Utility assessment of human development indicators: Case of Kolkata Urban agglomeration

The present paper attempts to establish a set of variables to find out the extent and levels of inequality in Human Development Indicators (HDIs) driven development based on a geographic delineation of Kolkata Urban Agglomeration (KUA). The study is based on the geographic delineation of the region of KUA. Given this background, it assesses health, education and economic scenario of the study area by variables of rates of mortality, literacy and working population, respectively. For the purpose of analysis, initially percentage distributions of variables over the study area have been computed and subsequently, assessed through Gini's Coefficient, which is an indicator of inequality in distribution over a geographic space. Then reviews of variations by virtue of spatial aggregation and disaggregation in the form of agglomerations of core vis-'-vis periphery, east bank versus west bank differentials have been presented. The analysis is supplemented by correlation studies. United Nations Development Program (UNDP) supports the fact that inequalities in development can be better addressed through assessment of qualitative indicators of Human Development Index. This very concept is also reflected in recent urban development researches conducted by organizations like Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER, 2010), National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER, 2009) and London School of Economics (LSE, 2009). The organizations suggest that the holistic objective of India's metropolitan development can be best approached if objectives of minimization of income based inequalities proceed in its multiple dimensions like Human Development Indicators (HDIs). The present paper attempts to meet such goals in the perspective of KUA.