India may not fully achieve the MDGs by 2015: Report

India may not be able to fully achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ratified by the United Nations with regard to health and nutritional indicators, says a government report.

According to the latest report of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on MDGs, the progress over the targets in respect of reducing no of people suffering from hunger and improvement in maternal health, is either slow or offtrack.

MDGs are international development goals that United Nations member states and numerous international organisations, including India, have agreed to achieve by the year 2015.

These include eradicating extreme poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality; reducing the child mortality rate and ensuring environmental sustainability.

The 'Towards Achieving MDGs- India 2013' revealed that the proportion of underweight children has declined by three percentage points during 1998-99 to 2005-06, from about 43 % to about 40 %. At the historical rate of decline, it is expected to come down to about 33 % only by 2015 vis a vis the target value of 26 %.

As per MDGs, Indian is to halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.

At the historical pace of decrease, India tends to reach Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 139 per 100,000 live births by 2015, against the target of 109, the report said.

India has agreed to reduce the MMR by three quarters (3/4th), between 1990 and 2015.

However according to the report, India is on track on MDGs target of reducing the number of people whose income is less than one dollar a day, between 1990 and 2015. India has already achieved the poverty headcount ratio of 23.9 % and likely to achieve the targetted 20.74 % by 2015.

The Millennium Declaration, made during the UN Millennium Summit on September 8, 2000, was signed by 189 countries, including 147 Heads of State and Government, and included eight Goals called the MDGs.

These summarise the key development goals embraced by the main international conferences and world summits during the 1990s, and are declarations of solidarity and determination of the world leaders to rid the world of poverty and improve the lot of humanity.

MDGs and related targets and indicators provide a framework for planning policy interventions and benchmarks to monitor progress in human development and poverty reduction.

sosurce; www.business-standard.com