The state’s latest economic survey lays bare a deep development divide between the state’s two regions.
Bengaluru: The campaign for a separate north Karnataka state is said to be premised on discrimination by successive governments fixated on the south. The argument evokes favour and protest in equal measure, but an analysis of the two regions seems to lend weight to complaints that the north lags behind the south on crucial parameters.
To gauge as much, one need not look farther than the Karnataka economic survey presented by the Siddaramaiah government in February.
According to the survey, only five districts have a per capita income above the state average of Rs 1.42 lakh. They are all in the south — Bengaluru Urban, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga.
The north accounts for just one among the 10 districts with the highest per capita income: Bagalkot, which has the 10th highest per capita income among the state’s 30 districts.
Also read: North Karnataka state flag unveiled, protesters refuse to call off Thursday’s bandh
At the other end of the spectrum, nine of the 10 districts with the lowest per capita income are from the north, with Kalaburgi occupying the very last spot.
A similar picture emerges once one looks at the human development indicators, or those that also account for factors like health and education.
Among the bottom 10 districts, nine are from the north, with the only outlier being Hassan from the south, which is ranked at the top of the pile. Among the top 10, the only district representing the north is Dharwad.
As regards gender inequality, only Uttara Kannada features among the top 10 performers. However, it is generally categorised as a coastal district separate from northern Karnataka.
Of the bottom 10, nine are from the north, with Koppal in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region being the state’s worst.
Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy came in for heavy criticism for a recent comment about the lack of financial resources at north Karnataka’s disposal. When BJP MLA B. Sriramulu said the statehood agitation would intensify if the government “neglected the region”, Kumaraswamy had replied, “How will the northern region generate enough income to ensure the development of the region?”
But the point stays. Karnataka is heavily dependent on Bengaluru Urban for its income, with the district contributing almost 36 per cent of the state’s gross domestic state product. Dakshina Kannada is a very distant second with its 5.8 per cent contribution.
Also read: Kumaraswamy has a new headache: North Karnataka