Tuesday, April 19 2005 09:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: Despite India reducing its poverty rate from five to ten per cent, there are vast regional and social disparities in development, according to the World Bank.

An analysis of the quality of life in South Asia by the Bank, culling figures in the latest World Development Indicators released yesterday (Apr 18, 2005), presents a grim picture.

"South Asia, with Gross National Income per capita at $ 510 in 2003 (the latest year for which complete statistics are available) is home to 40 per cent of the world's poor living on less than $ 1 a day."

India, it noted, has reduced its poverty rate by 5-10 percent since 1990 but progress in Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at the average national level masks considerable sub-national variation measured at regional-State, province, district and block-level.

The average progress in MDGs "is also marked by persistent social inequalities mapped on caste, region, tribal and ethnicity dimensions. This is true not just for large economies such as India with wide State-level and district-level disparities but also for smaller countries of the region such as Nepal and Bangladesh.

"The situation of 700 million women in South Asia," the Bank said, "Remains bleak". The maternal mortality ratio is over 560 per 100,000 live births (India 540, Philippines 170, Finland 6, France 10, Germany 8).

The region has the lowest number of births attended by health staff; the adolescent fertility rate for women 15 to 19 is 97 per 1,000. There are fewer girls (77 percent) than boys (85 per cent) who completed primary school.

Despite the new technology centres that have sprung up in places such as Bangalore, the South Asia region, home to more than 20 of the world's population, has the lowest Internet use and access to personal computers among developing regions.

In the period 1990-2002, the Bank said access to improved sanitation facilities has improved in South Asia significantly, particularly in rural areas, with India making the greatest contribution.

Still, only 23 per cent of the rural population and 46 per cent of the urban population have access to sanitation.

Large investments will be required to reach the MDGs, which calls for reducing by half the share of the population without access to basic sanitation.

The Bank said sustained growth will be necessary for poverty reduction, and concomitant improvement in institutional service delivery mechanisms will be essential for achieving progress in all other dimensions of the MDGs.