Book Launch of “प्रादेशिक विषमतेचा नवा आयाम” by Dr Savita Kulkarni and Prof Neeraj Hatekar at Gokhale Institute

Pune, 11th June 2024: “Maharashtra lags behind conventionally backward states like UP and Bihar in terms of multidimensional deprivation index”, said Prof Neeraj Hatekar, while discussing his latest book titled “प्रादेशिक विषमतेचा नवा आयाम” co-authored with Dr Savita Kulkarni.

Dr Neeraj Hatekar presented his thoughts at the book launch ceremony organized by Gokhale Institute in collaboration with The Unique Foundation. The event was held on Monday, 10 June 2024 at the Gokhale Institute, in the presence of Prof Suhas Palshikar and Dr Ajit Ranade, Chair of the event.

Co-author Dr Savita Kulkarni, while discussing her book asserted the importance of public infrastructure in rural areas. Further, she said, “Without adequate infrastructure, economic development is difficult”. She cited her findings from the book to support claims of uneven distribution of resources across villages in Maharashtra.

“The access to Vocational Training, SSC schools and Sanitation are the areas in which Maharashtra lags behind other states in terms of infrastructural availability,” said Prof Hatekar while highlighting one of the graphs from the book. He also added “The night lights’ luminosity is measured in order to understand the economic activity of the region. The findings suggest that lower the luminosity, higher the deprivation.”

Prof Suhas Palshikar acknowledged the efforts by the co-authors in creating such a dynamic dataset. However, he also pointed out some socio-political factors affecting the recording and interpretation of the data sets. He said, “For example, there is a pucca road in a village while data is being collected, which gets washed away after monsoon or there are schools that have toilets but are not in use. We will have to find solutions to find out these kinds of anomalies on the ground to make our data more accurate.” He also pointed out how centralisation of allocation of resources adversely affects the implementation on ground.

Dr Ranade highlighted the importance of political machinery while addressing the economic challenges on the most granular level. He referred to the points shared by both Prof Hatekar and Prof Palshikar.

The program concluded with an interactive question and answer session where esteemed faculty members of Gokhale Institute raised questions, which were promptly answered by the authors. The faculty members also shared their insights and experiences related to the topics of discussion.