Social Sector Health Expenditures and Inter-state Disparities in India: A Multi-indicator Analysis

Abstract The present paper studies performance of Social Sector Expenditures on Health (SSEH) using state level data for 24 states from 1990-91 to 2019-20. The relative position and relative performance of the states for SSEH are studied. States’ ranking in the first year.e. 1990-91 and last year i.e. 2019-20 of the sample period and growth rate in 2019-20 w.r.t. 1990-91 are calculated for each state to comprehend the states’relative position. Along with it, states’ decadal growth is studied by calculating CAGR for each of the three decades. The relative performance of the individual states compared to all states for SSEH are also studied. Three indicators are in use for capturing SSEH such as social sector expenditures on health as a percentage of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) (SSEH1), social sector expenditures (SSE) on health as a percentage of SSE (SSEH2) and Per-Capita social sector expenditures on health (SSEH3). Results of states’ relative position suggests that for SSEH1, from 1990-91 to 2019-20 maximum states’ rank increased. Out of 24 states 13 states rank increased and 10 states rank decreased. In case of SSEH2, maximum number of states’ rank increased. Out of 24 states, 12 states’ rank increased and 10 states’ rank decreased. In case of SSEH3, it is found that maximum states’ rank decreased. Out of 24 states 10 states rank increased and 12 states rank decreased. The result of states’ relative performance points out that for SSEH1, 8 states are good performing states and 16 states are bad performing; for SSEH2, 11 states are good performing and 13 states are bad performing; for SSEH3, 8 states are good performing and 16 states are bad performing one. So, for SSEH2, maximum number of states i.e. 12 states are found to be good performing.