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Socio-Economic development is a process through which quality of life of the people can be improved. Socio-Economic planning has been used in our country as an instrument for bringing about uniform regional development because one of the main objectives of the developmental programmes has been a progressive reduction in regional disparities in the pace of development. The economy of our country suffers from large and persistent inequalities. Regional inequalities exist at many levels, and have many different causes and manifestations. Although the government of India has been laying much stress on wiping out regional disparities through their different programmes and policies but the achievement is not up to the expectations. It is seen that disparities exists at macro, meso, and micro level regions in different aspect of socio-economic and cultural attributes of the area. The subject of regional imbalances and the issues connected therewith came into sharp focus with the Five-Year Plans registering the crucial need for reducing imbalances as an instrument of all-round growth in the country. The first three FiveYear Plans were directed towards achieving the objective of higher growth rates which resulted in widening regional imbalances in the levels of development. In the Fourth five year Plan, a comprehensive view regarding the determinant of the backwardness of the regions were examined and proposed a holistic approach to reduce the causes of backwardness for balanced regional development.1 Subsequently in every five year plan the government made emphasis to reduce the regional inequalities by adopting different policies pertaining to the problems of the area. The Tenth Five-Year Plan had recognised that the concept of regional disparities would need to go beyond economic indicators and encompass social dimensions as well. Furthermore, the focus on inter-state disparities masked the 1 Sarker, P.C., ‘Regional Imbalances in Indian Economy over plan periods’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.29, No.11, Mar.12, 1994, pp.621-633. 191 incidence of intra-state disparities. The Tenth Plan had, accordingly, advocated a multi-pronged approach to provide additional funding to backward regions in each state, coupled with governance and institutional reforms. To remove regional disparity the planning commission has made inclusive growth an explicit goal in the eleventh five year plan (2007-2012). But it is seen through The Draft Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012, vol. I) that regional disparities have continued to grow and the gap has been accentuated as the benefits of economic growth have been largely confined to the better developed areas. The concept of inclusive growth has been included even in Twelfth Five Year Plan with more powerful strategies for balanced socio-economic development. Now days the central theme of research and planning is directed towards the upliftment of the socio-economically backward regions. Reducing regional disparities in the level of development are of major concern for any type of spatial planning. For focusing the attention of scientists, planners, policy makers and administrators on the regional disparities for socio-economic development in the country, a seminar was organized jointly by the Planning Commission, Government of India and State Planning Institute, Government of Uttar Pradesh during 19822. Thereafter a deeper analysis using the district level data on socio-economic indicators was made for the States of Orissa (1992)3, Orissa (1993)4 , Andhra Pradesh (1994)5, Kerala (1994)6 , 2 3 4 5 6 Regional Dimensions of India’s Economic Development, Proceedings of Seminar held on April 22-24, 1982 sponsored by Planning Commission, Govt. of India and State Planning Institute, Govt. of U.P. Narain, P., et al., ‘Classification of districts based on Socio-economic Development in Orissa’, Yojana, 36, No. 23, 1992, pp. 9-12. Narain, P., et al., ‘Evaluation of Economic Development in Orissa’, J. Indian Soc. Agric. Statist., 45, 1993, pp. 249-278. Narain, P., et al., ‘Regional Dimensions of Socio-economic Development in Andhra Pradesh’, J. Indian Soc. Agric. Statist., 46, 1994, pp. 156-165. Narain, P., et al., ‘Inter-Districts Disparities in Socio-Economic Development in Kerala’, J. Indian Soc. Agric. Statist., 46, 1994, pp. 362-377. 192 Uttar Pradesh (1995)7, Maharashtra (1996)8, Karnataka (1997)9, Tamil Nadu (2000)10, and Madhya Pradesh (2002) 11 . Many studies have been conducted regarding the removal of regional disparities at state/district level by the scholar like Chattopadhyaya and Pal (1972)12, Rao (1973)13, Datt and Ravallion (1993)14, Das (1999)15, Majumder (2003)16,Kundu (2010)17 etc. It is seen that much of the work is being done by the government as well as academicians at macro and meso level but very few studies have been conducted at micro level i.e., block, nyay panchayat, and village level. There is no doubt that the government has given much stress on the removal of regional imbalances since the inception of planned development era. But unfortunately, the present trend of socioeconomic development in the country has increased the level of disparity not only at inter-state level but also at the intra-state and intra-district level which is attributed to lack of proper planning development. The problem lies in our national plans because before its implementation there is no proper identification of backward area, no proper assessment of the productive potential resources and the nature of the problem 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Narain, P., et al., ‘Regional Disparities in the Levels of Development in Uttar Pradesh’, J. Indian Soc. Agric. Statist., 47, 1995, pp. 288-304. Narain, P., et al., ‘Dynamics of Socio-economic Development in Maharashtra’, J. Indian Soc. Agric. Statist., 48, 1996, pp. 360-372. Narain, P., et al., ‘Regional Pattern of Socio-economic Development in Karnataka.’ J. Indian Soc. Agric. Statist., 50, 1997, pp. 380-391. Narain, P., et al., ‘Regional Disparities in Socio-economic Development in Tamil Nadu’, J.Ind. Soc. Agric.Statist., 53, 2000, pp. 35-46. Narain, P., et al., ‘Dimensions of Regional Disparities in Socio-economic Development in Madhya Pradesh’, J.Ind. Soc. Agric.Statist., 55, 2002, pp. 88-107. Chattopadhyaya, R.N. and Pal, M.N., “Some Comparative Studies on the Composition of Composite Regional Indices”, Indian Journal of Regional Sciences, 4(2). 1972. Rao, S.K., “A Note on Measuring Economic Distances Between Regions in India”, Economic and Political Weekly, 8 April. 1973. Datt, G. and Ravallion, M., “Regional Disparities, Targeting and Poverty in India”, in Michael Lipton and J.Van Der Gaag (ed.), Including the Poor, World Bank : Washington, D.C., 1993. Das, A., ‘Socio-Economic Development in India: A Regional Analysis’, Development and Society, Vol.28, No.2, Dec. 1999, pp.313-345. Rajarshi, M., ‘Infrastructure facilities in India: District Level Availability Index’, Dec. 2003, online at http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/4779/ MPRA Paper No.4779, Posted 07, November 2007/04:12. Kundu, A. and Varghese, K., ‘Regional Inequality and Inclusive Growth in India under Globalization: Identification of Lagging States for Strategic Intervention’, OIWPS-VI, Sep. 2010. 193 faced by any region at micro level. In total micro level planning is lacking in the programmes and policies made by the government and if it is made then it is confined on the papers and did not reach to the ground level. As the study area (Aligarh District) is an integral part of the country, therefore similar condition of regional disparity exist at micro level i.e. block, nyay panchayat, and village level. So for attaining balanced socio-economic development an attempt has been made to analyse the levels of socio-economic development at block level to examine the existing disparities in the study area taking into consideration of existing socio-economic facilities and amenities. There are several methods for evaluating the level of socio-economic development. They are principal component analysis, multiple factor analysis, Aggregation method, monetary method, ratio method, ranking method, composite Z-score method etc. The methodological principle adopted for the present analysis is based on Deprivation method18 using 37 indicators. This method is useful in preserving the real variation among different observations. Deprivation method has been used to estimate the Human Development Index (HDI) of each village. This method (absence of deprivation, i.e., DI) gives similar result as the method used by UNDP to estimate HDI of each country of the world. Before using this method all the 37 indicators (except the indicators of administrative facility mentioned in previous chapter) have been transferred into absolute unit of measurement, instead of number of facilities. For example, number of primary schools per 10,000 populations, number of bus stop per 100 sq. km. area, etc. Z-score is one of the statistical technique which is commonly used in the analysis of levels of regional development but in the present analysis Deprivation method has been 18 Bishnoi, N.K. and Aneja, R., ‘Regional Variations of Socio-Economic Development in Haryana: A District Level Analysis’, Indian Journal of Regional Science, Vol. XXXX, No. 2, 2008, pp.2640. 194 preferred for its more accuracy and precisions. Though the results obtained from both the techniques are almost the same in broader spectrum. In the deprivation method, the development index (DI) is constructed in three steps. The first is to define a measure of deprivation that a region suffers in each selected variable. For computing the index of deprivation, following mathematical equation is used: Iij = Maxi- Xij / Maxi-Mini Where, Iij= deprivation index of the ithvariable at jthunit of study Xij = original value of ithvariable at jthunit of study Maxi = maximum values of ithvariable in the series Mini = minimum values of ith variable in the series The second step is related to the average deprivation index by taking simple average of all the indicators using following equation as: n Ij= ∑ Iij/n I=1 Where, Ij= index of deprivation (as an average) of jthunit of study. Finally the development index (DI) is defined as the absence of deprivation, which is mathematically expressed as: DIj = (1-∑ Iij/n) Where, DIj= development index at jth units of study. 195 Table 5.1 Aligarh District: Sector Wise Deprivation Index of each Indicator (2001) SI. No. Block Education Health X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9 X10 X11 X12 X13 1. Tappal 1.000 0.679 0.674 0.228 1.000 0.635 0.608 0.463 0.543 0.315 0.787 0.168 0.795 2. Khair 0.595 0.501 0.468 0.609 1.000 1.000 0.599 0.726 0.526 0.767 1.000 0.585 1.000 3. Chandaus 0.619 0.157 0.509 0.380 1.000 1.000 0.364 0.826 0.481 0.333 0.584 0.203 0.001 4. Lodha 0.393 1.000 0.775 0.923 1.000 1.000 0.337 0.697 0.235 0.420 0.819 0.001 0.653 5. Jawan Sikandarpur 0.771 0.396 0.878 0.934 0.272 0.707 0.685 0.641 0.624 0.450 0.657 0.076 1.000 6. Atrauli 0.264 0.000 0.451 0.407 0.150 0.829 0.387 0.916 0.667 0.571 0.001 0.249 1.000 7. Bijauli 0.458 0.948 0.001 0.001 1.000 0.402 0.000 0.414 0.291 0.002 0.300 0.047 1.000 8. Gangiri 0.937 0.875 0.700 0.949 0.323 0.728 1.000 0.733 0.919 0.488 1.000 0.663 1.000 9. Dhanipur 0.627 0.373 0.694 0.637 1.000 1.000 0.620 0.393 0.000 0.779 1.000 0.631 1.000 10. Akrabad 0.000 0.252 1.000 0.991 1.000 0.787 0.236 1.000 1.000 0.198 0.251 0.712 1.000 11. Gonda 0.539 0.731 0.187 0.346 0.078 1.000 0.734 0.000 0.276 0.303 0.566 0.146 0.583 12 Iglas 0.625 0.943 0.817 1.001 0.008 0.002 0.571 1.000 0.837 1.000 0.766 1.000 1.000 (Contd…) 196 (Contd. Table 5.1) SI.No. Block Transportation and Communication X14 X15 X16 X17 X18 Electricity and Drinking X19 X20 X21 X22 X23 Finance X24 X25 X26 X27 1. Tappal 0.778 1.000 0.230 0.783 1.000 0.446 0.021 0.560 0.525 0.786 0.377 0.212 1.000 0.547 2. Khair 0.000 1.000 0.373 0.066 1.000 0.170 0.517 0.932 0.848 0.653 0.383 1.001 0.498 0.964 3. Chandaus 0.319 0.540 0.226 0.000 0.740 0.887 0.001 0.000 0.610 0.509 0.000 0.779 0.044 0.847 4. Lodha 0.922 0.000 1.000 0.820 1.000 0.321 0.295 0.247 1.000 1.000 1.001 0.461 1.000 0.679 5. Jawan Sikandarpur 0.702 0.016 0.676 1.000 1.000 0.338 0.497 0.731 0.382 0.161 0.342 0.098 0.606 0.601 6. Atrauli 0.405 0.462 0.001 0.558 0.001 0.780 0.999 0.766 0.609 0.497 0.253 0.312 1.000 1.000 7. Bijauli 0.214 1.000 0.739 0.682 1.000 1.001 0.497 0.604 0.637 0.239 0.377 0.356 0.463 0.001 8. Gangiri 0.930 1.000 0.476 0.594 1.000 0.568 0.450 0.890 0.853 0.859 0.818 0.822 1.000 0.126 9. Dhanipur 0.605 1.000 0.894 0.614 0.741 0.001 0.809 0.537 0.690 0.617 0.441 0.000 0.524 0.711 10. Akrabad 0.744 1.000 0.423 0.597 0.688 0.688 0.706 0.337 0.001 0.000 0.139 0.882 0.425 0.235 11. Gonda 0.704 1.000 0.229 0.553 0.729 0.628 0.559 0.999 0.659 0.839 0.700 0.732 0.001 0.533 12 Iglas 1.000 1.000 0.331 0.851 1.000 0.416 0.235 0.319 0.937 0.679 0.444 0.943 1.000 0.310 (Contd…) 197 (Contd. Table 5.1) SI. No. Block Veterinary and Agro-Economy X28 X29 X30 X31 Market X32 X33 X34 X35 X36 X37 1. Tappal 0.343 0.343 1.000 0.728 0.859 0.878 0.706 0.921 1.000 0.000 2. Khair 0.000 0.000 1.000 0.924 0.680 0.880 0.138 1.000 0.004 1.000 3. Chandaus 0.100 0.100 1.000 1.000 0.534 1.000 0.373 0.769 1.000 1.000 4. Lodha 0.891 0.891 0.476 0.770 0.610 0.863 0.308 0.469 1.000 1.000 5. Jawan Sikandarpur 0.977 0.977 1.000 0.830 1.000 0.914 0.630 0.630 1.000 1.000 6. Atrauli 0.138 0.138 1.000 0.856 1.000 0.801 0.052 0.629 1.000 1.000 7. Bijauli 0.614 0.614 1.000 0.582 0.103 0.583 0.142 0.290 1.000 1.000 8. Gangiri 0.380 0.380 1.000 0.240 0.393 0.000 0.729 0.000 0.267 1.000 9. Dhanipur 0.983 0.983 0.000 0.480 0.442 0.558 0.384 0.926 0.048 0.931 10. Akrabad 1.000 1.000 1.000 0.000 0.000 0.225 0.060 0.517 1.000 1.000 11. Gonda 0.975 0.975 1.000 0.747 0.847 0.738 1.000 0.673 1.000 1.000 12 Iglas 0.961 0.961 1.000 0.279 0.788 0.456 0.000 0.906 1.000 1.000 Source: Computed from Census of India 2001, Village Directory 198 Table 5.2 Aligarh District: Overall Development Index of each Sector (2001) Block Development Index Rank Within District Education Health Transportation and Communication Electricity and Drinking Water Finance Veterinary and AgroEconomy Market Overall development 1. Tappal 0.297 0.474 0.294 0.546 0.414 0.308 0.343 0.382 6 2. Khair 0.305 0.257 0.565 0.333 0.179 0.419 0.467 0.361 8 3. Chandaus 0.389 0.601 0.548 0.776 0.443 0.378 0.215 0.479 2 4. Lodha 0.151 0.548 0.323 0.291 0.287 0.250 0.306 0.308 11 5.Jawan Sikandarpur 0.340 0.410 0.378 0.577 0.565 0.050 0.185 0.358 9 6. Atrauli 0.650 0.459 0.632 0.375 0.229 0.344 0.330 0.431 4 7. Bilauli 0.532 0.707 0.227 0.529 0.726 0.417 0.392 0.504 1 8. Gangiri 0.248 0.171 0.239 0.226 0.351 0.601 0.501 0.334 10 9. Dhanipur 0.278 0.368 0.357 0.381 0.588 0.426 0.428 0.404 5 10. Akrabad 0.328 0.372 0.310 0.764 0.486 0.462 0.356 0.440 3 11. Gonda 0.520 0.627 0.360 0.249 0.578 0.120 0.082 0.362 7 12. Iglas 0.434 0.118 0.234 0.477 0.249 0.259 0.274 0.292 12 Source: Computed from Census of India 2001, Village Directory 199 5.1 Level of Educational Development Regional inequalities in the level of educational facilities have been measured on the basis of six indicators identified with symbolic nomenclature X1 to X7, X1 represents the number of primary school per 10,000 population, X2 represents number of middle school per 10,000 population, X3 represents number of secondary school per 10,000 population, X4 represents number of senior secondary school per 10,000 population, X5 represents number of college per 10,000 population, X6 represents number of adult literacy centre per 10,000 population. It is observed from the table 5.2 and fig. 5.1 that there exists a wide regional disparity in the distribution of educational facilities in the district. Highest level of educational facilities has been observed in Atrauli (0.650) block while lowest in Lodha (0.151) block. All the blocks of the district are arranged into three categories of high (> 0.443), medium (0.3030.443), and low (< 0.303) educational development index (table 5.3). A perusal of the table 5.2 shows that three blocks of the district account the development index of more than 0.443 are put under high level of educational development. Two of them, Atrauli (0.650) and Bijauli (0.532) block lie in the north eastern part of the district whereas one of them, Gonda (0.520) block lie in the southern part of the district. About half (5) of the blocks lie under medium level (0.303-0.443) of educational development, they are Khair (0.305), Chandaus (0.389), Jawan Sikandarpur (0.340), Akrabad (0.328), Iglas (0.434). First pocket includes the blocks of Khair, Chandaus, and Jawan Sikendarpur located in northern part, second pocket include the block of Akrabad in the south eastern part and third pocket include the block of Iglas in the southern part of the district. 200 Aligarh District N Distribution of Development Index of Education Facilities (2001) _ X __ 0.373 S.D. 0.140 High 5 0 5 10 Medium 15 Low KM Fig. 5.1 201 > 0.443 0.303-0.443 < 0.303 Table 5.3: Limits of Composite Indices for Different Stages of Development Sector Education Health Transport and Communication Electricity and drinking Water Finance Veterinary and Agro-economic Market Total Composite Indices Mean S.D. Limits of Composite Index for High Medium Low Level(H) Level(M) Level(L) > 0.443 0.303-0.443 < 0.303 > 0.517 0.335-0.517 < 0.335 > 0.441 0.303-0.441 < 0.303 0.373 0.426 0.372 0.140 0.182 0.137 0.460 0.185 > 0.552 0.368-0.552 < 0.368 0.425 0.336 0.170 0.151 > 0.510 > 0.412 0.340-0.510 0.260-0.412 < 0.340 < 0.260 0.323 0.388 0.121 0.066 > 0.384 > 0.421 0.262-0.384 0.355-0.421 < 0.262 < 0.355 Source:Compiled by author based on Census of India 2001, Village Directory. Table 5.2 exhibits that four blocks (Tappal, Lodha, Gangiri and Dhanipur) with development index below 0.303 are categorized under the low level of educational development. Tappal in the extreme north western part and Lodha, Gangiri and Dhanipur stretches from central to the eastern part of the study area. 5.2 Level of Health Development Regional variations in the level of development in health facilities are the product of seven indicators, number of hospital per 10,000 population (X7), number of dispensary per 10,000 population (X8), number of maternity and child welfare centre per 10,000 population (X9), number of health centre per 10,000 population (X10), number of primary health centre per 10,000 population (X11), number of primary health sub-centre per 10,000 population (X12), number of nursing home per 10,000 population (X13). Table 5.2 depicts that the highest composite score of health development has been recorded by Bijauli (0.707) block while lowest by Iglas (0.118) block. For the identification of levels of health development, the blocks are arranged in three categories of high (> 0.517), medium (0.335-0.517), and low (< 0.335) (table 5.3). 202 Table 5.2 reveals that about one third of the blocks of the district account the composite score of development index of more than 0.517 are put under high level of health development. The blocks of this category are Chandaus (0.601), Lodha (0.548), Bijauli (0.707), and Gonda (0.627). This region lies in the north, central, southern and eastern part of the study area. It covers 1104.09 sq. km (30.85 per cent) of the total area (3579.20 sq. km), contains 697,175 persons (32.77 per cent) of total population (2,127,592 persons) and includes 393 rural settlements (33.31 per cent) of total inhabited rural settlements (1180 settlements). Table 5.2 and figure 5.2 show that five blocks namely Tappal (0.474), Jawan Sikandarpur (0.410), Atrauli (0.459), Dhanipur (0.368), and Akrabad (0.372) come under the medium level of health development. These blocks form a cluster in the central part and one block in the extreme north western part of the district. This region covers an area of 1553.23 sq. km (43.40 per cent) and contains 882,042 persons (41.46 per cent) of the total population. It has 489 rural settlements (41.44 per cent) of the total inhabited rural settlements. Table 5.2 exhibits that three blocks i.e. Khair (0.257), Gangiri (0.171), and Iglas (0.118) with development index below 0.335 are categorized under low level of health development. The region spreads over 921.88 sq. km area lies in three different parts i.e. eastern, north western and southern part of the district. It contains 25.77 per cent of the total population and 25.25 per cent of the total inhabited rural settlements of the district. 5.3 Level of Transportation and Communication Development For the identification of the inequalities in the level of development in transportation and communication, three variables of transportation and three 203 N Aligarh District Distribution of Development Index of Health Facilities (2001) _ X_ 0.426 S.D._ 0.182 High 5 0 5 10 Medium 15 Low KM Fig. 5.2 204 > 0.517 0.335-0.517 < 0.335 variables of communication have been taken into consideration, i.e. number of bus stop per 100 sq. km. area (X14), number of railway station per 100 sq. km. area (X15), number of rural settlement with pucca road facility to total inhabited rural settlement (X16), number of post office per 10,000 population (X17), number of telegraph office per 10,000 population (X18), number of rural settlement with telephone facility to total inhabited rural settlements (X19). Table 5.2 reveals that highest development index of transportation and communication facility is attained in Atrauli (0.632) block where as lowest development index is obtained by Bijauli (0.227). Figure 5.3 depicts the three levels of transportation and communication development i.e. high, medium, and low in the district. Three blocks with development index value more than 0.372 comes under the category of high level of development of transportation and communication. Blocks in this category are Khair (0.565), Chandaus (0.548), and Atrauli (0.632). The region covers small area (909.61 sq. km.), few number of rural settlements (298), and has little share of population (24.50 per cent) of the district. The development index ranging 0.303-0.441 marked for the medium level of transportation and communication development. The blocks of this category include Lodha (0.323), Jawan Sikandarpur (0.378), Dhanipur (0.357), Akrabad (0.310), and Gonda (0.360) in the central and southern part of the district. It spreads over 1139.58 sq. km. area (31.84 per cent), encompasses 508 rural settlements (43.05 per cent) and accommodates 42.25 per cent population of the district. Four blocks have attained the development index value less than 0.303 that come under the category of low level of transportation and communication development. Bijauli (0.227) and Gangiri (0.239) block lies in the eastern part of the 205 Aligarh District N Distribution of Development Index of Transportation and Communication Facilities (2001) _ _ X _ 0.372 S.D. 0.137 High 5 0 5 10 Medium 15 Low KM Fig. 5.3 206 > 0.441 0.303-0.441 < 0.303 district, Tappal (0.294) in the extreme north western part, and Iglas (0.234) in the southern part of the district. This region covers 1240.42 sq. km. area and contains 33.25 per cent population of the district. It accounts for 31.70 per cent of total inhabited rural settlements of the study area. 5.4 Level of Electricity and Drinking Water Development Five variables have been taken into account for the analysis of regional variations in the development of electricity and drinking water, they are, number of rural settlement with electric facility for agriculture purpose to total inhabited rural settlements (X20), number of rural settlement with electric facility for domestic purpose to total inhabited rural settlements (X21), number of rural settlement having tank water facility to total inhabited rural settlements (X22), number of settlement having tap water facility to total inhabited rural settlements (X23), and number of rural settlement having tube-well facility to total inhabited rural settlements (X24). Table 5.2 reveals that, the highest development index of electricity and drinking water facility has been recorded in Chandaus (0.776), followed by Akrabad (0.769) while lowest value has been recorded in Gangiri (0.226) block. Table 5.3 and fig. 5.4 reveal the disparities in the level of electricity and drinking water development which is categorized in three levels (high, medium, and low). Three blocks with development index value more than 0.552 come under the category of high level of development in terms of electricity and drinking water facility. Blocks in this category are Chandaus (0.776), Jawan Sikandarpur (0.577), and Akrabad (0.764). It lies in the northern and south eastern part of the district. This group covers 906.70 sq. km. (25.33 per cent) area, few numbers of rural settlements i.e. 286 (24.24 per cent), and 24.95 per cent of the total rural 207 Aligarh District N Distribution of Development Index of Electricity and Drinking Water Facilities (2001) _ X _ 0.460 S.D._ 0.185 High 5 0 5 10 Medium 15 Low KM Fig. 5.4 208 > 0.552 0.368-0.552 < 0.368 population of the district. Medium level of development of electricity and drinking water facility is shown by five blocks having development index value ranging between 0.368-0.552. The blocks of this category includes Atrauli (0.375), Bijauli (0.529), Dhanipur (0.381) that lies in the north eastern part while Tappal (0.546) and Iglas (0.477) lies in the extreme North West and southern part respectively of the study area. It spreads over 1442.12 sq. km. area (40.29 per cent) and encompasses 483 rural settlements (40.93 per cent). It accommodates 39.29 per cent rural population of the district. Four blocks have attained the development index value less than 0.368 comes under the category of low level of electricity and drinking water development. Out of these four blocks Khair (0.333), Lodha (0.291), Gonda (0.249) lies in the western and central part and Gangiri (0.226) in the extreme eastern part of the district. These blocks cover an area of 1230.36 sq. km (34.38 per cent), accommodate 35.76 per cent of rural population and accounts 34.83 per cent of rural settlements of the district. 5.5 Level of Financial Development Regional disparities in the levels of development of financial facilities are examined on the basis of three indicators, number of commercial banks per 10,000 population (X25), number of cooperative commercial banks per 10,000 population (X26), number of credit societies per 10,000 population (X27). Table 5.2 shows that highest development index in financial facilities is attained by Bijauli (0.726) block followed by Dhanipur (0.588) while lowest has been scored by Khair (0.179) block. Table 5.3 and fig. 5.5 depicts three level of financial development i.e. high (> 0.510), medium (0.340-0.510), and low level (0.340). 209 Aligarh District N Distribution of Development Index of Finance Facilities (2001) _ X _ 0.425 S.D._ 0.170 High > 0.510 5 0 5 10 Medium 15 Low KM Fig 5.5 210 0.340-0.510 < 0.340 High level of financial facilities has been observed in the blocks of Jawan Sikandarpur (0.565), Dhanipur (0.588) located in the northern and central part, Bijauli (0.726) in the east and Gonda (0.578) in the south of the district. These blocks cover an area of 1069.31 sq. km. and accommodate 33.31 per cent of population. 31.69 per cent of the rural population comes under this group. Blocks with the development index ranging from 0.340-0.510 are included under medium level of financial development. They are Akrabad (0.486), Chandaus (0.443), Tappal (0.414), and Gangiri (0.351). Figure 5.5 shows that Tappal and Chandaus located in the north western part while Akrabad and Gangiri are located in eastern part of the district. It covers 38.35 sq. km. area, contains 33.67 per cent of population and comprises 30.85 per cent of rural settlements of the study area. Low level of financial facilities has been observed in four blocks namely Lodha (0.287), Iglas (0.249), Atrauli (0.229), and Khair (0.179) (table 5.2 and fig. 5.5). It spreads over 1137.34 sq. km. area of the district. This region records 33.02 per cent of the population and 37.46 per cent of the rural settlement of the study area. 5.6 Level of Veterinary and Agro-Economic Development Six variables have been taken into consideration for the analysis of regional disparities in the development of veterinary and agro-economic services are, number of veterinary hospitals per 10,000 population (X28), number of artificial breeding centres per 10,000 population (X29), number of cold storages per 1000 of net cropped area (X30), number of seed storages per 1000 of net cropped area (X31), number of repairing centre of agricultural equipment per 1000 of net cropped area (X32), number of primary agricultural loan cooperative societies per 1000 of net cropped area (X33). 211 Aligarh District N Distribution of Development Index of Veterinary and Agro-Economic Facilities (2001) _ X _ 0.336 S.D._ 0.151 High 5 0 5 10 Medium 15 Low KM Fig. 5.6 212 > 0.412 0.260-0.412 < 0.260 Highest development index of veterinary and agro-economic services has been recorded in Gangiri (0.601) block while lowest in Jawan Sikandarpur (0.050) block (table 5.2). Table 5.3 and fig. 5.6 reveal the disparities in its level of development which is categorized in three levels (high, medium, and low). High level of veterinary and agro-economic development is shown by five blocks having development index more than 0.412. The blocks in this category are Gangiri (0.601), Akrabad (0.462), Dhanipur (0.426), Bijauli (0.417) lie in the eastern part and Khair (0.419) lie in the western part of the district. This group covers 40.82 per cent of the total area, accommodate 40.83 per cent of the rural population and 46.36 per cent of the rural settlements of the study area. Medium level of veterinary and agro-economic development is shown by Chandaus, Atrauli, and Tappal block having development index ranging 0.260 to 0.412 (table 5.3 and fig. 5.6). These blocks cover an area of 1004.96 sq. km. and accommodate nearly one fourth of the total rural population and settlements. Low level of veterinary and agro-economic development have development index less than 0.260. Blocks that come under this category are Iglas (0.259), Lodha (0.250), Gonda (0.120), and Jawan Sikanderpur (0.050). They are found in between high and medium level regions (fig. 5.6). It covers 1113.36 sq. km. (31.11 per cent) area, 733,979 persons (34.50per cent), and 427 rural settlements (36.19 per cent) of the district. 5.7 Level of Market Development Regional disparities in market development, has been examined on the basis of four variables i.e. number of fair price shops per 10,000 population (X34), number of 213 local markets per 10,000 population (X35), number of whole sale markets per 10,000 population (X36), number of government purchase centres per 10,000 population (X37). Table 5.2 reveals that highest development index in market development has been observed in Gangiri block (0.501) while lowest in Gonda block (0.082). The value of development index more than 0.323 show a high level of market development. The blocks under this category are Gangiri (0.501), Khair (0.467), Dhanipur (0.428), and Bijauli (0.392) that lie in the western and eastern part of the district (fig. 5.7). This group covers 1170.98 sq. km. area of the district. It accounts 34.01 per cent of rural population inhabiting in 32.03 per cent of rural settlements of the district. Medium level of market development is shown by five blocks of the district having development index between 0.262-0.384. The blocks in this category are Tappal (0.343) in extreme north western part, Lodha (0.306), Atrauli (0.330), Akrabad (0.356), and Iglas (0.274) in the central and southern part of the district. The region includes 43.98 per cent of total rural settlement, contains 40.01 per cent of total rural population and covers 42.54 per cent of total area of the district. Development index below 0.262 show low level of market development. The blocks in this category are Chandaus (0.215), Jawan Sikandarpur (0.185) in the northern part and Gonda (0.082) in the southern part of the district. It covers an area of 885.63 sq. km. of the district. It includes 23.98 per cent of total rural settlement and contains 25.97 per cent of the total population of the district. 5.8 Overall Socio-Economic Development Overall Socio-Economic development is based on the composite index of 37 variables (i.e. X1, X2….X37) in each block of the district. Blocks of the district have 214 Aligarh District N Distribution of Development Index of Market Facilities (2001) _ X _ 0.323 S.D._ 0.121 High 5 0 5 10 Medium 15 Low KM 215 Fig. 5.7 > 0.384 0.262-0.384 < 0.262 been grouped into three levels of development on the basis of composite index. Table 5.2 reveals that highest composite index in overall development is seen in Bijauli (0.504) block with first rank in the district while lowest composite index in overall development has been observed in Iglas (0.292) block with last rank in the district. Four blocks of the district comes under high level of development having composite development index more than 0.421 (table 5.3). Blocks of this category are Bijauli (0.504), Chandaus (0.479), Akrabad (0.440), and Atrauli (0.431). This region covers 1104.80 sq. km. area located in the northern, eastern and south eastern part of the district (fig. 5.8). It accommodates 30.81 per cent of the total rural population and 31.61 per cent of total rural settlements. High level of development in these blocks is due to accessibility by means of transportation and communication and higher number of socio-economic facilities or services. The development index ranges from 0.355-0.421 is considered as medium level of overall development. Five blocks of the district show medium level of overall development namely Tappal (0.382), Khair (0.361) in the north western part of the district and Jawan Sikanderpur (0.358), Dhanipur (0.404), and Gonda (0.362) in the central and eastern part of the district (fig. 5.8). This region spreads over 1577.27 sq. km. (44.07 per cent) of the district area and contains 889,033 persons (41.79 per cent) of the total population of the district. The development index scoring less than 0.355 comes under low level of overall development. Three blocks fall in this category i.e. Lodha (0.308), Gangiri (0.334), and Iglas (0.292) located in the central and southern part of the district (fig.5.8). It accounts 28.39 per cent of the total rural settlements, 27.40 per cent of the total rural population and cover 25.07 per cent of the total area of the district. The 216 Aligarh District N Level of Socio-Economic Development (2001) _ X _ 0.388 S.D._ 0.066 High 5 0 5 10 Medium 15 Low KM Fig. 5.8 217 > 0.421 0.355-0.421 < 0.355 reason for low level development is mainly related to undeveloped transportation and communication, less number of electric facility, drinking water facility, credit facility, veterinary and agro-economic facility. Above analysis reveals that there exist a wide regional variations in the level of socio-economic development in the district. Among all the blocks of the district Iglas block show low level of development in terms of education, health, transport and communication, electricity and drinking water, finance, veterinary and agroeconomic facilities. Therefore, Iglas block has been selected for the micro level planning as a case study block in order to formulate a diagnostic planning model for balanced regional development. 218