THE has Development decided PLANNING to Reports prepare COMMISSION(SDRs)State for all States and Union Territories  of India. The objective in bringing out these reports is to provide a credible  independent quality reference document on the development profile,  set out strategies for accelerating the growth rate of States, lessen disparities and reduce poverty. The SDR is meant to discuss  the constraints and challenges faced by a State and provide  a vision, blueprint or a roadmap for its socio­economic progress. Each SDR is being prepared with the assistance of reputed expert  national­level agencies, under the supervision of a Core Committee, headed by a Member of the Planning Commission, and including a senior representative  of the State Government.  The publication of the Madhya Pradesh Development follows the earlier published Report SDRs of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala,  Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, while SDRs  of many other States and Union Territories are under various stages of preparation.

The state of Madhya Pradesh (MP), since its formation, has been caught up in the trap of poor fiscal, social and economic development. Madhya Pradesh Development Report has attempted  to capture  various trends on development fronts over a period of time. The new formed state of MP has shown better fiscal prudence for the past few years, thereby pushing the state's economy towards progressive   growth. Also, the state is putting lot of efforts in developing infrastructure across the state. It is promoting key sectors like tourism and industry that have high potential of generating income  and employment opportunities. With  grow­ing number of academic institutions, the state is emerging as an education hub. At the same time, it is also motivating public-private partnership (PPP) for  implementing large projects in economic sectors. Madhya Pradesh is a pioneer in giving 50 per cent reservation to women in panchayati raj institutions (PRls), thus strongly favouring decentralisation  at the local levels. Despite the above mentioned achieve­ments, the state is lagging behind on the performance indicators of social development like health, nutrition, development of marginalised sections and proportionately higher population below poverty line. Perhaps this is the critical area which needs not only urgent attention but also strategic intervention. 

This is of immense importance as the state is distinguished with a substantial population of the most marginalised sections like scheduled tribes and scheduled castes that have remained untouched from  different development pursuits. To bring itself out from the BIMARU bracket, Madhya Pradesh has to work harder in reducing existing inter-regional disparities and setting the priority in promoting its  hard-core areas like agriculture, handloom and handicrafts and natural resources. Political will coupled with effective and efficient implementation of government  schemes and programmes would definitely  make a difference. The road ahead suggested for different sectors in this development report should help in accomplishing the endeavour.