Statsguru: Six charts explain challenges for five poll-bound states

The five states going to the polls have their own set of social and economic problems. Goa, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand all have a sex ratio above 1,000 females per 1,000 males, according to the fifth round of the National Family Health Survey. Punjab, however, lags behind with 938. Literacy has been rising, but each of these states has a higher percentage of literate men than women. The state with the lowest female literacy, Uttar Pradesh, also has the highest infant mortality rate (chart 1).

Uttar Pradesh is also the state with the lowest share of urban population as per the last Census.

It has been argued that urban areas have better access to healthcare and employment. Only Goa has the majority of its population living in urban areas (chart 2). The states were grappling with unemployment even before the pandemic (chart 3). The relative scarcity of basic facilities like power could have played a role in the lack of industrial activity. Per capita availability of power shows wide variance among the states (chart 4).

The states going to polls have also suffered from slowing investment. Gross fixed capital formation is an indicator of how much money is going into asset creation, which can be used for production of goods or provision of services. A rise in such investment aids employment.

The five-year moving average growth rate is significantly lower than it was in 2009-10 (chart 5).

The pandemic has also taken a toll on state finances. There has been a broad increase in the gross fiscal deficit as a percentage of gross state domestic product (chart 6). Essentially, state governments have been spending more money than their revenue receipts. This leaves them with a common constraint — the inability to spend their way out of troubles when needed.

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StatsGuru is a weekly feature. Every Monday, Business Standard guides you through the numbers you need to know to make sense of the headlines