Latest Planning Report Says State’s Progress Is Off-Track Jaipur: The latest report for Rajasthan on the millennium development goals (MDG) released by the state planning board revealed that the state is likely to miss its targeted goals set for 2015. The state has performed poorly in many of the indicators under the MDG report released on Thursday. The progress in child mortality rate, maternal health, gender equality and empowerment of woman and marginalized communities is completely off track. The statistics noted in the report for Rajasthan are painting a grim picture of the state’s development. As per the national family health survey (NFHS) data 2004-05, one out of two children in the poorest households of the state are underweight and among the SC and ST families, more than two out of five kids are undernourished. The average per day per person, expenditure among the poorest rural households is as low as Rs 23, which is inadequate in today’s prices, for meeting the nutrition requirement. The targets under the MDG are a series of goals set by 189 countries to fight poverty, literacy, maternal and child health and basic amenities among others. The deadline set to achieve these targets is 2015. Commenting on the findings of the report, deputy chairman of state planning board said, “From the figures it looks like that we will miss the targets. We have become conscious about the fact that a lot need to be done and we are working on it. We can make it in the education sector and in health sector we are paying due attention.” It is estimated that underweight children below three years in 2015 will be 25 million in the state. Unsafe drinking water, unhygienic living condition, diarrhoea and lack of medical facilities are attributed for such numbers by experts. Similarly, the rate of decline of poverty in Rajasthan is estimated to be 0.4 %, lower than the growth of population which will stands at 1.7 %. On the education front too, Rajasthan is not performing well. Net enrollment ratio (NER) for Rajasthan was 2009-10 is 90%. But data collected from the district level households and facility survey indicates that only few of those enrolled complete even five years of their education. Only 23% from urban households and less than 5% from rural, pursue higher education, the survey said. “The way Rajasthan is progressing in achieving its millennium development goals is of big concern. As per India’s report of 2011, there would be at least 370 million people below the official poverty line in the country by 2015 of which around 21 million would be from Rajasthan,” said K D Maiti of UNICEF. The only government effort laudable is in providing safe drinking water. From 49% in 1990, the state has moved up to 73% in 2008 in providing drinking water in rural households and is expected to reach to 82% in 2015. It is a notch higher than the targeted 80% under MDG. However, progress in access to the sanitation facilities shows deficiencies in progress. Given the target set for the 12th Five Year Plan, the percentage of households to be covered by 2015 is expected to reach 33 per cent, which is nearly half of the MDG target of 60%. Stressing on the need for Rajasthan to do well in achieving MDG goals, TCA Anant, secretary, ministry of statistics and programme implementation said, “Our growth is abysmally slow in social indicators though we are striding fast on the economic field. If India needs to achieve the goals, Rajasthan will need to perform better.” In the month of March 2012, the state planning board, government of Rajasthan and UNICEF jointly conducted two-day workshop on the MDG. Experts from various fields expressed their views on MDG in context with Rajasthan. The report on MDG’s in Rajasthan is the outcome of that symposium. STATUS CHECK Rajasthan’s population will continue to grow for the next 15 years and estimated that it would be 81 million by 2026, contributing almost 15 % of the India’s population At present, there are about 28 million children below 18 years in Rajasthan and it will remain more than 25 million for the next 15 years The average intake of calories by half of the rural population in Rajasthan is less than 2100 kcal against the minimum requirement of 2400 kcal per day Majority of students in primary schools do not possess skills corresponding to the skill requirement of the classes in which they study 30% of the of the food grains from PDS shops do not reach to the target group 50% of kerosene does not reach the intended beneficiaries and causes a loss of ? 900 to ? 1,000 crore to the exchequer 27% families among Scheduled Caste, 60% among the Scheduled Tribes and 33% among Muslims are categorized as being the poorest in the state MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS & TARGETS SUMMARY OF PROGRESS ACHIEVED BY RAJASTHAN MDG 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the Percentage of Population below the National Poverty Line Status: Moderately on track Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger Status: Slow or almost off track MDG 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education Target 3: Ensure that by 2015 children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary education Status: On track MDG 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women Target 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, nearly on track preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015 Status: Moderately on track MDG 4: Reduce Child Mortalit Target 5: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the underfive Mortality Rate Status: Slow or off-track MDG 5: Improve Maternal Health Target 6: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the Maternal Mortality Ratio Status: Slow or off-track MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases Target 7: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS Status: Moderately on track Target 8: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria, other major diseases Status: Slow or off-track MDG 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability Target 9: Integrate the Principles of Sustainable Development into Country Policies and Programmes and Reverse the loss of Environmental Resources Status: On-track Target 10: Halve, by 2015, the Proportion of People without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation Status: On-track for drinking water but slow by sanitation Target 11: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers Status: The pattern not statistically discernible MDG 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development Target 12: In co-operation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and communication Status: On-track