Development in West Bengal leaves much to be desired

An indicator-based analysis for the poll-bound West Bengal reveals that the State lags in several economic and social indicators. While it shows strength in select indicators such as immunisation and elementary enrolment, the State’s performance across various indicators remained relatively poorer compared to national average.

West Bengal’s Human Development Index (HDI) stood at 0.719 in 2023, below the national average of 0.732. Economic indicators show a similar trend. The State ranked 16th out of 23 in per capita net domestic product, with an average of ₹1.63 lakh, far lower than the national average of ₹2.05 lakh and substantially behind Delhi and Telangana, where per capita incomes are more than double that of West Bengal. Rural wage levels also lag, with an average daily wage of ₹347 compared to ₹398 nationally. (Table 1)