Question

“The Himachal Pradesh per capita income is lower than the Punjab, but ahead in the Human
Development Index.“ - Comment.

Answer 1

Firstly, the per capita income of Uttarakhand is more than Himachal and thus, the question is factually incorrect. However, GDP per capita is not a great measure of development and in general, Himachal is much more developed than Uttarakhand with the people quite better off…

Coming to history, Present day Himachal was a Union Territory with some portions under the State of Punjab and it attained statehood back in 1971. On the other hand, Uttarakhand was declared a state only in 2000 . Now, hilly regions have typical issues requiring specific solutions quite different from there plain counterparts. In this regard, being a part of the huge(geographically as well as demographically) Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand remained neglected and underdeveloped.Infrastructure : My native village is near the Himachal border and I have visited the state many times and I am yet to find a place not having good roads. The reverse is true for Uttarakhand. Rural areas in Uttarakhand also suffer from load shedding. Infrastructure being the bloodline of Economy, Himachal is miles ahead in this regard.Agriculture : Agriculture in Uttarakhand is not at all remunerative. With more population(>10 million) as compared to Himachal (approx. 7 million) but nearly comparable size, this is bound to happen. Further, Himachal has very well tapped Horticulture which is much more profitable that traditional subsistence agriculture mostly practised in hilly regions of Uttarakhand.Society : I do not have much idea about Himachal in this aspect but in Uttarakhand, there is some rivalry between the Garhwalis and Kumaunis on one hand and Brahmins and Thakurs on the other hand. This is one of the reason for the political instability(8 CM’s in 17 years).

Answer 2

Here is the latest report, stats and numbers of per capita income of various ... Interestingly the PCI of Delhi is over 7 times higher than state of Bihar and 4 times more than 9 other states. ... 9, Himachal Pradesh, 83899, 92300, NA, 11.59, 10.01, NA ... capita income in India and on the other hand Uttar Pradesh has the lowest!