MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF
STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PARLIAMENTARY AFFAIRS (SHRI V. NARAYANASAMY)
(a) & (b): The statistical tracking of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is
done by the Central Statistical Organisation of the Ministry of Statistics and
Programme Implementation. Progress towards achieving the Milliennium
Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 depends on a country’s position in the Base
Year 1990 and is thus country specific. One or more statistical indicators have been
prescribed for measuring the progress towards each of the targets. 12 Targets of the
MDGs are considered relevant for India. As per the latest data available from different
sources on the indicators, the progress of India towards the 12 targets is as under:
S.No. Type of Progress No. of Targets
1. moderately or almost nearly on track 3
2. on- track or fast 3
3. slow or off-track by some indicators but fast by other indicators 3
4. on-track or fast by one main indicator and slow by another main indicator 1
5. slow 1
6. pattern of change is not clear due to non-availability of data. 1
(c): The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation has so far brought out two
country reports on the MDGs for the years 2005 and 2007. In these two reports State-
wise data was not compiled for assessment of the progress in the States/UTs in relation to
MDG targets.
(d): Question does not arise.
(e): The 11th Five-Year Plan (2007-2012) has set several targets for socio-economic
development by the end of the Plan period in keeping with the MDGs and covers the
Government’s commitment to a more inclusive development agenda. Some of the
important steps taken by the Government which will help in achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) include Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Total Literacy Campaign of the National Literacy
Mission, 73rd and 74th Constitution Amendments providing reservation for women,
National Policy for the empowerment of Women, National Health Mission, Total
Sanitation Campaign and Bharat Nirman. The details of national level progress on
achieving some of the important targets of MDGs for India are at Annexe-I.
Annexure-I
INDIA’S PERFORMANCE WITH REFERENCE TO MILLENNIUM
DEVELOPMENT GOALS
MDG1: Eradicate extreme Poverty and Hunger
Target 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the Percentage of Population below the
National Poverty Line.
Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer
from hunger.
To achieve the Goal of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, India has to
reduce the proportion of people below poverty line from nearly 37.5 percent in 1990 to
about 18.6 percent by 2015. The incidence of poverty declined from 36 percent in 1993-
94 to 27.5 percent in 2004-05 (rural 28.3 percent and urban 25.7 percent). The trend rate
of decline is 0.8 percent during 1993-94 to 2004-05. The rate of decline based on thin
sample estimates of consumer expenditure for the year 2005-06 is 1.4 percent. If the
improvement in the rate of decline in the poverty as observed during 2004-05 to 2005-06
is maintained in the subsequent years or further improved, it is expected that India will be
able to achieve the 2015 target.
The prevalence of underweight children below 3-years of age is of the order of 46
percent in 2005-06 against 47 percent in 1998-99 and shows marginal improvement in
nourishment. With reference to the 1990 level of the proportion of underweight children
below 3 years is estimated to be 53.51 percent; from the trend of the subsequent years’, as
per estimates from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data, the target level for
India to be achieved by the year 2015 works out to be 26.76 percent. However, going at
the present pace of change, India is likely to fall short of the 2015 target by substantial
margin.
MDG2: Achieve Universal Primary Education
Target 3: Ensure that by 2015 children everywhere, boys and girls alike will
be able to complete a full course of primary education.
Towards achieving 100 percent Youth Literacy by 2015, another target for MDG
2, India is well on track going by the rate of decline observed during 1991-2001. By the
trend of literacy of 15-24 year old population, India is likely to attain 100 percent youth
literacy by the year 2013-14.
MDG3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Target 4: Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education,
preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015.
The rate of change over time in India in respect of the share of women in wage
employment in the non-agricultural sector is improving - about 5 percentage points over a
period of 5 years in the recent past and has moved from 12.7 in 1990 to 17.9 in 2004.
MDG4: Reduce Child Mortality
Target 5: Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five
Mortality Rate.
More children are surviving their first year of life as the infant mortality rate
(IMR) has also come down from 80 per thousand live births in 1990 to 53 per thousand in
2008. It has to come down to 26.7 per thousand live births by 2015. By the trend so far,
IMR is likely to be 45.9 per thousand live births by 2015. The proportion of 1 year old
children immunised against measles has increased from 42.2 percent in 1992-93 to 69.6
percent in 2007-08.
MDG5: Improve Maternal Health
Target 6: Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the Maternal
Mortality Ratio.
The proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel has been
continuously increasing, (from 33.0 percent in 1992-93 to 52 percent in 2007-08) thereby
reducing the chances of occurrence of maternal deaths.
MDG6: Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
Target 7: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of
HIV/AIDS.
Target 8: Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria
and other major diseases.
India has a low prevalence of HIV among pregnant women as compared to other
developing countries; the increase in prevalence rate from 0.74 per thousand pregnant
women aged 15-24 years in 2002 to 0.86 in 2003 has been reversed and has come down
to 0.68 in 2006. The prevalence and death rates associated with malaria are also
declining.
MDG7: Ensure Environmental Sustainability
Target 9: Integrate the Principles of Sustainable Development into Country
Policies and Programmes and Reverse the loss of Environmental Resources.
Target 10: Halve, by 2015, the Proportion of People without Sustainable
Access to Safe Drinking Water and Basic Sanitation.
Target 11: By 2020, to have achieved a significant improvement in the lives
of at least 100 million slum dwellers.
The reserved and protected forests together account for 19 percent of the total
land area, some reserved forest areas were converted to protected areas during 2003-2005
keeping the total of the two almost the same during the period. The energy use has
become efficient as there is a decline from about 36 kilogram oil equivalent in 1991-92 to
about 32 kilogram oil equivalents in 2003-04 per GDP worth Rs. 1000. The proportion of
population without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation has to be
halved by 2015. Proportion of rural households with sustainable access to improved
drinking water sources was 55.5 percent in 1991 and is required to be raised to 78 percent
by 2015. The proportion of rural households having sustainable access to improved
drinking water sources has reached 79.6 percent by 2007-08. Similarly for urban areas
the proportion of households with sustainable access to improved drinking water sources
was 81.4 percent in 1991 and is required to be raised to 90 percent by 2015 whereas the
proportion has reached 95 percent by 2007-08. Thus India is early achiever of this target.
In case of sanitation, the proportion of rural households with access to improved
sanitation was 9.5 percent in 1991 and is required to be raised to 54 percent by 2015
whereas the proportion is only 17.6 percent by 2005-06. In urban areas the proportion of
households having access to improved sanitation was 47 percent in 1991 and is required
to be raised to 74 percent by 2015. The proportion is 52.8 percent by 2005-06.
MDG8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development
Target 12-18: In co-operation with the Private Sector, make available the
benefits of new technologies, especially Information and Communication.
Goal-8 deals with the developing global partnership for development. It is
basically meant for the developed countries to provide development assistance to
developing countries.
With regard to one of the targets of the Goal 8, i.e. in cooperation with the private
sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially information and
communications, India has made substantial progress in recent years. The overall tele-
density has remarkably increased from 0.67 percent in 1991 to 36.98 percent in March
2009. Use of Personal Computers has also increased from 5.4 million PCs in 2001 to
19.6 million in 2006 and there are 13.54 million internet subscribers as on March 2009.
