https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/goa-gets-wealthier-but-citizens-health-plummets/articleshow/70251718.cms
Shocking failures in Goa were highlighted by the Healthy States, Progressive India report released by Niti Aayog last week, with technical assistance provided by the World Bank. When it comes to the narrow definition of economic performance, India’s smallest state ranked a distant first in terms of per capita Net State Domestic Product (NSDP). But that obviously does not translate to good governance, or the health and well-being of the average citizen. In these categories, Goa lagged far behind much poorer states, including the outstanding North East triumvirate of Mizoram, Manipur and Meghalaya. The new report is just the latest useful contribution by the National Institution for Transforming India (thus NITI) since its establishment in 2015, with an express mandate “to better serve the needs and aspirations of the people of India” than its predecessor, the 1950-established Planning Commission. There is much to be learned from a situation where “health outcomes of some states are comparable to that of some upper middle-income countries and high income countries (for example, Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) in Kerala is similar to that of Brazil or Argentina), while some other states have health outcomes similar to that in the poorest countries in the world (for example, NMR in Odisha is close to that of Sierra Leone).” What kind of state gets visibly richer, even while the welfare of its citizens plummets amidst catastrophic decline of the overall quality of life? In fact, this kind of dystopian scenario is not exclusive to Goa, but increasingly symptomatic of our 21st century world, including many Western countries. Much the same is true of almost all of urban India, which functions as the main engine of “the world’s fastest growing big economy” even while being disastrously unlivable to the point of being fatally toxic. There’s piercing irony in the fact Gurugram – so heavily touted as evidence of the country’s superpower capabilities – is now understood to be the most badly polluted city on the planet, according to multiple different scientific studies and reports, alongside an astonishing 22 others from India which bottom out amongst the 30 worst in the world. One big reason that Goa fares so poorly is sheer incompetence, and wildly misplaced priorities. No state in India squanders so many manifold advantages, and performs quite so poorly in areas that directly affect every citizen. Thus, the government will regularly fire through thousands of crores on abysmally executed scam infrastructure projects that no one wants or needs, while conspicuously neglecting to strengthen or improve simple health care, water and transportation systems. The disgraceful contrast with North East states – each of which can draw on less than half the per capita NSDP of Goa - underlines comprehensive dereliction of duty by the state’s administrators and legislative representatives. There are some complicating factors in Goa, such as the rapid demographic displacement that is skewing the population towards an overwhelming majority of new migrants from distressed states across India. The fact is native Goans are no more than 40% of their homeland's population, with the percentage trending lower each year. But it should be noted the exact same set of circumstances prevails in other neighboring states which are doing much better in facing them. Karnataka and Maharashtra both surged ahead in the Health Index scores, with the latter leapfrogging three places ahead in the standings. Meanwhile the number one spot in the country is comfortably retained by Kerala, where over recent decades, the Kerala Model has become acclaimed worldwide for its effectiveness in maintaining enviably high environmental, ecological, educational and public health standards despite persistently low income situations, and quite similar demographic challenges to its smaller neighbor up the western coastline. The Niti Aayog health index is incontrovertible, and resistant to political spin. It unequivocally demonstrates that tiny and highly privileged Goa has wasted, and continues to throw away every opportunity to institute well-conceived progressive measures and systems to cope with 21stcentury challenges, and is instead steadily falling behind both small and large states with better and more enlightened leadership. Future generations will never forgive this abject dereliction of duty, with its perverse emergence of an upside-down, highly undesirable Goa Model, where immense wealth fails to translate to any appreciable kind of health at all.
