Tarai districts score low in HDI
KATHMANDU:
Despite easy road access and abundant fertile Tarai fields, Rautahat and Mahottari have fared as worse as the far-flung districts in the remote mid- and far-western Nepal in terms of human development indices (HDI).
These two districts are among the least scoring 10 districts among the 75 districts evaluated by Nepal Human Development Report 2014 released today. Districts such as Jajarkot, Mugu and Rolpa, which are situated in topographically challenging areas of Mid-western hills and Mountains, are doing better than the two Tarai districts that are in proximity of less than 300 kilometres from the Capital.
“Accessibility to facilities alone cannot boost the human development ranking if the region is doing poorly in terms of education, health and equality — especially in terms of gender,” pointed out Pitamber Sharma, the author of the report, citing the poor scores of the entire Eastern and Central Tarai region in terms of overall HDI. The region’s HDI stands at 0.463 while national average is at 0.490.
Poverty and lack of proper education can be attributed as the prime reasons for the area failing to achieve higher HDI, according to Chief District Officer of Rautahat, Dil Bahadur Ghimire.
“People here aren’t too concerned about education, which trickles into low level of awareness about health and gender equality, which affects the districts’ standing despite the access to roads and productive lands,” explained Ghimire.
“Since most of the adult population seeks jobs in foreign countries as unskilled migrant workers, education has taken a backseat,” he added.
The adult literacy indices of Rautahat and Mahottari stand at 0.339 and 0.370 — way below the national average of 0.596.
Similar is the case of Mahottari, according to Officiating CDO, Krishna Prasad Khanal. “Mahottari is doing good in terms of income, since many migrant workers from the area provide well for their families. But then again, there is less insistence on education,” he added.
Even in terms of Human Poverty Index, these two districts are among 10 least prosperous districts alongside the mid- and far-western districts. On the other hand, Manang — considered one of the most remote districts in Nepal — has earned the place on top five districts in terms of HDI due to positive effects of tourism and remittance.
Among the regions, the Kathmandu Valley region comprising three districts scored the best HDI due to better access to basic facilities of health, education, roads, markets and level of per capita income, according to the report. On the other hand, Western, Mid-western and Far-western Mountains and Hills were assigned the least HDI, a notch below Central and Eastern Tarai region — 11 districts between Parsa to Jhapa.
However, the range of inequality is visible with Kathmandu Valley and Western Hills having 1.6 times higher HDI than Western and Mid-western Mountains.
The HDI figure measures the overall achievement in social and economic dimensions based on the income, education, health and living standard, among others. The report has analysed the data from National Living Standard Survey and Census survey of 2011 to assess the HDI of different regions.
The report titled ‘Beyond Geography, Unlocking Human Potential’ shows improved overall pictures but inequalities among the region and social groups remain intact despite signs of such inequalities narrowing. “The evidence presented by the report should be taken into consideration while allocation of sectoral budgets at the district level, as it will provide objectivity to such allocation and also factor human development status,” said Haoliang Xu, UN assistant secretary general, during the launch.
“Most importantly, HDI scores of districts are highly correlated with women’s literacy rates, so education policy must be equitable from gender perspective to narrow HDI gaps,” he said.
Moreover, as Nepal is preparing to graduate into development country from the current status of least developed country by 2022, importance of inclusive growth is further stressed by the report.
Source: THT
