The recent ire of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah against district officials for what he said was a fall in the education index and health index of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi in the last five years has surprised many. Because Dakshina Kannada and Udupi were ranked second and fourth, respectively, in the Human Development Index in the State Human Development Report 2022, which is the fourth one.
During the official review meetings in Udupi and Mangaluru on August 1, Mr. Siddaramaiah took Education and Health department officials of Udupi and Dakhina Kannada to task for the fall in the education and health indicators of the two districts during the five-year rule of the BJP. The two districts had occupied top slots in the two sectors during his previous stint as the Chief Minister, he said.
For the fall in the education index, Mr. Siddramaiah relied on the ranking of the two districts in the SSLC examination, which is calculated in terms of pass percentage of students in the examination. To show the fall in the health index, the Chief Minister relied on the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) available on the Health Management Information System of Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
