THE CAVALIER- SSB / NDA / CDS / CAPF / AFCAT / ACC / COAST GUARD / X&Y GROUP COACHING
THE CONTEXT: On the 22nd of December 2018, NITI Aayog has published the SDG India Index: Baseline Report 2018, which tracks the progress of all the Indian States and Union Territories (UTs) towards meeting the SDGs. This landmark report merits close analysis since it is the Indian government’s first major step towards translating its principled commitment to the SDGs into actionable policy.
The report has many positive things, these are:
Despite the above strengths this report also have many weaknesses like, freedom and democracy which have tremendous instrumental significance does not include in the development goals.
What are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an ambitious declaration of global aspirations, ranging from eliminating poverty, hunger, and violence against women to providing legal identity and equal access to justice to every person in the world.
Adopted unanimously by the 193 UN Member States in 25th September 2015, the SDGs are meant to guide global development efforts for 15 years, from 2015 to 2030.
In January 1, 2016, the UN set out 17 sustainable development goals and 169 targets before 193 countries as an agenda for the next 15 years.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) replaced its predecessors, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which targeted developing countries alone.
Difference between MDGs and SDGs
The main difference between the SDGs and MDGs are following:
Difference |
SDGs |
MDGs |
Hunger and Poverty |
The SDGs are designed to finish the job – to get to a statistical “zero” on hunger, poverty, preventable child deaths and other targets. |
The MDG targets for 2015 were set to get us “half way” to the goal of ending hunger and poverty. |
Universal Goals |
The SDGs goals will be applicable for every country. |
The MDGs only targeted developing countries. |
More Comprehensive Goals |
The SDGs include 17 goals, 169 targets and 304 indicators. |
The MDGs were focused only 8 goals, 21 targets and 63 indicators. |
Human Rights and Equity |
The pillars of human development, human rights and equity are deeply rooted in SDGs. Several targets refer to people with disabilities, people in vulnerable situations and non-discrimination are included in SDGs. |
These were not mentioned in the MDGs. |
Inclusive Goal Setting |
The SDGs are being created in one of the most inclusive participatory processes the world has ever seen – with face-to-face consultations in more than 100 countries and millions of citizen inputs. |
The MDGs were created through a top-down process. |
Distinguishing Hunger and Poverty |
The SDGs treat the issue of poverty separately from Hunger (Food and Nutrition Security). |
In the MDGs, Hunger and Poverty were lumped together in MDG1 |
Quality Education |
The SDGs represent the first attempt by the world community to focus on the quality of education – of learning – and the role of education in achieving a more humane world. |
The MDGs focused on quantity (eg, high enrollment rates) only as a result of this the quality of education decline in many societies. |
Funding |
The SDGs put sustainable, inclusive economic development at the core of the strategy and address the ability of countries to address social challenges largely through improving their own revenue generating capabilities. |
The MDGs were largely envisioned to be funded by aid flows – which did not materialize. |
THE 2018 SDG INDEX AND DASHBOARD REPORT: SOUTH ASIA AND INDIA
The 2018 SDG Index and Dashboards report presents a revised and updated assessment of countries’ distance to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It includes detailed SDG Dashboards to help identify implementation priorities for the SDGs. The report also provides a ranking of countries by the aggregate SDG Index of overall performance.
According to the report three Nordic countries, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, top the global SDG Index ranking, yet all three still face major challenges in achieving the SDGs.
For the first time, report show that no country is on track to achieve all the goals by 2030. For example, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland top the 2018 SDG Index, but they need to significantly accelerate progress towards achieving some goals, including Goal 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production) and Goal 13 (Climate Action).
South Asia faces persistent challenges related to SDGs 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), 14 (Life below Water) and 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions). There are important challenges also related to income inequalities (SDG 10) and other forms of inequalities.
India, which is the largest and most diversified economy in the region, performs very poorly even in relation to other South Asian countries like, Bhutan and Nepal. Except, Pakistan all South Asian countries are above the India.
India's performance:
Goals |
Performance |
SDG1 – End Poverty |
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SDG2 – Zero Hunger |
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SDG3 – Good Health and Well-Being |
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SDG4 – Quality Education |
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SDG5 – Gender Equality |
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SDG6 – Clean Water and Sanitation |
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SDG7 – Affordable and Clean Energy |
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SDG8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth |
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SDG9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure |
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SDG10 – Reduced Inequalities |
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SDG11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities |
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SDG12 – Responsible Consumption and Production |
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SDG13 – Climate Action |
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SDG14 – Life Below Water |
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SDG15 – Life on Land |
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SDG16 – Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions |
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SDG17 – Partnerships for the Goals |
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SDG INDIA INDEX 2018: A MORE COMPREHENSIVE REPORT NEEDED
The SDG India Index: Baseline Report 2018, released to the public in December 2018 by NITI Aayog, is a useful comparative account of how well different States and Union Territories have performed so far in their efforts to achieve these goals.
On the whole, 62 indicators representing 14 goals have been identified based on their measurability across States over time.
Main features of the Index |
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Four categories |
Based on a scale of 0 to 100, the States are categorized into four groups:
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Weaknesses of the report |
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Conclusion: The SDG India Index produced by the NITI Aayog is a good start towards meeting India's obligation to fulfill the SDGs. But the future developments will need to be watched with a critical eye. The government has promised, in subsequent reports, to refine indicators, improve data collection and reporting processes, and explore the potential for disaggregating data.
Reference:
http://niti.gov.in/content/sdg-india-index-baseline-report-2018
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-state-of-the-states/article26240864.ece
Mains Questions:
---- Prepared by S. M. Zaki Ahmad-----