Telangana loses out on crime rate, gender equality

HYDERABAD: The state outperformed most in terms of sanitation goals but fell behind in curbing violence against children & women. Telangana might have succeeded in supplying clean water and energy to more households in 20220-21, but it failed to rein in crime against children and women, or address gender disparity.
According to the latest Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) index report released by Niti Aayog, the state displayed worrying trends in areas – particularly those revolving around peace, justice and strong institutions (targets under SDG 16).
It witnessed a rise in the number of murders per one lakh population – from 2.17 in 2019-2020 to 2.3 in 2020-2021 – and also registered a higher number of cognizable crimes against children. This touched 37.3 in 2020-2021, as against 32.1 the previous year. Other findings: Rise in crime against women (SDG 5: gender equality) and a three per cent drop in women’s representation in the assembly.
P Sandhya, national convener of the Progressive Organization for Women (POW) said violence against women has been on the rise across the country, over the last few years, and Telangana is no exception. “The same trend is reflected here also,” she said adding, “The SDG index clearly tells us that our journey towards equality will be much longer, both in country and the state.”
But despite these negatives and loopholes in certain areas, many feel that the state has managed to fare well, overall. In fact, Janga Manohar Rao, retired professor from the University of Hyderabad pointed out how Telangana has registered impressive scores in economy and infrastructure related SDGs – crucial indicators of growth for any state.
“Immediately after the bifurcation of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, visible signs of faster growth were seen in the state like in the case of GDP and agriculture growth. The state government has also been spending on welfare measures. That has considerably helped in improving the overall performance of the state in reaching the targets identified under SDGs,” he told TOI. He added: “The functioning of sub-parameters will also improve with time. There is no chance of any further decline.”
For now though, Telangana’s health and well-being (SDG 3) quotient remains a concern with its health staff availability dropping to 10 in 2020-2021 from 11 in 2019-2020. Experts say that this needs to be fixed soon, especially with indications of a third Covid-19 wave lurking in the background. Experts are also called for immediate attention to the drop in percentage of schools with separate toilet facilities for girls in Telangana’s rural areas -- from 99.89 to 98.39 this year.
Meanwhile, even as India recorded an overall score of 66 points in achieving targets under the 17 parameters of SDG this year, Telangana was counted among the front runner states with an overall score of 69. And despite a slip in rank – from third to sixth -- its latest score is two points higher than 2019-2020's 67.