Has India achieved the Millennium Development Goals (MDG)?

The UN General Assembly adopted a new set of 17 sustainable development goals, to be achieved by 2030. These goals replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) adopted in the year 2000. Has India achieved the MDGs? What is the progress on the MDGs?

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There was considerable excitement last week when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the new set of 17 goals for sustainable development. These goals replace the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) adopted by the UN in 2000. These MDGs are to end in 2015. The new sets of SDGs are to be achieved by the year 2030. The following are the 17 SDGs

End poverty in all its forms everywhere
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Reduce inequality within and among countries
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development

What about the MDGs?

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have helped in bringing out a much needed focus and pressure on basic development issues, which in turn led the governments at national and regional levels to do better planning and implement more intensive policies and programmes. The MDGs originated from the Millennium Declaration adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in September 2000. The MDGs consists of eight goals, and these eight goals address myriad development issues. The eight (8) Goals are

Goal 1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger

Goal 2: Achieve Universal Primary Education

Goal 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women

Goal 4: Reduce Child Mortality

Goal 5: Improve Maternal Health

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB

Goal 7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability

Goal 8: Develop Global Partnership for Development

Eighteen (18) targets were set as quantitative benchmarks for attaining the goals. . The United Nations Development Group (UNDG) in 2003 provided a framework of 53 indicators which are categorized according to targets, for measuring the progress towards individual targets. A revised indicator-framework drawn up by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group (IAEG) on MDGs came into effect in 2008. This framework had 8 Goals, 21 targets and 60 indicators. India has not endorsed this revised framework.

India’s MDG framework is based on the 2003 framework and includes 8 goals, 12 of the 18 targets relevant to India and 35 indicators. The Ministry of Statistics & Program Implementation (MoSPI) released the India Country report of the MDGs in February 2015. The report provides insights into the progress made on these eight goals.

Where does India stand in achieving the MDG targets?