Chouhan releases Human Development Report

Bhopal, Nov 26 (UNI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan today released the Fourth Human Development Report of Madhya Pradesh titled 'Human Development through Infrastructure' here today.

''Infrastructure development not only provides impetus to economic growth but is also a catalyst for human development and improving quality of life. Whether it is roads, electricity, communications, financial services or transportation, water and sanitation in urban areas, everything contributes directly to improving living standards,'' Mr Chouhan said.

Finance Minister Raghavji said the purpose behind bringing out this report was to provide a detailed picture of infrastructural shortcomings faced by the state at present. It lists out challenges before Madhya Pradesh and outlines a roadmap to meet them. Chief Secretary R C Sahni, Principal Secretary (Finance) Ashok Das, Secretary to the Chief Minister Anurag Jain and Additional Secretary (Finance) Ashok Varnwal were also present, an official release said here today.

The report is different from previous report as it is not focused on the statistics about education, health, per capita income, but on infrastructure.

The report has been prepared jointly by the Directorate of Institutional Finance and a non-governmental organisation, Sanket.

Eminent scholar Dr Sompal, Dr N J Kurien and Prof Suresh Tendulkar have also made significant contributions.

The report -- published by Oxford University Press -- has been released in both English and Hindi.

The report comprises seven chapters. The first chapter discusses the manner in which infrastructure influences human development, while the second chapter focuses on physical connectivity, presenting a detailed review of roads, railway and transport in the state.

The report points out that although Madhya Pradesh has historically been known to have a poor road network, greater mobilisation of financial resources by the government in recent times has resulted in speeding up road construction.

New methods like Bond-Build-Operate Transfer have been utilised to improve the condition of state highways, while schemes like Farmers' Road Fund and Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana have been used for constructing and refurbishing major district roads and village roads.

The third chapter is devoted to electricity, the fourth chapter to communication infrastructure and the fifth chapter to basic problems faced in urban renewal and development, including housing, providing basic amenities in slums, burgeoning traffic on roads, unregulated expansion of urban areas and urban water supply and sanitation.

The final chapter discusses the state's human development situation on the basis of the three traditional parameters -- education, health and per capita income, the release added.

UNI