Government proposes a new framework for monitoring Social Progress in the Country

• Rakesh Dubbudu

After the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by the UN, the government has set up a committee to come up with a mechanism to monitor social development in the country. The government has now come up with a framework comprising 14 goals and 88 indicators corresponding to 19 Ministries.

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The Ministry of Statistics & Program Implementation (MoSPI) has set up a committee earlier this year to come up with a mechanism for statistical monitoring of social development in the country. The Committee discussed the achievements and limitations of monitoring system of different ongoing schemes and also discussed about the social indicators covered under the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) and the proposed Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).  The committee has now proposed a broad framework for monitoring social progress in the country.

The 14 Goals

The committee has identified the following 14 goals for monitoring social progress in the country.

• Goal 1: Abolish Poverty in all its forms
• Goal 2: Universal education up to secondary level for both the genders.
• Goal 3: Empowerment and safety of women
• Goal 4: Conducive environment for children
• Goal 5: Pre-natal and ante-natal care for mother and infants
• Goal 6: Skill development amongst Youth
• Goal 7: Eradication of HIV/AIDS, Malaria, TB and other fatal diseases
• Goal 8: Accessibility to basic infrastructure
• Goal 9: Universal financial inclusion
• Goal 10: New technology in Agriculture and allied sectors
• Goal 11: Cleanliness and safe drinking water
• Goal 12: Welfare of deprived classes including minorities, disabled, aged and SC/ST
• Goal 13: Sustainable environment
• Goal 14: Comprehensive e-Governance

MoSPI has now come up with different indicators to monitor each of these goals. The 14 goals and the relevant indicators correspond to 19 different Ministries of the Government of India.

Selecting the 88 Indicators

MoSPI held meetings with various ministries for selecting the right indicators to monitor the progress. The following criteria were followed while selecting the right indicator

• Relevance to the goal
• Simple and easy to understand
• Data availability

After this process, 88 indicators have been identified under the 14 goals mentioned above.

The Goals & Indicators

Featured Image: By Tom Maisey (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons