Two Cheers

The Hindu     5th June 2021     Save    
QEP Pocket Notes

Context: India betters score in the latest SDG Index, but methodological tinkering is cause for concern.

Improvements in SDG India Index 2020-21

  • Overall SDG score improved from 60 in 2019 to 66 in 2021: Backing on India’s policy push related to clean energy, urban development and health.
  • Eradication of poverty and hunger and availability of affordable, clean energy.

Major declines in SDG India Index 2020-21

  • In areas of industry, innovation and infrastructure besides decent work and economic growth: Made worse by lockdowns imposed by governments seeking to tackle COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Persisting socio-economic and governance disparities:
    • Stark differences between southern and western States on one hand and north-central and eastern States on the other in their performance on SDGs.
    • If left unaddressed, it will exacerbate federal challenges and outcomes, as seen in public health challenges during the second wave across some of the worse-off States.

Methodological issues on measurement of SDGs

  • Lack of economic indicators: It drops several economic indicators and gives greater weightage to social equality indicators such as representation of women and people from marginalised communities in legislatures.
  • Missed out on capturing the impact of pandemic on wealth inequality:
    • By dropping the well-recognised Gini coefficient measure and growth rate for household expenditure per capita among 40% of rural and urban populations (instead, only the percentage of the population in the lowest two wealth quintiles is used).
    • This could be a significant miss as a UN assessment of the impact of COVID-19 had said that the South Asian region may see rising inequality.

Conclusion: While the better score for India in its endeavour to achieve SDGs will bring some cheer, governments must work on addressing pressing issues such as increased inequality and economic despair.

QEP Pocket Notes