BHUBANESWAR: Odisha has been ranked fifth from the bottom among all states and union territories in the Social Progress Index (SPI). As per the data prepared by Institute for Competitiveness and Social Progress Imperative and released by the Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM), the state has been placed among three low social progress states in Tier V.
With an overall score of 48.19, Odisha is at 32nd position among 36 states and UTs. While Puducherry topped the chart with a score of 65.99, Lakshadweep, Goa and Sikkim are at second, third and fourth places respectively with a score of above 65.
SPI is a comprehensive tool that serves as a holistic measure of a state’s social progress at the national and sub-national levels. It has assessed states and districts based on 12 components across three critical dimensions of social progress - basic human needs, foundations of well-being and opportunity.
While the basic human needs component has assessed the performance of the state and districts in terms of nutrition and basic medical care, water and sanitation, personal safety and shelter, the foundations of wellbeing component has evaluated the progress made with regard to access to basic knowledge, information and communication, health and wellness and environmental quality.
Similarly, the opportunity component has focused on personal rights, personal freedom and choice, inclusiveness and access to advanced education.As many as 19 districts in the state had low social progress and six had very low social progress. At 38.5, Odisha was among the states with the lowest score under water and sanitation indicator. Malkangiri has the lowest 26.26 per cent (pc) of households having access to tap water supply and Nuapada is the best performing district in the state with 92.23 pc households with tap water supply.
Odisha scored 33.04 in personal safety to be placed among the poor performing states. In crime against women Odisha is clubbed with Assam, Delhi, Telangana, Haryana and Rajasthan having crime rates above 90. In access to information and communication, the state scored the lowest 23.71 to remain below Bihar and Jharkhand. At 18.66, Nabarangpur was among the low performers.
Among 224 districts, 16 were from Odisha where prevalence of anaemia has increased at alarming level. The state has scored 39.42 in basic human needs, 47.96 in foundations of wellbeing and 57.18 in opportunities. However, Odisha has the highest 90.5 pc of children fully vaccinated.