Editing Chhattisgarh (section)

== Human Development Indicators ==

=== HDI ===
As of 2018, Chhattisgarh state had a [[Human Development Index]] value of 0.613 (medium), ranking 31st in Indian states & union territories. The national average is 0.647 according to Global Data Lab.<ref name="ihdr-2001">{{Cite web|title=Sub-national HDI - Subnational HDI - Global Data Lab|url=https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/shdi/IND/?levels=1+4&interpolation=0&extrapolation=0&nearest_real=0&colour_scales=global|access-date=23 February 2021|website=globaldatalab.org|archive-date=4 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004170955/https://globaldatalab.org/shdi/shdi/IND/?levels=1+4&interpolation=0&extrapolation=0&nearest_real=0&colour_scales=global|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Standard of living ===
The standard of living in Chhattisgarh is extremely imbalanced. The cities such as [[Durg]], Raipur, Bhilai and Bilaspur have a medium to high standard of living, while the rural and forested areas lack even the basic resources and amenities. For example, Bhilai has a literacy rate of 86%, while [[Bastar district|Bastar]] has a literacy rate of 54%.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census2011.co.in/census/city/279-bhilai-nagar.html|title=Bhilai Nagar City Population Census 2011 – Chhattisgarh|website=census2011.co.in|access-date=10 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808042729/http://www.census2011.co.in/census/city/279-bhilai-nagar.html|archive-date=8 August 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, is one of the fastest-developing cities in India.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/raipur/chhattisgarh-among-fastest-growing-states/articleshow/62005292.cms|title='Chhattisgarh among fastest growing states' – Times of India|website=[[The Times of India]]|date=10 December 2017 |access-date=10 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821074041/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/raipur/chhattisgarh-among-fastest-growing-states/articleshow/62005292.cms|archive-date=21 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Naya Raipur|Atal Nagar]] (Formerly ''Naya Raipur''<ref>{{cite news |title=Chhattisgarh Govt Renames It New Capital Naya Raipur To 'Atal Nagar', Pays Tribute in Unique Way |url=https://headlinestoday.org/national/1802/chhattisgarh-govt-renames-it-new-capital-naya-raipur-to-atal-nagar-pays-tribute-in-unique-way/ |access-date=21 August 2018 |agency=Headlines Today |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821191859/https://headlinestoday.org/national/1802/chhattisgarh-govt-renames-it-new-capital-naya-raipur-to-atal-nagar-pays-tribute-in-unique-way/ |archive-date=21 August 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>) is the new planned city that is touted to become the financial hub of the [[Central India|Central Indian region]]. New world-class educational institutions and hospitals have already been established in the city.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/naya-raipur-953494-2017-01-06|title=Naya Raipur becomes the world's first integrated city|website=India Today|date=6 January 2017 |access-date=10 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810112437/https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/naya-raipur-953494-2017-01-06|archive-date=10 August 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

According to the NITI Aayog's Fiscal Health Index 2025, Chhattisgarh ranks second with a score of 55.2.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-28 |title=India's top 10 best-performing states in the Fiscal Health Index 2025 |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/top-10-listing/indias-top-10-best-performing-states-in-the-fiscal-health-index-2025-9801341/ |access-date=2025-02-17 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}</ref>

=== Education Index ===
[[File:Girls students, Chhattisgarh, India.jpg|thumb|School children in Chhattisgarh]]
Chhattisgarh has an Education Index of 0.526 according to the 2011 NHDR, which is higher than that of the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The Average Literacy rate in Chhattisgarh for Urban regions was 84.05 percent in which males were 90.58% literate while female literacy stood at 73.39%. Total literates in the urban region of Chhattisgarh were 4,370,966.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Among the marginalized groups, STs are at the bottom of the rankings, further emphasizing the lack of social development in the state. Bastar and Dantewada in south Chhattisgarh are the most illiterate districts and the dropout ratio is the highest among all the districts. The reason for this is the extreme poverty in rural areas.

[[Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Narainpur|Ramakrishna Mission Asharama Narainpur]] serves the tribals in the abhjhmad jungle region of Chhattisgarh for their upliftment and education.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CgCcEqqa-C8C&q=ramakrishna+mission+ashrama+narainpur+serves+tribals|title=Social Welfare|date=1998|publisher=Publications Division|language=en|access-date=20 October 2021|archive-date=28 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240328162253/https://books.google.com/books?id=CgCcEqqa-C8C&q=ramakrishna+mission+ashrama+narainpur+serves+tribals|url-status=live}}</ref>

As per census 2011, the State has a population of 25.5&nbsp;million and six medical colleges (five Government and one private) with an intake capacity of 700 students and a doctor-patient ratio of 1:17,000.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chhattisgarh a poor State with low health indices: CAG |url=https://www.dailypioneer.com/2017/state-editions/chhattisgarh-a-poor-state-with-low-health-indices-cag.html |website=The Pioneer |access-date=29 September 2018 |date=31 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929233452/https://www.dailypioneer.com/2017/state-editions/chhattisgarh-a-poor-state-with-low-health-indices-cag.html |archive-date=29 September 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Under The NITI Aayog released Health Index report titled, "Healthy States, Progressive India", Chhattisgarh has an index of 52.02 Out of 100, which is better than states such as Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Odisha, Bihar, Assam and Uttar Pradesh.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pandey |first1=Kundan |title=NITI Aayog's Health Index: Kerala on top; Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh among worst performers |url=https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/niti-aayog-s-health-index-kerala-on-top-rajasthan-uttar-pradesh-among-worst-performers-59663 |website=Down To Earth |access-date=29 September 2018 |date=9 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810142701/https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/niti-aayog-s-health-index-kerala-on-top-rajasthan-uttar-pradesh-among-worst-performers-59663 |archive-date=10 August 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Despite different health-related schemes and programs, the health indicators such as the percentage of women with BMI<18.5, Under Five Mortality Rate and underweight children, are poor. This may be due to the difficulty in accessing the remote areas in the state. The prevalence of female malnutrition in Chhattisgarh is higher than the national average—half of the ST females are malnourished. The performance of SCs is a little better than the corresponding national and state average. The Under Five Mortality Rate among STs is significantly higher than the national average.

=== Net state domestic product ===
Chhattisgarh is one of the emerging states with relatively high growth rates of net state domestic product (NSDP) (8.2% vs. 7.1% All India over 2002–2008) and per capita NSDP (6.2% vs. 5.4% All India over 2002–2008). The growth rates of the said parameters are above the national averages and thus it appears that Chhattisgarh is catching up with other states in this respect. However, the state still has very low levels of per capita income as compared to the other states.

=== Urbanisation ===
Out of the total population of Chhattisgarh, 23.24% live in urban regions. The total population living in urban areas is 5,937,237, of which 3,035,469 are males and the remaining 2,901,768 are females.

Raipur, Durg, Bhilai Nagar, Bilaspur, Korba, Jagdalpur, Rajnandgaon, Ambikapur and Raigarh are some of the urban towns and cities in the region.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Chhattisgarh : Exp CG: Major Cities of Chhattisgarh: Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg-Bhilai, Raigarh, Korba, Jagdalpur, Ambikapur, Kawardha |url=https://explore-chhattisgarh.blogspot.com/2010/01/cities-of-chhattisgarh.html |access-date=2024-07-15 |website=Chhattisgarh}}</ref>

=== Sex ratio ===
There are more than 13 million males and 12.9&nbsp;million females in Chhattisgarh, which constitutes 2.11% of the country's population. The [[human sex ratio|sex ratio]] in the state is one of the most balanced in India with 991 females per 1,000 males, as is the child sex ratio with 964 females per 1,000 males (Census 2011)

=== Fertility rate ===
Chhattisgarh has a fairly high fertility rate (2.4) as of 2017 compared to All India (2.2) and the replacement rate (2.1). It has a rural fertility rate of 2.6 and an urban fertility rate of 1.9

=== SC and ST population ===
With the exception of the hilly states of the north-east, Chhattisgarh has one of highest shares of Scheduled Tribe (ST) populations within a state, accounting for about 10 percent of the STs in India. Scheduled Tribes make up 30.62% of the population. The tribals are an important part of the state population and mainly inhabit the dense forests of Bastar and other districts of south Chhattisgarh. The percentage increase in the population of the scheduled list of tribals during the 2001–2011 decade had been at the rate of 18.23%. The Scheduled Caste (SC) population of Chhattisgarh is 2,418,722 as per the 2001 census constituting 11.6 percent of the total population (20,833,803). The proportion of Scheduled Castes has increased from 11.6 percent in 2001 to 12.8% in 2011.

=== Poverty ===
[[File:Diospyros melanoxylon Tendu.jpg|thumb|[[Tendu (tree)|Tendu]] Patta (Leaf) collection in Chhattisgarh, India.]]
The incidence of poverty in Chhattisgarh is very high. The estimated poverty ratio in 2004–05 based on uniform reference period consumption was around 50 percent, which is approximately double the all-India level. The incidence of poverty in the rural and urban areas is almost the same.

More than half of the rural STs and urban SCs are poor. In general, the proportion of poor SC and ST households in the state is higher than the state average and their community's respective national averages (except for rural SC households). Given that more than 50 percent of the state's population is ST and SC, the high incidence of income poverty among them is a matter of serious concern in the state.

This indicates that the good economic performance in recent years has not percolated to this socially deprived group, which is reflected in their poor performance in human development indicators.

=== Access to drinking water ===
In terms of access to improved drinking water sources, at the aggregate level, Chhattisgarh fared better than the national average and the SCs of the state performed better than the corresponding national average. Scheduled Tribes are marginally below the state average, but still better than the STs at the all-India level.

The proportion of households with access to improved sources of drinking water in 2008–09 was 91%. This proportion was over 90% even in states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. This was largely because these states had over 70% of their households accessing tube wells/hand pumps as sources of drinking water.

=== Sanitation ===
Sanitation facilities in the state were abysmally low with only about 41 percent having toilet facilities before the [[Swachh Bharat Mission]] was launched by the Government of India. The Urban areas of Chhattisgarh attained the title of open defecation free on 2 October 2017 and the rural areas have achieved a 90.31% sanitation coverage. What sets Chhattisgarh apart from other states of India is an approach to bring in behavioral change in order to get open defecation-free status. In Chhattisgarh, people don't get toilet incentives before the construction of toilets, so they have to construct the toilet with their own money, and only after using the toilet for 3 months are they entitled to the incentive amount.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://swachhindia.ndtv.com/commendable-progress-urban-rural-sanitation-chhattisgarh-way-open-defecation-free-12041/|title=With Commendable Progress in Both Urban And Rural Sanitation, Chhattisgarh Is on Its Way To Be Open Defecation Free – Swachh Report Card|date=19 September 2017|access-date=10 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810143753/https://swachhindia.ndtv.com/commendable-progress-urban-rural-sanitation-chhattisgarh-way-open-defecation-free-12041/|archive-date=10 August 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2020, it again won the title of the cleanest state with more than 100 [[Urban Local Bodies]], as announced by [[Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs|Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs]] [[Hardeep Singh Puri]] following the 'Swachh Survekshan 2020'.<ref>{{Cite web|date=20 August 2020|title=Swachh Survekshan 2020 Results: Indore Is India's Cleanest City And Chhattisgarh The Cleanest State, Follow The Highlights {{!}} News|url=https://swachhindia.ndtv.com/swachh-survekshan-2020-results-hardeep-singh-puri-announces-winners-follow-the-highlights-48556/|access-date=20 August 2020|website=NDTV|language=en-US|archive-date=20 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820092731/https://swachhindia.ndtv.com/swachh-survekshan-2020-results-hardeep-singh-puri-announces-winners-follow-the-highlights-48556/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the Swachh Survekshan Awards-2023, Chhattisgarh secured the third rank in the 'Best Performing States' category.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Swachh Survekshan Awards 2023 conferred |url=https://pib.gov.in/pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1995159 |access-date= |website=pib.gov.in}}</ref>

=== Teledensity ===
Across states, it has been found that [[teledensity]] (telephone density) was below 10 percent in 2010 for Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, reflecting a lack of access to telephones in these relatively poorer states. But due to development of new technology the teledensity in 2017 is 68.08 percent which shows improvement of telecom infrastructure. On the other hand, for states like Delhi and Himachal Pradesh and metropolitan cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai, teledensity was over 100 percent in 2010 implying that individuals have more than one telephone connection.

=== Road density ===
The total density of National Highways (NHs) in Chhattisgarh is at 23.4&nbsp;km per 1,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> out of the total length of 3,168&nbsp;km in the State, the Central Government has informed.
Chhattisgarh Government had completed construction of 5,266 cement concrete (CC) roads having a total length of 1,530&nbsp;km in various villages of the State as on 31 May 2016 under 'Mukhyamantri Gram Sadak Yojana'.<ref>{{cite web |title=23.4&nbsp;km per 1000 sq. kms NH road density in Chhattisgarh: Centre |url=https://www.dailypioneer.com/2016/state-editions/234-kms-per-1000-sq-kms-nh-road-density-in-chhattisgarh-centre.html |website=The Pioneer |access-date=29 September 2018 |date=15 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929233445/https://www.dailypioneer.com/2016/state-editions/234-kms-per-1000-sq-kms-nh-road-density-in-chhattisgarh-centre.html |archive-date=29 September 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Witchcraft ===
{{More citations needed|section|date=August 2023}}
[[File:Mission Against Witchcraft.jpg|thumb|Social Mission Against Blind Faith|alt=|right]]To bring about social reforms and with a view to discourage undesirable social practices, Chhattisgarh government has enacted the Chhattisgarh Tonhi Atyachar (Niwaran) Act, 2005 against witchery.{{citation needed|date=September 2021}} Much has to be done on the issue of law enforcement by judicial authorities to protect women in this regard, bringing such persecution to an end.<ref name="womennewsnetwork.net" />

Some sections of tribal population of Chhattisgarh state believe in [[witchcraft]].<ref name="womennewsnetwork.net">{{cite web|title=India: Protective Laws Fall Short for Women Charged with Witchcraft|url=http://womennewsnetwork.net/2010/03/21/witchcraft-india-89/|access-date=22 July 2011|date=21 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110702111614/http://womennewsnetwork.net/2010/03/21/witchcraft-india-89/|archive-date=2 July 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Women are believed to have access to supernatural forces and are accused of being witches (''tonhi'') often to settle personal scores.

As of 2010, they are still hounded out of villages on the basis of flimsy accusations by male village sorcerers paid to do so by villagers with personal agendas, such as property and goods acquisition.<ref name="womennewsnetwork.net" /> According to [[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]] Channel's investigations, those accused are fortunate if they are only verbally bullied and shunned or exiled from their village.