Madhya
Pradesh May Not
Achieve MDG Goals
By Loveleen
26 February, 2007
Countercurrents.org
Madhya
Pradesh is the state in heart of India and is laden with major social
developmental challenges. If India needs to achieve the millennium development
goals states which fall in category of states with human development
challenges like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkand need to reach them first. All of them lag behind.
Interestingly Madhya Pradesh
had made a major proclamation in October 2006 when 3.3 million people
in the state stood up against poverty by participating in campaign initiated
by UN millennium development campaign. It did made it to record books
too. Now news is in air that State’s Chief Minister may be traveling
to United Nations (UN)head quarters and get acknowledged and recognized
for the same achievement.
Though I am not sure whether
that is an achievement or not? In fact it is an irony that just weeks
after the same event which made it to record books findings of National
family health survey (NFHS III) data a survey undertaken by Government
of India was shared. The data revealed that under nutrition in children
between 0 – 3 years had increased from 54% to 60 %. This means
that majority of children in Madhya Pradesh are malnourished. Though
state denied data of its own Central Government and had quoted less
figures which still meant that every second child in the state is malnourished.
Though Non governmental organizations which are working in the state,
agree with the findings of the NFHS III data. State’s own data
base also reveals one another fact largely not talked about open that
about 100,000 children are severely malnourished meaning can die if
medical care is not provided to them.
Think of it if internationally
in any country one knows that one lakh children need help, it becomes
a major issue which can topple governments while here state is making
to record books – for making proclamation just by standing, a
question which has difficult answers. Recently an enquiry set up by
Commissioners appointed by Supreme court of India had called state’s
Sheopur district as world’s hot spots of malnourishment. State
also has highest rate of infant mortality rates in the country and has
six states in India which have highest maternal mortality ratio. It
is not only in these indicators one happens to read in media about hunger
deaths which get reported in the state. All these are part of millennium
development goals. Even in case of poverty elimination for which the
state made great announcements we are way behind and neither since that
proclamation state has taken any concrete step which reflects actions.
It also may be important to mention that state also heads in crime against
children and new NFHS III data also reveal that 45 % of women in the
state have ever heard of HIV/AIDS, which is also part of one the goals.
In this scenario probably United Nations may need to pressurize state’s
political heads to deliver against goals agreed by the country, or else
it may take them another hundred years to reach the goals targeted for
2015, rather then acknowledging them.
Loveleen is a free lancer
writer based in Bhopal and contributes by writing on social issues.
[email protected]