The shift from the MDGs to sustainable development goals is also a shift from tracking aggregates to tracking more disaggregated indicators, and India urgently needs a strategy to overcome data limitations.
India may be one of the very few countries where key central ministries disagree on whether crucial Millennium Development Goals (MDG) will be achieved or not. MDG 5, whose target was reduction of maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by three quarters between 1990 and 2015 is the case in point. While the health ministry believes that India will achieve this goal, the Ministry of Statistics (MoSPI) is less optimistic. Obviously, both ministries use two separate sets of numbers. The ad-hoc way in which numbers are used in policy discussions is directly linked to unavailability of regular, quality data.
The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) is reportedly changing the way it plans by shifting to 15-year roadmaps instead of five year plans. Interestingly, this approach is much similar to United Nation’s 2030 sustainable development goals, or even the previous MDGs. This new approach with its comprehensive goals, clear deadlines and measurable targets have great potential, given the challenges of governance in India. As implementation of SDGs is underway in the country, the health ministry has come out with a ‘Delhi Commitment on Sustainable Development Goal for Health’. This joint statement has encouraged state and central government agencies to aim towards a more transformational and ambitious agenda. In this context, there are major concerns around data gaps, as well as timeliness, availability and quality of existing data.
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