Claim 2: Sauno Vikas - Everyone in Gujarat is benefiting from the prosperity

Again from economy perspective,
Income from the three economic sectors needs to corroborate with the magnitude
of people employed in them.  While
average per capita income is increasing, is there relative increase in sectoral
per capita income? In other words, is a farmer, for example, is also earning,
relatively more, as does a industrial worker or service executive is?

Below is the table for Relative
Sectoral Product per Worker over time in Gujarat.  Three decades ago, when Primary sector
contributed around 40% of total income, nearly three-fourth workers were relying
on this sector. Over a period of time, while the income share has reduced to
less than half, the corresponding dependence on agriculture has not happened. As
of 2008-09, only 14% income came from primary sector, although it was employing
a massive 54 percent of all the workers.

Relative Sectoral Product per Worker over time in Gujarat
Year	Primary Sector			Non- Primary Sector
	Share in total workforce	Share in NSDP	RSWP	Share in total workforce	Share in NSDP	RSWP
1983-84	63.8	38.7	0.61	36.2	61.3	1.69
1993-94	55.6	23.7	0.43	44.4	76.3	1.72
1999-00	56.4	19.4	0.34	43.6	81.7	1.87
2004-05	49.9	18.3	0.37	51.1	81.7	1.60
2008-09	54.4	14.7	0.27	45.6	85.3	1.87

Between 2005 and 2009, while
share of income from primary sector has declined, relatively more people have
found to be dependent on this sector. This indicates fall in labour
productivity in primary sector, despite high growth rate of state economy.

This can increase income
inequality, especially rural-urban inequality as well as primary sector largely
tend to be located in rural areas. Clearly, not everybody is getting benefits
of the vibrant growing economy of Gujarat – nearly half of those employed in
primary sector are certainly not!!!

India Hiraway, leading economist
of Gujarat and coauthor of Gujarat Human Development Report,  in her recent work
warns that …” This high inequality can have serious social and political
consequences, which create threats to law and order situation in the state”

The declining labor productivity
in primary – especially agriculture – sector can also be the cause of the situation
of farmers in the state.  Some statistics
on Farmer indebtedness and suicides in the next post!!!