Regional Disparities in Social Development in Haryana

The main objective of the present study was to analyse the pattern of district-level regional disparities in social development in Haryana. The study constructed a social development index (SDI) with consideration of 33 key indicators at the four-point of time, i.e., 1991-92, 2001-02, 2011-12, and 2018-19. The study used the “Wroclaw taxonomic” technique to construct composite indices. It was found that in 1991-92, Ambala, Karnal, and Sirsa districts were highly socially developed, whereas Jind, Faridabad, Panipat, and Kaithal districts were the least developed. Moreover, in 2018-19, Rewari, Kurukshetra, Ambala, and Panchkula had the highest level of social development, and Jhajjar, Gurugram, Panipat, and Rohtak districts had the least social development. Moreover, the study also observed that districts in the northern and southern regions had improved their level of social development. In contrast, districts surrounding the National Capital and the districts in the western region had deteriorated their level of social development. The study confirmed that the most economically well-developed districts, including Gurugram, Faridabad, Panipat, Jhajjar, and Rohtak, were deprived of social development, and also revealed that the disparities in social development in Haryana had widened over the period and suggested that the Government should immediately formulate policies to uplift social development in lagging districts and reduce the disparities.