The Hindu : National : Rajasthan fares badly in women and children’s welfare, says report

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Sunday, Nov 18, 2007
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Rajasthan fares badly in women and children’s welfare, says report

Special Correspondent

Decline of IMR, MMR, child marriages is poor
Government’s targets fall short of UN plan

JAIPUR: Rajasthan’s performance in areas such as institutional delivery to women, reduction in infant and maternal mortality ratios, elimination of child marriages and reduction in crude birth rate has been dismal and belies the hope that the State would reach anywhere near the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

The targets set by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje for the 11th Five Year Plan in her Budget speech in the State Assembly this year, examined vis-À-vis the MDGs, show a complete lack of vision and absence of foresight to confront the challenges besetting the desert State in view of its feudal culture, inequitable development and strong prejudices against weaker sections.

A report on “Ensuring universal access to health and education” was released with these observations here over the weekend, while experts called for immediate steps to enable the State to achieve MDGs by 2015. The report was prepared in support of the “Nine is mine” campaign,. a nation-wide initiative through which children have been at the forefront demanding that the Government invest nine per cent of GDP in public expenditure on health and education, as stated in the National Common Minimum Programme.

While the State has set the target to reduce infant mortality ratio by 47.76 per cent, from 67 to 32 per 1,000 by 2012, the MDGs stipulate reduction by two thirds or 66 per cent between 1990 and 2015. Similarly, the maternal mortality ratio, to be reduced by 33.26 per cent – from 445 to 148 per 1 lakh – is much below the MDGs requiring three quarters or 75 per cent reduction.

Krishna Kumar of Wada Na Todo Abhiyan-Rajasthan said the targets for 100 per cent enrolment of girl child in schools and bringing down crude birth rate to 21 per 1,000 and total fertility rate from 3.2 to 2.1 were ambitious, but the State’s poor tract record suggested that achieving them by 2012 or 2015 would be next to impossible.

The Director of the Institute of Development Studies, Surjit Singh, releasing the report said it would help take the data and message to the public domain and constantly remind the Government of its commitment made at various levels. The report said that since both health and education were rights under the Constitution, it was the Government’s duty to deliver these services to the citizens.

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