Assam's 'poor' show in SDG report draws flak from Congess

GUWAHATI: The Assam Pradesh Mahila Congress came down heavily on the BJP-led government for the state's poor performance in the NITI Aayog's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index 2020-21 and criticized the saffron regime for high maternal and infant mortality rates despite claiming to have ramped up the healthcare infrastructure.
"It was once announced that Assam would become one of the early states, if not the first in the country, to work towards achieving sustainable development goals by 2030.But the NITI Aayog's report on SDG performance has accentuated the fake and false promises, particularly in the field of protecting, educating and improving the health of girls and women," state Mahila Congress president Nandita Das said.
Citing the recent rape incident in Jorha, the Congress' women's wing slammed the government for failing to check crimes against women.
Das pointed out that the number of crimes against women increased from 4,46,116 during the 15-year tenure of Tarun Gogoi to 5,97,095 during the five years of the BJP-led alliance government under Sarbananda Sonowal.
"Beti Bachao Beti Padhao was one of the principal slogans using which BJP earned big public support. But during their tenure, the slogan turned into a big joke. The crime on women continued unabated, unchecked," she alleged.
Das said, "Assam's maternal mortality rate is 215 per one lakh compared to 43 in Kerala. Similarly, the infant mortality rate in Assam is 47 per 1,000 children compared to 10 in Kerala." Total physicians, nurses, and midwives per 10,000 population are only 23 in Assam while it is 115 in Kerela, she added. Congress spokesperson Bobbeeta Sharma said though the crime against women in Assam was rising day by day, the BJP-led government continued to be "intolerant" against the crime, asking the government to send strong message from the top of the governement.