There are 17 SGDs that provide a blueprint for the safety and prosperity of people and the planet, and 192 UN member states have committed to achieving them by 2030. The study, which provides the first mid-point assessment of India's progress towards the 2030 Agenda, measured progress across nine goals using 33 key indicators.
India has lagged in 19 of 33 indicators. More than 75% of Indian districts are falling short on eight critical indicators, including poverty, anaemia, child marriage, domestic violence, stunting and wasting of children, access to essential services, modern contraceptive use, and tobacco consumption.
"Because of a worsening trend observed between 2016 and 2021, and assuming no course correction occurs," the study stated, adding that "many districts will never meet the targets on the SDGs even well after 2030." The off-target districts are concentrated in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Odisha.
The study was led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers and a team of international researchers. They examined data from two iterations of the National Family Health Survey, conducted in 2016 and 2021 across 707 Indian districts, on adults and children. The study authors stated that India is approaching the halfway point in the timeline for achieving the SDGs, and the findings indicate an urgent need to increase momentum on four SDG goals — No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-Being, and Gender Equality.
"As India rapidly advances as a leading economic player in the global economy, its full realization will critically depend on addressing some of the more basic health and social determinants of these critical health-related SDGs," according to the study. India, on the other hand, is doing well in 13 of the targets. Among these are bank accounts for women, birth registration, internet use, electricity access, full vaccination, birth registration, and a reduction in child marriage.
The Union Health Ministry stated in April 2022 that it is confident that India will meet the target Sustainable Development Goals before the 2030 deadline, adding that India has seen a significant decrease in maternal mortality rates. During this year's Union Budget presentation, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that India had made "significant progress" towards the SDGs.
According to the Centre for Science and Environment's "State of Environment" report, India dropped three ranks from 117 to 120 on the SDG Index in March 2022, putting it behind all South Asian nations except Pakistan. The current study reaffirms the difficulties in meeting health and social indicators of health. Even if the observed rate of change between 2016 and 2030 is maintained, the measures will fall short of the 2030 targets.
The progress, while "in the right direction," is "insufficient to meet SDG targets by 2030," according to the study. However, if current efforts continue, India may be able to meet the targets of improved water access by 2031, clean cooking fuel by 2035, lowering the age of teenage pregnancy by 2039, and partner sexual violence by 2040. Between 2041 and 2062, 11 off-target indicators, including access to basic services and partner violence (physical and sexual), may be met. "India will not be able to meet the anaemia targets."
Since the prevalence of three of these, Anaemia among Women, Pregnant Women, and Non-Pregnant Women, has increased (worsened) between 2016 and 2021, and assuming this trend continues, India will never be able to meet the SDG targets related to Anaemia," the study added. The fifth and most recent round of the National Family Health Survey (2019-2021) revealed that more Indians than ever before are anaemic, with at least 67% of children and 52.2% of women anaemic.
The authors of the study stated that there is an urgent need to develop a strategic roadmap to ensure SDG success, "which should include an honest and transparent assessment of existing GOI programmes that are directly or indirectly related to SDGs."
