Healthy Outlook

Dedicated focus on the quality and spread of education and healthcare has helped the hill state overcome all odds

At a recent investor summit in Dharamshala, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked prospective investors to tap into the potential of the better-educated and healthier workforce coming out of Himachal Pradesh. Chief Minister Jairam Thakur reiterated that sentiment when he told india today, “Apart from providing good infrastructure, our focus is on improving the quality of both education and healthcare. Every child born in the state should not only be healthy but also get access to good quality education. So that by the time he joins the workforce, he is more productive and effective.”

Literacy and healthcare parameters in the state have been encouraging in recent years. With a current literacy rate of nearly 88 per cent, Himachal has come a long way from being a state with the lowest literacy rate—a mere 8 per cent—at the time of Independence. The state also has the lowest newborn mortality rate in the country—16 for every 1,000 live births—and an IMR or infant mortality rate of 25, compared to the national average of 34.

It is these very strengths the state now wants to build on. It is directing 17 per cent (Rs 7,858 crore) of its budget this fiscal towards education, from the Rs 5,827 crore last fiscal. Much of it will go towards spreading education to the farthest corners of the state as well as in improving the quality of education. The state is in process of setting up 10 Atal Aadarsh