Panel red-flags gaps in growth roadmap

Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 28

The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has red-flagged serial gaps in India’s UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework questioning delays in the preparation of key vision documents and absence of efforts to integrate SDGs into national and state budgets.

In its report titled “Preparedness for the implementation of SDGs” to Parliament this week, the top finance committee noted that NITI Aayog, tasked to oversee the implementation of the 2030 agenda in 2015, was yet to finalise the crucial 15-year vision document in this respect.

“We have noticed several deficiencies in achieving the SDGs in India. Shortfalls require immediate attention. Both at Central and state levels, the exercise of formulating policy documents in context of SDGs is still underway. A roadmap which defines milestones aligned with the UN SDG target is yet to be prepared. Greater efforts are necessary for localising and publicising SDGs to ensure inclusiveness,” noted the panel chaired by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress leader in Lok Sabha.

In a major observation, the committee has said India is yet to undertake a financial gap analysis with respect to the SDGs. “Integration of SDGs into the accounting and budgeting framework remains to be done at the Centre and in most states,” said the panel expressing serious concerns over shortcomings and asking NITI Aayog to undertake corrective steps to achieve SDGs within prescribed time limits.

The committee also revealed the delay in the approval of the National Indicator Framework for SDGs developed by the Ministry of Statistics and said, “This delay has held back several key tasks such as development of indicators and monitoring frameworks in states and identification of baseline data and milestones for achieving SDGs.”