MP Assembly polls: How state fares in employment, healthcare, education

On November 17, 2023, voters in Madhya Pradesh will exercise their right to suffrage. Amid the high stakes political action, both Congress and BJP are prepped up to take on each other for the throne of MP.

Madhya Pradesh is considered to be a low-performing state in terms of poverty alleviation and per capita income. Often included in the acronym 'BIMARU', MP is largely an agrarian state with many of its young working population migrating to other states in search of greener pastures.

Here, we'll deep dive and discuss about how Madhya Pradesh performs in the crucial sectors of employment, healthcare, and education.

Employment

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in a poll rally held in September promised the people of MP that if BJP retains power in the state once again, it would ensure that each household has at least one job.

"I will remove difficulties from the lives (of the people of the state). If elected to power again, one person from every family will be given employment so that they do not have to migrate. Be it through self-help groups, Udyam Kranti Yojana or government jobs, one person from every family will be given a job," Chouhan said.

However, last year's economic survey of Madhya Pradesh tells a different tale altogether. The survey, presented right before the annual state budget, showed that both unemployment and debt are increasing in MP.

In 2020, the number of unemployed in Madhya Pradesh was 24.7 lakh. This went up to 30.23 lakh a year later.

Also, as per Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data-2022, Unemployment rate in Madhya Pradesh is 3.2 per cent.

Healthcare

Madhya Pradesh has 1,155 primary health centres, 52 district hospitals, and 333 community health centres, and around 8,860 sub-centres.

Having said that, MP has been identified by the National Health Mission as a high focus state. The state has one of the poorest child and maternal health indicators in the country.

Education

As per 2011 census, the literacy rate of Madhya Pradesh stands at 69.32 per cent against the national average of 72.98 per cent. According to 2009-10 data, MP has 105,592 primary schools, 6,352 high schools, and 5,161 higher secondary schools. It has 208 architecture and engineering colleges and as many management institutes along with 12 medical colleges.

Madhya Pradesh boasts of being home to some of the premier educational institutes in India like: IIT Indore, IIM Indore, MANIT, IIFM, AIIMS Bhopal, NLIU Bhopal etc.

With both BJP and Congress promising tons of schemes and sops to the voters of Madhya Pradesh this poll season, it'll be interesting to see which way the votes swing this time.