UN to focus on 9 most backward Indian states
The United Nations will focus on nine most backward states of India during the next Five Year Plan.
For this, the Planning Commission on Thursday signed a framework with the UN in which India has pledged that the 12th Plan would strive for inclusive growth and equitable access to quality basic services.
The states which have been selected for this special attention are Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh.
The commitment is in the form of Development Action Framework (UNDAF) and has been signed for 2013-2017. Planning Commission member secretary Sudha Pillai and UN resident coordinator Patrice Coeur-Bizot signed the framework on Thursday.
The framework ensures a development based on gender equality, food security and sustainable development and has all the UN bodies like ILO, UNICEF, WHO, UN Women, WHO and WFP. “The selection of these states is based on the analysis of key statistical indicators related to poverty, inequality, human development, literacy and gender with disaggregation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes,” said UN officials after signing the agreement.
“In addition, the UN system will also consider selected programme interventions in the North-East including HIV/AIDS, human development index/child development index, human and child rights,” they said.
