Mamata hails NITI report on Bengal

Kolkata: CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday hailed NITI Aayog's acknowledgement of "Bengal's exceptional achievements in various socio-economic parameters, particularly in employment generation". The CM said the state's annual unemployment rate of 2.2% for 2022-23 was significantly lower than the national average of 3.2%.Banerjee stated that the NITI Aayog report showed that Bengal had excelled in multiple domains, like literacy, life expectancy and quality of life. She said Bengal's literacy rate was 76.3%, more than the national average of 73% (as of 2011). "Even the education outcomes demonstrated better performance in school retention and higher success rates in Classes X and XII compared to national figures," she added.The life expectancy in Bengal was 72.3 years in 2020, better than the national average. "Even the sex ratio recorded 973 female births per 1,000 male births, considerably higher than India's average of 889," she wrote. The CM posted that Bengal's infant mortality rate of 19 per 1,000 live births (as of 2020), and total fertility rate of 1.6 children per woman (as of 2019-21), were better than the national average.She said the quality of life assessment indicated consistent progress. "These accomplishments demonstrate Bengal's dedication towards equitable and progressive development. Recognition is due to everyone who has participated in achieving these milestones," she said.