15th Finance Commission visiting Assam from today

GUWAHATI, April 24: The Fifteenth Finance Commission is visiting Assam from April 25-27, 2018 to assess the state of finance in the State.

Led by its chairman NKSingh, the Commission has Shaktikanta Das, Dr. Anoop Singh, Dr. Ashok Lahiri and Dr. Ramesh Chand and secretary Arvind Mehta as members.

Assam, of late, has made visible strides in growth and socio-economic development, transcending its geographical and historical challenges. However, there are significant opportunities for accelerating the momentum in the State’s health, educational and economic outcomes. Demographic diversities give rise to myriad socio-cultural conditions and contingencies offering developmental challenges of various forms. Notwithstanding recent growth spurt, endemic structural issues need to be addressed in a time-bound manner, a press release said. The key socio-economic indicators during 2016 -17 are many. The economy of the State is primarily agricultural. As per Census 2011, about 50% of the total workforce still depends on agriculture. Even though the State is rich in terms of oil, gas and other natural resources, industrialization and urbanization remain limited. Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) at 47 per 1,000 live births was higher than all India average (37 per 1,000 live births). Maternal Mortality Rate is also much higher than the National Average. Life expectancy at 64.7 years was lower than the all India average (68.3 years).The literacy rate of Assam was 72.2 per cent against all India percentage of 73. Decadal population growth (16.93 per cent) of the State was lower than that of the country (17.64 per cent).