> But from what I know West Bengal had better economic growth, and its
> overall HDI is close to Kerala, due to a higher per capita GDP?
You could be right about West Bengal's overall HDI. (Since I am not an economist, I am not usually fully informed about the detailed picture.) As far I know, West Bengal agriculture has done well after land reforms. Rice production particularly. But gains in growth in industry and services have been rather modest, when compared with other states.
India's Planning Commission has produced a report on the state of human development for 2001. The full text is available at: http://planningcommission.nic.in/reports/genrep/reportsf.htm
Ulhas