Table Of Content32 TRIPURA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
Tripura
Human Development Report
2007
Government of Tripura
PUBLISHED BY
Government of Tripura
All rights reserved
PHOTO CREDITS
V.K. Ramachandran: pages 1, 2 (all except the middle photo), 31, 32, 34, 41, 67
(bottom photo), 68 (left photo), 69, 112 (bottom photo), 124 (bottom photo),
128.
Government of Tripura: pages 2 (middle photo), 67 (top photo), 68 (right photo),
72, 76, 77, 79, 89, 97, 112 (top photo), 124 (top left and top right photos).
COVER DESIGN
Alpana Khare
DESIGN AND PRINT PRODUCTION
Tulika Print Communication Services, New Delhi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This Report is the outcome of active collaboration among Departments of
the Government of Tripura, independent academics and researchers, and
staff and scholars of the Foundation for Agrarian Studies. The nodal agency
on the official side was the Department of Planning and Coordination of
the Government of Tripura, and successive Directors of the Department – A.
Guha, S.K. Choudhury, R. Sarwal and Jagdish Singh – have played a pivotal
role in coordinating the work of this Report. S.K. Panda, Principal Secre-
tary, took an active personal interest in the preparation of the Report. The
Staff of the Department, and M. Debbarma in particular, have worked hard
to collect data, organize workshops and help in the preparation of the Re-
port.
The process of planning, researching and writing this Report has taken
over two years, and I have accumulated many debts on the way. The entire
process was guided by the Steering Committee under the Chairmanship of
the Chief Secretary. The members of the Steering Committee inclu-ded a
representative each from the Planning Commission and UNDP, New Delhi;
the Vice-Chancellor, Tripura University; Professor Abhijit Sen, Jawaharlal
Nehru University, New Delhi and Professor V. K. Ramachandran, Indian
Statistical Institute, Kolkata; Commissioners of Planning & Coordination,
Health, Education, Social Welfare & Social Education and Rural Develop-
ment of the Government of Tripura; and Directors of the State Insti-tute of
Public Administration and Rural Development (SIPARD) and Planning De-
partment.
All Departments of the Government of Tripura and the TTAADC co-
operated in the provision of data. Special mention must be made of the
Directorate of Economics and Statistics, and A. K Chanda, Joint Director,
for providing data for the Report.
The Foundation for Agrarian Studies set up a core group comprising Mita
Choudhury, Malabika Dasgupta, V.K. Ramachandran, Vikas Rawal and
Madhura Swaminathan to provide guidance on the academic inputs to the
Report.
The bulk of this Report is based on the background papers written by
Venkatesh Athreya, Indira Chakravarty, Mahadev Chakravarti, Pallavi
Chavan, Mita Choudhury, Jayanta Choudhury, Malabika Dasgupta, Samir
Guha Roy, Himanshu, Archana Prasad, Vikas Rawal, Minakshi Sen
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v
Bandyopadhyay and Amitabha Sinha. The papers are listed in the Biblio-
graphy. Mita Choudhury’s efforts were crucial in the preparation of the Sta-
tistical Appendix. Vikas Rawal was responsible for created the block level
digitized maps of selected indicators. Case studies were undertaken by stu-
dents of the Department of Economics, Tripura University. Guddi Tiwari
provided research assistance.
The Foundation for Agrarian Studies conducted a field survey for the
Report that was designed and supervised by V.K. Ramachandran, V. Surjit
and Aparajita Bakshi. The other contributors to the survey efforts are listed
elsewhere.
Participants in workshops held in Agartala, Udaipur, Ambassa and
Kailashahar made important comments on early drafts of the background
papers and the Report. Seeta Prabhu gave advice and encouragement at vari-
ous stages of the preparation of this Report. Jayati Ghosh and K. Nagaraj
commented on the first draft of the Report.
A.K. Shiva Kumar gave me excellent advice on the content and organiza-
tion of the Report. I thank Venkatesh Athreya for his careful reading of the
draft Report. Mahadev Chakravarti has shared his knowledge of Tripura
society and history with me. V.K. Ramachandran contributed significantly
to this Report from the early planning to the final writing and editing.
The team at Tulika Print Communication Services has worked in record
time to prepare this publication. Kalyani Ramachandran selected the colour
scheme, and she and Madhav gave me much support.
Lastly, I record my gratitude to the Indian Statistical Institute, my home
institution.
MADHURA SWAMINATHAN
Principal Resource Person and Editor
vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
CONTENTS
Message from the Chief Minister of Tripura iii
Acknowledgements v
1 The State of Human Development 1
1.1 The State and Its People 3
1.2 Components of Human Development 10
1.3 Human Development Index (HDI) for Tripura 24
1.4 Concluding Remarks 29
2 The Economy 33
2.1 Economic Structure 33
2.2 Forest-based Livelihoods 36
2.3 Infrastructure 43
2.4 Work and Unemployment 50
2.5 Income and Asset Poverty 58
2.6 Summary 66
3 Education, Health, Nutrition 73
3.1 Education 73
3.2 Health 85
3.3 Nutrition and Food Security 92
3.4 Housing, Sanitation and Drinking Water 99
3.5 Summary 101
4 Promoting Human Security 103
4.1 Human Security and Human Development 103
4.2 The Breeding Ground for Divisive Political Movements 104
4.3 The Impact of Insurgency on Society and People’s Lives 108
4.4 Fighting Insurgency 111
4.5 Summary 115
5 Democratic Decentralization 117
5.1 Role of Decentralized Institutions 117
5.2 Panchayati Raj Institutions 117
CONTENTS vii
5.3 Urban Local Bodies 120
5.4 Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council 121
5.5 Political Participation of Women 122
5.6 Special Initiatives 125
5.7 Concluding Remarks 126
6 Financial Constraints & Expenditure Patterns 129
6.1 Financial Constraints 129
6.2 Social Sector Spending 131
6.3 Summary 136
7 The Way Forward 137
7.1 Strengths and Achievements 137
7.2 Challenges and Problems 138
7.3 Priorities for Planning 140
Glossary and Abbreviations 142
Bibliography 143
Annexures 145
Annexure 1: Estimation of District Domestic Product (DDP) 145
Annexure 2: Calculation of the Human Development Index
(HDI) and Gender-related Development Index (GDI) 146
Annexure 3: List of Blocks Wholly in the Autonomous District
Council 147
Annexure 4: Estimation of Birth Rates by Reverse Survival
Method 147
Annexure 5: Estimation of Mortality Rates by Indirect Methods 148
Annexure 6: Issues in School Education 150
Annexure 7: Border Fencing 154
Annexure 8: Public Expenditure Ratios 154
Statistical Appendix 156
Population: Tables P1–P12 156
Education: Tables E1–E18 162
Health and Nutrition: Tables H1–H14 170
Labour Force: Tables L1–L20 175
Economy and Infrastructure: Tables E&I 1 – E&I 26 184
Living Conditions: Tables LC1–LC10 196
Financial Resources: Tables F1–F9 202
Political Participation and Violence: Tables O1–O7 206
viii CONTENTS
Description:2.18: Head count ratio of poverty, Tripura, rural and urban, 1983 to 1999–2000
x MOG: Mogs are said to have migrated from Myanmar via the Arakan Hills.
