Take steps to improve Human Development Index: ZP President

Zilla Panchayat President B Shivappa directed the concerned officials to strive towards raising the Human Development Index of Kodagu district, which is presently in the fourth position.

The district holds 18th and third positions in Health and Education Index respectively and there is a need to improvise the status of the district in the respective areas, he said.

He was speaking at a one day workshop on the drafting of Human Development Index held in Kote Hall, organised jointly by District Planning Committee and Zilla Panchayat on Tuesday.
He further said that Human development could be achieved only when health service, education, employment and other basic amenities are made available to every person of the society.

“Effective programmes need to be chalked out in this regard, towards the welfare of economically backward sections of the people in the district in order to bring them to the mainstream”, he added.

Dr R Balasubrahmanyam of Swami Vivekananda organisation said that increase in the per capita income alone does not decide the development. “In contrary, human development is marked by good standards of living. Hence, living standards should be raised through scientific methods to achieve overall progress”, he added.

ZP Agriculture and Industrial Standing Committee President Ballaranda Mani Uthappa said the tribal and people belonging to SC/ST communities are deprived of basic needs and hence it is challenging to make them available various schemes of the government. He further said that more efforts need to be put towards providing them the basic facilities. Zilla Panchayat Chief Project Officer Shreenivas Rao and GRAMM research fellow Rajeshwari also spoke.

ZP Vice President Biddanda Usha Devamma, members M S Kushalappa, Shakunthala Ravindra, CEO K B Anjanappa and others were present.