Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal released the “Assam Human Development Report 2014” and the Vision and Strategic Architecture Document on SDGs, namely, “Assam 2030: Our Dream, Our Commitment”
About Human Development Index (HDI) :
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy,education, and per capita income indicators, which are used to rank countries into four tiers of human development.
- A country scores higher HDI when the lifespan is higher, the education level is higher, the GDP per capita is higher, the fertility rate is lower, and the inflation rate is lower.
- The HDI was developed by the Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq working alongside Indian economist Amartya Sen, often framed in terms of whether people are able to “be” and “do” desirable things in their life, and was published by the United Nations Development Programme.
- The origins of the HDI are found in the annual Human Development Reports produced by the Human Development Reports Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). These were devised and launched by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq in 1990, and had the explicit purpose “to shift the focus of development economics from national income accounting to people-centered policies”.
Assam’s HDI :
Assam has witnessed a “steady and continuous improvement” in human development with its latest Human Development Index (HDI) estimated at 0.557 against the national average of 0.586
- It has been observed that the overall level of human development in the state has shown a steady and continuous improvement over the last 15 years.
- It may, further, be observed that achievements in all key dimensions of human development, that is, education, health and income are about halfway with education being at about two-thirds, followed by health and income, which are just at the half-mark of the desired level.
- Releasing the publication, the Assam CM notified that the Government has a great responsibility in ensuring that every rupee earmarked for public welfare reaches the poorest of beneficiaries. For ensuring this, all elected representatives and government officials must work towards installing the best possible administration in the state.
- The Report specifically highlights geographical, social, economic and institutional diversities of the state and their implications on aggregate human development outcomes.
This is the second Human Development Report for the state, the first was published a decade back in 2003.The present Report is based on a survey of 39,998 households and 1,87,511 individuals from 27 districts of the state.
- The Report puts Human Development Index (HDI) in Assam at 0.557 indicating that level of human development in the state is just about halfway of the desired level.
- The Report observes that human development achievements have been found to differ greatly across districts.
Assam :
- The state Assam shares international borders with Bhutan and Bangladesh
- Kaziranga, Manas are two World Heritage Sites in Assam
- Bramhaputra rivers flows in Assam
