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PART 1 - COUNTRY PROFILE (INDIA) IN SOCIOECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
 Context
The geographical location of the country and its
religious, ethnic, caste & language diversities make India as one of the most
emergency/disaster prone countries in the South East Asia. Natural disasters (flood,
cyclone, drought, earthquake), complex emergencies (ethnic/ caste / religious
violence, bomb blasts etc) are one of the commonest emergencies/disaster
situations, seen in the country. Large number of industries and vast rail/
road/ air net works further enhances the risk of potential industrial
disasters and accidents. It is not uncommon for the country to experience one
or other emergency/disaster situation round the year.
Administrative Division and
structures of the health system (Data Source : 1991 Census of India):
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No. of
States
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25
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No. of
UnionTerritories
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7
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No. of
Districts
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466
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No. of
Tahsils / Talukas
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3,987
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No. of
CD Blocks
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5,886
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No. of
Statutory Towns
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2,987
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No. of
Census Towns
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1,702
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No. of
Inhabited Villages
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587,226
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No. of
Uninhabited Villages
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47,095
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Economy
Trends– overview (source –CIA):
The economy has posted an excellent average growth rate
of 6% since 1990, reducing poverty by about 10 percentage points. India has large numbers of
well-educated people skilled in the English language; India is a major exporter of software
services and software workers. The poor monsoon of mid-2002 has reduced
agricultural output substantially. GDP: purchasing power parity - $2.66
trillion (2002 estimates), GDP - real growth rate: 4.3% (2002 estimates), GDP
- per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,540 (2002 estimates).
Social
Trends(source –
WHO/SEARO):
From the 1991 population census, the literacy rate for
males is 64.13% and for females is 39.29%. The changing economic situation
created by urbanization, industrialization and new economic liberalization
has transformed the Indian social structure and values from a traditionally agrarian economy to a modern industrial order.
Lifestyle (source – WHO/SEARO):
The proportion of males 15 years who were regular
smokers in the 1980s has been estimated at 32-74% (rural) and 46-63% (urban),
and females 20-50% (rural) and 2-16% (urban). Currently there is an
increasing trend in smoking among youth. Other significant changes in
lifestyles relate to lack of physical activity among the affluent, increased
use of fast foods, substance abuse, and violence, particularly against young
women and children. The government has taken action to promote healthy
lifestyles through sports, health education, setting up of no smoking zones,
legislation banning smoking in public places, and establishing drug
detoxification centres. A major constraint is the government revenue derived
from tobacco, sponsorship of activities, especially sports events by tobacco
companies, and high pressure advertising.
Demographic
trends(source –
WHO/SEARO):
The crude birth rate (CBR) declined from 29.5 in 1991 to
28.3 in 1995, while the crude death rate (CDR) declined from 9.8 to 9.0 per
1000 population over the same period. The total fertility rate (TFR)
marginally decreased from 3.6 in 1991 to 3.5 in 1995. The annual population
growth rate was reported as 1.97 in 1991 and 1.93 in 1995. The population,
however, continues to grow as the decline in the birth rate is not as rapid
as the decline in the death rate. Life expectancy(source –
WHO/SEARO):
For the period 1996-2001, the life expectancy at birth
is estimated to be 62.4 years for males and 63.4 years for females. Accessibility and Essentials for
Logistics (Source – CIA):
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Railways:
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total:
63,693 km (13,771 km electrified)
broad gauge: 45,103 km 1.676-m gauge
narrow gauge: 15,178 km 1.000-m gauge; 3,105 km 0.762-m gauge; 307 km
0.610-m gauge (2001)
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Highways:
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total:
3,319,644 km
paved: 1,517,077 km
unpaved: 1,802,567 km (1996)
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Waterways:
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16,180
km
note: 3,631 km navigable by large vessels
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Ports
and harbours:
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Chennai
(Madras), Cochin, Jawaharlal Nehru, Kandla, Kolkata (Calcutta), Mumbai (Bombay), Vishakhapatnam
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Airports:
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335
(2001)
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Airports
- with paved runways:
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total:
234
over 3,047 m: 14
2,438 to 3,047 m: 48
914 to 1,523 m: 75
under 914 m: 17 (2001)
1,524 to 2,437 m: 80
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Airports
- with unpaved runways:
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total:
101
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 7
under 914 m: 52 (2001)
914 to 1,523 m: 41
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Heliports:
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18
(2001)
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Communication(source
– CIA):
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Telephones
- main lines in use
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27.7
million (October 2000)
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Telephones
- mobile cellular
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2.93
million (November 2000)
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Telephone
system
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General
assessment: mediocre service; local and long distance service provided
throughout all regions of the country, with services primarily concentrated
in the urban areas; major objective is to continue to expand and modernize
long-distance network to keep pace with rapidly growing number of local
subscriber lines; steady improvement is taking place with the recent
admission of private and private-public investors, but, with telephone
density at about two for each 100 persons and a waiting list of over 2
million, demand for main line telephone service will not be satisfied for a
very long time
domestic: local service is provided by microwave radio relay and coaxial
cable, with open wire and obsolete electromechanical and manual switchboard
systems still in use in rural areas; starting in the 1980s, a substantial
amount of digital switch gear has been introduced for local and
long-distance service; long-distance traffic is carried mostly by coaxial
cable and low-capacity microwave radio relay; since 1985 significant trunk
capacity has been added in the form of fiber-optic cable and a domestic
satellite system with 254 earth stations; mobile cellular service is
provided in four metropolitan cities
international: satellite earth stations - 8 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) and 1 Inmarsat (Indian Ocean region); nine gateway exchanges
operating from Mumbai (Bombay), New Delhi, Kolkata
(Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), Jalandhar, Kanpur, Gandhinagar,
Hyderabad, and Ernakulam; 4 submarine cables -
LOCOM linking Chennai (Madras) to Penang;
Indo-UAE-Gulf cable linking Mumbai (Bombay) to Al Fujayrah,
UAE; India-SEA-ME-WE-3, SEA-ME-WE-2 with landing sites at Cochin and Mumbai
(Bombay); Fiber-Optic Link Around the Globe (FLAG) with landing site at
Mumbai (Bombay) (2000)
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Radio
broadcast stations
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AM
153, FM 91, shortwave 68 (1998)
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Radios
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116
million (1997)
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Television
broadcast stations
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562
(of which 82 stations have 1 kW or greater power and 480 stations have less
than 1 kW of power) (1997)
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Televisions
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63
million (1997)
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Internet
country code
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.in
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Internet
Service Providers (ISPs)
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43
(2000)
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Internet
users
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5
million (2001)
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