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New Delhi, 29 June: On the occasion of the National Statistics Day, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation launched India’s first SDG dashboard to effectively track the country’s progress on Agenda 2030. 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.
Developed in partnership with the UN in India, DFID India and 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 on to one an easy-to-use, intuitive platform, to power better informed decision making on the SDGs.
Speaking at the launch, “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.”
The dashboard provides an aggregated overview of all goals, maps data for over 130 indicators, measures all targets against national benchmarks with state and district filters, and leverages data-driven insights to roll out targeted development plans. It also allows state governments to track their performance on each goal, compare it with 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 for the world as the country is home to about 17 percent 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. The SDG dashboard is a unique, searchable platform, which provides data and insights on how the country is progressing on the SDGs.
Noting the role of technology to inform data-driven decision making, Gavin McGillivray, Head, DFID Office said, “We in the UK Government are proud to be part of the partnership between with Government of India and the UN that developed the Dashboard – a first-of-its-kind tool. We see scope for India and the UK collaborating to share the dashboard with other countries to help them achieve the SDGs – another instance of India and the UK working together as a joint Force for Good in the world.”
