Kohima: The Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog Amitabh Kant and Director of NITI Aayog Soumitra Mandal visited Kiphire Aspirational District on Wednesday and held a meeting at the Deputy Commissioner’s Conference Hall.
According to official sources addressing the gathering, Kant said that for the success of Aspirational District and to become number one Aspirational District in the Country, it requires hard work. He also said that correct data is very important to measure improvement in the district developmental activities. In the health and education sector, he stressed on the role of doctors and teachers and urged the State Government to post doctors and Mathematics and science teachers at the earliest. Kant also sanctioned Rs. 5 Crore for appointment of Science and Mathematics teachers.
Kant expressed concern over lack of doctors, nurses and teachers in Kiphire district and questioned the purpose of having building, equipment and schools without the required number of staff. He appealed to ensure the posting of medical and teaching staff in the district. Sharing some of his observations, the CEO stated that indicators pertaining to child health have shown progress while percentage of underweight children, several acute malnutrition children, and low birth rate has reduced by 1 to 3%. As per the indicators, he said there has been sharp increase in percentage of pregnant women regularly taking supplementary nutrition under ICDS Programme and stated that the district should maintain track record of beneficiaries taking home ration as this is one of the main pointers of nutrition.
The CEO expressed concern that the district has only 56% Anganwadi center with their own building and specialized service available at District Hospital Kiphire is still at 25% against the norms. Until and unless you improve health and nutrition, Kiphire will not be able to go up, he asserted. Another area of concern, he said, is the poor learning outcome as all 6 indicators relating to learning outcome are below 50% mark because there is a lack of teachers in Kiphire. The CEO informed that among the Aspirational Districts in 2021, Kiphire District ranked first in Health and Nutrition and ranked second in Basic Infrastructure. He also said that the District can be developed if the various projects taken up in the District are properly implemented and managed. He added that for the District to prosper, health and nutrition sector, and action plan for skill youth must be improved. Kant assured of the Centre Government’s support in the developmental activities.
The CEO and Director also visited District Hospital Kiphire, GMS Kiphire Village, Anganwadi Centre, Kiphire Village and ITI Centre, Kiphire, sources said.
