Tamil Nadu is a standout performer along many socio-economic indicators compared to most States. It features among the three best States in terms of the share of women who ever attended school, a low infant mortality rate and a low share of stunted children. It leads the country in terms of gross enrolment ratio in higher education.
These numbers are part of the long-standing argument that the southern States generally perform better than other States, especially those in the north. While the argument holds merit, an analysis of district-level data shows that development is restricted to certain pockets of Tamil Nadu. The differences between advanced districts such as Chennai, Kanniyakumari and Coimbatore and relatively poor districts such as Ramanathapuram, Pudukkottai, Ariyalur, and Perambalur are vast in many of the socioeconomic indicators considered for this analysis.
