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The adjoining constituencies of Rae Bareli and Amethi have both been bastions of the Nehru-Gandhi family for decades, with the Congress remaining virtually unchallenged here. But has that guaranteed development in these areas? Have people seen a marked improvement in their standards of living as compared to the rest of the country?
| Social Indicators | ||||
| Sultanpur (Amethi) | Rae Bareli | Uttar Pradesh | India | |
| Sex Ratio | 983 | 943 | 912 | 943 |
| Literacy Rate | 69.27 | 67.25 | 67.68 | 72.99 |
| Banking | ||||
| Households with access to banking services | 79.2 | 77.8 | 72 | 58.7 |
| Electricity | ||||
| Households with access to electricity | 37.2 | 40.3 | 36.8 | 67.2 |
| MNREGA performance | ||||
| Amethi | Rae Bareli | Uttar Pradesh | Purulia | |
| No. of MNREGA job cards issued to households | 196,500 | 270,319 | 149,38,437 | 461,960 |
| No. of households that completed 100 days employment | 3,019 | 4,371 | 157,583 | 19,491 |
| % of households that completed 100 days of employment | 1.53% | 1.61% | 1.05% | 4.21% |
Business Standard did a quick analysis of the Census 2011 data to compare how both Amethi and Rae Bareli fared on 5 broad parameters such asset ownership, access to banking, social development, sanitation and access to electricity as well their MNREGA performance in comparison to both UP as well as the rest of the country.
The results reveal the following -
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Out of 13 sub parameters (ownership of cars/computers with internet /motorcycles/mobiles/telephones/televisions, access to a kitchen inside the home/treated tap water/bathroom/toilet on premises, sex ratio, literacy, access to banking, access to electricity), Amethi and Rae Bareli fare worse than the rest of Uttar Pradesh and the country on 7, i.e. a majority.
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Amethi fares marginally better than the rest of Uttar Pradesh when it comes to mobile penetration and access to a kitchen at home, but Rae Bareli fares worse.
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Both Amethi and Rae Bareli have a better sex ratio than the rest of Uttar Pradesh and the rest of India.
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Both Amethi and Rae Bareli roughly compare with the rest of Uttar Pradesh and the rest of India on literacy levels.
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Both Amethi and Rae Bareli fare better than the rest of Uttar Pradesh and the rest of India on access to banking.
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A larger percentage of households have access to electricity in both Amethi and Rae Bareli as compared to the rest of Uttar Pradesh. But that number is nearly half of the all India average.
- Barely 1.5% of the households that were issued job cards under Congress's flagship employment guarantee scheme MNREGA actually got 100 days of employment in Amethi and Rae Bareli. That's better than the 1% figure for the rest of Uttar Pradesh, but worse than 4.21% in Purulia, a backward district in West Bengal which the CPM had once claimed showed better social development indicators than the two Gandhi bastions.
| Indicator (in % except sex ratio) | Sultanpur (Amethi) | Rae Bareli | Uttar Pradesh | India |
| Assets | ||||
| Households that own a car/van/jeep | 2.9 | 2.2 | 3.8 | 4.7 |
| Households that own a computer/laptop with Internet | 0.9 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 3.1 |
| Households that own a scooter/motorcycle/moped | 16.6 | 15.4 | 16.6 | 21 |
| Mobile/telephone ownership | 70.1 | 59.2 | 66.9 | 63.2 |
| Households that own a television | 21.6 | 21.2 | 33.2 | 47.2 |
| Sanitation | ||||
| Households without a kitchen inside home | 51.8 | 63.6 | 53.8 | 31.5 |
| Households with access to treated tap water | 17.2 | 14.7 | 20.2 | 32 |
| Households without a bathroom on premises | 55.6 | 51.5 | 44.8 | 41.6 |
| Households without a toilet on premises | 82.6 | 80.8 | 63 | 49.8 |
These findings do validate to a large extent the claims made by the BJP that despite having helmed the two rural constituencies, the Gandhis haven't been able bring the desired change in these regions. Will the Congress continue to hold their citadels despite this track record we will know on the 16th of May.
Note - This study is based on an analysis of the census districts of Sultanpur (Amethi constituency is made up of 3 sub districts of Sultanpur and 2 sub districts of Rae Bareli) and Rae Bareli (Rae Bareli constituency is made up of 5 sub districts, all part of Rae Bareli district) and not the precise electoral constituencies, and hence is a rough approximation of the facts.
