At a time when Goa's social indicators vis a vis India and Portugal are being furiously debated, it might be timely to point out that "India's best state to live in" is in fact, not likely to hold that distinction for long.
Here are some interesting statistics (from the 2001 India census) that show that Goa is far from #1 in many respects. The percentages of people in Goa with access to basic services such as sanitation, cooking fuel and drinking water ranges from 30% to 70% behind states like Kerala, Punjab and Himachal. Whether or not Goa was ahead in 1961 is now irrelevant ..what matters is if it will remain one of the better plaes to live in, or if it will regress. It will be interesting to see if next year Goa remains #1. I'm putting my money on Kerala. Literacy: #3 behind Kerala, Mizoram Households living in permanent type of houses #7 behind Uttranchal, Punjab Households with source of drinking water within premises #6 behind Punjab Kerala Households with source of lighting as electricity #5 behind Himachal Households with type of latrine as water closet #11 behind Kerala, Sikkim,Gujrat Households using Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) as fuel for cooking #3 Households having telephone #4 Households having television #4 behind Punjab According to the 2001 India census, Goa also seems to have acquired some of the not so desirable qualities of big city living - slums!! According to the census there are 14529 people living in slums in Panjim and Margao. I could scarcely believe this number, so I looked up the definition of "slum", and here it is - All specified areas notified as 'Slum' by State/Local Government and UT Administration under any Act; All areas recognized as 'Slum' by State/Local Government and UT Administration which may have not been formally notified as slum under any Act; A compact area of at least 300 population or about 60-70 households of poorly built congested tenements, in unhygienic environment usually with inadequate infrastructure and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water facilities. While this is still a far cry from Mumbai where almost 1 in 2 people is a slum dweller, slums didn't exist in Goa a few years ago, and with the rapidly increasing urban population (already 55%), the situation will probably get worse before it gets better. Daryl ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################