|
| The Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) |
India
is increasingly
recognized
as a global
power in
key economic
sectors.
There have
also been
positive
trends on
certain
social indicators,
particularly
those that
respond
to vertical,
campaign-like
approaches:
the near
eradication
of polio;
a significant
increase
in literacy
rates; and
the enrolment
of both
boys and
girls in
primary
school.
However,
progress
has been
slow in
areas requiring
systemic
changes,
such as
in the provision
of good
quality
services
(i.e. primary
health care
and community-based
nutrition
services).
There has
also been
limited
change in
the practice
of key behaviours
related
to child
well-being,
such as
hand washing
and exclusive
breastfeeding.
The HIV/AIDS
epidemic
continues
to spread
and poses
a significant
threat.
Issues related
to child
protection,
including
trafficking
and child
labour,
are becoming
more pronounced.
Repeated
and extensive
emergencies
such as
the tsunami,
flooding
and earthquakes
have also
adversely
affected
the lives
of children
in India.
This uneven
development
path has
been further
exacerbated
by striking
and persistent
inequities
by gender, caste and
geography.
GOI
has adopted
ambitious
targets
related
to children
that are
in line
with, and
at times
more ambitious
than, the
MDGS. Centrally-sponsored
schemes
have increased
public resources
to key sectors,
notably
the Sarva
Shiksha
Abhiyan
in education
(the national
policy to
universalize
primary
education),
the Reproductive
and Child
Health Programme
II, the
National
Rural Health
Mission
and the
Integrated
Child Development
Services.
The challenge
remains
to convert
these commitments
and resources
into measurable
results
for all
children,
especially
those belonging
to socially disadvantaged
and marginalized
communities.
Shri G.
K. Vasan,
Minister
of State
(independent
charge),
Ministry
of Statistics
and Programme
Implementation,
released
the first
Millennium
Development
Goals -
India Country
Report for
the year
2005 on
13th February
2006 in
a simple
function
at Delhi.
The Millennium
Declaration
adopted
by the General
Assembly
of the United
Nations
in September
2000 reaffirmed
its commitment
to the right
to development,
peace, security
and gender
equality,
to the eradication
of many
dimensions
of poverty
and to overall
sustainable
development.
These are
intended
for the Member Countries
to take
efforts
in the fight
against
poverty,
illiteracy,
hunger,
lack of
education,
gender inequality,
infant and
maternal
mortality,
disease
and environmental
degradation.
The Millennium
Declaration
adopted
8 development
goals, 18
time-bound
targets
and 48 indicators.
This First
Country
Report on
the Millennium
Development
Goals (MDGs)
captures
India's
achievements,
challenges
and policies
with reference
to the goals
and targets
and reveals
that there
have been
substantial
improvements
in the lives
of people
of the countries
over the
years. This
has been
possible
due to the
planned
implementation
of programmes
despite
the enormous
and complex
problems
and diversities
of our nation.
The Central
and State
Governments
have set
up goals
more ambitious
than the
MDGs. With
the well
thought
out planning,
comprehensive
development strategies
devised
in the national
policy,
and matching
implementation
process,
it is hoped
that India
will be
able to
meet the
challenges
and achieve
all the
MDG targets
much earlier
than the
targeted
dates.
4. India's
position
with reference
to the various
Goals is
given below:
| 1. |
To
achieve
the
Goal
of
eradicating
extreme
poverty
and
hunger,
India
must
reduce
by
2015
the
proportion
of
people
below
poverty
line
from
nearly
37.5
percent
in
1990
to
about
18.75
percent.
As
on
1999-2000,
the
poverty
headcount
ratio
is
26.1
percent
with
poverty
gap
ratio
of
5.2
percent,
share of
poorest
quintile
in
national
consumption
is
10.1
percent
for
rural
sector
and
7.9
percent
for
urban
sector
and
prevalence
of
underweight
children
is
of
the
order
of
47
percent.
National
Rural
Employment
Act
is
a
positive
step
to
reduce
the
poverty
ratio
further. |
| 2. |
To
achieve
universal
primary
education
under
Goal-2,
India
should
increase
the
primary
school
enrolment
rate
to
100
percent
and
wipe
out
the
drop-outs
by
2015
against
41.96
percent
in
1991-92.
The
drop-out
rate
for
primary
education
during
2002-03
is
34.89
percent.
The
gross
enrolment
ratio
in
primary
education
has
tended
to
remain
near
100
percent
for
boys
and
recorded
an
increase
of
nearly
20
percentage
points
in
the
ten
years
period
from
1992-93
to
2002-03
for
girls
(93
percent).
The
literacy
rate
(7
years
and
above)
has
also
increased
from
52.2
percent
in
1992-93
to
65.4
percent
in
2000-01. |
| |
To
ensure
gender
parity
in
education
levels
in
Goal-3,
India
will
have
to
promote
female
participation
at
all
levels
to
reach
a
female
male
proportion
of
equal
level
by
2015.
The
female
male
proportion
in
respect
of
primary
education
was
71:100
in
1990-91
which
has
increased
to
78:100
in
2000-01. During
the
same
period,
the
proportion
has
increased
from
49:100
to
63:100
in
case
of
secondary
education. |
| 3. |
Goal
4
aims
at
reducing
under
five
mortality
rate
(U5MR)
from
125
deaths
per
thousand
live
births
in
1988-92
to
42
in
2015.
The
U5MR
has
decreased
during
the
period
1998-2002
to
98
per
thousand
live
births.
The
infant
mortality
rate
(IMR)
has
also
come
down
from
80
per
thousand live
births
in
1990
to
60
per
thousand
in
2003
and
the
proportion
of
1
year
old
children
immunised
against
measles
has
increased
from
42.2
percent
in
1992-93
to
58.5
percent
in
2002-03. |
| 4. |
To
achieve
Goal-5,
India
should
reduce
maternal
mortality
(MMR)
from
437
deaths
per
100,000
live
births
in
1991
to
109
by
2015.
The
value
of
MMR
for
1998
is
407.
The
proportion
of
births
attended
by
skilled
health
personnel
has
been
continuously
increasing,
(from
25.5
percent
in
1992-93
to
39.8 percent
in
2002-03)
thereby
reducing
the
chances
of
occurrence
of
maternal
deaths. |
| 5. |
In
so
far
as
Goal-6
is
concerned,
though
India
has
a
low
prevalence
of
HIV
among
pregnant
women
as
compared
to
other
developing
countries,
yet
the
prevalence
rate
has
increased
from
0.74
per
thousand
pregnant
women
in
2002
to
0.86
in
2003.
This
increasing
trend
needs
to
be
reversed
to achieve
MDG
6.
The
prevalence
and
death
rates
associated
with
malaria
are
consistently
coming
down.
The
death
rate
associated
with
TB
has
come
down
from
67
deaths
per
100.000
population
in
1990
to
33
per
100,000
population
in
2003.
The
proportion
of
TB
patients
successfully
treated
has
also
risen from
81%
in
1996
to
86%
in
2003. |
| 6. |
Goal-7
aims
at
ensuring
environmental
sustainability.
As
per
assessment
made
in
2003,
total
land
area
covered
under
different
forests
has
been
20.64%
due
to
Government's
persistent
efforts
to
preserve
the
natural
resources.
The
reserved
and
protected
forests
together
account
for
19%
of
the
total
land
area
to
maintain
biological diversity.
The
energy
use
has
declined
consistently
from
about
36
kilogram
oil
equivalent
in
1991-92
to
about
32
kilogram
oil
equivalent
in
2003-04
to
produce
GDP
worth
Rs.
1000.
The
proportion
of
population
without
sustainable
access
to
safe
drinking
water
and
sanitation
is
to
be
halved
by
2015
and
India is
on
track
to
achieve
this
target. |
| 7. |
Goal-8
is
regarding
the
developing
global
partnership
for
development.
It
is
basically
meant
for
the
Developed
Countries
to
provide
development
assistance
to
developing
countries..
The
Government
of
India
holds
the
following
views
regarding
the
role
of
the
developed
countries
in
achieving
this
goal: |
| |
| • |
The
financial
support
needed
to
achieve
the
targets
under
this
Goal
had
been
estimated
for
the
least
developed
land
locked
and
small
countries
by
a
high-level
panel
on
'Financing
for
Development
at
an
additional
amount
of
US
$
50
billion
which
would
be
required
for
this
purpose
every
year
till
2015. |
| • |
However,
a
huge
gap
still
exists
for
those
countries
between
the
development
assistance
required
to
meet
the
MDGs
and
what
has
been
pledged
by
the
developed
countries
so
far. |
| • |
Recent
months
have
seen
new
commitments
toward
reaching
the
internationally
accepted
0.7
percent
of
Gross
National
Income
(GNI)
target.
We
have
reminded
that
these
potential
increases
still
leave
development
assistance
donor
countries
as
a
group
well
short
of
0.7
percent. |
| • |
It
is
also
a
matter
of
satisfaction
that
actual
disbursements
of
ODA,
in
recent
years,
have
shown
a
welcome
reversal
of
the
declining
trend
that
lasted
for
almost
a
decade
since
the
early
1990s.
In
this
regard,
it
is
important
to
realize
that
unless
aid
commitments
translate into
actual
delivery,
securing
MDGs
will
remain
elusive
goals.
We
do
hope
that
all
the
developed
countries
would
scale
up
the
ODA
to
realize
the
goals
reaffirmed
at
the
Monterrey
Consensus. |
| • |
It
has
also
been
our
consistent
position
that
additional
resources
for
implementing
the
development
agenda
should
be
channelized
through
the
existing
multilateral
agencies.
Moreover,
allocations
must
be
based
on
pre-defined
and
transparent
criteria.
Our
own
development
experience
clearly
indicates
that,
ultimately,
it
is
the
availability
of untied
additional
resources
for
use
in
accordance
with
national
development
strategies,
which
is
most
beneficial
for
recipient
countries. |
| • |
To
deal
with
the
problems
of
debt,
the
Heavily
Indebted
Poor
Countries
(HIPC)
Initiative
was
launched
by
the
World
Bank
and
IMF
and
endorsed
by
180
governments.
In
regard
to
the
HIPC
Initiative,
India
is
of
the
view
that
the
Initiative
should
be
met
by
additional
funding from
the
developed
countries
and
the
flow
of
concessional
assistance
to
other
countries
should
not
be
reduced.
India
also
opposes
the
concept
of
"equitable
burden
sharing"
since
some
of
the
non-Paris
Club
creditor
countries
are
themselves
poor
countries. |
| • |
We
have
supported
the
G8
initiative
on
irrevocable
debt
cancellation
for
the
HIPC
countries,
which
has
now
been
adopted
by
IMF
and
the
World
Bank
as
the
Multilateral
Debt
Relief
Initiative
(MDRI).
We
have
always
been
supportive
of
all
efforts
being
extended
to
the
low-income
countries (LICs),
including
those
in
Africa,
where
debt
burdens
are
serious
threats
to
attainment
of
the
MDGs. |
|
| 8. |
With
regard
to
one
of
the
targets
of
the
Goal
8,
i.e.
in
cooperation
with
the
private
sector,
make
available
the
benefits
of
new
technologies,
especially
information
and
communications,
India
has
made
substantial
progress
in
recent
years.
The
overall
tele-density
has
remarkably
increased
from
0.67
percent
in
1991
to
9.4 percent
in
June
2005.
Use
of
Personal
Computers
has
also
increased
from
5.4
million
PCs
in
2001
to
14.5
million
in
2005
and
there
are
5.3
million
Internet
subscribers
as
on
March
2005
(2.3
internet
users
per
100
population
and
0.5
per
100
internet
subscribers). |
| 9. |
The
National
Employment
Guarantee
Act,
Sarva
Siksha
Abhiyan,
Total
Literacy
Campaign
of
the
National
Literacy
Mission,
73rd
and
74th
constitutional
amendments
providing
reservation
for
women,
commitment
for
women
empowerment
in
the
NCMP,
National
Health
Mission,
Total
Sanitation
Campaign
and
Bharat
Nirman
are
some
of
the
important
steps
taken
by the
Government
which
will
help
in
achieving
the
Millennium
Development
Goals. |
| India
Country
Report:
By Govt.
of India |
 |
| Goal
1: Eradicate
extreme
poverty
and
hunger |
|
| Goal
2: Achieve
universal
primary
education |
|
| Goal
3: Promote
gender
equality
and
empower
women |
|
| Goal
4: Reduce
child
mortality |
|
| Goal
5: Improve
maternal
health |
|
| Goal
6: Combat
HIV/AIDS,
malaria
and
other
diseases |
|
| Goal
7: Ensure
environmental
sustainability |
|
| Goal
8: Develop
a Global
Partnership
for
Development |
|
| List
of Goals,
Targets
&
Indicators |
|
| Concept,
Definitions
&
Methodologies |
|
| |
|
| Citizen's
Report
on MDG:
By Wada
Na Todo
Abhiyan |
|
| Elementary
Education
in India |
|
| Health
MDGs |
|
| Mirages
in Shifting
Sands |
|
| Drinking
Water
in India |
|
| People’s
Speak:
The
Truth
about
MDGs |
|
| People’s
Charter
of Demands |
|
|
|
|
|
