Himachal Pradesh was given the best state award among the category of big states in the field of health and investment on Friday in “State of states conclave 2013” held in New Delhi.
Union rural development minister Jai Ram Ramesh conferred the best state award to chief minister Virbhadra Singh, said a press statement issued in Shimla.
Himachal Pradesh has outperformed other states in health and investment sector during the past one year under the Congress regime, according to a latest report released by a national weekly magazine on the occasion.
On the occasion, Singh dedicated this award to the people of the state and said state had received award in both small and big state categories in various fields since the inception of the award. The award had recognised the performance of the government. “Nearly 80% of the health needs are met by the public sector and the sex ratio has gone up from 915 to 972,” Singh said.
The state government had provided school facility within the radius of 2 km. He said the number of educational institutions had increased from 331 in 1948 to 15,292 in 2013. “The state has succeeded to reduce drop-out rate especially among scheduled caste girl students,”. The literacy rate has gone up from 4.8 % in 1948 to 82.80% in 2011 which is much higher than the national average of 74.04%, he added.
{{/usCountry}}The state government had provided school facility within the radius of 2 km. He said the number of educational institutions had increased from 331 in 1948 to 15,292 in 2013. “The state has succeeded to reduce drop-out rate especially among scheduled caste girl students,”. The literacy rate has gone up from 4.8 % in 1948 to 82.80% in 2011 which is much higher than the national average of 74.04%, he added.
{{/usCountry}}Infant mortality rate low in HP
According to a report of a weekly news magazine, in the past 12 months, the state's gross capital formation has grown 70 % as against the national average of 29 % while industrial workforce has increased by nearly 20 % compared to less than 10 % in other big states.
The state has set up 42 industrial areas and 17 industrial estates. Himachal Pradesh has a birth rate of 16.2 against the national average of 21.8. Mortality rate is 6.7 compared to 7.1 nationally. Infant mortality rate is around 25 while national rate is 44 Longer life with life expectancy at birth being 70 years, four years more than the national average The state has brought leprosy cases down to less than one per thousand. It has one health sub-centre for every 2,800 people as against the norm of one for every 3,000 for hill states.