Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party President Annamalai has strongly criticized the DMK government for a notable decline in several key indicators of NITI Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goals. He emphasized that indicators such as the Gender Equality Index, Clean Water and Sanitation Index, Sustainable Cities and Communities Index, Responsible Consumption and Production Index, Life on Land Index, and Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions have shown significant regressions compared to neighboring states.
Annamalai via his official X account stated that, “In the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indices published by NITI Aayog, it has been revealed that Tamil Nadu is lagging behind other states in many sectors. Specifically, it ranks 10th on the Gender Equality Index, 9th on the Clean Water and Sanitation Index, 10th on the Sustainable Cities and Communities Index, 10th on the Responsible Consumption and Production Index, 15th on the Life on Land Index, and 9th on the Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions Index, such that in many indices, Tamil Nadu lags behind other states.”
“Particularly, in the last three years the violence against women, children, scheduled and tribal communities has been reported to have increased significantly in Tamil Nadu. According to the report, the disappearance of children also increased by about 11%, and deaths due to road accidents and suicides in Tamil Nadu have increased significantly in the last three years. Apart from this, employment in the manufacturing sector has declined and innovation capacity has more than halved from 37.91% to 15.69% which is shocking,” he added.
“Apart from these, the low overall enrollment rate in higher education and poor language skills and math skills among eighth graders are of great concern. The increase in violence against scheduled and tribal communities shows the trend against social justice in Tamil Nadu. Moreover, it is very easy to realize that the basic reason behind the increase in violence against women and children and the increase in road accidents is the uncontrolled sale of alcohol, the sale of counterfeit liquor, and the sale of narcotics including ganja,” he further added.
“The NITI Aayog report has reflected many of the things that the Tamil Nadu BJP has so far consistently pointed out in the DMK government’s administrative blunders and shortcomings. I urge the DMK government to take constructive steps keeping the welfare of the state in mind and not engage in diversionary efforts as usual,” he concluded.
நிதி ஆயோக் வெளியிட்டுள்ள, நிலையான வளர்ச்சி இலக்குகள் (Sustainable Development Goals – SDG) குறியீடுகளில், தமிழகம், பிற மாநிலங்களை விட, பல துறைகளில் பின் தங்கி இருப்பது தெரிய வந்துள்ளது. குறிப்பாக, ஆண் பெண் சமத்துவக் குறியீட்டில் 10 ஆவது இடத்திலும், சுத்தமான குடிநீர் மற்றும்… pic.twitter.com/PEfy6GiHLw
— K.Annamalai (@annamalai_k) July 18, 2024
However, Dravidianists on social media were seen sharing comparison charts of TN with the national average, which includes all 28 states, and were praising Tamil Nadu. They are overlooking the fact that when compared to neighboring states, Tamil Nadu’s performance was actually declining. For example, the DMK family-owned Sun News compared TN with the national average but failed to make the comparison with the state’s immediate neighbors which would have shown a grim picture.
இந்தியாவுக்கே முன்னோடி தமிழ்நாடு..! #SunNews | #TamilNadu | #SDGIndex | #NitiAayog pic.twitter.com/jH8A3GuzSa
— Sun News (@sunnewstamil) July 18, 2024
Subscribe to our channels on Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram and get the best stories of the day delivered to you personally.