Gujarat Social Infrastructure Development Society (GSIDS) General Administration Department (Planning) Government of Gujarat, Gandhinagar DISTRICT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT KACHCHH District Human Development Report: KACHCHH Copyright : Gujarat Social Infrastructure Development Society (GSIDS) Published By : Gujarat Social Infrastructure Development Society (GSIDS) First Published : 2016 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means without the prior permission from the publisher. This Report does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gujarat Social Infrastructure Development Society (GSIDS). While every care has been taken to reproduce the accurate data, oversights / errors may occur. If found convey it to the Gujarat Social Infrastructure Development Society (GSIDS). Cover Design : GSIDS, Gandhinagar Setting & Designed : HNGU, Patan The report is prepared by Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University (HNGU), Patan as part of Tripartite MoU among Member Secretary, Gujarat Social Infrastructure Development Society (GSIDS), District Collector, Kachchh and Vice Chancellor, HNGU-Patan MESSAGE Gujarat enjoys the reputation of being the most progressive and well- administered State in the country. The State Government is aware that although progress has been achieved in various sectors since the State’s inception much remains to be done in many fields. The Government is, therefore, making strenuous efforts to provide basic minimum services to the people, including drinking water, housing, health, education, livelihood opportunities, etc. The issues like securing peoples participation, poverty alleviation, social protection to the poor, removal of regional imbalances, good governance are also high priority areas of focus on the agenda of the Government. We are committed to the cause of Human Development. I compliment the Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University (HNGU) - Patan for collaborating with the State Government in preparation of the District Human Development Report of Kachchh District, which provides an objective, in-depth analysis of the present status of various aspects of human welfare in the district. I also compliment the GSIDS, General Administrative Department (Planning) for undertaking this project. I am sure, the comprehensive document, so meticulously prepared, providing a realistic assessment of the current status of the district and will serve as a guide for future planning in various fields which leads towards inclusive development of the people of the district. I appreciate the endeavor. (Rajendra Trivedi) MESSAGE Human Development is a development paradigm which is beyond mere rise or fall of national incomes. It is about creating an environment where people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accordance with their needs and interests. People are the real wealth of nation. Development is thus about expanding the choices people have to lead lives that they value. The District Human Development Report is a Document which gives the present status of Human Development in different talukas of the District. Human Development requires focus on the basic as well as crucial indicators of Human Development. Thus this report has highlighted three important pillars which are: Education, Health and Livelihood. I commend the efforts put in by stakeholders in preparing this publication and hope that this will be useful to all the state & district level officials, policy makers and planners in working towards improving Human Development scenario of the District. (S. Aparna) Principal Secretary (Planning) and Chairperson, GSIDS PREFACE The objective of all the interventions is to bring in human development. A district human development report has to basically address the issue of formulation of a strategy, which will accelerate the pace of human development. Therefore, the objective of the present exercise is to build up a developmental path, which will address human development issues in Kachchh. Normally a human development report covers three aspects related to human development- standard of living, health and education. Broadly the same format has been maintained in this exercise. When we talk of building of a strategy, all concerned who are expected to participate in its execution must be involved at the formulation stage. In other words, the whole exercise has to be participatory in nature. An attempt has been made to involve all the line departments in this exercise. At the same time other stakeholders have also been involved in identification of the bottlenecks and solutions. We have included several case studies to capture the essence of the district and success stories from the district itself that can be scaled up to accelerate the pace of human development. The formulation of Human Development Index (HDI) has not been attempted here. In the process of formulation of a strategy, intra-district scenario needs to be brought out. The quality of data varies from district to district and if the usual data available at the district level is used to formulate the HDI, the comparison across district may become erroneous. Since quality of data within a district is likely to be similar, a comparison within a district may provide us a relative picture of progress and a comparison of talukas over conveniently defined indicator will not be off the mark. In any case using the normal HDI formulae may not be able to capture the specific nuances and barriers to human development in different parts of a district. Since we need to build a strategy we should use a framework, which is flexible enough to capture the specific need of the district in terms of human development. HDI formulation is rather complicated and is difficult to comprehend, say, for panchayat level functionaries who are likely to participate in execution of schemes in the process of human development. Considering the above, the Human Development Radar has been attempted which may be helpful. It is easily understandable and the weak areas can be quickly identified. In addition, the indicators may be selected as per the district specific issues. This exercise started with formation of a district Core Committee involving all the line departments, other government officials and academicians. A Core committee was formed at the district level consisting of government officials, Panchayat functionaries, representatives of non- governmental organisations (NGO) and representatives from academia. Based on the issues highlighted in the district core committee meeting, weaker pockets under each sector in the district were identified. Identification of barriers to human development under each area in this district followed next. The process of documentation was initiated thereafter. Specific studies were also initiated and findings have been incorporated. I put on record my sincere thanks to all who have been involved in this exercise. I am grateful to the officers of the line departments including the departments of Land, Forest, Agriculture, Animal Husbandry Development, Fisheries, Agri-irrigation, WASMO, District Industries Centre, Education, Health and Social Welfare. I was assisted by a dedicated band of officers from the Kachchh Collectorate which included the DDO, DPO, etc. I express my deep gratitude to the representatives from Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University- Patan who have helped us in preparing this exercise. Special mention may be made of Dr. Manoj Lodha and his team from HNGU for all the efforts they put in for preparing this report. Finally I express my sincere thanks to the GSIDS, General Administration Department (Planning), Government of Gujarat for their kind guidance and constant encouragement. FOREWORD Human Development is a development paradigm that is about much more than the rise or fall of national incomes. It is about creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests. People are the real wealth of nations. Development is thus about expanding the choices people have to lead lives that they value. The Human Development approach arose in part as a result of growing criticism to the leading development approach, which presumed a close link between national economic growth and the expansion of individual human choices. As of 1990, the human development concept was applied to a systematic study of global themes, as published in the yearly Global Human Development Reports under the auspice of the UNDP. The Human Development story of India is unique in its kind. India initiated Human Development issues during 8th Five Year Plan (1992-97). In order to integrate Human Development into state planning in India the preparation of reports at state level has been started. Now-a-days the Gujarat State is on the fast track of development. NITI Aayog-Government of India and UNDP had partnered Strengthening State Plan for Human Development (SSPHD) programme, under which the Government of Gujarat had initiated the process of integrating Human Development in planning and policy documents. The preparations of DHDR (District Human Development Report) marks the beginning of the process whereby people is mobilized and actively participate in the development process. In the year 2008-09, the state government has initiated the work of preparing District Human Development Report. The DHDR is expected to be an important document for formulating the District Human