The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development: Where Does India Stand?

Abstract

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is one of the most definite and widely accepted goals by United Nations (UNs) as a result of discourse and deliberations among the member States. The global goals that seek to consider three dimensions of poverty i.e., social, economic and environmental dimensions to improve people's lives and protect the planet for future generations. The article seeks to juxtapose 17 SDGs and the existing status of the goals of India in comparison with the South Asian countries. The study extensively used secondary sources of data to paint a quantitative picture of SDGs and the ranking given by various international agencies. Since the SDGs were adopted in September 2015, we may not get the impact as such. The purpose of the study is to give a summarised picture of goals so that future course of action can be drawn from the study. The study found nearly 21.9 per cent of the people in India live below poverty line. The situation of poverty is grim more particularly in rural areas, as around 25.7 per cent live below the poverty line. Among the South Asian countries, lowest poverty rate exists in Sri Lanka that stood at close to 7 per cent. The life expectancy rate of India is 68.3 years, which is even less than that of Bangladesh. The per capita income of India is $5,663 which is half of that of Sri Lanka. The literacy rate of India is 74 percent, Maldives on its way to achieve cent percent literacy rate. In the Human Development Index, India was ranked 131 among the list of countries. However, it is noteworthy that among South Asian countries, Sri Lanka and Maldives could figure themselves in 73 and 105, respectively. The Global Hunger Index report of 2016 ranking has placed India at 97 out of 118 countries. India performed poorly in the Gender Development Index, managed to perform better than Pakistan and Afghanistan. India will have go long way to achieve 100 per cent access to clean drinking water and electricity. Starting business in India still not a good proposition and huge inequality persists in the income distribution. India’s position in crime index and pollution index is also not up to the mark. Global collaboration, engaging with countries of expertise will help in addressing these issues.