GUWAHATI, Oct 3 - The Assam Human Development Report, 2014 released by the State Government today has put the State�s human development index (HDI) at 0.557, indicating that the level of overall human development in the State is around halfway of the intended goal.
However, the overall level of human development has shown a steady and continuous improvement over the last 15 years, since the publication of the first such report.
According to the report, only 23 per cent of the people are satisfied with the governance they are getting. However, 56.4 per cent people are satisfied � either moderately or intensely � with the most critical processes of well-being. It also notes that about one-third of the potential aggregate human development is lost due to the prevailing inequalities underlying in achievements in education, health and income dimension.
Releasing the report at the Assam Administrative Staff College, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said that the real challenge as laid bare by the report was all about good governance and linking governance with delivery of services.
�Assessments are essential for improving human development. That 77 per cent of the people are not happy with the governance they are getting is a revelation and it should be the motivation for us to act and deliver. The report will help us to identify the key areas to work on and also the approach that we need to adopt, to take governance to the masses,� he said.
Jaco Cilliers, Country Director, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in his address, stressed the need for working on the new governance opportunities and implement a broad road map taking into account the State�s diversities on different spheres.
�It�s the age of new opportunities and innovations. The State needs to pursue ambitious goals into the next decades ensuring people�s participation, political inclusiveness and sustainable use of resources,� he said.
State Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the findings of the report warranted a rethink on the government�s policies and more importantly in the manner of their implementation. �The fact that 77 per cent people are not satisfied with the governance shows that there are glaring loopholes which need to be plugged,� he added.
The report prepared by the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development with support from NITI Ayog and UNDP specifically highlights geographical, social, economic and institutional diversities of the State and their implications on aggregate human development outcomes. It emphasises that the wide diversities were crucial in analysing the differences in human development outcomes in the State and, as such, managing those diversities bear the potential policy implications.
