India became free from the colonial rule in 1947, became Republic in 1950 by adopting a Constitution giving equal rights and voting franchise to all citizens irrespective of caste, creed and religion. From then onwards elections were regularly held and Indian Government is continuously striving for reducing the inequalities while protecting the human rights.
However India remained as a poor country but with a consolation name of developing nation with per capita income of $2,600 even after 76 years of self-ruled Government.
Several other nations also struggling with hunger and poverty despite having valuable natural resources. Simultaneously the inequalities grown to an alarming stage due to various reasons from place to place.
Hence the United Nations - the official organisation of all countries started the gearing up of all nations to eradicate poverty and ensure that no hunger on earth. In pursuit of the desired goals for enhancing the quality of life of all human beings with sound health, nutrition, higher education, clean climate with enough production and satisfactory consumption by all with dignity and gender equality.
However poverty and exploitation of humans heckling the world at nook and corner with increased inequalities. Main purpose of the UN mission is to ensure all the above measures specially the drinking water, sanitation and peaceful coexistence in all nations including the developed countries from West to East. India’s rank in SDG is still in the performers group but not even front runner if not achiever a final mark with achievement.
Economist observing that this anarchy is due to high level of corruption in all walks of life and fall in the values of politics in the country in all parts. Elections process has become an acute burden as it is not only expensive but at the same time exhausting the invaluable limited resources of the country without any checks and bounds.
United Nations every time meets to resolve the crisis in a particular part of their member countries with a special emphasis on peace and justice. Consequentially the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was launched by a UN Summit in New York on 25-27 September 2015. The 17 qualitative parameters envisaged are 1) No poverty 2) Zero hunger 3) Good Health and Well-being 4) Quality education 5) Gender Equality 6) Clean Water & Sanitation 7) Affordable & Clean Energy8) Decent Work & Economic Growth 9) Industry-Innovation & Infrastructure 10) Reduced Inequalities 11) Sustainable Cities & Communities 12) Responsible Consumption & Production 13) Climate Action 14) Life Below Water 15) Life on Land 16) Peace & Justice-Strong Institutions 17) Partnerships for the goals.
The objectives are to establish an ideal society by bringing clean and green environment to improve the contribution of each person to the world and lead a meaningful life.
All these goals are to combat inequalities within and among citizens; to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies; to protect human rights and promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls; and to ensure the lasting protection of the planet and all natural resources like forests, rivers and oceans by safeguarding a carbon free environment throughout the country.
United Nations aims at ending poverty in all its forms throughout the world. It is grounded in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and international human rights treaties and emphasises the responsibilities of all states to respect, protect and promote human rights. There is a strong emphasis on the empowerment of women and of vulnerable groups such as children, young people, persons with disabilities, older persons, refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants.
The Agenda’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and their 169 targets, primarily aim at eradicating poverty in all forms and seek torealise the human rights of all and achieve gender equality.SDG number 16 "Peace, justice and strong institutions" is indispensable for all developing countries.It has ten outcome targets: Reduce violence; protect children from abuse, exploitation, trafficking and violence; promote the rule of law and ensure equal access to justice; combat organised crime and illicit financial and arms flows, substantially reduce corruption and bribery; develop effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels. European Parliament is concentrating on this goal which is very broad, so difficult to implement and measure, as well as challenging the sovereignty of states.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Report, previously known as the SDG index, is a one-of-a-kind global study to evaluate the position of all countries with regard to their achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The SDG, unlike the Millennium Development Goals- SDG index's predecessors, set sustainable goals for not only the developing nations but also for the industrial countries. All the United Nations members have agreed for achieving the goals by the year 2030 to make world free from poverty, disease, and hunger. More than 60 per cent of time elapsed but there was no apparent accomplishment in poor countries.
In order to achieve the goals, the governing bodies of each nation are implementing various regulations in accordance with the standards laid down by the SDG index for sustainable growth and development. 10 nations that are currently topping the SDG Index are Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Norway, France, Slovenia and Estonia but India’s rank is at 120 with a score of 60.07. However as a developing country, India has been struggling to improve the SDG index model in the country through Niti Aayog, a premier organisation for achieving the plans of the Government.
Niti Aayog works by supervising the nation's adoption and implementation of the models of the SDG index while promoting a competitive yet cooperative spirit among the states and union territories. Recently, the SDG India index had also made its progression live on an online dashboard, which showcases how all the states and the UTs have been implementing the standards of the society and their respective rankings. In India, Kerala is leading for the third time straight since the SDG Index implementation with 75 points. The state is closely followed by Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, with a score of 72 each.
Infographics with Sustainable development Goals India Index (ETV Bharat) The methodology followed by the SDG India index closely mirrors that of the Social and Development Goals Index laid down by the United Nations. The index computes a score based on the states and union territories achievement of 17 SDG goals. All the Indian states and UTs have been segregated into 4 groups based on their scores - Aspirant (0-49), Performer (50-64), Front Runner (65-99), and Achiever (100).
While Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Himachal Pradesh are the top-performing states, Assam, Jharkhand, and Bihar are the worst-performing states. However, all the states have shown a steady increase in their overall scores.
