Statistics Ministry launches dashboard to track progress on SDGs

The Statistics Ministry Saturday launched India's first Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) dashboard to track the country's progress on the Agenda 2030 adopted by the United Nations.

The SDG dashboard is a unique, searchable platform, which provides data and insights on how the country is progressing on the SDGs. It has been launched on the occasion of National Statistics Day today.

The dashboard will be India's official data repository of the National Indicator Framework on SDGs, the country's largest monitoring framework with 306 statistical indicators, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said in a release.

Developed in partnership with the UN in India, DFID India and data intelligence firm Social Cops, the dashboard is a first of its kind national platform that pulls together reliable data from over 100 different data sets, portals and sectors.

Speaking at the launch Minister of State for MoSPI (Independent Charge) Rao Inderjit Singh said: "Our country is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and is also one of the countries with the fastest growing populations. The Sustainable Development Goals are a national priority for India, and the Government of India is committed to achieving these goals for all sections of the population by 2030".

SDGs are universal call by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for action to end poverty, protect the planet, improve health, education and ensuring that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.

The dashboard also allows state governments to track their performance on each goal, compare it to other states and identify priority areas, which need urgent action.

Pravin Srivastava, Secretary, MoSPI, said, "We are committed to provide comprehensive information needed to track India's progress on SDGs. Our ministry has taken key steps to triangulate data, develop capacities and harness technology for data-driven decision making".

India's progress in SDGs is crucial, as the country is home to about 17 per cent of the world population.

"The dashboard can help fast-track this journey by helping state governments contextualize, visualize, track and measure their progress towards the goals more effectively," said Renata Lok-Dessallien, UN Resident Coordinator in India.

India has been closely monitoring its progress on the SDGs through its National Indicator Framework and the India SDG Index released in 2018.

Gavin McGillivray, Head of DFID Office, said there is scope for India and the UK collaborating to share the dashboard with other countries to help them achieve the SDG.