2 Andhra districts to compile human development report

Two districts "� Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy "� in Andhra Pradesh have been chosen for compilation of a District Human Development Report, first in the country, to serve as a basis for assessing the living standards of people.

R C Panda, additional secretary to the Union ministry of statistics and programme implementation, said here today that the two districts were chosen on a pilot basis to test certain models and software and come out with a district business registrar that can be picked up by other states.

Underlining the need to prepare the annual statistical book for panchyat raj institutions along with municipal divisions, Panda said that Andhra Pradesh had an edge over other states for compilation of statistical data and that it was the first state in the country to estimate the gross state domestic product (GSDP) on a quarterly basis since 2002-03 in accordance with the guidelines of the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO).

Panda was here to deliver the keynote address at the southern states' regional workshop on 'State Income and Related Aggregates,' which commenced on Monday.

The five-day workshop is being hosted by the directorate of economics and statistics, government of Andhra Pradesh, on behalf of CSO and is being funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The aim of the workshop is to give an impetus to the compilation of state income estimates by the state governments and to standardise 1999-2000 as the base year from the earlier 1993-94.

The workshop will also discuss the methodology to be adopted for compiling the district domestic product or per capita district domestic product.

In his address, K Rosaiah, minister for finance and planning, said that the state GSDP grew at the rate of 5.72 per cent as against the all-India growth rate of 5.69 per cent during 1995-96 to 2003-04. The recent improvements by CSO in standardising methodology had added a degree of dependability to the estimates, he said.

Saroja Rama Rao, director of economics and statistics, said that a workshop of this kind was being held after a gap of 10 years and that it would address practical problems in estimation of per capita district income. Delegates from Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Lakshwadeep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands are participating in the workshop.

GSDP up 7.15% in first half

The gross income of the state from agriculture, forestry and fishing in the first half (April to September) for the year 2005-06 dropped by 0.38 per cent to Rs 6,512 crore from the Rs 6,536 crore netted in the corresponding period of the previous year.

According to the half-yearly estimates brought out by the department of economics and statistics, all sectors except the agri and allied, experienced a positive growth rate for the half-year 2005-06.

While the GSDP in the first half increased by 7.15 per cent to Rs 46,989 crore from the previous year's Rs 43,852 crore, primary sector for the first half of 2005-06 grew at 1.66 per cent to Rs 8,189 crore.

The secondary and tertiary sectors in the state grew at 6.84 per cent and 9.15 per cent to garner Rs 12,535 crore and Rs 26,266 crore respectively. Mining and quarrying sector saw the maximum growth rate of 10.42 per cent for the first half at Rs 1,677 crore as compared to the Rs 1,519 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.