GDP should not alone decide development outcomes: India

India today said the GDP growth of a country should not alone decide the development outcomes, and other aspects such as freedom of expression and well-being of people could also be the variables for making informed policy decisions.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, while speaking at a meeting of the Preparatory Panel to Inter-Parliamentary Union's (IPU) Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, said that GDP alone should not be the yardstick to measure the development outcomes.
Other aspects such as freedom of expression, well-being of people and check on unhindered exploitation of nature may also be the variables to measure the progress to complement GDP in order to make informed policy decisions, she said.

She also advocated the reform of the United Nations Security Council, according to an official statement.
With regard to the status of the inclusion of the principle of Common but Differential Responsibilities (CBDR) in the proposed set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Mahajan said that the CBDR should be the 'guiding principle' in the development and implementation of the SDGs.
Mahajan, while proposing amendments to the draft Outcome Document or Declaration of the Conference, said the draft Declaration on the SDGs have already been negotiated.

Discussions on Post-2015 Development Agenda, including SDGs are still underway, she added.
The IPU, with its headquarters in Geneva, is an international organisation of Parliaments, which will be convening the Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament -- a global summit focusing on democracy, the role of legislative institutions and their relationship with the United Nations.

The Conference will take place in New York from 31st August to 2nd September, 2015. It will be followed by the Sessions of General Assembly of United Nations (UNGA).