Madhya Pradesh: Good Governance Powers Madhya Pradesh’s Growth

Madhya Pradesh has registered an impressive economic expansion and development in the last one-and-a-half decade on the back of good governance initiatives. With 17 SKOCH Order-of- Merit and five awards Madhya Pradesh is a STAR performer in this year’s State of Governance study. The state bagged four awards in Platinum and one in Silver category.

The state has consistently been a STAR performer in the SKOCH Governance study. Good governance has been the main reason behind Madhya Pradesh’s transformation from a BIMARU state to one of the fastest growing states in the country. The state has extensively used new technology across sectors to make the public services delivery system more transparent and efficient.

Economy

Madhya Pradesh has been among the fastest growing states in India in the past over one decade. The state’s GSDP expanded by a compound annual growth rate of 12.83 per cent between 2004-05 and 2014-15. The Gross State Domestic Product of Madhya Pradesh at current prices for 2018-19 is estimated to be Rs 8,26,106 crore. This is 19.7 per cent higher than the revised estimates of 2017- 18. Between 2011-12 and 2015-16, the state’s GSDP grew at an average annual rate of 7.5 per cent (at constant prices). Over this period, per capita income increased from Rs 43,082 to Rs 54,190, posting an annual average increase of 5.9 per cent.

Agriculture sector has been the main driver of the state’s economic expansion. In 2015-16, the state’s GSDP grew at 8.7 per cent, at constant prices. The agriculture sector posted an impressive 7.2 per cent growth (at constant prices) as compared to 2014-15, while the manufacturing sector grew at 7 per cent. The services sector grew at 8.9 per cent, compared to 8.7 per cent in 2014-15. The agriculture sector contributed to 34 per cent of GSDP in 2015-16, while the manufacturing and services sectors contributed 22 per cent and 38 per cent of the GSDP respectively.

Key Achievements

A number of innovative steps have been taken in municipality, district administration, transportation and e-Governance sector. The state bagged eight SKOCH Orders-of-Merit in Municipality, while two SKOCH Orders-of-Merit went in District Administration category. Four SKOCH Orders-of-Merit were conferred in e-Governance and two in Women and Child Development segment.

To ensure safety and security and promote welfare of women in the state, Women Empowerment Directorate has introduced a scheme named “SAKHI”. This is conceptualised as a one-stop centre providing immediate relief to women facing violence by accessing legal aid, health, police support and socio-psycho counselling services under one roof. In Madhya Pradesh, the first phase of One-Stop Centres was initiated in 18 districts from January 2017 whereas remaining 33 districts are taken in second phase. The scheme has not only provided support to women facing violence, but has also boosted the confidence of women to stand against the violence. With the increase in the cases of domestic violence, rape, child marriages, dowry and other crime against women, One-Stop Centres have proved to be of immediate relief wherein the woman survivor gets medical aid, legal aid, counselling, police protection and shelter. The One-Stop Centres play the role of second home where woman survivors get individual support to develop her safety plan and think positively about their future.

Under the Safe City Programme, Directorate of Women Empowerment works on multiple fronts to ensure safety and security of women in the urban areas. The focus has been on students and community women. Over 5,000 women and 2,000 students have been connected with this initiative. The Directorate has been running a campaign in Bhopal city to sensitise police, bus conductors and drivers towards the safety and security of women.

The focus has not been just on women’s safety and security but to make the Police “smart”. An integrated CCTV Surveillance System has been put in place to ensure safety and security of the common people at the public places. Madhya Pradesh is aggressively pushing forward the Safe City project. The initiative has been implemented in 61 cities spread across the state with total investment of nearly R500 crore since 2015. This is the biggest Safe City project in India in terms of geographical spread. With an objective to provide swift assistance, MP Police has introduced Centralised State Wide Integrated Dial 100 Control Room cum Command Centre.

Dewas Municipal Corporation has introduced community driven door-to-door garbage collection, monitoring and payment system. Municipal Corporation Jabalpur has tied up with private players to ensure efficient collection, segregation, transportation, treatment and disposal of municipal solid waste.

Bhopal Municipal Corporation in collaboration with Sanidhya Samiti has launched an initiative called “Doctor Aapke Dwar” as a part of its drive to promote health and sanitation. Under this initiative free health check-up camps are run in backward and slum areas to provide health assistance and educate people about health risks caused by open defecation and other activities. Innovative steps have been taken under Clean India Mission in Kanha Tiger Reserve for converting solid waste into bio-fertiliser.