From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Tuesday unveiled a Vision for Women and Children, 2016 setting a target of bringing down the State’s alarming infant mortality rate (IMR) and maternal mortality (MMR) rate even below the national average.
“Assam may have achieved the sixth highest rate of improvement in economic growth among all states during 2001-2010. But when it comes to social indicators we are still lagging behind though we have brought about certain significant improvements. Our infant mortality rate has come down from 76 to 58 in the past 10 years, but we are still much behind the national average of 47. Similarly, Assam’s maternal mortality rate has also been brought down from 490 to 390 in 10 years, but we are still much below the national average of 212,” chief minister Gogoi said.
Stating that upliftment of women and children is his government’s topmost priority, Gogoi said the Vision document covered all areas like safe drinking water, school enrolment, sanitation, reservation for women and prevention of crimes against women.
The vision document is aimed at ensuring a better future for the two key segments of the society.
Gogoi pointed at the high prevalence of anemia among girls and women, as also malnutrition, which, coupled with a high percentage of girls marrying below 18 years of age, had contributed in a big way towards both increased infant mortality as well as maternal mortality.
Approximately 67.8 per cent of adolescent girls (15-19 years) are anemic in Assam.
The Vision document quoting District Level Household and Facility Survey (DLHS)-III covering 2007-08 states that in Assam, about 40 per cent of women in the age-group of 20-24 years had married before the legal age of 18 years.
Though this is less than the national average of 42.9 per cent, the increase in mean age of marriage for women had a cascading effect on both maternal as well as child health in the State.
The document, titled as ‘Chief Minister’s Vision for Women and Children: 2016’ also seeks to provide 33 per cent reservation for women in all skill development programmes of the state government, besides curbing child labour and trafficking of women and children within next four years.Among the major goals set by the vision document are reducing infant mortality rate to 38 per 1,000 live birth, reducing maternal mortality to 210 per one lakh live birth, reducing total fertility to 2.1 per cent, improving child sex ratio by 30 points to 987, reducing anaemia among children by 45 per cent and achieving 100 per cent enrolment of girls upto class VIII. (With inputs from PTI)