MANISH GUPTA
Ranchi, July 22: Jharkhand is listed near the bottom among Indian states and Union Territories in terms of knowledge workers, a key pillar for the development of a region, as per the latest India Innovation Index 2021 released by NITI Aayog last Thursday.
“Human capital is a key pillar in a knowledge-based economy. It must be noted that it’s not a sufficient condition, but a necessary one. The analysis of human capital has taken on a progressively more central role in discussions regarding the growth and success of nations and regions,” the index said.
While Chandigarh and Delhi have dominated the knowledge-worker space with scores of 22.44 and 14.61 respectively, Jharkhand and Bihar form the bottom among the major states with respective scores of 0.78 and 1.77. Even including the northeast states and the UTs, Jharkhand is just ahead of Mizoram (0.53) and Lakshadweep (0.16).
The index notes that advanced societies in the west have increasingly evolved into a knowledge-based economy, whereby tertiary level human capital is seen to be a crucial feature of economic growth. For India to transition towards a similar path, it is crucial to focus on knowledge workers, it added.
“Jharkhand has only about 1.1% of females employed with advanced degrees out of the total employed,” the NITI Aayog index said.
The index has measured six indicators to study the strength of the ‘Knowledge Workers’ pillar in each state. These are knowledge-intensive employment, NGOs involved in knowledge-intensive areas, number of private R&D units in the state (per lakh population), number of R&D institutions funded by the state (per lakh population), skill development training PMKVY per lakh population, and percentage of females employed with advanced degrees out of total employed.
“The global experiences of development have presented unique lessons in the importance of strengthening R&D to gain strategic advantages. R&D has played a significant role in the growth of the developed countries… Countries that have high per capita R&D expenditure tend to have higher per capita GDP as well,” the index said.
One of the most looked at statistics is the Gross Expenditure on R&D (GERD). India’s GERD is one of the lowest in the world with just $43 per capita, whereas its BRICS and ASEAN counterparts like Russia ($285), Brazil ($173) and Malaysia ($293) have it much higher. And, within India, Jharkhand and Bihar are at the bottom.
“Lower spending on R&D and less innovative opportunities may lead people to move from one region to another region – state/ country for a better opportunity. This phenomenon is known as brain drain and reduces the competitive edge of a state, further impacting the country’s overall economy,” the NITI Aayog said.
The number of private Research and Development (R&D) units in the state (per lakh population) has been low in Jharkhand at 0.02. The comparative score for Delhi is 2.37, Chandigarh is 2.08, Goa is 1.92 and Telangana is 1.44. Jharkhand is ahead only of Bihar and some UTs and northeast states on this front.
After the key recommendation of the India Innovation Index 2021 to increase the spending on R&D to at least 2 per cent of GDP, the second major suggestion is that the private sector should drive the R&D as seen in South Korea, USA and Germany.
It also noted that a country like India may have bigger issues like hunger, disease control and raising the quality of life, but these pressing concerns should not be seen as a hindrance, but rather an opportunity to widen the ambit of R&D. Research has been able to come up with solutions to such issues in the past such as the drip-irrigation system, X-ray imaging, CT scanner, and others.
“Although inventions take time, nonetheless innovative thinking can be applied in dealing with such issues as well. The example of Grameen Bank is one such example where a small idea turned into a huge success both financially and in helping poor communities. Thus, it becomes important to bring ‘research’ into these issues and not to restrain to spend in R&D, be it idea or product,” the index said.
