New Delhi: The Planning Commission wants Assam to undertake focussed development initiatives, with special emphasis on health, education and poverty alleviation. The state has over five million people living below the poverty line.

For 2008-09, the commission has allocated Rs.50.11 billion ($1.3 billion) as plan outlay for the state, and sought new initiatives from the government to streamline the education infrastructure.

According to the plan panel's status report, around 6,000 primary schools out of the 30,000 in the state have only one teacher each, while 2,305 schools do not have concrete buildings. Only six percent of primary schools have toilets for girls, and 30 percent of schools do not even have drinking water facility.

"The quality of education is very poor due to untrained teachers, 90 percent and 50 percent respectively in middle and primary levels. The implementation of the mid-day meal scheme is not satisfactory too," a Planning Commission official told IANS, quoting from the report.

Currently, Assam's teacher-pupil ratio is 1:30 and 1:17 respectively at the primary and secondary levels .

According to the panel, there is a shortfall of 216 community health centres in Assam. The state's infant mortality and maternal mortality rates per 1,000 people respectively are 68 and 490. The national infant mortality rate is 58 per 1,000 and the maternal mortality rate is 301.

"Apart from constructing primary health centres, the state government needs to concentrate on the expansion of tertiary health care facilities at the district hospitals. The village health and sanitation committees have not been formed," the official said.

What the panel finds satisfying is the state's willingness to accelerate the health, education and poverty alleviation programmes.

"Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, in his last week's meeting with the Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, assured all possible efforts to improve the basic health, education and other infrastructure," the official said.

Though in the throes of strife for years, the state has recorded good progress in the implementation of the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) scheme, aimed at helping the people below the poverty line.

Up to September 2007, 10.41 million man-days were created under the scheme in 13 districts where it is currently implemented. These places have reported good expenditure with districts like North Cachar Hills and Lakhimpur reporting an expenditure of 99.71 and 81.71 percent respectively of the allocated fund.

Assam, however, has a poor performance record in terms of the credit disbursement under the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY). "The state needs to strengthen the credit delivery system. Under the scheme, investment the per family was only Rs.21,302 up to November 2007 against the norm of Rs.25,000," the official said. IANS

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