CM Sarma Responds to Assam Facing Criticism for Raking Last for NITI Aayog's SDG

GUWAHATI:

Assam has been criticized for being last in the NITI Aayog's Sustainability Development Goals, and chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has stated that data has been underreported.

According to Salma, Assam was in the 49-point ambitious category in 2018, before moving to the 57-point achiever group. "This study used 2014-2015 National Family Health Survey (NFHS) -4 data, which show that Assam's home electrification is now 100%, compared to 30%. I understand this." 

"We talked with Niti Aayog on this issue. In Assam, women have submitted FIRs to police stations for relief, but this does not mean that crimes against women are on the rise. One parameter of the survey is the number of women in parliament, depending on who people vote for what the government can't do to be elected," stated the Assam CM. 

Assam has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the North Eastern Space Application Center (NESAC) to fully utilize satellite data in a variety of applications. 

Assam's Environmental Forest Office is one of the leading candidates for living on SDG 15 land, according to the NITIA Ayog's SDG India Index 2019-2020. 

Assam is placed fifth in the 2019-2020 SDG 15 Life on Land with an overall score of 78 percent, out of the 17 broad global objectives (Sustainable Development Goals) with 232 indicators. Arunachal Pradesh tops the list with an overall score of 93 percent, followed by Madhya Pradesh (84 percent), Orissa (83 percent), and Telangana (81 percent). 

In terms of forests and tree covers as a percentage of the state's total geographic area, Assam recorded 37.91 percent, compared to the national average of 24.56 percent. The state exceeded its objective of 33% in this metric. 

The percentage of the state's geographic area covered by the tree planting plan is 0.457 percent, which is slightly lower than the national average of 0.51 percent. The APFBC, State CAMPA, and Social Forestry SoPD tree planting program span 35,916 hectares. 

It may be appropriate to add here that 4 crore seedlings were delivered free of charge to individuals in mission mode under clean Assam, with a target of 10 crore saplings. 

"This effort has had a very positive impact on the state's green cover. According to the latest Indian Forest Report 2019 published by the Indian Forest Survey, the Indian government Assam's green cover is 221 square kilometers. This is an important achievement," Parimal Suklabaidya, Minister of Forests and Environment, said as a spectator at a two-day workshop on the SDG India Index 2020-21 organised by the Department of Transformation and Development on Friday in Guwahati in conjunction with NITI Aayog. 

The state has a ratio of devastated land to the total land area of 9.45 percent, compared to the national average of 27.77 percent. 

There have been 63 charges lodged under the Assam Wildlife Conservation Act, compared to 15 cases reported across the country. 

Also Read - 220 COVID Hotspots Identified in 15 Districts of Assam, New SOP likely to be Announced

Also Watch