Lok Sabha mulls exclusive day to discuss SDGs: Speaker

The Lok Sabha is planning to keep a day in every session exclusively for discussing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Speaker of the House Sumitra Mahajan said today.
She gave this information while speaking on 'BRICS Parliamentary Cooperation on the Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)' at a meeting of BRICS (Brazil- Russia-India-China-South Africa) Parliamentary Forum here.
An initiative of the UN, SDGs are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
"In order to create a conducive climate to overcome the impediments in achieving these goals, Parliaments and parliamentarians have an important role to play," the Speaker said, according a statement issued by the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

Referring to the Jaipur Declaration adopted during the meeting of BRICS Women Parliamentarians' Forum in August this year at Jaipur, she recalled that it had proclaimed resolve to work actively towards achieving the SDGs.
She noted that the Indian Parliament has passed landmark legislations such as The Right to Education Act for Children, the Right to Information Act, and the Domestic Violence Act to ensure welfare for all, which is the underlying concept behind SDGs.

"Even before the adoption of SDGs, several schemes, policies and programmes had been formulated in India to meet the basic necessities of its growing population which shows that there is a convergence of vision between the SDGs and India's developmental planning," Mahajan said.

Noting that knowledge is a common heritage which should not be kept under the wraps of Intellectual Property Right (IPR), she suggested setting up of informal working groups to share the best practices among BRICS member nations.
She also highlighted finance and technology as the major challenges in the implementation of SDGs as she pitched for involvement of corporate sector in achieving the goal, the statement said.
"One of the effective means of meeting the financial needs is by of involving the corporate sector, wherein corporate houses could participate in socio-economic development in various spheres in the form of corporate social responsibility," she said.

BRICS comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- the five major emerging economies, comprising 43 per cent of the world population, having 30 per cent of the world GDP and 17 per cent share in the world trade.
As regards technology, Mahajan emphasised on evolution of credible mechanisms for global technology transfer, particularly to developing countries.