KERALA is the "Second Most Developed state in India: Raghuram
Rajan report

Modi's Gujarat 'less developed' state

NEW DELHI: Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
Governor Raghuram Rajan blew a hole in
Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Prime Ministerial
candidate Narendra Modi's Gujarat's
development claims as he declared the state as
'less developed' and ranked it at 12th position
in overall development, CNN IBN reports.
Rajan's report on overall performance of all 28
states in the country suggests that Gujarat lags
behind six Congress ruled states including
Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala.
The report of the Dr. Rajan Committee for
Evolving a Composite Development Index of
States on Thursday submitted its report to
Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, and
identified Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,
Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar
Pradesh as the country's "least developed"
states.
The committee has formulated a multi-
dimensional index of backwardness based on
per capita consumption as measured by the
NSSO, the poverty ratio, and a number of other
measures that correspond to the approach to
defining poverty outlined in the Twelfth Five
Year Plan.
The Dr. Raghuram Rajan Committee has also
proposed a method for the allocation of funds
from the Centre to the States based on the
state's development needs, as well as its
development performance.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram said, "The
committee has recommended that states that
score 0.6 and above on the index may be
classified as 'Least Developed' states that score
below 0.6 and above 0.4 may be classified as
'Less Developed'; and states that score below
0.4 may be classified as 'Relatively
Developed'." (With inputs from agencies)