A formal agreement was also signed with the Planning Commission with the commitment to come up with the report within a period of one year.
Even a committee headed by Chief Secretary was constituted to oversee the progress and experts from Kashmir and Jammu Universities were engaged to prepare the first ever Human Development Report of the State. Moreover, an amount of Rs 39 lakh was also sanctioned and released for the execution of the task.
The specific objectives of preparing Human Development Report were to mainstream human development in Government policies and planning through sensitization, advocacy and capacity development for human development analysis and action. Moreover, such a report was imperative to prioritise the developmental needs by considering the state of income, health, education, housing and everything else relevant to measuring quality of life.
“Such a report was also important for the Planning Commission of India to ascertain where the Jammu and Kashmir figures in human development index and what corrective steps are required to be initiated”, sources said. However, despite lapse of more than one decade State has failed to come up with the comprehensive Human Development Report, they regretted, adding “it is not understandable as to how J&K having altogether different geographical conditions as compared to other States can be so slack towards such an important exercise”.
In response to a question, sources said, the exercise, which was started in 2003 reached half way in 2008 when presentation of draft Human Development Report was made. But, during the course of discussion on the draft report, some technical deficiencies came to the fore and finally it was decided that Planning and Development Department will examine the report.
In the year 2010, a committee comprising the then Secretary Planning, the then Director General Economics and Statistics and a Professor from University of Jammu was constituted to examine the draft report and suggest improvements.
“Though the committee held some meetings and added some parameters yet the exercise could not reach the logical conclusion due to transfers/superannuation of the officers in the committee”, sources said. “thereafter, this vital subject received no serious thought from any of the quarters as a result of which the exercise which was initiated more than a decade back is hanging in balance”, they added. Due to this even the draft report was not accepted by the Government.
They said that due to failure of the State to come up with final and comprehensive Human Development Report, the exercise to prepare the similar reports at district level could not be started.
“Not only towards preparation of Human Development Report, State also remained slack in strengthening statistical systems at the district level for which huge financial assistance was also recommended by the 13th Finance Commission”, sources said while interlinking statistical systems strengthening with the preparation of district level Human Development Reports.
An amount of Rs 4.40 crore was released as first installment for implementation of Indian Statistical Strengthening Project but the State could not utilize the amount and furnish Utilization Certificates to the Centre as a result of which it could not avail the next installments, sources said.
When contacted, Director General Economics and Statistics, Riyaz Bandey said, “there were some documents on human development index but we were lacking a comprehensive one that too strictly in accordance with the Planning Commission of India guidelines”.
“We have initiated exercise to engage some professionals for preparation of a comprehensive Human Development Report of the State”, he informed. Mr Bandey, however, could not specify the time to be taken for coming up with such a document.
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