Miidweek Musings 26 3.06.26

                                         SDGs in governance Part 2

By Malini Shankar

Digital Discourse Foundation

This article – the 2^nd part on SDGs in Governance was meant to be published on 27^th May, last Wednesday but I was so upset with the death of my pet kitten previous night thanks to the negligence of the attending veterinarian that I went off topic.

SDGs are critical even if they sound like a movement in progress. The challenge is to achieve these goals in governance by 2030.

SDG 8 – “Decent Work and economic growth” puts livelihood security at the front and centre of economic progress. Except that the political class is bereft of simple comprehension!  Livelihood security options must be more than menial or daily wages, after all right to livelihood is a fundamental right. It provides food shelter and clothing. On this score India does no score well with unemployment rates increasing without resolution.

SDG 9 stands for “Building resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation”. This must include a fiscal ecosystem that supports enterprise, innovation and economic diversification. In the age of Artificial Intelligence securing employment for human beings is the biggest challenge. Visionary captains of industry must think out of the box to deploy AI for those challenges beyond human capacity – like cleaning the oceans of plastic debris, deploying robotics for the aid of differently abled physically challenged persons / persons with disabilities.

However the Government of India’s Start UP policy and Start UP ‘Revolution’ have backfired. Ecosystem fiscal incentives like Mudra loans and MSME support are all politically tinted. Start UP Cells have all closed shop. So in end effect India’s Start Up ecosystem has failed and miserably so.  

The Modi government banished the not for profit sector but supports its own not for profit Sector... read PM Cares which is not scrutinisable either. The Corporate Social Responsibility Ecosystem is floundering with CSR heads openly saying there are no questions asked if we blindly donate to PM Cares, “but if we donate to NGOs or private Trusts we encounter endless scrutiny”. So there you have: the failure of CSR ecosystem is a slap on the face of the political leadership.

NGOs were active in the field of environment, rural development adult education, water and sanitation, in combatting desertification, in raising the depleting ground water table and so on where government agencies are not engaging for want of experience and core competence. But the NGOs’ licences have been cancelled only because India’s Far Right Government was intimidated by religious conversions. The question remains as to who will undertake tasks such as replenishment of ground water table when no government agency or bureaucrat has the core competence to do an army’s work? And we are not even going into the question of scrutinising funding for PM Cares.  Atleast not yet.

SDG #7 Affordable and Clean Energy … While India has made gigantic and enviable strides towards #NetZero and energy security compliant for 2030, the Iran War 2026 has shown that energy security is still a horizon for supply chain management and thus the global economy is not yet fool proof on the energy security front.

SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities is a far goal on the horizon. Making the economy compliant for those mobility impaired is a 2 decades gap in India as yet. Compatible toilets, vehicles, ramps and ropeways for access especially for wheelchair bound persons in public transport, and public spaces has been a long cherished goal for the differently abled.  And we are nowhere near institutional protection or legally framed solutions for an equitable, equal citizenry.  India is still struck in a time warp of caste and racial discrimination, whither then the energy or resources to make it compatible to Children of a Lesser God?

SDG 12 stands for responsible patterns in consumption and production calling on efficiency in consumption and waste management, industrial and agricultural production, reducing food waste, … ideals which when accomplished will make our living spaces an ideal utopian paradise, but we need to strive to attain these Goals.

SDG 13 Climate Action is not just about electric vehicles or reducing emissions but also our own social responsibility. If we don’t undertake Climate Action our own generation will have to live amidst flash floods, water borne diseases, severe drought and famine that will kill generations of human and livestock because of hunger in this day and age; coastal inundation, sea storms and cyclones will have debilitating impacts as we will witness in our on lifespans.  

SDG 14 Life below Water is a long way to make the oceans clean of plastic debris, stop unsustainable fishing and trawling of the Ocean Floor; and as the Iran war has demonstrated shipping tax regimes have to be sustainable for universal sustainable development and management of natural resources.  

SDG #15  Life on Land …has a long wish list to make winsome sustainable legal regimes for successfully managing biodiverse resources.

SDG #16 seeks to “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”…seeks to annihilate corrupt and prejudicial practices; it is incumbent on governments to make institutional provisions for the vulnerable classes including differently abled, downtrodden and people below the poverty line. Institutional mechanisms like pension for war widows, differently abled, etc needs to be legislated. Abuse, stigma and discrimination on various layers of social emotions and strata of society continues to exist reflecting badly in social indicators.  

SDG #17 seeks to “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development”. SDG 17 needs innovative schemes for Private sector participation in governance, the most fundamental ask is transparent governance. India has stepped backwards in private sector participation in governance.

All he same SDGs provide a great framework to chart out ideal form of governance. Gandhian Thought of equitable distribution of growth and development is at the core of the UN Charter, rightly so. SDGs for governance is an ideal to strive for, for universal good.