NEW DELHI: India is not on target for over 50% of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators related to health and social determinants of health seven years before the 2030 deadline, a study in The Lancet journal has said. It, however, praised the government’s Swachh Bharat Mission, which provides sanitation facilities for every household, noting that India is well on-target to provide universal sanitation to its citizens by 2030.
“The political will and administrative focus that has supported the Swachh Bharat Mission at the highest levels would benefit other programs aimed at providing basic services for the population of India,” the study, conducted by an international team of researchers, it said.
The study found that over 75 per cent of Indian districts are off target for crucial SDG indicators like access to basic services, poverty, stunting and wasting of children, anaemia, child marriage, partner violence, tobacco use, and modern contraceptive use. For these indicators, more than 75 per cent of the districts were off-target. These districts are concentrated in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, and Odisha, the study said.
“India is not on target for 19 of the 33 SDGs indicators … Because of a worsening trend observed between 2016 and 2021, and assuming no course correction occurs, many districts will never meet the targets on the SDGs even well after 2030,” the authors of the study noted. India’s emergence and sustenance as a leading economic power depend on meeting indicators in an equitable manner.
Matter of health
75% districts off target: MP, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha
Off-target categories Poverty, Basic services, Stunting in children, Anemia, Child marriage, Partner violence, Tobacco use, Modern contraceptive use
Urgent attention to
On target to meet 13 out of the 33 indicators
Internet use, Bank accounts for women, Full vaccination, Improved sanitation, Reduction in multi-dimensional poverty, Birth registration, Skilled birth attendants, Electricity access, Tobacco use reduction among women, Curbing child marriages, Under-five mortality, Teenage sexual violence, Neonatal mortality