No time to rest

Context

• India has been ranked among the top 100 countries in the Sustainable Development Report for the first time since this data began to be published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) since 2016.

• The SDSN is an independent body under the aegis of the UN, whose publications are tracked by policymakers and governments.

• In 2016, India was ranked 110th out of 157 countries, making steady progress to reach 99 this year out of an expanded basket of 167 nations with better metrics and more granular comparisons.

Goals in which India made progress

• From a developmental perspective, the SDSN ranks India as having fared better in poverty reduction (SDG 1) even as India’s poverty estimation continues to be mired in controversy due to a lack of publicly available consumption expenditure data since 2018 and the poverty line (Rangarajan line ~₹33/day rural, ₹47/day urban) not having been updated.

• Proxy data suggest a considerable poverty reduction, almost halving between 2012 (22% based on NSSO data) and 2023 (World Bank – 12%).

• Electricity access (SDG 7) is another indicator where India has done well.

• While the country has achieved near universal household electrification in the past two decades, the quality of power and duration vary vastly based on regions and urban/rural fault lines.

• It is, however, laudable that India today ranks as the fourth largest renewables capacity deployer, mainly solar and wind.

• India has bettered its score in infrastructure provision (SDG 9)

Goals where we are still lacking

• SDG 2 (zero hunger) has remained a cause for concern

• The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) estimates that over a third of children under 5 (35.5%) were stunted (low height for age) in NFHS-5, 2019-21, only marginally better than 38.4% (NFHS-4, 2015-16).

• One third of children under 5 (32.1%) were underweight (low weight for age) in NFHS-5, 2019-21, only marginally better than 35.8% (NFHS-4, 2015-16).

• Similarly, wasting, which is low weight for height, reduced from 21.0% to only 19.3%.

• Obesity in the working age population (15-49 years) has almost doubled between 2006 and 2021, and concentrated in wealthier urban areas.

• Throughout the Modi years, India’s performance in governance, the rule of law, press freedom and strong and independent institutions (SDG 16) has been lagging