Guwahati, June 18 (PTI): Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that the state has progressed to 'performer' category from the 'aspirant' in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index 2020-21.
In 2018, the state was in the 'aspirant' category in 2018 and has since migrated to the 'performer' stage though the data on which the performance is assessed is based on old data, the chief minister said at a press conference.
The SDG Index released by the Niti Aayog in 2021 has ranked Assam as 'performer' with a score of 57 which is a marginal improvement of the previous index score of 55 released in 2019.
Assam, however, falls below the country average of 66 and is one of the bottom three states in the SDG index.
"The SDG Index Report 2018 had categorised Assam as an 'aspirant state' with a score of 49 but in a short span of three years, the score has improved to 57 which shows that the state is progressing forward in the SDG", Sarma said.
The assessment in some of the sectors, particularly in gender parity appears to be complex as it shows that there is gap in this area with crimes against women being very high in the state.
"There are many states in the country where women do not have the access to file cases for crimes committed but in Assam, more cases are registered by women for crimes against them", he said.
The chief minister said that more registration of cases by women cannot be treated negatively and the state has asked the Niti Aayog to consider this aspect and clarify it.
Sarma said that he had held a meeting with the North East Satellite Application Centre (NESAC) and it was decided to prepare an action plan for the use of satellite data in various fields which will include flood and erosion images, land encroachment in border areas, outbreak of malaria and Japanese Encephalities among others.
The state goverment will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NESAC to map Assam's development journey in a scientific form with the help of satellite images, the chief minister added.
