Jharkhand poorest, indicates World Bank

A recent report issued by the World Bank has identified Jharkhand as one of the most poverty-stricken state in the country with a sharp contrast between rural and urban poverty.

The incidence of poverty at the state level is assessed at 44 per cent in the state compared with 26 percent for India as a whole.

The report said there was sharp contrast between rural and urban poverty. The incidence of rural poverty, assessed at 49 per cent in 1999/00, was the highest among all Indian states, with the second highest being Orissa (48 per cent), followed by Bihar (44 per cent), Assam (40 per cent) and Madhya Pradesh (37 per cent).

In contrast, the incidence of urban poverty is only 23 per cent, which is similar to or better than states such as Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra at 27 per cent, Karnataka (25 per cent), Tamil Nadu (23 per cent) and much lower than in Orissa (44 per cent) and Bihar (34 per cent).

However, the report stated that Jharkhand has made considerable progress in reducing poverty since the early nineties when the overall poverty reduction rate was about 2 percentage points a year since the early 1990's.

The report said that Jharkhand's nominal per capita income of Rs 14,147 in 2003-04 was below that of countries such as Bangladesh.

The report said that Jharkhnad's key social indicators such as literacy, enrolment, infant mortality and child nutrition were below the all-India average.