Niti Aayog’s poverty data 4 yrs old: CM

SHILLONG, July 21: Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Friday alluded to the Niti Aayog ranking which marked Meghalaya as the poorest state in the country after Bihar and said that the report was based on old data that was compiled in 2018-19.
He said he was positive that once the data of the last four years are taken into account, Meghalaya’s ranking will improve considerably. On Thursday, he promised to ensure a huge improvement in the ranking in the next five years.
Sangma also expressed concern over another report which states that Meghalaya has an extreme rate of polygamy, more than any other part of the country.
He said the government has to look carefully into any report that comes out for addressing concerns at various levels. “The government may not have a solution or reply to every single problem that is there. But there are concerns and it is good to be aware of those concerns and work towards ensuring that we try to find solutions to those problems,” he said.
According to the report of the Mumbai-based International Institute of Population Sciences (IIPS), Meghalaya (6.1%) has the maximum number of polygyny followed by Mizoram (4.1%), Sikkim (3.9%), and Arunachal Pradesh (3.7%) in the Northeast.
According to the district-wise analysis, a high rate of polygyny exists in East Jaintia Hills (20%) followed by West Jaintia Hills (14.5%), West Khasi Hills (10.9%), South West Khasi Hills (6.4%), Ri-Bhoi (6.2%), and East Khasi Hills (5.8%).