Manipur Information Centre
New Delhi , November 2
Manipur bagged the first place for its performance in health sector among small States while Jammu and Kashmir bagged top slot in the big State category.
Gujarat topped as most improved big State for second consecutive year in row while Delhi was adjusted to be the most improved small State. The 10th annual India Today ranking of the 30 States based on improvement over the last year was announced on Thursday at the India Today State of the States Conclave held at Hyatt Regency here.
Health and Family Welfare Minister of Manipur Phungzathang Tonsing, received the award from Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar at India Today conclave in New Delhi for Manipur’s first place in health sector.
Ten States namely Arunachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Sikkim, Goa, Tripura, Nagaland, Delhi, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Manipur were categorized as small States.
Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Thursday said the Central government and state governments were partners, not competitors, in the development of the country.
He said it was imperative for politicians at the Centre to leave a fair amount of autonomy and flexibility to the states.
A “one-size-fits-all” theory cannot be applied within a state, or even between the Centre and states, he said.
“The geo-political and socio-economic situation across the country and states is too varied for such an approach to be relevant”, he said. Pawar said that one must stop looking at states with suspicion, or with a superior-inferior comparison, as it is at the state level that everything is happening and the impact of initiatives taken by the Central government fail or succeed.
He said citizens’ expectations from the government has increased manifold as India has matured as a democracy on the pillars of a healthy and interactive Centre-state relationship.
For governance, Kerala has bagged the award in the big state category and Goa in the small state category. For infrastructure, in the big state Maharashtra was adjudged as the best and Delhi in the small State.
The study was conducted by India Today in association with economics research firm Indicus Analytics.
Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu were given two special awards as the two States that emerged first and second among the 10 best performers in the past decade. These special awards mark the 10th anniversary of the State of the States survey, launched in 2003, a statement issued by the India Today group said. The States were ranked on the basis of the improvement recorded between 2011 and 2012 across eight categories: agriculture, consumer market, primary health, primary education, governance, infrastructure, investment and macro economy.
CMs of seven States including J&K, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Goa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and New Delhi attended the conclave while Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was the chief guest.
In the Award Ceremony, Manipur Health Minister Phungzathang Tonsing was accompanied by Ram Muivah, IAS Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare), Deves Deval, IAS State Mission Director, NRHM Manipur.
Despite many challenges, the general Health status in Manipur has considerably improved. This has been demonstrated by good level of indicators in key areas which are above of India averages. In the case of Infant Mortality Rate, Manipur having its rate at 11 is one of the lowest in the country along with Goa. Manipur’s Maternal Mortality Rate is 160 and Total Fertility Rate is 1.5%.
It may be recalled that this is the second time for Manipur Health Department receiving an award after 1986 when the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare presented an award in health sector to Manipur.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/manipur-gets-best-award-among-small-states-in-health-sector/
