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Written By: Admin | Updated : September 1, 2012 7:09 PM IST
Assam CM Tarun Gogoi unveiled the Vision Document for Women and Children on Tuesday which looks to bring down the state's alarming infant and maternal mortality rates. "We want to put Assam among the top five states of the country, and for that we must also improve the status of our women and children," he said. "Assam may have achieved the sixth highest rate of improvement in economic growth among all states during 2001-2010. But when it comes to social indicators we are still lagging behind despite making certain significant improvements."
Gogoi added that the Vision document Gogoi said the Vision document also covered everything affecting women and children; including issues like safe drinking water, school enrolment, sanitation, reservation for women and prevention of crimes against women, etc.
Assam's infant mortality rate (IMR) is 58 compared to the national average of 47. The maternal mortality rate (MMR) of 390 is similarly much below the national average of 212.
There's also a high prevalence of malnutrition and anaemia among girls and women which is aggravated by the fact that a high percentage of girls are married before they turn 18.
Approximately 67.8% of adolescent girls (15-19 years) are anaemic in Assam.
The vision document quoted DLHS-III (2007-08) as saying that about 40% women in Assam in the age-group of 20-24 years married before the legal age of 18 years. Though this is less than the national average of 42.9%, the increase in mean age of marriage for women had a cascading effect on maternal and child health in the state.
