Vivek's Commentary

NFHS-5 (2019-2020) state reports are available. In this post, we will discuss and compare three states: Maharashtra, Gujarat, and West Bengal. I will try to discuss some interesting points 1) Land ownership:  Table no. 1 (NFHS-5) Table no. 2 (NFHS-4) 3.8 percentage reported that they have Non irrigated land for Gujarat, 17.5 for Maharashtra, and 2.8 for West Bengal. That is very problematic for Maharashtra. This non-irrigated land was around 19% according to a previous NFHS survey (2015-16). The Maharashtra state failed to convert this land either into irrigated land or into non-agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes as both non-agricultural land and irrigated land share a small proportion compared to other states. Interestingly Maharashtra government in 2016 has launched the Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan to make Maharashtra drought-free. That doesn't add up here. The percentage of non-irrigated land for Maharashtra is still high. The state has to take efforts to deal with non-ir