Where and in Which Aspect to Care? Insights from Spatial Variation and Levels of Human Development in Bardhaman District of West Bengal
摘要
As a deterrent to the traditional unidimensional measure of development, gross domestic product (GDP), the Human Development Index (HDI), initially devised in 1990, explores the facets of education, health, and standard of living to understand development holistically. Despite its modifications, the index has been considered valuable while assessing developmental progress in different regions and countries. Regional disparity occurs because the spatial unit of various scales impacts the developmental level and its response to different developmental measures, as each unit has its own cultural and socio-economic framework. In this context, an attempt has been made to evaluate HDI at the intra-district level of the then-undivided Bardhaman district of West Bengal to assess if significant regional variation exists between the administrative units. Block-level parameters from the District Statistical Handbook (DSHB), describing the three aspects of development, have been taken up for analysis. Results point out that the eastern part of the district has a better outcome of human development. The analysis also states that the HDI tends to be better in those parts of the district which is close to the headquarters of the undivided Bardhaman district located on the eastern side—Burdwan. Solidarity within the geographical scholarship is related to forms of a shared connection to address varied forms of inequality with a strong feeling of shared territory, which in this case is at the CD block level representing the stark inequality in the HDI between the eastern and western parts of the district. Therefore, concentrating and caring for the developmental outcomes in the CD blocks with low HDI should be a primary step in the policy response.