Explainer: How is India tracking progress of SDGs?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 18, 2019
The Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) are an important benchmark to measure progress of
nations on various pressing issues. How is India tracking progress of SDGs?
Here is an explainer.
With the objective to alleviate poverty, ensure peace and prosperity, tackle environmental issues and protect the planet, the member nations of the United Nations adopted seventeen ambitious goals in 2015 known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 goals are interlinked and each goal has targets that countries need to meet in order to achieve the goal. For each target, there are measurable indicators so that countries can regularly evaluate their performance and take necessary actions after identifying the shortcomings. What are these sustainable development goals? Why are they necessary? How does India measure these SDGs? We look into these questions in this story.
What are the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs)?
The currentgeological age has been termed as ‘Anthropocene’, meaning ‘age of humanbeings’, by many scientists since human activities have a profound impact onthe environment and climate. This has resulted in myriad of pressingenvironmental, political and economic challenges across the planetwhich need to be resolved immediately.
In the UnitedNations Conference on Sustainable Development at Rio de Janeiro in 2012, worldleaders came together and arrived at the idea of a plan of action to deal withthe problems. It was in 2015 that the Agenda 30 and SDGs werefinally devised after a lot of consultations and negotiations. 193 membercountries accepted the goals which are to be achieved by 2030. The goals comewith 169 specific targets and 232 measurable indicators. The Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) came to an end in 2015 following whichSDGs were adopted. (To know more about MDGs and India’s performance, you canread Factly’s article here).
What is the need for SDGs? Why are they
important?
SDGs are universal innature and not made exclusively for developing countries. Moreover, they addressmajority of the issues that people are faced with in the present and includesall, leaving no section behind. It acts as a blueprint for ensuring asustainable future for all by promoting sustainable development. The goals areinterlinked and integrated in nature. This means that actions taken in any onesector will have impact on other sectors as well. Goal based planning withmeasurable indicators will help in evaluating the progress made over time by acountry or a state which is implementing measures to attain the goals and alsosee whether it is on par with other nations. It also helps in identifying &determining areas to improve.
How is India’s performance in the international
level?
According toUnited Nation’s Sustainable Development Solutions Network, in 2019, India has been ranked115 out of 162 countries in terms of SDG Index with a score of 61.1. Denmarkranks first with a score of 85.2 and Central African Republic ranks the lowest(162) with a score of 39.1. In the South and East Asia region, India is at the16 position out of the total 18 countries in this region. Onlyneighbouring countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh stand behind India. Among theBRICS nations, India is at the bottom. In 2018, India was ranked112 with a score of 59.1.
India still has a long way to go to attain
goals of gender equality and poverty eradication
India has been scored the least for SDG 9, (Industry, Innovationand Infrastructure) which is crucial for economic development. Antecedent tothis, is gender equality (SDG 5) and zero hunger(SDG 2 which deals withnourishment). Trends in SDG 1, 8 and 13 suggest India is on track to attainingthe 2030 target for these three goals. SDG 1 deals withpoverty eradication, SDG 8 is based onemployment and economic growth and SDG 13 covers theactions taken to combat the drastic effects of climate change.
Thirteen states are performing below the national
average
A glance at theperformance of states with respect to SDGs indicates that Kerala, Tamil Naduand Himachal Pradesh are the best performing states as per NITI Aayog’s 2018 report. Assam, Bihar andUttar Pradesh were identified as the worst performing states. Among the UnionTerritories, Chandigarh and Puducherry were the best performers. Theperformance of 13 states was below the national average.
Who is responsible for implementation in India?
In India, NITI Aayog is the nodalimplementation institution which has to coordinate and supervise theimplementation of Agenda 30 and SDGs. The role of Ministry of Statistics andProgramme Implementation (MoSPI) is to monitor the indicators. MoSPI also maintains a dashboard which shows SDGIndex of India as well as of each state and union territory. The Ministry hasdeveloped a National Indicator
Framework for monitoring the progress of SDGs.
The  Comptroller and
Audit General of India is responsible for auditing the preparednessto achieve SDGs. NITI Aayog has mapped eachgoal to the existent Central Sector Schemes, Ministries and other initiativesof the government. Certain state governments have also setup dedicated centresto co-ordinate & facilitate with departments regarding SDG action plan.
National Indicator Framework developed by MoSPI
helps track performance of India
The National Indicator
Framework (NIF) comprises of 306 statistical
indicators which help in tracking India’s SDGperformance. The indicators used are those which are accepted nation-wide. Theperiodicity in evaluating the indicators and source of data have also beenadded in the largest monitoring framework of India. Similarly, states were alsoasked to develop State Indicator Framework and map the data sources like NIF.  SDG 17: which is to berealised through global partnerships and cooperation does not have anyindicator under NIF.
Responsibility for implementation of SDGs at
state level falls under the purview of Planning Department and its equivalent
At the statelevel, Office of the Chief Secretary of State provides guidance and overseesthe implementation. Planning Department coordinates implementation whileDirectorate of Economics and Statistics works with required data. Panchayati Raj institutions inrural areas and urban local bodies play an important role at the districtlevel.
In 2018, thegovernment launched restructured Centrally sponsored scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA),implementation of which will be between 2018 to 2022 with a total of Rs. 7255.5crores allocated for the entireprocess. Through this scheme, government’s aim was to strengthen the PanchayatiRaj Institutions to achieve the SDGs.
With just a decadeleft for all countries around the globe to realise the goals, urgent actionneed to be called for before it becomes too late. Schemes & Strategiesshould be modified so that they align with the larger SDGs while keeping inmind the local & regional challenges specific to India.