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OF DEPOSITS... AND BORROWINGS, AND OTHER STRANGE STATS FROM GOA PANJIM, MARCH 24 -- The two commercially-significant talukas of Tiswadi and Salcete have Goa's highest cash deposits on a per-capita basis. Inhabitants in Salcete have Rs 1,17,384 deposits per capita, just below those in Tiswadi with Rs 1,93,863. Interestingly, residents of these commercially-important talukas of Tiswadi and Salcete are also the State's highest borrowers -- at Rs 85,394 and Rs 29,249 per head. And, believe it or not, Goa has just 4.4 per cent of its population in poverty, going by official figures. According to official figures, just released here as part of the state's Economic Survey, industrial production grew over a 1993-94 base of 100 to 305 in 2000-01. But mining fell to 98% on the base year. Of industries, the 'chemicals and chemical products' sector was responsibile for nearly 41%. Government figures say the number of cultivators declining by over 26 per-cent in a decade. Goa's poultry too seems to be ailing with the number declining from .92 million to .78 million over the five-year period from 1992 to 1997. New Delhi's aid has been declining in relative terms. Central assistance as a share of the state plan, has declined from 86 per-cent of Goa's plan size in 1987-88, to just 15.5% in 2001-02. INFLATION: Goa is also listed as a costlier place for industrial workers, going by the 1982 prices. If one takes the consumer price index for industrial workers (1982=100), a basket of commodities costing Rs 100 in 1982 cost Rs 520 in Goa, as compared to Rs 441 in the rest of India in 2000. Goa's school dropout problem was also a serious one with over 40 per-cent dropping out between Std I and X. Dreaded malaria continues to haunt Goans, remaining the State's most serious health issue, affecting about the largest segment of its population. In 2001-02, the state saw 13,187 cases reported. Goa's infant mortality rate is shown as declined from 24.8 in 1987 to just udner 14 in the year 2000. Housing co-operatives dominate State's co-operative sector with as many as 1047 of the 1897 co-ops being housing co-ops. Urban credit societies (357) come next in number, followed by dairy (158) and consumer co-ops (101). DOGS, LIVESTOCK: Dogs in Goa went up from 60,479 (1992) to 78,838 (1997), as per the livestock census. It is not clear, however, whether strays were also taken into account. In the tourism sector, UK was Goa's largest tourist sender, with 35.7% of foreign tourists coming from that island nation. Germany (6.3%), Finland (4%) and Switzerland (3.4%) were next. After seeing a high of 419 charter flights and 1,16,992 charter tourists landing in 2000-01, charter arrivals declined in the next two years to almost 1996-97 levels. Another area of concern is the State's fast-growing vehicle population. Goa ranks fifth in terms of its road density (after Delhi, Chandigarh, tiny Pondicherry, and Kerala). The vehicle population has touched 3.6 lakh. Of this, 2.5 lakh are motorcycles and scooters, perhaps reflecting the poor public transportation system in the state. In terms of per capita electricity consumption, Goa was ranked seventh among all Indian states. But it may be difficult to come to speedy conclusions over this figure, since industrial power guzzlers have also accounted for some part of this share. Goa's state expenditure on health and education is a paltry 14.4% and 5.1%. But Goans' life-expectancy is the second-highest in the country, second only to Kerala. Over the years, the sex-ratio has declined from a high of 1128 (in 1951) to as low as 960 (2001) females per thousand males. In part, this could also be a result of the reversing of migration trends, earlier largely based on out-migration by mainly male workers, which has shifted in recent years also to in-migration into Goa. Goa (with 82.3%) ranks fourth in its literacy rates among all states in the country. Besides Kerala, even the smaller Mizoram and Lakshadweep have edged past this potential-laden region with higher literacy rates. Job-seekers on the Employment Exchange totalled a little over a hundred thousand in 2001. Nearly one-third of these were HSSC passed with another third being matriculates. But this is not an actual indicator of joblessness, as some registered have done so to improve their current jobs. According to the Eleventh Finance Commission Report of 2000, Goa's social and economic infrastructure in 1999, was the best in the entire country. ENDS _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.goanet.org/mailman/listinfo/goanet
