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Over the past few years, India has made sustained progress towards the attainment of United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But population scale change takes time to reflect via sustained outcomes in indices. The sheer size of our country, diversity of our population and varied topography, climate, and the federated structure of governance are all factors that play a part in development.
According to a study published in The Lancet journal in February, India is trailing behind in achieving more than 50 per cent of indicators under the SDGs, seven years before the 2030 deadline.
The study used the National Family Health Surveys, 2016 and 2021, to assess progress on SDGs in 707 districts of the country.
India is running a clutch of sustainable development programmes to improve health outcomes, literacy, access to water and sanitation facilities, and the overall ease of living of its citizens. Schemes like the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) and Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) are broadening access to basic services and aiding sustainable development.
Swachh Bharat Mission
At the time of its implementation in 2014, the Swachh Bharat Mission sought to provide safe sanitation for all by creating toilets and by promoting their use. Its aim was to make India open-defecation free. India achieved this on October 2, 2019, by constructing over one hundred million toilets across its villages. This marked the end of Phase-I of SBM. The Prime Minister announced phase-2 of SBM in February 2020, just before the first Covid-19 wave in India.
SBM’s Phase-2 emphasises the sustainability of achievements made under Phase-1 and seeks to provide adequate facilities for solid and liquid waste management, including plastic waste management across rural India. Under the Swachh Bharat – Grameen, Phase 2, villages are progressing towards achieving the Open Defecation Free Plus (ODF Plus) status. This involves the management of all kinds of waste.
India has over six lakh villages. In August 2022, the country reached another milestone with over one lakh villages declared as ODF Plus. This is a big achievement because the process of solid and liquid waste management involves complex technical aspects. Till now, over 199,000 villages have become ODF Plus, which means they are making arrangements for the management of solid and/or liquid waste.
The Jal Jeevan Mission, another national priority, seeks to provide potable tap water connections to all households by 2024. India recently achieved a new milestone of connecting 11 crore rural households with safe and clean drinking water through tap connections. The aim is to address the issue of access to safe water and achieve 100 per cent tap water connectivity by 2024.
In August 2019, only 3.24 crore households had tap water connections. Since then, connections have been provided to 11.3 crore households.
Another area where India has made significant progress is disease elimination. This has improved the ease of living of citizens, cut medical costs, and improved their productivity and economic well-being. India aims to eliminate tuberculosis by 2025, and malaria and AIDS by 2030.
The private sector’s participation in effective reporting of malaria, and technological innovation are areas that require more work. Profound change for a population of 1.4 billion people will take more time to manifest.
The writer is Young Professional, NITI Aayog
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