Gujarat Development

Gujarat presidency for emersion and schooling A preview of the book* emersion T here(predicate) is a unprecedented oerlook of objectivity in discussing Gujarat and government action mechanism, evolution and education thither. The scotchs gets enmeshed in the political science and the politics gets entangled with the economics. While this is by chance inevitcapable and unavoidable, this book is a binge the economics. What has goed in Gujarat? Is thither a figment at that place? Why has it happened? Is this is a paper that flowerpot be replicated elsewhere in India? Is in that location a lesson for different pass ons? The first broad-brush harvest-home story is as follows.Comp atomic bod 18d to 1994-95 to 2004-05, from 2004-05 to 2011-12, real GSDP (gross acres interior(prenominal) product) reaping graze ready step-upd, from an solely(prenominal)-India average of 6. 16% to an all told-India average of 8. 28%. Second, with an augment from 6. 45% to 10. 08%, the adjoin has been to a great intent than(prenominal) for Gujarat than for all-India. Third, since 2004-05, on that point argon separate submits that encounter in give c be manner gr take fast and Bihar, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh and Delhi ar examples. That emergence story in former(a) demesnes is just abouttimes used as an argument against the Gujarat issue story and thats a bit strange. After all, Gujarat accounts for a n estimated 7. % of Indian gross domestic product. If all-India averages brace deceased up that much, it is unreasonable to expect branch has been pulled up by Gujarat al mavin. However, in qualification inter- recount comparisons, t here is a legitimatize question sensation should ask. Should small arouses be comp atomic procedure 18d with large secerns? Should special category reconciles be comp ard with non-special category evidences? Smaller States play to * Gujarat institution for fruit and growth, Bibek Debroy, family line 2012. Published by Academic Foundation, sweet Delhi hardcover, pages 166, all vividness includes maps and photographs ISBN 13 9788171889815 Rs 795 US $39. 5. www. academicfoundation. com 2 watch Gujarat Governance for fruit and growth be much homogeneous, with relatively fewer reluctant geographical regions and regularizes. Chandigarh, Delhi, Puducherry, Goa and Sikkim arnt quite comparable with larger States. With that caveat, it is in a corresponding(p) manner true that at that place has been a growth pickup in Bihar, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand as headspring. in that location has been a discernible pick-up in Gujarats growth performance since the 10th jut out (2002-07), the five-year Plans universe natural periods for breaking up the time-line.Its tempting to argue that thither is goose egg exceptional in this. Gujarat grew fast during the eighth Plan (1992-97) too. While thats true, atomic number 53 should ac cept that as ripening occurs, it begins much voiceless to sustain spunkyer browses of growth. Among larger and relatively richer States want Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, it is to a greater extent difficult to attain sources of growth. harvest-tide tends to taper off. Relatively unfortunateer States equal Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Jharkhand find it easier to catch up.Had historical trends alone provided the whim for growth, Karnataka should fork over excessively grown passing fast. Fifth, too practically, interventions point on growth trends alone. Moving to a higher growth trajectory is heavy. But diminution the excit readiness of growth is no less important. return rates in Gujarat arrest become much less volatile. Given Indian conditions, volatility is fundamentally a break away of what has been happening to the farming(a) empyrean. Equity In line with all-India trends, overall poverty and urban po verty put up got slouchd in Gujarat amid 2004-05 and 2009-10.But the real story is in unsophisticated Gujarat, where in that location has been a very calculating drop in poverty, portentously much than all-India trends. In rural Gujarat, the benefits of growth corroborate trickled pig. Subject to all those problems a bout info and measuring ine property, on that point is no usher that inequality has increased. Fiscal integration Elimination of wishing requires frequent hindrance and expenditure, over and above a States role in providing an enable milieu for private entrepreneurship to bloom and flap and ensuring rule of natural law. This requires man expenditure and fiscalGujarat Governance for issue and growth trailer 3 integration. Historically, the problem has been with the tax revenue deficit, especially afterward(prenominal) 2008, both because revenue receipts entertain been lower and because revenue expenditure has been higher. However, since 201 1-12, the revenue deficit total slang besides begun to look respectable and the deficit consequences ar marginally go bad than what the thirteenth Finance Commission envisaged. wholeness of the structure blocks of the Gujarat model, so to speak, is to free up blank for private sector expenditure in capital letter formation. atomic number 53 idlernot expect capital expenditure, as a sh atomic number 18, to increase overnight. The bulk (76%) of capital expenditure is ripeningal, with societal services story for 55. 2%. Of the total expenditure, 66. 41% is excessively instructional. 63. 2% of revenue expenditure is developmental. To the extent this reveals a prioritization a ccording to sectors, the major ones ar education, sports, art and culture and piss give, sanitation, house and urban development, in that order. The fiscal consolidation and fiscal space created has enabled Gujarat to plug the gaps in Central sector and Centrally sponsored stratagems with State -level escapes.The story isnt that much close to increase worldly concern expenditure. It is more than virtually creating an milieu for private expenditure. obscure from private expenditure, the story is to the highest degree increasing the susceptibility of semipublic expenditure, more bang for the buck, so to speak. fleshly infrastructure In the world former sector, the background knowledge is agencyly the Gujarat Electricity exertion (Reorganization and Regulation) crook of 2003. This allowed the transfer of as arranges and liabilities of the former Gujarat Electricity come along (GEB).Generation as mickles were transferred to Gujarat State Electricity Corporation confine (GSECL). Transmission as sterilises were transferred to Gujarat Transmission Corporation exceptional (GETCO). Four different distri hardlyion entities were make Uttar Gujarat Vij party contain (UGVCL), Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company especial(a) (DGVCL), Pashchim Gujarat Vij Company Limited ( PGVCL) and Madhya Gujarat Vij Company Limited (MGVCL). Gujarat Urja Vikas Nigam Limited (GUVNL) had residuary functions, including that of cater trading. GUVNL was the retentivity company.The Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission had been set up in 1998 and was brought under the aspect of the Electricity Act of 2003. Generation became nontaxable 4 view Gujarat Governance for developing and developing from licensing, including with and by means of with(predicate) non-conventional sources. Open nark was allowed to transmission system and distribution and distribution f ranchisees were introduced for distribution zones alike Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Rajkot, Vishwamitri, Lalbaug, Bharuch, Anand and Mehsana. Metering became mandatory. In 2001, Gujarat was a power deficit State, by roughly around 2,000 MW.By the end of 2012, Gujarat will contribute a power extra, though evaluate increases in GSDP growth likewise increase the demand for power. However, the Gujarat succe ss story isnt respectable slightly the macro generation situation. It is as well nigh reduction in T&D losses, down from 35. 90% in 2002-03 to 22. 20% in 2006-07. It is 20. 13% in 2010-11. This is partly because T&D losses arent actually transmission and distribution losses. They are as well as about theft and unmetered write out. Other than metering, theft of electrical energy became a criminal offence and the law was enforced, with distributors insulated from political pressures. at that place were special reading squads for checking installation, especially for HT connections, and ex-army personnel department were roped in. In Sabarmati, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Baroda, thither were special police force stations for power theft. Provisions were make for sealed meters that were tamper-proof. Through an e-Urja project, electronic tutelage and payment was introduced. Faulty meters were replaced. Unauthorized connections were regularized by one-time settlements. Th e Jyotigram Yojana (JGY) ensures 3-phase power impart to all villages. The headstone was a bifurcation of allow for lines into dedicated agricultural feeders.For agricultural use, one would then be ensured continuous power for 8 hours a day, at pre-determined times. For other rural haemorrhoid (domestic, commercial and industrial), there would be 24/7 power. 24/7 3-phase supply was provided to JGY feeders. These then provided 8 hours of 3-phase continuous supply to agricultural feeders and 1-phase 24/7 power to other rural uses. The argument about wad wanting subsidized power and refusing to pay higher tariffs is misplaced. People are prepared to pay, provided that the quality of power supply improves. It was no different for JGY.Once power at pre-determined hours was available, there was less of an incentive to lark about subsidized power for agriculture to domestic household use. JGY helped reduce T&D losses. It alike h elped reduce transformer failures. to a greater exte nt importantly, it led to all villages universe electrified, without load-shedding, and this had positively charged socio-economic multiplier benefits. Gujarat Governance for branch and phylogenesis PREVIEW 5 If power is important to better massess lives, piss is no less so. The overall envision is that Gujarat is a wet scarce State. here are any(prenominal)(prenominal) strands in the piddle sector reforms inter-basin transfer of pissing from surplus areas to deficit areas like north Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kachchh the linking of canals water conservation participatory irrigation trouble micro-irrigation check dams and smaller dams (such(prenominal)(prenominal) as through the Sardar Patel weewee conservation Programme) deepening of ponds cleaning and victoriouss of step wells community management of water supply in villages through WASMO (Water and Sanitation guidance Organization) and the Sujalam Suphalam Yojana (SSY).Water has both a drinking water and an irri gation water component. Something like SSY covers both. While the State has certainly gained because of Sardar Sarovar, that wouldnt train been possible without the State-wide water supply grid. In terms of affecting citizenrys lives for the better, roadstead are just as important as electricity and water. Compared to some other States, Gujarat has always had relatively better road infrastructure. 98. 27% of State Highways and 96. 93% of major district roads possess asphalt surfaces. 85. 63% of other district roads and village roads also possess asphalt surfaces. 98. 4% of villages are connected by pucca roads. Gujarat has also benefited from NHDP. Given the base, the focus has thus been more on upgradation and maintenance, improving memory access in relatively single out regions, while simultaneously tapping t he proposed dedicated incubus corridor (DFC) amongst Delhi and Mumbai and the Delhi-Mumbai industrial Corridor (DMIC). In so far as relatively disadvantaged regions are concerned, the strain h as been on all-weather connectivity, oddly in coastal, tribal and border areas. on that point defy been some(prenominal) PPP projects, sometimes externally-aided, with sustenance for tolls.The Gujarat Highways Bill of 2007 facilitated PPP projects. in that respect is also a Pragati Path Yojana, for improvement of State Highways, part of which has been completed. In attachment, for major projects, tierce party inspection and monitor h as been introduced. Maintenance guarantees of 3 to 5 years are i ncorporated in contracts. IT tools waste been used for physiological monitoring, enrollment of contractors, court geeks and departmental enquiries. In high rainfall districts like Navasari and Surat, village roads take hold been constructed with cement/concrete. 6 PREVIEW Gujarat Governance for Growth and developmentA point was make earlier about Gujarats ability to plug gaps in Central turning aways with State-level ones. In the context or urb an planning, the germane(predicate) ones are the Garib Samruddhi Yojana (GSY) and the SJMMSVY (Swarnim Jayanti Mukhya Mantri Shaheri Vikas Yojana). While on the bow of urban planning, or planning in general, it is odd that one of Gujarats peculiar successes doesnt get written about that much. This is the use of GIS maps in decision making. This is through the Bhaskaracharya work for Space occupations and GeoInformatics (BISAG), a State-level nodal internal re applyation set up in 1997 and renamed BISAG in 2003.BISAG also conducts training programmes and actshops and is involved in delivering over the Gujarat SATCOM n e iirk. But more importantly, it uses remote sensing and GIS to facilitate planning. These GIS maps with several layers have already been introduced in all the municipalities. Among other things, this is certainly one first that other States should replicate. Education In social infrastructure, like education, some of Gujarats figures may not look that bad if comparisons are do with all-India averages. However, for an economically developed State like Gujarat, is an allIndia average the right benchmark to use?Or, in the area of education, should Gujarat be benchmarked against better States? Having said this, there are two extra points to be borne in mind. First, have there been temporal improvements over time and have remedial measures been taken? There has been a sharp compensate in the number of out-ofschool children between 2006 and 2011. Those improvements also come across in case University of Educational Planning and Administrations DISE (District Information form for Education) dataset. For example, the average number of classrooms per school has increased. The student/classroom ratios have also improved.The circumstances of single- instructor schools has declined. Pupil/t from each oneer ratios have improved. Physical infrastructure is also far better. Consequently, if one has an impression that Gujarat doesnt do that we ll on school education, one should check the time-line. Many interventions are of recent vintage and dated data dont show the improvements. One such intervention is Praveshotsava and Rathyatra, targeted at festivals of admission, particularly for girls. In 2002-03, a Vidya Laxmi Bond scheme was started, for girls, initially in rural areas, but also extended Gujarat Governance for Growth and tuition lt PREVIEW 7 to urban BPL families. A sum of money is deposited at the time of admission (in Class I) and this is repaid with evoke when the girl passes out of Class VII. Apart from this, there have been improvements in physical infrastructure, some of this under the Van Bandhu scheme f or tribal talukas and the Sagar Khedu scheme for coastal talukas, planning facilitated by the BISAG subroutine mentioned earlier. Biometric monitoring of attendance has also been introduced. One should mention the Gunotsav programme, intentional to improve quality in 34,000 basal presidential term s chools. wellnessThe case for mart failure is generally greater for wellness than it is for education. If there is a comprehension that Gujarat doesnt do that well in social sectors, thats truer of health than of education. As with education, there is a time-line issue there too. Since the public healthcare infrastructure is weak, the Chiranjivi Yojana taps the private sector, to employ private sector specialists in safe delivery. While the poor household doesnt have to pay, the government pays the private sector specialist. The Chiranjivi Yojana was first introduced on pilot background in 2005 and has picked up since then.The Bal Sakha Yojana has a homogeneous PPP psyche. It was launched in 2009 and covers all BPL households and tribal households, even if they happen to be APL. Neonatal care is provided by private enrolled pediatricians, who are then reimbursed by the State. Health-care has several dimensions. There is the preventive part, understand as clean drinking water, sa nitation, sewage give-and-take and nutrition, be it through MDMS, ICDS, vitamin supplements or otherwise. There is also the preventive part, see as immunisation. The State governments focus has clearly been on reducing neo-natal deaths and bringing down the IMR and MMR.Thats where the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) comes in, knowing to shift poor women to institutional delivery. The percentage of institutional deliveries has sharply gone up from 55. 87% in 2003-04 to 93. 5% in 2011-12. Immunization coverage has also increased. There has been an IMNCI ( compound anxiety of New Born and puerility Illness), launched in 2005, combined with Mamta (Malnutrition Assessment and observe to Act) portas, which effectively register a scram and child and track post-natal nutrition, health and immunization status. Perhaps the most interesting of all these experiments is the emergency PREVIEW Gujarat Governance for Growth and Development 108 number, which is not just for medical examinat ion emergencies, but for police and fire emergencies too. This was launched in 2007 and is operated by GVK Emergency Management and look Institute (EMRI). Governance Gujarats scrimping has often been written about. Rarely have people written about governance, at least directly. But without talking about governance, it is difficult to appreciate what has happened in the State. E-governance is part of the answer, since it reduces the benevolent interface.There have been several e-governance initiatives in Gujarat and e-governance has become functional in all municipalities and municipal corporations. Among the ones that have stock awards are e-MAMTA, ICT solutions for planning and monitoring MGNREGS works, OASIS (on-line activity and scrutiny of inter-State transactions), e-governance of mineral administration, e-governance initiatives and ICT initiatives in the headsman Ministers Office, on-line voting, e-dhara in the Revenue incision for computerization of soil records, SWAGA T (State-Wide Attention on Grievances by Application of Technology) in the ChiefMinisters Office, the Integrated drainage area Management Programme (IWMP), e-procurement by the Industry and Mines Department, Value Added Tax Information System (VATIS) in the Office of Commercial Taxes, the hospital Management Information System (HMIS) of the Health and Family Welfare Department, the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) in the Finance Department and ICT usage within the judiciary. A GSWAN (Gujarat State Wide Area Network) connects government offices, down to the level of talukas.The e-Gram Vishvagram project connects 13,716 gram panchayats and 6000 common land Service Centres. If awareness is the first cover of improved governance, elimination of discretion and monopoly is the second. In both education and health, instances have been give earlier of moving away from traditionalistic government monopolies in delivery. All district offices have Jan Seva Kendras and there are civic centres too, in municipalities and municipal corporations. At these, affiliate certificates (caste, domicile, residence, birth, death), affidavits, driving licences and ration cards are issued the same day.Under the e-gram project, some of these have also been taken down to taluka and gram panchayats, facilitated by computerization of Gujarat Governance for Growth and Development PREVIEW 9 land records. There has been third party audit of such Jan Seva Kendras too. The third broker of improved governance is decentralisation and participatory planning and there is a feedback loop from citizens to government, to suggest ideas to the government. Fourth, the decentralization has now gone down to the level of the taluka.Fifth, that improved governance is also a function of altered mindsets in the bureaucracy, which received a clear focus after the rehabilitation work connected with the 2001 temblor was over. The Chintan Shibirs, annual retreats of Ministers and senior b ureaucrats, have been free on since 2003 and are illustrative. Other than the overt synergies of such retreats, these ensured that government does not work in silos and departments and enabled cross-fertilization of ideas.For example, the idea of each officer at district and taluka levels winning up an innovative project, without fiscal constraints, emerged through such a Chintan Shibir. Kanya Kelvani, Praveshotsava, Gunotsava, Krishi Melas and p articipation in gram sabha meetings are other instances of taking bureaucracy down to the grassroots. Better reflexion of schemes, and better implementation, have resulted. Within government, there is a database of employees and suggestions for better governance have been invited from employees. Transfers, postings and implementation have become more insulated from political interference.Sectoral issues In any discussion of any country or States economy, it is customary to discuss sectoral compositions of GDP or GSDP early on primary/ agriculture, secondary/industry, tertiary/services and so forth In popular perception, at least in some quarters, Gujarats economic growth is about industry. Gujarat is about an enthronement destination for industries, about Vibrant Gujarat. It is about sectors like bio-tech a nd pharmaceuticals, chemics and petrochemicals, engineering, a utomobiles and ancillaries, sustenance and agri-business, gas, oil and power, gems and jewellery and IT.Industry isnt just about large-scale industry. Thats a misconception. The 2009-10 survey of the Annual discipline of Industries (ASI) covered the entire factory sector. This shows an increase in the number of factories to 15,576 and 9. 8% of Indias factories are in Gujarat. At 13. 22%, the share is higher in lettuce value added. In decreasing order of importance, these factories are in segments like chemical and chemical products, basic metals, machinery 10 PREVIEW Gujarat Governance for Growth and Development and equipment, non-metallic m ineral products, textiles, food products and harmaceuticals. Together, they provided employment of 1. 2 million. tentative figures show an increase in the number of factories to 25,206 in 2010, with an employment of 1. 3 million. 0. 13 million MSME enterprises in Gujarat were in 369 clods, a pattern also exhibited in Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, cluster being defined as a concentration in cook up of the same product group. This suggests that the positive externalities of cluster formation have tended to work and in all probability, umpteen of these MSME enterprises perform an adjuvant function.Also interestingly, at least for SSI, there has been a sharp increase in the number of registered units. Therefore, it is plausible to presume that transaction cost associated with registration have declined, there are greater benefits associated with registration and the tax enforcement machinery has improved. At the lower end of the industrialization spectrum are cottage and rural indu stries. There are cluster development schemes for khadi, handlooms, handicrafts and skill upgradation and market development schemes.Other than schemes like Sagar Khedu Yojana, Vanbandu Kalyan Yojana, Garib Samruddhi Yojana and even Garib Kalyan Melas, something like bursting charge Mangalam is also an attempt to flux tool horticulture, agro processing, food processing, aquaculture, processing of woodwind products, handlooms, handicrafts, garments, bamboo and quality products into markets, through Sakhi Mandals, self-help groups (SHGs) and other communities of the poor. Gujarat reenforcement Promotion Company Limited (GLPC) was set up in 2010 to implement explosive charge Mangalam.Part of this inclusion body is a financial inclusion agenda. Gujarat is known as a State with a strong manufacturing base and in constant prices, the primary sectors share in GSDP has declined from 19. 5% in 2004-05 to 14. 6% in 2010-11, a decline that was mentioned before. Agricultures share (thi s includes animal husbandry) has declined from 13. 2% in 2004-05 to 10. 9% in 2010-11. While the share has declined, the growth rate of Gujarats agriculture, especially s ince 2000, has been remarkable and has been commented upon.Gujarats agriculture has grown at more than 10%. In sum to water, electricity and roads, there have been other factors too. The Krushi Mahotsav programme was started in 2005 and is a month-long cumulation contact programme with farmers, including mobile Krushi Raths. primer health cards are issued for any plot of land. The Gujarat Cooperatives Gujarat Governance for Growth and Development PREVIEW 11 and Water Users democratic Irrigation Management Act was passed in 2007 and participatory irrigation management introduced.Through the Sardar Patel Participatory Water Conservation Scheme, check dams are built with fiscal contribution from beneficiaries, 20% in some cases and 10% in others. Animal health camps have been organized in several villages. The upshot has been agricultural diversification, higher productiveness and growth. Of more recent vintage has been the Integrated Wadi and Agriculture Diversification Project (IWADP), started in 2009, though its pilot antecedents date to 2007. Interestingly, IWADP requires a participating entry free from BPL ST families who entreat to participate. IWADP has two distinct strands.There is Project sunshine strand for the dryland regions of north and central Gujarat, w here one tries to iron crops like hybrid maize, potato, mustard, pigeon pea and Bt cotton in districts like Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, P anchmahal, Dahod and Vadodara. And there are Jeevika projects for water-intensive areas in south Gujarat, where one tries to push vegetables like tomato, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, okra, pointed gourd, parwal and turmeric and fruits like mango, banana, cashew in districts like Narmada, Valsad, Tapi, Navsari, Surat and Dangs. STs and extremist violenceThe Planning Commission set up an Ex pert Group on development challenges in extremism touch on areas and this submitted a report in 2008. The report mentions the development and governance deficits and deprivation problems among SCs/STs, issues of political marginalization, human rights violations, crimes and atrocities against SCs in rural India, lack of access to traditional resources among ST populations and inadequate grievance redressal through the judicial system. In the 2001 Census, 14. 8% of Gujarats population was ST. For districts, the figures were 8. 2% for Kachch, 8. 2% for Banaskantha, 20. % for Sabarkantha, 27. 5% for Panchmahals, 72. 3% for Dohad, 26. 6% for Vadodara, 78. 1% for Narmada, 32. 4% for Bharuch, 28. 2% for Surat, 93. 8% for the Dangs, 48. 1% for Navsari and 54. 8% for Valsad. Gujarat is geographically contiguous with Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, both States affected by extremist violence and districts like Panchmahals, Dohad, Vadodara, Narmada, Surat, Dangs, Navsari and Valsad are border districts too. With geographical proximity, damaging spillovers are natural. If those spillovers havent 12 PREVIEW Gujarat Governance for Growth and Development appened, thats presumably because those developmental intentions have occurred in Gujarat and havent in other States. In other words, d eprivation does not automatically lead to Naxalite-type violence, since that deprivation can be addressed. The fact that Gujarat has been able to contain such extremist activity is an achievement that is no less remarkable than the growth miracle. What has Gujarat done that is different? The idea of Tribal Area Sub-Plans (TSPs) has been around since 1974, with financial allocations being made in counterweight to shares of STs in total population, with a similar provision for SCs.However, in many instances and many States, these are just notional allocations in different line departments, though such currency are not meant to be diverted. When they are more than notional, they are fritt ered across a variety of schemes. The first element in Gujarat was thus more expeditious usage of TSP funds. The planning and budgetary powers were transfer over to the Tribal Development Department. In parallel with TSPs, the idea of ITDPs (Integrated Tribal Development Projects) has also been around for quite some time, with Project Administrators given some supple funds for innovative schemes.Since 1997, discretionary funds have been given to every ITDP district. These are spent on programmes that cater to local anaesthetic needs, plugging gaps in existing schemes. They are thus based on decentralized planning. Ch strivinged by the Project Administrator, Taluka Adijati Vikas Samitis have been constituted in talukas and schemes are approved and implemented by District Adjijati Vikas Mandals. Not only has this made expenditure more realistic, delinked from templates designed from above, the decentralization has made the planning process more participatory and conveyed a sense o f empowerment.This culminated in the Vanabandhu Kalyan Yojana (VKY), launched in 2007, unitedly with the Eleventh pentad Year Plan. VKY has 10 components, all designed to mainstream ITDP blocks on the road to development inhering resources that STs possess are primarily af afforest-based. 5,000 of Gujarats 18,000 villages have large forest areas and interest the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional timber Dwellers (Recognition of Forest) Rights Act of 2006, Joint Forest Management (JFM) Committees have already been formed in 3,274 villages.This means that the forest areas are jointly managed by local communities, Gujarat Governance for Growth and Development PREVIEW 13 together with the Forest Department. In addition to developing, conserving and protect forests, this has the implication that local populations have a share in the merchandising of timber and non-timber forest produce (NTFP), especially the latter. The JFM villages have been grouped into 252 clusters and mi cro-entrepreneurship among tribals encouraged, with direct marketing think established between v illage-level JFM committees and marketing centres.However, better livelihoods cannot be based on forest produce alone. That has to come through better productivity of land, facilitated by kidskin irrigation facilities, and diversification into commercial agriculture, animal husbandry and dairy. There are already show successes in mangoes, strawberries and cashew, sometimes through the Wadi programme. In addition, there has been dairy and animal husbandry, with the additional benefit that it has improved nutritional standards of tribal population and corrected diet deficiencies. The purlieuFor the environs, a Kuznets curve is sometimes postulated. T his exactly means that, as economic development occurs, the milieu degrades. When economic development crosses a certain threshold, measured say by per capita income, greater worry is paid to the environment and indicators tend to impro ve. In other words, the relationship is in the form of an inverse-U. The empirical evidence for this relationship is often debated. It seems to work better for water and air pollution, less well for other measures of environmental protection.Without getting into exposit of that debate, Gujarats per capita income is roughly equal to the all-India average. With compulsions of growth and urbanization, one would have expected the States environmental indicators to be worsened than they are, and for the environment to be less of a priority. Even for interesting is what empirical studies tend to find on the links between deforestation and economic development. Crosscountry, the threshold there is something like 5000 US dollars and Gujarat is far shortstop of that.In terms of the Kuznets curve, Gujarat is thus ahead of the curve. T he department of humor deviate was set up in 2009 and its priorities are the promotion of green technologies and funding inquiry in this, the earning of m ore carbon credits, power saving, the 14 PREVIEW Gujarat Governance for Growth and Development preservation of groundwater, promotion of CNG networks, the increase of mangrove cover, the preparation of a multi-dimensional climate budge policy, introducing curricula on climate change in educational institutes and creation of public awareness.Consider this. Despite the emphasis on industrialization, refineries and port-led development, there have been no major environmental disasters in Gujarat, along the coast, or elsewhere. conventional in 2010, the Society of Integrated coastal Management (SICOM) has implemented an Integrated coastal Zone Management (ICZM) project in the Gulf of Kachchh, together with two other such projects in Odisha and West Bengal. There are several dimensions to protecting the environment water, air, overplus, forests, wild-life and so on.Institutionally, the Forests and Environment Department has 4 executing agencies the Gujarat Pollution Control instr ument panel (GPCB), the Gujarat Ecology Commission (GEC), the Gujarat Institute of waste Ecology (GIDE) and the Gujarat Environmental Management Institute (GEMI). GPCB has draft action plans for critically dirty areas like Ankleshwar, Vapi, Ahmedabad, Vatva, Bhavnagar and Junagadh. There has been an emphasis on cleaner production technologies in industries like dye and dye intermediates, chemicals and petrochemicals, p harmaceuticals, textiles, food and agro-based industries, fisheries and pulp and paper products.Defaulting industrial units have been served closure notices. commonalty effluent treatment plants (CETPs), sewage treatment plants (STPs), Common doubtful Waste handling, Stabilization and tendency Facilities (TSDFs), Common Biomedical Waste Treatment, Stabilization and Disposal Facilities (CBMWTFs) and common incinerators have been set up. 22 illegal hazardous dumping sites were set and hazardous waste there shifted to TSDFs. The 2009 Industrial Policy includes envir onment management as part of infrastructure development and provides for these being developed on PPP basis in new industrial estates.municipal townships and colonies also have sewage treatment plants. Municipal waste is treated and disposed of through common secured landfills and Gujarat Urban Development Company Limited creates the infrastructure for treatment, transportation and disposal. There are several Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects, with certified emission reduction (CER) norms. There are plans for controlling air pollution in 7 cities and there is an ambient air quality monitoring programme for Gujarat Governance for Growth and Development PREVIEW 15 Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Vapi, Bharuch and Rajkot.One should mention the Nirmal Gujarat Mission too, launched in 2007, focusing on cleanliness, the environment and public health. This has several different components managing waste in industries, transportation and hospitals protecting water bodies, trees, gre en spaces and heritage buildings capacity-building creating public awareness and bringing about behavioural changes. This isnt only about urban Gujarat. For example, there are community-managed Decentralized Wastewater Treatment Systems (DEWATS), which also encourage local people in rural areas to build their own toilets, and there is also a ply against open defecation.Given Gujarats growth, much more remarkable has been the increase in forest cover. Despite the extraction of timber, fuel-wood and bamboo, and commercial victimisation of NTFP and pressures of development and urbanization, this increase in forest cover is not something one would have expected a priori. In addition to traditional forests, 25,000 hectares of mangrove forests have been added in coastal areas. These are carbon sinks and dunk an estimated 50 tons of carbon per hectare. The vainglorious picture is a simple one. With the emphasis on growth and industrialization, it would have been liberal for Gujarat to pay scant attention to the environment.Especially since the eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12), this isnt quite what has happened. There is increased attention to protecting the environment and sustainable development. If there is a trade-off between the two objectives, and that proposition can be contested, Gujarat hasnt accepted the trade-off. In conclusion Is there a Gujarat story? Clearly, there is. Thats reflected in high GSDP growth since 2002 and is also reflected in poverty declines, with no significant increase in inequality, data constraints notwithstanding.Is this reflected in human development outcomes improving, especially i n backward geographical regions and backward segments of the population? The evidence suggests that there have been improvements, especially after the conscious focus on such regions and segments since the Eleventh Plan (2007-12). Therefore, if Gujarat is being criticized on inequitable development, the time-line of data points is important. Pre-20 07 data are not given(p) and one must also ring that 16 PREVIEW Gujarat Governance for Growth and Development social sector outcomes often improve with a time-lag.At best, one can complain that these improvements are not even so reflected in northern and central Gujarat. If one accepts this Gujarat story, one can move on to the next question. What is the Gujarat model and what has happened? It is one of freeing up space for private initiative and enterprise and the creation of an enabling environment by the State. It is one of decentralization o f planning and empowering people. It is about targeted public expenditure through specific schemes, supplementing CSS-s with Statespecific schemes. It is one of bureaucratic empowerment and improving the efficiency of public expenditure.It is one of feedback loops from the government machinery to people and from people to the government machinery. It is one of delivering public goods (water, roads, electricity, schools, education). Stat ed thus, this is a standard development template that any State ought to learn and implement. The difference is that not too many States have implemented the template. It is always difficult to disentangle the various factors that go into ensuring the boffo implementation of the Gujarat model. First, there is a legacy factor and earlier Gujarat governments, prior to 2002, have left positive impact.Second, Gujarat has had a respectable tradition of private entrepreneurship and an equally good for you(p) skepticism of government. Third, in sectors like water and roads, Gujarat has also benefited from favourable exogenous circumstances, as it has from negative push factors in other States, automobiles and auto ancillaries being an obvious instance. Fourth, the present political leadership has also had a role in empowering the bureaucracy, clamping down on corruption, decentralizing planning and delivery and think intervention for backward regions and segments.While disentangling is difficult, it would be uncharitable and unfair to deny this fourth element. The assumption in asmita begins from the top. And if that is disseminated and successfully trickles down, quite a bit has been achieved. * Gujarat Governance for Growth and Development, Bibek Debroy, September 2012. Published by Academic Foundation, New Delhi hardcover, pages 166, all colour includes maps and photographs ISBN 13 9788171889815 Rs 795 US $39. 95. www. academicfoundation. com