Khammam: Though Khammam district stood in tenth rank in the Neeti Aayog’s 101 ‘Aspiration districts’ in the country, it has been noted that the rate of dropouts and child marriages are the biggest hurdles to the further progress of the district.
The ranking of districts follows the launch of transformation of Aspiration Districts in January with an aim to quickly and effectively transform some of the most underdeveloped districts in the country.
The central and state schemes will be converged and the district collectors asked to strengthen these districts by identifying the low hanging fruits for immediate improvement.
The Neeti-Aayog observed that girls have been getting married in the teens and the parents are actually encouraging this. It said that such a phenomenon should be checked at any cost.
The Neeti-Aayog report said that teenage girl marriage rate was registered 11.9 while for boys before 21, it was 18.9. Another alarming fact was that the girls were becoming mothers between the ages of 15-19 years. Such pregnant mothers are around 4.6 percent.
Pertaining to the dropout rate, percentage in primary schools was 4 while it was 5.54 in upper primary schools.
Admission in primary schools was 103 percent and the attendance 84 percent. In upper primary schools, the admission percentage was 81 against 61 percent attendance. The 49 indicators on 81 data points will cover five development areas of health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development and basic infrastructure.
From April 1, 2018, this real time data collection and monitoring was opened for public viewing.
The country cannot grow at a high rate over a long period unless these districts catch up. Even if the GDP is high, it is meaningless until the benefit of growth percolates down to very basic level.
Asifabad was placed among ten ranks. Meanwhile, the people of Khammam district have given the Neeti Aayog hope that they were moving ahead in their own way by adopting new technical knowledge and following best family planning methods.
