Model Country of Asia for Rural Development

8/14/2019 Model Country of Asia for Rural Development

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Comparative Studyof

South Asian Countries for Rural Development

Submitted to:

Mr. Fazal-ur-Rehman

Submitted by:

Mr. Sher Afzal

Mr. Faheem Akbar

International Institute of Islamic Economics

International Islamic University

Islamabad


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Development of Rural Agriculture & Productivity 26

Colonization Schemes 26

Green Revolutionary Intervention 26

Social Welfare Strategy 27 DDC Strategy in Two Legged Development Process (1970-77) 28

Private Sector Dominated Market Economy Strategy 30

Janasaviya Programme - (Peoples Strength Programme) 31

Samurdhi Programme - prosperity through poverty alleviation 32

Income Transfer Component

33

Social Security/Insurance Component 34 Social Animation and Credit 35

Samurdhi Bank System and Micro Finance 35

Community Infrastructure Development Component 37

Current Poverty Position in Sri Lanka 38

Conclusion 40

Bibliography 41

Comparative Study of South Asian Countries for Rural Development 3


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List of Tables

Table 1: Basic Facts about South Asian Countries 18

Table 2: Growth in per Capita Income, Share of Agriculture 20

in GDP, and Agricultural Workforce

Table 3: Agricultural Output and Productivity in 20

SAARC Countries

Table 4: Access to Safe Drinking Water: 24

Table 5: Improvement in Education Sector 25

Table 6: Adult literacy rate 15 and above) 26

Table 7: Trends in Educational Indicators 1995-2005 27

Table 8: Improvement in Poverty in South Asian Countries 28

Table 9: Community Infrastructure Development Component 41

Table 10: Public Expenditure on Rural Development and Social 42

Service

List of Figures

Figure 1: Improvements in Health Sector 22

Figure 2: Adult Mortality Rate: 22

Figure 3: Trends in Rural Urban Disparity in Child 23

Figure 4: Expenditure of Social Services in South Asia 43



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AKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the name of ALLAH the praise worthy, the passionate whose blessing made

it possible to complete this task. We are highly indebted to our research supervisor SirFazal- ur- Rahman whose sage counseling, appropriate guidelines, expert advice and

timely suggestions enabled us to materialize this time stretched research project.

We are highly thankful to Mr Amir Mustafa Research Officer SAARC Human

Resource Development Center for his technical cooperation and for supplying useful

data.

We are highly thankful to all those who guide us and provide us every possible

help. We also thankful to all our colleagues and friend for their frequent encouraging

words.



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PREFACE

In south Asia about seventy percent population lives in rural areas where the

incidence of poverty is high. Agricultural wage earners, small and marginal farmersand casual workers engaged in non-agricultural activities constitute the bulk of the

rural poor. The high incidence of poverty is a matter of great concern. South Asian

economies are mainly agricultural dependent, therefore, survival of the majority of

rural population is on farm and non-farm activities. Realizing the importance of rural

areas in socio-economic development and poverty reduction, South Asian countries,

in the last few year have given foremost attention to its development by intervening in

the farm and non-farm development activities such as development of rural

infrastructure (physical and social), market for land, agricultural labor and inputs to

raise agricultural productivity.

In this study we will try to comparatively analyze the South Asian countries

with respect to rural development. The first section provides profile of South Asian

counties. In the next section South Asian countries excluding Afghanistan are

critically analyzed regarding their in agriculture, education, health and poverty

elevation, access to safe drinking water, and trends in rural urban disparity in child

mortality rate. This analysis is based on data for the last ten year on above mentioned

indicators.

In the last section the most developed country regarding rural development

will be highlighted on the basis of education, health, poverty alleviation and rural

development. The programs and policies implemented by the model country through

which the country was able to achieve the high rate of rural development will explain

in detail.



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Chapter 1

Introduction:

In South Asia 70 percent of the population are lives in rural areas with highincidence of poverty. Agriculture wages earners, small and marginal farmers and

casual workers engaged in non-agricultural activities constitute the bulk of the rural

poor. Low skills small land holdings, unemployment/underemployment and low

productivity are main hurdles in Rural Development. Particularly, poor education base

and lack of vocational skill perpetuate poverty and regular income of the majority of

poor household. This study will try to find successful Rural. The successful program

will be discussed in later section.

2) Problem statement

To explore the model country in respect of rural development in South Asia

3) Purpose statement

The basic need is to explore the model country in south Asian regarding rural

development and to explain the measure taken by that particular country for rural

development and other countries may fallow these measures to speed up ruraldevelopment in their own country.

4) Methodology

For this study secondary data is collected from different sources including

world development report, SAARC poverty profile and government publications.



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Chapter 2

Brief Introduction of South Asian Countries

South Asia

The current resurgence of interest in rural development in South Asia clearly stems

from its close connection with rural poverty, which is perceived as the regions

overarching development issue. The region accounts for over 43 per cent of the

worlds poverty in income terms. Despite the progress achieved in reducing the

prevalence of income poverty in South Asian countries, the proportion of people still

living in poverty and their absolute numbers remain exceedingly high. About one

third to almost one half of the rural population is poor in all except Maldives (22 per

cent). Based on national estimates in 1993/1994, about 80 per cent of Indias 300million poor reside in rural areas. In Maldives, a country comprised of 1200 islands,

the outer atolls account for 85 per cent of the income poor. In Nepal, the poverty rate

in rural areas (44 per cent) in 1995/1996 was almost double the rate in urban areas (23

per cent). As is well known, income poverty tells only a part of the story. Other

indicators paint a grimmer picture. For example, the UNDP Human Development

Index (HDI) rates South Asia lower than all regions other than sub-Saharan Africa in

terms of average achievements in basic human development. In addition, the poor inmany parts of South Asia are subject to acute vulnerable to disease, crop failures,

labour market fluctuations, domestic violence, natural disasters, floods and cyclones.

These natural and man-made hazards exacerbate their sense of insecurity and, singly

or together, can extend the tentacles of poverty to larger numbers of people or push

those already poor deeper into the quagmire of poverty.

1. Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is bordered to the west by Iran, to the north by Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

and Tajikistan and to the east and south by China and Pakistan.

Its topography is dominated by a complex of irregular highlands which increases in

height from the west to the east (where peaks over 22,965 feet or 7000 metres are

found) and form part of the Hindu Kush. Almost half of the country lies at about

2,000 metres or more above sea level. Afghanistan constitutes a major watershed with



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the Oxus (Amu-Darya) rising on the north side of the Hindu Kush and flowing into

central Asia, whereas on the south side several rivers form tributaries of the Indus.

The climate is of an arid steppe type with dry summers and cold winters. Water

supplies vary widely within Afghanistan. Although some areas regularly receive

heavy snowfall in winter, there has been widespread drought in recent years.

Country in Brief

Area: 251,740 square miles (652,000 sq km)

Population: estimated to be 28.7 million (UN) with an estimated total of 2 million

refugees in Pakistan and 800,000 in Iran (UNHCR)

Capital City: Kabul, population estimated to be 4 million (Deputy Mayor of KabulDecember 2002). Other main cities are Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar and Mazar-e

Sharif.

People: The population comprises numerous ethnic groups, the major ones being

Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, Uzbeks, Chahar Aimaks and Turkmen.

Language: Dari (related to Farsi) and Pashto

Religion: Islam, 84% of whom are Sunni Muslim

Currency Afghani

Basic Economic Facts

GDP: US$6.3 billion in 2007/8. Per capita GDP has increased from US$200 to

US$348 since 2002. (UNAMA, June 2008)

Growth Rate: Real GDP growth has averaged 14.8% in the last six years. The

inflation rate was 4.8% in 2006/7. Despite ongoing security problems, Afghanistan

has been able to sustain a strong economic growth rate, ranging from 26% in 2002/3

to 14% in 2005/6. The growth rate slowed in 2006/7 due to drought, but is expected to

pick up pace again this year, remaining above the average for post-conflict, land-

locked countries. (UNAMA, June 2008)

Principal industries: Textiles, fruit and nuts, furniture, shoes, fertiliser, hand woven

carpets, cement, natural gas, coal and copper

Major trading partners: Exports to Pakistan, the EU, India, Russia and the United

Arab Emirates; imports from Pakistan, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, India and

Turkmenistan

Exchange rate: 70 Afghanis = 1GBP (xe.com January 2009)



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2. Bhutan

Geography

Bhutan is a landlocked country situated in the Himalayas between China and India.

The terrain is mostly mountainous with some fertile valleys. The southern border with

India is at an elevation of a few hundred feet. The northern border with China (Tibet)

is at heights of over twenty thousand feet. The climate varies between tropical in the

southern plains to cool winters and hot summers in the central valleys with severe

winters and cool summers in the high Himalayas.

Country in Brief

Area: 38,394 sq km (2008)

Population: 658,888 (UN sponsored census in May 2007). 33.1% of the population

are under the age of 15yrs. 69.1% of the population live in rural areas and 30.9% in

urban areas (2005)

Capital City: Thimphu

People: Three main ethnic groups: Tibeto-Mongoloid mainly in the North and West,

Burmo-Mongoloid mainly in the East and Indo-Aryan (Nepalese) in the South.

Language(s): Dzongkha is the official language. There are some 14 other languages

spoken including Nepalese dialects. English is very widely spoken and is the language

of education.

Religion(s): Mahayana Buddhist 75%, Indian- and Nepalese-influenced Hinduism

25%

Currency: ngultrum (BTN). The Ngultrum is at par with the Indian Rupee.

Major political parties: Peoples Democratic Party, Druk Phuensum Tshogpa

(National Harmony Party). Since the election in March 2008 the DPT forms the

Government.

Government: Constitutional Monarchy with bicameral Parliament consisting of the

National Council (25 members) and the National Assembly (47 members) elected by

universal suffrage from 47 constituencies. Parliamentary elections are held every 5



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years.


GDP:Nu.41,443Million=approxUSD900,935,000(2006)

GDPGrowth:8.5%(NationalStatisticalBureau2006)

GDI Growth: 23.6% (2006) (due mainly to increased hydropower production)

Major Industries: Hydroelectricity generation, Agriculture, Forestry, Tourism

Major trading partners: Exports - India and Bangladesh; Imports India, Thailand,

Japan, China, US, UK

Aid & development: The Government of India finances nearly three-fifths of

Bhutan's budget expenditures. Bilateral aid programmes are operated by Denmark,

Japan, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, and the European Union, and the United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP) maintains an in-country office.

Exchange rate: 1 Pound Sterling (GBP) = Nu71.27 Bhutanese ngultrum (BTN).

The value of the ngultrum is pegged at 1 Indian rupee. (March 2009)

3. Bangladesh

Bangladesh has roughly the same land area as England and Wales. It is enclosed by

Indian territory except for a short south-eastern frontier with Burma and borders the

Bay of Bengal in the south. The alluvial plain of the Ganges-Brahmaputra river

system - the largest delta in the world, forms most of the country; water flow is

second only to that of the Amazon. To the east of the delta lie the Chittagong Hill

Tracts. Flooding is normal and life has adapted to take account of this but

occasionally excessive flooding, as in 1988, 1998, and 2004 caused widespread

destruction and loss of life. Bangladesh remains vulnerable to natural disasters and to

the impact of climate change. Arable land is extremely fertile. Bangladesh's principal

natural resource is natural gas.

Country in Brief

Area: 144,000 sq km (55,599 sq miles)

Population: 135 million (2003 estimate)

Capital City: Dhaka, 11 million (2005 estimate)

People: Bengalis (98%), and small numbers of tribes people.



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Languages: Bangla, and some tribal languages. English quite widely spoken by those

with education.

Religion(s): Islam (89%), Hinduism (10%). Buddhists and Christians make up about

1% of the population

Currency: Taka


GDP:US$50,929million(BangladeshBank2003)

GDPperhead:US$381

GDPGrowth:5.3% for 2003(forecast for 2005 is 5%)

ConsumerPriceInflation: 6.1 %( 2004)

Principal Exports: Garments account for 80% of Bangladeshs exports to the UK.

Seafood is also a significant Bangladesh export. Almost 10% of Bangladeshs world-

wide exports go to the UK.

Aid & development: The Department for International Development (DFID) has one

of its largest programmes in Bangladesh. On current plans, the UK expects to spend

114 million in the year to 31 March 2008.

4. India

India forms a natural sub-continent with the Himalayas to the north. The Arabian Sea

and the Bay of Bengal, which are sections of the Indian Ocean, lie to the west and east

respectively. India's neighbours are China (Tibet), Bhutan and Nepal to the north,

Pakistan to the north-west, and Burma to the north-east. To the east, almost

surrounded by India, is Bangladesh. Near India's southern tip, across the Palk Strait, is

Sri Lanka.

India has 28 states with constitutionally defined powers of government. The states

vary greatly in size, population and development. Each state has a Governor

appointed by the President for 5 years, a legislature elected for 5 years, and a Council

of Ministers headed by a Chief Minister. Each state has its own legislative, executive

and judicial machinery, corresponding to that of the Indian Union.

Country in Brief



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Area: 3,287,623msq km (1,269,219 sq miles)

Population:1,136,000,000(Sept2007est)

CapitalCity:NewDelhi

Languages: The official language of India is Hindi, written in the Devanagari script

and spoken by some 30% of the population as a first language. Since 1965 English

has been recognised as an 'associated language'. In addition there are 18 main and

regional languages recognised for adoption as official state languages.

Religions: India is a secular state and freedom of religion is protected under the

Constitution. The main religious groups are Hindus (81.3%), Muslims (12%),

Christians (2.3%), Sikhs (1.9%).

Currency: Rupee


GDP: : $1,090 billion (2007)

GDP per head: $714 per head (2006)

Annual Growth: 8.4% (2005-2006)

Inflation: 5.6% (2006 est.)

Major Industries: Textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation

equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, software, gems and jewellery,

leather manufactures.

5. Maldives

The Republic of Maldives, lying about 420 miles south west of Sri Lanka, consists of

a chain of 26 natural coral atolls comprising some 1,190 islands. 200 of these islands

are inhabited, 87 are designated tourist islands, and 20 are industrial islands. The

islands are small: the capital Mal is an area of under 2 square kilometres, and the

highest point above sea level in the Maldives is 2.4m.

Maldives was seriously affected by the tsunami on 26 December which killed 83

people and virtually destroyed 14 inhabited islands, three of which have been

permanently abandoned. 5% of the population lost their homes, 12,000 people were

displaced, 8% of the fishing fleet sustained damaged, and a quarter of the resort

islands closed for repairs. The International Monetary Fund, which recently approved



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US$6.3 million in emergency assistance for the Maldives, estimates that net losses to

the balance of payments will be US$160 million in 2005, and that total reconstruction

costs will be almost 50% of the GDP.

Country in Brief

Area: 90,000 sq km (only 1% land)

Population: 400,000 (2004 estimate)

Capital City: Mal (population approx 80,000 )

People:Ethnically homogenous, Maldivians have South Indian, Sinhalese and Arab

roots.

Languages: Dhivehi, though English is widely spoken on resort islands and in MalReligion(s):100% Islam (Sunni Muslims). It is illegal to publicly practice any other

religion.

Currency: Rufiyaa, divided into 100 larees


GDP: US$715 Million (2004)

GDP per head: US$2,509 (2004)

GDP growth: Prior to the tsunami this was predicted to be 6%, following the tsunami

the 2005 forecast is 1%.

Average Inflation: 6.8% (2005 forecast)

Major Industries: Tourism (32.6% of GDP) and Transport & Communications

(16.4% of GDP)

Major trading partners: USA, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Japan, UK, Singapore, United

Arab Emirates, India, and Malaysia.

Total exports: US$152 million (2003)

Total imports: US$470 million (2003)

Exchange rate: 12.8 Rufiyaa = 1 US$, 24.6 Rufiyaa = 1 Sterling (March 2005)

6. Nepal

Nepal covers approximately 147,000 sq km, stretching 800km from east to west and

90 to 230km from north to south. Nepal is land-locked between China (including the

Chinese autonomous region of Tibet) and India. Nepal has three geographic regions;



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the mountainous Himalayan belt (including 8 of the 10 highest mountain peaks in the

world), the hill region and the plains region. Nepal contains the greatest altitude

variation on earth, from the lowland Terai, at almost sea-level to Mount Everest at

8848 metres. Nepal is divided into five development regions and seventy-five

districts.

Country in Brief

Area: Approximately 147,000 sq km, stretching 800km from east to west and from 90

to 230km north to south.

Population: An estimated 29.5 million (July 2008 est.). Annual rate of growth of

2.5%

Capital city: Kathmandu. Population of about 800,000 in the city itself. Believed to

be approximately 1.5m in the fertile Kathmandu valley

Peoples: Indigenous peoples include Gurung, Limbu, Newar, Rai, Sherpa, Tamang

and Tharu with diverse smaller groups. Major caste groups are the Brahmans and

Chhetris. Large numbers of Indians and some Tibetans make their home in the

country.

Language(s): Nepali 58% (official language), Newari 3%, mainly in Kathmandu.

Tibeto- Burman languages (20%) mainly in the hill areas, and Indian languages (20%)

mainly in the Terai areas bordering India. Nepal has over 30 Languages and dozens of

dialects.

Religion(s): Officially 90% Hindu, 8% Buddhist and 2% Muslim but these figures

are thought misleading. Hinduism and Buddhism overlap considerably in Nepal.

Other estimates also suggest that there are some 400,000 Christians in the country.

Currency: Nepalese Rupee (NPR) which is pegged to the Indian Rupee.

Economy

GDP: US$12.62 billion (2007-08) (Economic Survey 2008).

GDP per head: US$470 (Economic Survey 2008) 3 out of 10 people live on less than

a $1 a day.

Annual growth: 5.56% (2007-08) - (Economic Survey 2008).

Inflation: 14.5% in Mid November 2008 (Nepal Rastra Bank).

Major industries: Tourism, carpet, textile, small rice, jute, sugar and oilseed mills,



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cigarettes, cement and brick production.

Major trading partners: India 63%, US, China and Germany.

7. Pakistan

Pakistan is about three-and-a-half times the size of the UK. It shares borders with 4

countries: India to the east, China to the north east, Iran to the south west and

Afghanistan along the western and northern boundaries. Pakistan's coastline on the

Arabian Sea is 1,064 km long. The climate can be roughly split into 3 seasons: cool

(October through February), hot (March through June), and wet (July through

September). There are, however, significant regional variations.

Pakistan is divided into 4 provinces: Balochistan, North West Frontier Province

(NWFP), Punjab and Sindh. Pakistan-administered Kashmir is known in Pakistan as

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Country Facts

Area:803,940sqkm(499,545sqmiles)CapitalCity:Islamabad

Population:162.4million

Populationbelowpovertyline:40%(2000estimate)

Literacy rate: Male: 61.7% / Female: 35.2% / Total: 48.7%

Official languages: English and Urdu

Languages spoken: Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashtun, Urdu, Balochi, English and many other

local languages

Religions: Islam (97%), Hinduism, Christianity and others (3%)

Currency: Rupee

Basic Economic Information:

GNP (FY 2007 - 2008): Rs.5822.1 billion

GDP (FY 2007 - 2008): Rs.5926.0 billion

GDP Growth Rate (FY 2007 - 2008) 5.8%

Inflation (July 2007 June 2008) 10.3%

Major Industries: Cotton yarn and thread, raw cotton, cotton fabrics, rice (EIU data)



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Major Trading Partners: USA, Japan, Germany, UK, Italy

Major Foreign Investors: USA, UK, UAE and Norway

Average Exchange rate (14 January 2009): 1 = 116.02 PKR (Pakistan Rupee)

US$1 = 79.14

2.8 Sri Lanka

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri-Lanka, the most picturesque tropical Island

in the Asian region has a total area of about 25,300 sq. miles (66,000 sq. km.) with an

estimated population of around 20 million. The population has been growing at a moderate

rate of 1.2% per annum. Three quarter of the population lives in rural areas with the influx to

urban metropolitan areas being relatively modest. Ethnically 72% are Sinhala, 18% are Tamils

by birth Sri-Lankan and Indian origin and 7% are moors. Nearly 70% are still engaged in

agricultural and labour intensive plural income earning activities.

Based on rainfall pattern, the Island can be divided into two major zones: the wet zone

(average annual rain fall of 75-100 inches) in the southwest quadrant, and the Dry Zone

(average annual rainfall of 35-75 inches) covering the rest of the Island and 64% of the area.

A narrow transitional band between the dry and wet zone is sometimes referred to as the

Intermediate zone. About three quarters of the population resides in the wet zone.



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Chapter III

Basic Facts about South Asian Countries

Most of the South Asian Countries are suffering from acute poverty. In most

countries, poverty is predominantly a rural phenomenon and a large population lives

in the rural areas. Limited employment opportunities poor skill and educational level

are the macro-factors underlying low economic performance. Macro-economic

stability and economic growth received priority along with targeted programmes for

poverty alleviation. As an issue, poverty alleviation remained a part of rural

development and gradually occupied the central place in the development agenda.

Table 1:

In terms of adult literacy, the South Asian counties are much behind than rest of the

world even from South East and East Asian. This is also true in relation to net

secondary enrollment, children reaching grade five, and the proportion of tertiary

students in science and technology.

Health sector remains largely neglected, which generally receives between one and

two per cent of GDP. Some countries have done very well in terms of access to

improved sanitation, while others (i.e. Nepal, and Bangladesh) have done rather

poorly. These countries have generally done quite well ranging from 73 per cent to 95

per cent in relation to sustainable access of the population to an improved water

source. However, in respect of both water and sanitation, there are problems in most

countries, arising as a result of increase in population, pollution caused by

Comparative Study of South Asian Countries for Rural Development

Country Land area

(000 sq.

km)

Population

(millions) 2007

Population below national poverty line (%,

latest year)

Total(% Rural) Rural Urban Total

Bangladesh 144 140.7.37(73) 53.0 36.6 49.8Bhutan 0.6 27.1India 3288 1112.67(71) 30.2 24.7 28.6

Maldives .3004(69) .195 15.5Nepal 147 27.06 (84) 44.0 23.0 42.0Pakistan 796 156.8 (70) 35.9 24.2 32.6

Sri Lanka 66 19.09 (76) 27.0 15.0 25.0

18


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industrialisation, overuse of some of the water sources including aquifers, and

continuing exclusion of segments of population from equitable access to these

facilities.

About 60 per cent of the total population of these counties is rural. On the other hand,

the urban expansion in many of the countries has not been so much as a result of

planned urbanization. A major reason for the urban expansion has been rural to urban

migration, inspired by both push and pulls factors. In fact, the urban expansion has

often been rather unplanned giving size to severe stresses on urban services such as

electricity, transportation, education, health, water supply, etc. Rural development is,

therefore, essential in order to enable the rural population to improve their living

conditions, which will also discourage rural to urban migration, thereby facilitating

planned urban development.

3.1Agricultural Performance in the South Asian Countries

In the World Bank classification, the South Asian Countries are counted as

low-income or lower-middle income economies. The per capita income growth rate

from 1992 to 2001 was mixed in the South Asian Countries. Nepal made small

progress (1.6% per annum). Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka registered per capita

income growth rate between 3 and 6 per cent per annum.

Faster growth in the overall GDP and per capita income was generally

associated with declining proportions of income in agriculture. Similar tendencies

could be observed in the share of the workforce employed in agriculture, which

declined in most cases, more prominently in the more dynamic economies. For the

South Asian countries agriculture has remained significant and is likely to continue to

be so in the coming years in terms of contribution to GDP and as a source of

employment.

Table 2: Growth in per Capita Income, Share of Agriculture in GDP, and

Agricultural Workforce



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Country Share of agriculture in GDP Economically active

population in agriculture (%)

1990 1995 2007 1990 Latest year, as

available

Bangladesh 38.3 26.38 22.1 68.5 63 (1996)Bhutan -- - 47 - -India 31.6 28.24 19 66.5 67 (1995)Maldives --- - 11(1998) - -

Nepal 62.4 40.48 40 91.7 79 (1999)Pakistan 25.7 26.14 17.0 49.5 47 (1999)

Sri Lanka 21.4 23.01 17.5 39.9 42 (1998)

Source: CIRDAP, Rural Development Report, and SAARC Statistical Data Book for

Agricultural Research and Development (2007)

3.2Agricultural Output and Productivity in SAARC countries

Table 3:

Countries Crop

Production

Index

Food

Production

Index

Livestock

Production

Index

Cereal Yield Agricultural

value added

per worker

(1995)$

1992

-94

2002

-04

1992

-94

2002

-04

1992

-94

2002

-04

1993

-95

2003

-05

1992

-94

2002-

04Bangladesh 74.

8

104.7 74.0 104.6 80.2 103.2 2572 3533 251 309

Bhutan - - - - -

India 84.5 100.0 80.8 102.5 74.5 110.5 2,104 2,391 362 391

Maldives - - - - -

Nepal 75.2 111.2 77.2 109.4 82.4 107.3 1,841 2,284 191 208

Pakistan 80.3 102.5 77.3 106.0 75.6 109.1 1,946 2,438 603 688

Srilanka 89.4 98.8 94.4 100.0 107.5 109.9 2,993 3,428 713 743

Source:SAARC Statistical Data Book for Agricultural Research and Development

(2007)

From the about table we can see that the agricultural valued added per worker is more

in Sri Lank followed by Pakistan and India..

3.2 Improvements in Health Sector

Over the past ten year, South Asia has made some progress in improving

certain areas of health. The overall life expectancy has increased and adult mortality



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as well as child mortality rate has declined. Access to safe water has also improved

considerable the progress however has been slow and uneven across geographical

areas. Moreover in some of the critical areas such as malnutrition, particularly among

children, the progress has not been satisfactory.

The life expectancy at birth varies from Sri Lanka is 74 to Nepal 62. The

superior performance of Sri Lanka in terms of health is inevitably the result of the

strong and continued political commitment of successive government to improving

the welfare of the people studies have identified four major factors contributing to the

impressive performance of Sri Lanka in terms of health. First the people of Sri Lanka

have universal access to free public health care through an extensive network of state

hospitals, health facilities and health services; secondly there is the presence of a

parallel private health sector which the eased congestion and resource constraints in

the public health sector; third educational attainment has been high among population

and fourth extensive poverty alleviation and social welfare programs have served

reduce the depth and severity of poverty. Sri Lank has given special emphasis to

health and poverty reduction in the rural areas.

Figure.1



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Source:Human Development in South Asia (2007)

3.2.1 Adult Mortality Rate:

South Asia has one of the highest adult mortality rate in the world after Sub_Saharan

Africa. Over the past ten year however, South Asia has made some progress in

reducing its adult mortality from 232 in 1995 to 194 per 1000 in 2005. The adult

mortally of Nepal is the highest of 235 and lowest of Sri Lanka 103.

Figure. 2

Source:Human Development in South Asia(2007)

3.2.2 Trends in Rural Urban Disparity in Child Mortality Rate in South Asia:



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Infant and child mortality rates in South Asia are typically higher amongst low

income groups, particularly these residing in rural areas and among female children. It

is important to look at trends in these disparities to see how South Asia has progressed

in terms of narrowing them down. Rural/urban disparity in infant and child mortality

is particularly high in Nepal followed by India and Pakistan. These differences have

however narrowed down over the past ten years with the highest absolute reduction

observed in Bangladesh.

Figure. 3

Source: Human Development in South Asia (2007)

3.2.3 Access to safe Drinking water:South Asia's sanitation coverage is among the lowest in the world at 37 per cent,

about the same as the Sub-Saharan Africa, but with twice as many people without the

facility as in Sub-Saharan Africa. About 929 million South Asians who live without

any toilet facilities represent more than a third of the world's total. Although the

growth rate of providing improved sanitation is among the highest in the world and

the coverage has been more than doubled, from 18 per cent in 1990 to 37 per cent in

2004, it started from such low levels that the pace will have to be accelerated. In this

sector too Sri Lanka is leading from the front with Bhutan at second number.



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Table 4:

3.4 Improvement in Education Sector

South Asia has performed well in term of improving many educational indicators over

the past ten years.: Adult literacy rate has increased from 49 per cent in 1995 to 58 per

cent in 2004, net primary enrolment has gone up from61 per cent in 1995 to 87 per

cent in 2005, pupil teacher ration has come down from 60 in 1995 to 41 in 2004; out

of school children has been reduced from 50 million in 1995 to 13 million in 2004;

and drop out rate from primary schools have come down from 43 per cent in 19910

-1995 to 14 per cent in 2004.



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Despite the progress achieved in these important indicators, South Asia continues to

be stuck at the lowest round in terms of education among all other regions including

Sub Saharan Africa. It continues to be the most illiterate region in the world

containing around 379million illiterate adults the highest absolute number amongst

all regions in the world. Its adult literacy rate of 58 per cent is even lower than of Sub

Table 5:

Source: A Review of South Asia's Performance over a Ten-year period (2007)



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Saharan Africa. And despite achieving a seemingly remarkable performance in

ter5ms of reducing the total number of out of school children over the pas ten years,

two South Asian countries; India and Pakistan enjoy there distinction of containing

one of the highest number of out off school children in the world (with 6.5 million in

Pakistan and 45 m million in India )

In terms of the performance of individual countries over the past ten year figure 2.11

shows that all South Asian Countries have progressed towards increasing their literacy

rates. Compared to other countries the performance of Nepal in terms of increasing its

literacy rate has been the most impressive. Starting from the lowest literacy rate of 28

pr cent tin 1995, Nepal has bee bale to increase its literacy rate to 49 per cent at

present achieving an annual percentage cane of 6.3 per cent over the past tern years.

In terms of gross enrolment ratios the performance of South Asian countries has been

mixed with some countries such with some countries such a s India and Bangladesh

showing a discernible increase whereas other countries reflecting a stagnation or even

a downward slide.

Table 6: Adult Literacy Rate (%age 15 and above)

Year India Pakistan Bangladesh Nepal Sri Lanka Bhutan Maldevs

2000 57 43 41 42 92 47 972001 58 44 41 43 92 47 97

2002 61 42 41 44 92 47 97

2003 61 49 41 49 90 47 97

2004 61 59 41 49 91 47 96

Source:Human Development in South Asia 2007

The above table shows that Maldives has the highest adult literacy rate and Sri Lanka

has 91 apart from these two countries the rest of the countries have less then 70% of

adult literacy rate.

Trends in Educational Indicators 1995-2005.

Table 7:

Country Adult Combined Pupil- Illiterate Drop Out



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Literacy gross

enrolment

ratio

teacher

ration

adults rate

1995 2004 1995 2004 1995 2004 1995 2004 1995 2004

India

52

61 55 62 64 40 291 292 41 22

Pakistan 38 50 41 38 38 38 19 50 52 30

Bandladesh 38 41 37 57 71 51 45 54 53 35

Sri Lanka 28 49 56 57 39 40 9 9 48 24

Bhutan 42 47 31 33 31 31 0.60 0.43 17 2

Maldives 93 96 71 69 31 20 0.010 0.007 7 8

SourceMHHDC, 1997, 1998, and 2007a: UNDP 1998a and 2006; UNESCO 2004, 2005 and 2006; UNICEF 1997 and

World Bank 2006 f and 2007

3.5 Improvement in Poverty in South Asian Countries

Poverty is of very high concern for all the South Asian Countries the overall level of

poverty specially is rural areas is very as show in bellow given table 27% of the

population of South Asian Counties is living under poverty the poverty level in

Bangladesh is the highest for the year 20005. Sri Lanka has made a tremendous

development by reducing the poverty level from 32 in 1996 to 14 in the year 2005.

pepal has also reduced the poverty level to 28 from 52, Pakistan has also shown some

improvements by reducing the poverty from 41% in 1995 to 25% in the year 2005.

Table 8:

Country Population in

Poverty

(Total)

Population in

Poverty

(Rural)

Gini Coficient

1995 2006 1995 2006 1995 2006

Bangladesh 25.1 19.5 24.6 17.9 0.43 0.47

Bhutan 36.3(2000

)

31.7(04

)

17.0 4.2 0.34 0.42



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India 35.0 27.5 35.0 28.3 0.24 0.37

Maldives 43.0 21.0 50.0 -

Nepal 42.0 30.8 44.0 34.6 0.37 -

Pakistan 29.8 30.9 33.1 28.1 0.40 -

Sri Lanka 25.0 25.0 27.0 24.7 0.48 0.48(2002)

Source: Human Development in South Asia 2007 P. 25

Modal Country (Sri Lanka):

On the basis of above analysis we can select Sri Lanka as the best example country

for rural development in South Asia because Sri Lanka has made a great deal of

progress in rural development sectors. We can declare this country as the model

country for Rural Development in South Asia. Some the steps taken by Sri Lanka for

the improvement of rural development are discussed in the next chapter.



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Chapter 4

In Asia 70 percent population lives in rural areas where the incidence of poverty is

high. Rural development is the approach to increase the degree of participation of therural people in the development process to improve their leaving standard. South

Asian countries have made some progress in rural development and have designed

rural development programs but unfortunately they cannot implement these programs

Sri Lanka is the county which is able to properly implement rural development

programs some of these programs are listed bellow.

Development of Rural Agriculture & Productivity

1. Colonization Schemes

With the purpose of improving rural agriculture, policy makers together with

planners thought that rehabilitation of ancient tank network is an urgent need.

Accordingly priority was given to supply waters in two hundreds of abandoned tanks

and cultivate every possible peace of land hitherto neglected due to lack of water. In

addition to the provision of water to the dry zone peasantry and new lands to the

farmers who irrigated from wet zone, they were provided with a package of

supporting services such as credit subsidized inputs, health and educational facilities.

Rural reservoirs namely Gal Oya, Minneriya, Thabbowa, Kaudulla are few striking

examples to be cited in this regard. The families who migrated from both Dry and Wet

zones had settled under new colonization schemes and were said to have enjoyed

multiple benefits and increased incomes through paddy cultivation. But in course of

time second generation in such colonization scheme was confronted with problems

such as fragmentation of lands and low income by uneconomical farm units. In

consequence, most farmers were trapped by middlemen and moneylenders.

2. Green Revolutionary Intervention

During late sixties and seventies, policy makers together with relevant

professionals further conceived that the objective of rural development could be

achieved largely through river valley development schemes and increase of

agricultural productivity. But the strategy used was different from that of previous

period.

In order to realize the task, huge river diversion schemes (eg. Mahaweli) were



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implemented. At the same time a technical package comprised of High Yielding

Varieties, Fertilizer, Pesticides, Insecticides and Farm Mechanization were introduced

under popular movement called Green Revolution. Then Sri Lanka has been called

as a typical Asian paragon where the prescribed package was extensively adopted.

The living standard of the poor, particularly of indigent farmers has expected to be

advanced as the resultant benefits are gradually trickled down to them. But in course

of time it was ascertained that with the increase of crop production multiple

challenges unforeseen have come forefront in the national discussion agenda of

Poverty and Agriculture. Few striking among those challenges are given below.

High cost of production, particularly incurred in paddy/rice cultivation

Cost related farmer indebtedness

Deterioration of natural soil condition and micro ecosystems

Disappearance of indigenous traditional knowledge

Even in the midst of such problems, paddy production has increased from an

annual average of 1415 M. Tons in 1970-1977 to 2109 M. Tons in 1977-1984. This

production increase was accompanied by not only the increased acreage cultivated but

also by increased yield of 2397 Kgs. per hectare to 2968 Kgs per hectare during the

respective periods.

Social Welfare Strategy

The concept of welfare state and re-distributive justice fashioned the political

thinking of all prominent political parties at the time Ceylon (Sri Lanka) emerged as

an independent nation. The welfare oriented social policies were driven by electoral

policies. Programmes thus implemented included free food subsidy scheme, free

Education scheme and free Medical care services. During the early years of

independence, when resource availability was abundant the governments provided

social welfare benefits universally. However, as the population increased, successive

governments were compelled to curtail the universally targeted provision of free and

rationed food. But free education and free medical facilities further continued in

universal manner.

Sri-Lanka recognized food as an essential entry point to poverty alleviation as

far back as 1942 when the food subsidy scheme was introduced to cover the whole



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country. Initially only rice was subsidized. Gradually, subsidies were extended to

other food items except sugar. The objective of subsidizing the cost of food was to

control inflation by keeping the cost of living down.

Due to the scarcity of budgetary allocation the policy of providing subsidized

food commodities to the population as a whole underwent significant change in 1972.

when an income criterion was introduced to determine eligibility to benefit from the

policy. Accordingly, those families whose monthly income does not exceed SLR. 700

were the target group. The beneficiary family received a maximum subsidy of about

SLR 250 per month. In addition those who do not have access to electricity were also

entitled to monthly kerosene stamps worth of SLR. 28. In 1978 this exercise resulted

in continuing the food subsidy to about 50% of the total population who were

declared themselves as poor. However, the food stamp scheme is disadvantageous to

the beneficiaries as the real value of this income supplement gets eroded with rising

food prices.

DDC Strategy in Two Legged Development Process (1970-77)

Looking back to 1970-77 was one of the most difficult periods in the post

independence history in Sri Lanka. The United Front Government, which came into

power in 1970, had to deal with crisis emanating from both domestic and external

factors. There were on the one hand the youth (JVP) insurgency of 1971, increasing

state intervention in the economy culminating in the land reforms of 1972 and 75 and

the political crisis leading to the break-up of the United Front in 1975. On the other

hand, there was the global economic crisis triggered by the petroleum price hike of

1973 and commodity shortages, which led to severe foreign exchange controls and

rationing. Moreover, in the 70s unemployment and underemployment had reached

serious proportions that ca1led for a reappraisal of the countrys development policies.

It was basically in the above background of shortage of foreign exchange and

capital and scarcities of commodities in general on the one hand and serious problem

of unemployment and underemployment on the other hand, that the need for a dualor

a two-legged development process was conceived. Two legged development model is

a process in which the modern large scale projects at macro-level is accompanied by

small-scale local projects at micro levels.



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projects which were badly conceived and designed: some were badly located and

implemented. Managerial weaknesses, constraints formed in cooperative

organization and politicization of decision making and other problems were

responsible for such failure.

In the post 77 situation no attempt was made to carry out a hard evaluation and

to draw lessons to improve on and build on the DDC programmes. Instead, the

experiment was totally abandoned as being of little relevance to liberalized market

economy. A concept of second leg of development practice in the mainstream

development thinking and practice, in the first ten years, followed by the 77

economic reforms, was neglected.

Private Sector Dominated Market Economy Strategy

World Bank IMF supported economic reform package and Structural

Adjustment Policies [SAP] as internationally known, dominated the mainstream

development scene during three years. The main focus of development policy was to

transform the economy from a state controlled and dominated one to a private sector

dominated market economy with a strong outwards (export) orientation.

In the first budget of the UNP government in 1977 the above said reform

programme was announced. It consisted of a package of fundamental policy changes,

designed to facilitate the long term transformation of the economy. The most

important of these are,

Unification of the change rate

Liberalization of imports

Abolition of price controls on most commodities

Elimination of public sector import monopoLy

Reduction of poor relief subsidies and income transfers

Shift resources from consumption to investment through saving

investment friendly tax reforms.

It is now well known that the momentum generated by the economic reforms

were more or less confined to the initial few years of economic liberalization and the

momentum not only failed sustain in the later years but also that by later eighties

social and economic crisis of serious proportions emerged in the country.



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The rate of economic growth had declined unemployment, which had declined

in the early 80s had started escalating. It was evidence of growing income

inequalities and income concentration in a few hands. As already mentioned, high

inflation had eroded the purchasing power of food stamps. It was against the above

socio-economic background that special measures began to be considered for purpose

of Poverty Alleviation and Safety nets for the poor and vulnerable to be able to go

through the structural adjustments in the mainstream market economy.

Janasaviya Programme - JP (Peoples Strength Programme)

The well-known Janasaviya Programme was offered to the electorate as the

central item of the poverty redressed package. During 1989-94, JP became the lead

programme in the second leg of the development strategies of the government.

JP is considered undoubtedly as an outstanding innovative landmark in the

history of poverty alleviation in Sri-Lanka. It was said to be largely inspired by many

excellent empirical exercises executed in the second leg development strategy in both

local and abroad contexts, but far outside mainstream development at that time, that it

is relatively unknown and unfamiliar. Among the innovative cases of bottom-up and

putting the last first style taken into consideration in formulating Janasaviya.

The objective of the JP was to cover all poor households enrolled in the food

stamp programme that had seen their benefits eroded in real terms over the years due

to inflation. Under the programme each poor family received a monthly grant of SLR.

2,500 for 24 months. The grant was in two parts:

SLR 1,458 for the purchase of a specific basket of consumer items, mainly food

stuffs, of which SLR 458 would be saved in a state bank in accordance with the

household wish.

The balance of SLR 1,042 was to be deposited with a State bank until it had

accumulated to the sum of SLR 25,000 within a two year period. This saving

should be made available as capital or as collateral for a loan to be invested in

an income generating activity.



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In addition to the above consumption plus saving subsidy element support

services were made available to assist the families concerned to improve the

livelihood through self-sufficient efforts. Therefore, JP was directly linked to training

cum production programme where beneficiaries were required to work 20 days in a

month in their own production activities or attend in a place of training to qualify to

receive the benefits. The activities, thus, would be asset creation and improving the

human capital through training activities. Those who did not participate in such

activities on a regular basis were removed from the JP. More than 421,000 families

were benefited from JP in its 4 round operation from 1989 to 1993.

The implementation of the JSP was ultimately aimed at achieving self-

sustaining development among the poor that was initiated and supported through their

own efforts. However, a number of evaluations of the first and second round

operations revealed despite huge outlay and involvement of the entire state machinery,

the implementation of the JP strategy still kept 90% of the beneficiaries in poverty

with very little chance of what they get out of it and in addition left them more

exploited than before. Based on that experience, the JP was replaced by the Samurdhi

Programme in 1995.

Samurdhi Programme - SP (The prosperity through poverty alleviation)

With the introduction of SP, a number of auxiliary welfare programmes which

were in operation for sometime (e.g. Janasaviya Programme, Food Stamp Programme

and School mid-day Programme) have been discontinued. SP is the new national

endeavorer for poverty alleviation within an open/free economic policy framework.

Though the SP was initiated by the previous Peoples Alliance Government in 1995,

the successive UNP government which came into power in 2002 was also in

consensus for the continuation of the same.

The SP covers 1.8 million poor families dispersed in the entire country instead

of stage-by-stage operation manner by JP except few Districts in the Northern

Province due to civil unrest. The main thrust of the poverty reduction strategy as

embodied in the SP is to ensure the participation of the poor in the production process.

The main objectives of the SP are to,

(a) Expand opportunities for income enhancement and self-employment.

(b) Organize youth, women and other disadvantaged people into groups and



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encourage them to participate in decision making in the development process

at the grass-root level.

(c) Assist persons to develop their talents and strengthen their asset bases through

productive employment.

(d) Establish and maintain productive assets to create additional wage employment

opportunities at the rural level.

(e) Safe guards the poor providing social welfare assistance.

The breaking of the vicious circle of poverty is believed not to be done in

fragmented piece meal manner and required a holistic approach. Inter related priority

areas of action in the SP are elaborated below:

01. Income transfer through consumption support

02. Social security/Insurance

03. Social animation and credit

04. Infrastructure development

05. Shelter for the poor

06. Market intervention

01. Income Transfer Component

This component provides consumption support to 52% of the entire population

of the country consisting of 1.8 million families estimated to he at the bottom of the

income scale. The beneficiaries are eligible to receive a monthly income transfer

payment of SLR. 1,000 at the highest to SLR.140 at the lowest, depending on

household income and number of members in the family. The hard-core poor families

consisted of 5 or more members and earn about SLR 700 per month are eligible to

have a direct income transfer of SLR. 1,000 per month. The single numberfamily is

entitled to monthly payment of SL Rs. 140. Thus, the immediate intention of this

programme is to raise income of the poorest families to about SLR. 1,700 per month

and with the additional income that could arise from the self employment activities.

The stamps or coupons received by the poor family are categorized into different

purposes. For instance, the family consisting of 4 members with a monthly income of

SLR. 1,000 is entitled to enjoy SLR. 700 income transfer payment in the following

manner.

Purpose Worth in SL Rs.

Purchase of food stuffs 300



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For encashment 260

Compulsory saving 100

Social security premium 30

Housing Lottery fund 10

Thus, it is to be seen that the direct income transfer scheme in the SP was

designed to achieve multiple purposes, which are very useful to the indigents as

follows:

a) Increase purchasing power for consumption

b) Materialize capital formation for investment and anti-indebtedness

c) Increase coping capacity at calamities

d) Improve housing conditions

The current annual outlay incurred for the direct income transfer scheme by the

government is around SLR. 12 Billion.

With the substitution of SP for JP, the programme has become more impressive

mix of new development activities of welfare and more participatory. The main

device, which has used to make welfare objective was the forcible diversion of a part

of income transfer/supplement into two collective development funds, namely social

security fund, housing development lottery fund and into household based saving

reserves under the scheme of individual compulsory savings.

The diversion technique thus adopted has considerably affected to bring

changes in the minds of beneficiaries to relieve them from welfare subsidy

dependence syndrome into the culture of collective values and saving habits.

02.Social Security/Insurance Component

The social security scheme operating under Samurdhi Social Security Trust

Fund, established in 1997, provide social insurance coverage to the poor. It aimed at

providing wide range of benefits to subscribe poor families in the events of social

calamity, distress arid crisis. At present 1.4 million poor families are reported to have

had membership in the fund. The poor households contributed SLR. 30 per month

against which they can claim insurance compensations for death of a family member

(SLR. 5,000) once per year, marriage of household (SLR. 3,000) and family member

(SLR. 1,000) once per year, birth of a first child (SLR. 2,000) and second child (SLR.



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1,000) and for sicknesses (up to SLR. 1,500 at the rate of SLR. 50 per day for

hospitalization per year).

The surplus accumulated in the fund is used firstly for multiple welfare

programmes aimed at female headed family development and secondly educational

scholarships for poor children etc.

03.Social Animation and Credit

The main strategy used in the second leg of development that emerged in the

late 80s has been labeled as social animation, which is a central element in the

methodology of participatory development. Social animation is basically a process of

assisting the poor to improve their livelihood through organized initiatives undertaken

by the poor themselves. In other words it is a methodology of preparing people for a

process of self-reliant development.

The general experience is that people will begin to take initiatives when they

become more aware and conscious, see opportunities of change, develop confidence

in their abilities to create change and could gain access to the necessary resources.

Initiation of a social animation programme in a given community requires the

services of trained field workers who will interact with people to stimulate them, help

raise their development consciousness, and facilitate those development initiatives. As

in the absence of so called trained personnel the government had decided to recruit

25,000 unemployed youths as Samurdhi Development Officers (community

animators) and 2000 University graduates as Managers to overview the process.

The general nature of the development process that has unfolded through the

intervention of such development catalysts could be summarized under following

headings.

(a) Development Consciousness

(b) Group Formation

(c) Mobilizing own resources (Funds)

(d) Accessing resources from outside

(e) Graduation to micro enterprise development.

Under the SP organized groups of members have mobilized their own resources

as first step in a process of building a resource base to support their development



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actions.

As the fund crows in size, members will have access to a resource pool from

which they could borrow to finance some of their credit needs such as illness in the

family, meet consumption gaps in the face of income short falls, school requisites for

children and purchase of inputs etc.. A group fund often serves as a buffer to protect

consumption needs in the face of crises and as an instrument to meet contingencies.

The second larger organization next to five-member group is Samurdhi Society,

which is funded, in small villages. The village is a geographical unit where various

socio-economic forces are in operation and an easy meeting place for the poor.

Samurdhi Society meets every fortnight.

All Samurdhi groups in the village are organized in the society. This allows

space for fortnightly discussions on the programme of work of the small group.

Further, loan applications submitted to the hank union have to he openly discussed

and approved by the society.

Third larger organization next to Samuurdhi Society is Samurdhi Bank Union.

It forms a network of finance institutions reserved for the poor. One bank union is

instituted for about 30 villages. Membership in a bank is around l,500 - 2,500.

According to present experience after 5 or 6 years, this membership will be sufficient

to maintain a stall of 6 members in the bank. With the bank union system getting

stronger, the poor will be able to free itself from the disadvantageous links with the

money lender and other conventional finance institutions.

Instead of the conventional assets and personal guarantee system, Sarnurdhi

bank unions release loans on the trust of the group of five people. Here, action is

guided by the vision from small loan to big loan and continuous loans. This method

helps to the poor community to shift from a relief culture to a credit culture.

Samurdhi Bank System and Micro Finance

In the process of family empowerment programme capital formation with and



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countries have been failed because they where not able to implement the rural

development schemes properly.

Sri Lanka is the country which has made a reasonable development in most of

these areas. Sri Lanka is spending 17 percent of its GDP on rural development and

agriculture while Bangladesh and Pakistan are spending less than 10 percent of its

GDP on rural development.

Sri Lanka has succeeded in achieving more 90 percent adult literacy due to more

emphasis on this area and by spending 24.99 percent of GDP on education while the

Pakistan and India the adult literacy rate around 60 percent, the reason for this is

giving less importance to these sectors Pakistan is spending 10.15 and Bangladesh is

spending 9.87 on education. Similarly Adult mortality rate Sri Lanka is 104 lowest in

South Asia and life expectance 74 highest in South Asia. Sri Lanka was able to

achieve these because of spending more on health; they spend 13.69 percent of its

GDP on health. This sector was almost abandoned by other South Asian countries

Bangladesh spend 1.95 on held and Pakistan spends 2.71 on health.

These figures reveal that Sri Lanka has developed its rural by spending more

on rural development, education, health and poverty alleviations and if the other

countries want same results they have to follow Sri Lanka and most increase the share

of health, education, poverty alleviation and rural development.



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Bibliography

1. SAARC (2007). Statistical Data Book for Agricultural Research and

Development I SAARC Countries. SAARC Agricultural Centre, Daka,

Bangladesh 403p.

2. Mahbub-Ul-Haq Human Development Centre (2007). Human

Development in South Asia 2007. Oxford University Press, Karachi,

Pakistan. 327p.

3. The World Bank (2008). World Development Report 2008. The World

Bank, Washington, USA. 271p.

4. SAARC (2007). Database Profile on Macroeconomic and HRD Indicators

in the SAARC Region (1990-2006). SHRDC, Islamabad, Pakistan. 89p.

5. http://www.globalgateway.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=1731

6. http://www.yatranepal.com/introductiontonepalnew.htm

7. http://www.peacetravel-tours.com/bhutan/index.php

8. http://www.abooda.com/tourism/introduction.asp

9. http://www.appliedlanguage.com/country_guides/sri_lanka_country_introd

uction.shtml

10. http://www.wiziq.com/tutorial/2969-Introduction-to-Bangladesh
http://www.globalgateway.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=1731http://www.yatranepal.com/introductiontonepalnew.htmhttp://www.peacetravel-tours.com/bhutan/index.phphttp://www.abooda.com/tourism/introduction.asphttp://www.appliedlanguage.com/country_guides/sri_lanka_country_introduction.shtmlhttp://www.appliedlanguage.com/country_guides/sri_lanka_country_introduction.shtmlhttp://www.wiziq.com/tutorial/2969-Introduction-to-Bangladeshhttp://www.globalgateway.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=1731http://www.yatranepal.com/introductiontonepalnew.htmhttp://www.peacetravel-tours.com/bhutan/index.phphttp://www.abooda.com/tourism/introduction.asphttp://www.appliedlanguage.com/country_guides/sri_lanka_country_introduction.shtmlhttp://www.appliedlanguage.com/country_guides/sri_lanka_country_introduction.shtmlhttp://www.wiziq.com/tutorial/2969-Introduction-to-Bangladesh

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