ABSTRACT
Uttarakhand, as a state of the Indian Union, formed in the year 1999. Since its inception, Uttarakhand has remained one of the fastest growing state economies in the country. The growth of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) has been well above the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) average in most of the years since 2000. The per capita GSDP in the state that was lower than the national average at the time of state formation grew from 19,457 INR in 2001 to 52,125 INR in 2011–12 compared to an increase from 20,943 INR to 37,851 INR for the country as a whole during the same period. The share of agriculture in the GSDP has declined from around 26 per cent to 11 per cent during this period compared to a decline from 22 per cent to 16 per cent for the country as a whole. While the share of industries has declined at the national level from around 27 per cent to 25 per cent, in the case of Uttarakhand, it has increased from 23 per cent to 34 per cent during the same period (Mohanty 2012: 3). To be precise, the transition to a non-agricultural economy in Uttarakhand has been rather rapid compared to the country as a whole. Being a state economy with a high rise in per capita income and rapid pace of urbanization, Uttarakhand could presumably have brought in a lot of dynamism in the popular aspirations related to educational and social outcomes in the state.
