Unveiling socio-economic inequalities and spatial disparities across districts in Meghalaya, India

Unveiling socio-economic inequalities and spatial disparities across districts in Meghalaya, India | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Unveiling socio-economic inequalities and spatial disparities across districts in Meghalaya, India Sanjib Majumder, Laitpharlang Cajee This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7180767/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 07 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences → Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Spatial disparities in socio-economic conditions are increasingly recognized as a significant challenge for policymakers. Even minor discrepancies can exacerbate societal inequalities, posing risks to both economic and social stability. In terms of literature, there is hardly any study that includes spatial disparity in Meghalaya with respect to socio-economic aspects. Thereby, to address this lacuna in previous studies, this research focuses on the pronounced spatial disparities in the state of Meghalaya, using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Moran’s I, Local Indicators of Spatial Association (LISA) and Prin score, through which it aims to identify clusters, spatial autocorrelation and rank districts based on socio-economic indicators and identify underlying factors contributing to these disparities. Additionally, Z-scores have been employed to assess the severity of backwardness among different districts. The study found notable spatial disparity in Meghalaya, with districts like East Khasi Hills and West Garo Hills being more developed, while others remain moderately to less developed, reflecting Matthew's effect and core-periphery pattern. The paper concludes by proposing balanced regional development through potential mitigation strategies, including enhanced community participation, expansion of welfare schemes (e.g., Meghalaya State Rural Livelihood Mission and Border Area Development Programme) in underdeveloped districts and equitable resource allocation. Spatial disparities Inequality PCA Moran’s I LISA Meghalaya Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 07 Jan, 2026 Read the published version in Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 22 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 11 Sep, 2025 Reviews received at journal 20 Aug, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 28 Jul, 2025 Reviewers agreed at journal 28 Jul, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 28 Jul, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 24 Jul, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 24 Jul, 2025 First submitted to journal 21 Jul, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7180767","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":492148768,"identity":"d800d7db-4d5c-43f8-bd92-694c0a2a2a2d","order_by":0,"name":"Sanjib Majumder","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA40lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJACg8QGEMV8AEhIyJCihS0BpIWHOGsYwVp4DMAkQdXy7WcPFDzcsc2un73n86sbNRY8DOyHj27A66gzeQkGiWduJ8/sObvNOucY0GE8aWk38GphyDEwSGy7nWxwI3ebcQ4bUIsEjxleLfL9byBa7G/kPDPO+UeEFoYbEFvsDCRymB/nthGhxeAGyJYztxMkzhwzY87tk+BhI+QX+f4cM8OfO27b87c3P/6c861Ojp/98DH8DgNGISg+QLHJJgHmElAOAswPgIQ9iPGBCNWjYBSMglEwAgEA0G5Lfuj7XQsAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"North Eastern Hill University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sanjib","middleName":"","lastName":"Majumder","suffix":""},{"id":492148769,"identity":"dc7815c5-bb2e-461a-b044-682db522e677","order_by":1,"name":"Laitpharlang Cajee","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"North Eastern Hill University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Laitpharlang","middleName":"","lastName":"Cajee","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-07-21 20:53:14","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7180767/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7180767/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s12076-025-00424-z","type":"published","date":"2026-01-07T15:58:28+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":100070006,"identity":"8300c83a-b011-4e3d-bfde-2333e13347da","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-12 16:15:51","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1676667,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"blindedmanuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7180767/v1_covered_5b4aebc9-5f38-4e71-b0c4-670adb337b38.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Unveiling socio-economic inequalities and spatial disparities across districts in Meghalaya, India","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"letters-in-spatial-and-resource-sciences","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"lsrs","sideBox":"Learn more about [Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences](http://link.springer.com/journal/12076)","snPcode":"12076","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/12076/3","title":"Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Spatial disparities, Inequality, PCA, Moran’s I, LISA, Meghalaya","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7180767/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7180767/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eSpatial disparities in socio-economic conditions are increasingly recognized as a significant challenge for policymakers. 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