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Tracking the Global Goals in India

February 2016

Report by : Development Alternatives

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Team : Zeenat Niazi,

Radhika Ralhan, Senior Manager, Development Alternatives

Anshul Bhamra, Deputy Manager, Development Alternatives

Harshini Shanker, Consultant, Development Alternatives

Rohan Jain, Deputy Manager, Development Alternatives

Design & Layout : Jay Vikash, Development Alternatives

© 2016 Development Alternatives

About Development Alternatives (DA)

Development Alternatives (DA), the world's first social enterprise dedicated to sustainable development, is a research and action organisation striving to deliver socially equitable, environmentally sound and economically scalable development outcomes. DA's green technology innovations for habitat, water, energy and waste management, which deliver basic needs and generate sustainable livelihoods, have reduced poverty and rejuvenated natural ecosystems in the most backward regions of India.

Supported by

About Heinrich Böll Stiftung

The Heinrich Böll Stiftung / Foundation (HBF) is the Green Political Foundation from Germany. Headquartered in Berlin and with about 28 international offices, HBF conducts and supports civic educational activities and projects world-wide. HBF is present in India since 2002, with the HBF India office in New Delhi coordinating the interaction with local project partners. HBF India's programme activities are focused on three areas: Climate and Resources; Gender & Socio-Economic Policies; and Democracy & Dialogue.

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Contents

Tracking the Global Goals in India 01

Tables, Figures and Boxes ....................................................................................... 2

Abbreviations .............................................................................................................. 3

Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 4

Foreword ..................................................................................................................... 6

Executive Summary ...................................................................................................... 8

Background ................................................................................................................ 18

About the Study ......................................................................................................... 22

Part I: Strengthening India’s Statistical Capacity ..................................................... 24

Strengthening India’s Statistical Capacity ...................................................................... 25

Part II: Analysis of Indicators .................................................................................... 32

Analysis of Indicators for SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) ............................................................ 34

Analysis of Indicators for SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) ..................................... 57

Analysis of Indicators for SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) .................................. 74

Analysis of Indicators for SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) ........................ 85

Analysis of Indicators for SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) ..................... 102

Analysis of Indicators for SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) .......... 132

Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 156

Bibliography ................................................................................................................. 158

Tables, Figures, and Boxes

Tracking the Global Goals in India02

Tables

Table 1: Key Principles of the 2030 Agenda 19

Table 2: IAEG-SDG and Indian Indicators for SDG 2....................................................... 37

Table 3: Reference periods for collecting consumption data

in Schedule 1.0, Type 1 & Type 2 ................................................................................... 41

Table 4: Consumer Units by Age .................................................................................... 42

Table 5: IAEG-SDG and Indian Indicators for SDG 6 ..................................................... 59

Table 6: IAEG-SDG and Indian Indicators for SDG 7 ..................................................... 76

Table 7: India’s Energy Sustainability Index 2014 ........................................................... 82

Table 8: IAEG-SDG and Indian Indicators for SDG 8 .................................................... 87

Table 9: A Comparison of the NSSO and Labour Bureau Surveys

of Employment and Employment .................................................................................... 91

Table 10: Categories of Employment .............................................................................. 94

Table 11: Surveys on Wages in India (Excluding NSSO Surveys) ................................... 96

Table 12: IAEG-SDG and Indian Indicators for SDG 11.................................................... 105

Table 13: IAEG-SDG and Indian Indicators for SDG 12 ................................................. 134

Figures

Figure 1: The Basic Tenets of SDGs ............................................................................... 19

Figure 2: Food Insecurity Experience Scale ................................................................... 47

Figure 3: Availability of data on wastewater generation, treatment and reuse ................ 69

Figure 4: Components of a Country’s Statistical Capacity ............................................. 107

Boxes

Box 1: Classification of SDG Indicators by IAEG-SDG .................................................... 20

Box 2: Summary of Recommendations for Tracking SDG 2 in India ............................... 55




Box 6: Summary of Recommendations for Tracking SDG 11 in India ........................... 130

...................................................................

Abbreviations


AOI Agriculture Orientation Index MNRE Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

BEE Bureau of Energy Efficiency MoSPI Min is t ry o f Sta t is t ics , P lann ing and Implementation BRT Bus rapid transit

MoUD Ministry of Urban Development CDSB Climate Disclosure Standard Board MPCE Monthly per capita consumption expenditure CEA Central Electricity Authority MSME Micro, small and medium enterprises CESD Centre of Excellence for Sustainable

Development MSW Municipal solid waste

CETP Common Effluent Treatment Plants MTW Motorized two wheelers

CIPET Central Institute of Plastics Engineering and NCEUS National Commission for Enterprises in the Technology Unorganised Sector

CIPHET Central Institute for Post-Harvest Engineering NEERI National Environmental Engineering Research and Technology Institute

CoP Communication of Progress NEET Not in Employment, Education or Training

CPCB Central Pollution Control Board NFHS National Family Health Survey

CPHEEO Central Public Health and Environmental NMEEE National Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency Engineering Organisation NPOP National Programme for Organic Production

CR Corporate responsibility NSSO National Sample Survey Office CRS Climate Resilient Strategy NTDPC National Transport Development Policy CSO Central Statistical Office Committee

CSR Corporate Social Responsibility NULM National Urban Livelihoods Mission

DA Development Alternatives NWP National Water Policy

DES Directorate of Economics and Statistics O&M Operations and maintenance

DFPR Delegation of Financial Powers Rules OGD Open Government Data

DMA Disclosures on Management Approach PAI Pesticides Association of India

EITI Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative PAT Perform, Achieve and Trade

ESG Environmental, social and governance PCC Pollution Control Committees

EWS Economically weaker section PDS Public distribution system

FAI Fertiliser Association of India PPP Purchasing-power-parity

FAO Food and Agricultural Organization PRI Principles of Responsible Investment

FCI Food Corporation of India PWM Plastic Waste Management

FDI Foreign Direct Investment RBI Reserve Bank of India

FIES Food Insecurity Experience Scale RFID Radio Frequency Identification

GAP Global Agriculture Productivity RG Recreation grounds

GCF Gross Capital Formation RPM Respirable Particulate Matter

GDP Gross Domestic Product RSA Road Safety Audit

GFLI Global Food Loss Index RTI Right to Information

GIS Geographic Information Systems RU Resource use

GPS Global Positioning System SCMC Supreme Court Monitoring Committee

GRI Global Reporting Initiative SCP Sustainable consumption and production

GVA Gross Value Added SDDS Special Data Dissemination Standard

HCES Household Consumption and Expenditure SDG Sustainable Development Goals Survey SEBI Securities and Exchanges Board of India

HVAC Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning SEEA System of Environmental-Economic Accounting IEA International Energy Agency SPCB State Pollution Control Board IIP Index of Industrial Production STP Sewage treatment plants ILO International Labour Organization SWM Solid Waste Management IMD Indian Meteorological Department TFP Total factor productivity IPT Intermediate public transport TOD Transit-Oriented-Development IR Integrated Reporting TRW Transport Research Wing IWRM Integrated water resources management UDPFI Urban Development Plan Formulation and JNNURM Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Implementation

Mission ULB Urban Local Bodies LIG Lower Income Group UNEP United Nations Environment Program LMA Land-use Management Areas UNGC United Nations Global Compact LUS Land Use Statistics UNSC United Nations Statistical Commission MA Management Approach UT Union Territories MCA Ministry of Corporate Affairs VWSC Village Water and Sanitation Committees MDG Millennium Development Goals WBSCD World Business Council for Sustainable MF Material footprint Development

MHUPA Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty WPI Wholesale Price Index Alleviation

MLD Million litres per day

Acknowledgements

We thank Heinrich BöllStiftung for supporting this study.

We are grateful to Mr. Ashish Kumar, Director General, Central Statistical Office, Ministry of

Statistics and Programme Implementation (MosPI), for his significant inputs that helped define

the direction of the study.We are also grateful to Mr. Krishna Kumar, Deputy Director General,

Social Statistics Division, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MosPI), for

extending his valuable insights to the research. We are thankful to Mr. Ashok Baran

Chakraborty, Head – Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Development (CESD),Indian

Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA) , for extending his expertise and feedbackon the overall

study. We would like to take this opportunity to also thank Ms. Zeenat Niazi, Vice President,

Development Alternatives, for her constant guidance and support provided at every stage of the

research exercise.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to the following esteemed individuals from leading

organisations whose expertise was crucial in building the perspectives presented in the study.

The insights, feedback and contribution of each individual mentioned were imperative towards

formulating an objective research study.

Ashish Kumar

Director General,

Central Statistical Office,

Ministry of Statistics and

Programme Implementation

Krishna Kumar

Deputy Director General

Social Statistics Division,

Ministry of Statistics and


George C Varughese

President,

Development Alternatives

Jitesh Khosla

Former Chief Secretary,

Government of Assam

Aditya Pundir

Country Manager,

The Climate Reality Project

India

Ashok Baran Chakraborty

Head – CESD,

Indian Institute of

Corporate Affairs


Dr Madhav Gadgil

Founder,

Centre for Ecological Sciences

Meera Mishra

Country Coordinator,

International Fund for

Agricultural Development

Pooran Chandra Pandey

Executive Director,

United Nations Global Compact

India

Dr Pronab Sen

Chairman,

National Statistical Commission

Pradeep Mohapatra

Secretary,

Udyama

Rajib Kumar Debnath

Director – Advisory Services,

Ernst & Young India

Ravi Bhatnagar

Manager, External Affairs,

Reckitt Benckiser India

Dr Ravindra Srinivas

Executive Director,

Centre for Sustainable

Development

Ritesh Sinha

Director – CSR,

DLF Ltd.

Santhosh Jayaram

Director – Sustainability and

Climate Change,

Tushar Pandey

Senior President and Country

Head-PSPM Group,

Yes Bank

Zeenat Niazi

Vice President,

Development Alternatives


Foreword

The seventeen Sustainable Development hygiene, education, natural resource

Goals (SDGs) were adopted by member conservation and management, waste

nations of the United Nations in September management, climate change response,

2015 and are set to be achieved between and empowerment of women. Action points

2016 and 2030. The first seven SDGs are for some of these areas are outlined below.

an extension of the MDGs; they cover goals Food Securitysuch as eradicating poverty, ending hunger,

and providing universal access to Food security is one of the top priorities to healthcare, education, clean water, achieve the SDGs. Agriculture production is sanitation and clean energy. There is also a dependent upon soil fertility, adequate goal that calls for the empowerment of water, suitable techniques/practices and women and girls. The eighth, ninth and adaptation to climate change. The tenth SDGs cover economic growth and availability of food is also dependent upon decent jobs, industrialisation and reduced reduction in wastage in the supply chain inequality. The eleventh to fifteenth SDGs from field to market to consumer. This provides a framework for sustainability, requires an interlinked perspective in touching issues relating to urbanisation, interventions for food security. Every step of consumption and production, climate food production and access, including change, natural resources and the storage and distribution, has to be taken environment. The sixteenth goal focuses on into consideration. A clear roadmap, peace and justice, while the seventeenth c o n s i s t i n g o f n o d a l p o i n t s f o r g o a l d e s c r i b e s t h e m e a n s o f implementation, monitoring and reporting, implementation for all SDGs, emphasising is required.the global partnerships required for

countries to together achieve the Affordable Housing, Power, Water development agenda. and Sanitation

To attain the SDGs in the specified time India released a list of the first 20 cities frame of fifteen years, it is necessary to shortlisted so far under the Prime Minister’s h a v e a c l e a r r o a d m a p f o r t h e ‘Smart Cities Mission’. Prime Minister Modi implementation process. The compilation has vowed to create 100 new smart cities by of data pertaining to development 2022. Important elements of these Smart indicators in India’s 600+ districts against Cities include adequate water supply and specific targets, and the study of sanitation, reliable electricity, efficient solid effectiveness and impact of interventions and wastewater management, efficient implemented in these districts, would be public transport, effective use of IT helpful in monitoring and mid-course techno log ies , e -governance and correction. India’s development trajectory sustainable environment. Other focus will have to address key concerns in the areas include creating walkable localities; areas of food security, livelihoods and reducing congestion, pollution and income generation, affordable housing, resource depletion; spurring the growth of power, water, sanitation, health and the local economy; developing safe and


secure open public spaces; and revitalising partnership model would be essential to

the cultural identity of the city. move fast towards achieving the SDGs in

India.Education

I am p leased that Deve lopment The paradigm of poverty, illiteracy and child Alternatives, with support from Heinrich labour can only be addressed through BöllStiftung, has developed the current holistic education. Holistic education study to map the global goals in India. The models include quality teaching, availability study analyses India’s indicator framework of teaching aids, mid-day meals, water, and statistical capacity, highlighting the hygiene, toilets, playgrounds and periodic challenges and opportunities in monitoring medical care. India’s demographic dividend and reporting progress towards the SDGs. would remain untapped if girl children’s The analysis conducted in this study is education does not receive the attention it particularly pertinent as the global deserves.Therefore it is extremely vital to community is reviewing and finalising the focus on the education of girls through indicators that will be used to track the a l igned government pol ic ies and SDGs, and nations are grappling with the programmes which entail adequate challenge of aligning their national data incentives and motivation to send the girls collection and reporting mechanisms with to schools. international requirements. The study has

developed narratives on the indicator Climate Change

framework for six goals that are important

national priorities for India, as highlighted Climate change affects the poor,

above: SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 6 (clean marginalised and disadvantaged the most.

water and sanitation), SDG 7 (affordable It is important to work on improving

and clean energy), SDG 8 (decent work and simultaneously India’s energy intensity and

economic growth), SDG 11 (sustainable emissions intensity, targeting all key

cities and communities) and SDG 12 industry sectors, and measuring outcomes

(responsible consumption and production). through suitably developed metrics.

This report may be used as a guideline for Greening of core operations of businesses

policymakers and statistical agencies to and investing in positive impact sectors and

strengthen India’s statistical systems, and technologies would be essential to tackle

also by private stakeholders who have an emerging global challenges of climate

important role to play in financing many of change. Suitable adaptation programmes

the interventions and reforms required to for all the districts of the country need to be

achieve the SDGs in India.prepared and worked upon particularly in

the focus areas of water and agriculture.

Partnerships

Implementation of plans and programmes Ashok Baran Chakraborty

in a time bound manner is possible only Head – Centre of Excellence for

through suitable partnerships and Sustainable Development

participation of all key stakeholders Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs

including civil society organisations in every (Ministry of Corporate Affairs)

district in the country. A decent, transparent


Executive Summary

About the Sustainable Development recommendations to policymakers and

Goals and Indicators s takeho lders w i th a purpose o f

strengthening data systems for the The 17 Sustainable Development Goals

indicators.(SDGs) and 169 targets under these goals,

adopted by 193 member states of the Scope - The study focuses on indicators

United Nations in September 2015, outline pertaining to six SDGs which are as follows:

the future that the world aspires to achieve SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 6 (clean water

in from 2016 to 2030. The SDGs cover a and sanitation), SDG 7 (affordable and

broad range of interconnected issues, from clean energy), SDG 8 (decent work and

economic growth to social issues to global economic growth), SDG 11 (sustainable

public goods. cities and communities) and SDG 12

(responsible consumption and production).The indicators to track the SDGs are

currently being developed by the Inter- Methodology - The method of inquiry

Agency and Expert Group on SDG includes primary and secondary research.

Indicators (IAEG-SDG). It is significant to Primary research included interviews with

outline this current process for an overall leading experts, and a national multi-

comprehensive understanding of the stakeholder consultation. Secondary

situation with respect to the SDGs. Around research encompassed an analysis of the

229 indicators were finalised as of statistical capacity of India. Specific Indian

December 2015, with the complete list indicators are analysed through the

scheduled to be released in March 2016. following frame of analysis: methodological

Countries need to put in place appropriate issues in data collection and dissemination,

mechanisms for timely, transparent and and appropriateness of indicators to local

reliable data collection, monitoring context and/or national priorities.

protocols, data analysis and research, as Part I - Strengthening India’s Statistical

well as sufficient means and resources to Capacity

carry forward these exercises.

This section explores the role of About the Study

government agencies in tracking the global

Objectives - The objectives of the present goals, and describes some challenges and

study are two-fold. The first objective is to opportunities in strengthening India’s

describe the existing statistical capacity of statistical capacity. Specific areas of

India while highlighting the challenges, intervention are identified for the use of

gaps and opportunities to track the SDGs. various stakeholders such as statisticians,

The second objective is to explore the civil society organisations, government

extent to which existing Indian indicators statistical agencies, and data analysts.

are aligned with global requirements, i.e. Who will Track the Global Goals in India?

the IAEG-SDG indicators, as well as in the

local context; to describe challenges in NITI Aayog is the nodal government agency monitoring, measurement and evaluation of for coordinating SDG implementation in t h e i n d i c a t o r s ; a n d t o p r o v i d e India and monitoring progress. The Ministry


o f S t a t i s t i c s a n d P r o g r a m m e time and effort required to access OGD.

Implementation (MosPI) is the nodal Media reports acclaim India’s OGD

government agency for tracking and platform for its flexibility, robustness and

reporting data on progress towards SDGs. n o n - i n v o l v e m e n t o f c o m m e r c i a l

application. However, a key challenge is the India’s Overall Statistical Capacity

absence of metadata for many datasets.

India scored 77.8 in 2015 on a scale of 0-Ease of Understanding - Due to the large

100 in World Bank’s Statistical Capacity range of poverty estimates derived from

Indicator. It is encouraging that India varying methodologies and sources, the

performed better than comparable general public often does not understand

developing nations; China scored 70.0 and what to make of poverty in India. Moving

Brazil scored 65.6 in the same year. A 2004 forward, as India progresses towards

study by the International Monetary Fund achieving the SDGs, it is important that

found thatIndia’s macroeconomic statistics, indicators used reflect the target they

on balance, follow international statistical represent to the greatest extent possible,

recommendations. This indicates that the for objective representation and ease of

reforms required to strengthen India’s interpretation.

statistical capacity are not major structural

or systemic reforms but smaller (but crucial) Periodicity - Surveys conducted one-time

fine-tuning reforms. and not repeated periodically make it

difficult to analyse trends. Progress towards India is one of the few countries conducting

SDGs has to be benchmarked, with target a Census, nation-wide sample surveys and

indicator values for intermediate years various thematic periodic surveys at the

between 2016 and 2030. This has been a state and national level. Hence the

major problem in India.The last two statistical capacity and its strengthening

National Family Health Surveys were in would not require major structural reforms

2005-06 and 2014-15 respectively, at the national level. However, in the context

indicating almost a decade long gap in the of the SDGs, a large onus of assessing the

collection and dissemination of critical data implementation will be on the States and

on the population’s health outcomes. the data collected at the district level will be

NSSO conducts surveys every year on a extremely significant. Therefore statistical

range of socio-economic indicators; capacity needs to be improved at the

however survey topics are repeated only bottom rung – the district level.

once in five years. Therefore, data on

several important indicators is available Ensuring Data Transparency, Ease of only once in five years.Understanding and Periodicity

Plugging Data GapsTransparency - India‘s Open Government

Data (OGD) Platform at is Both of India’s largest surveys – the NSSO

a web portal with the aim to allow and Census surveys – are household-

government agencies to publish datasets, based, which means that within-household

documen ts , se rv i ces , t oo l s and disaggregated data is not available in India

applications collected by them for public for many crucial indicators. For example,

use. The government also runs portals that there is not even basic information available

collate data on specific themes in one on women’s ownership of assets.Similarly,

place.Such initiatives have reduced the

www.data.gov.in


http://www.data.gov.in

water and toilets are two critical concerns SDG 2 (Zero Hunger)

for women, but gender-disaggregated data The Sustainable Development Goal 2 deals

on access to these essential services is not with targets of food consumption and

available. production to ensure food security. The

Another data gap is non-availability of data consumption indicators are captured by

at the sub-state level. There are other data NSSO survey, the main source of

gaps in India in various sectors. In the information and data. The NSSO survey

health sector, information on preventive, captures changes in the dietary

promotive, rehabilitative and palliative consumption of food and nutrition by the

services;access/use of primary care Indian population. There are concerns

services, mental health, injuries, nutrition, about the length and extensive nature of the

chronic disease treatment, acute illness in NSSO survey that can lead to under/over

children, etc. is not available. In energy, the estimation of nourishment in India due to

most prominent gaps in availability of errors of recalling, fatigue and over-

energy data in India are with respect to multiplication.

consumption sectors and decentralised It is also important for India to measure the

small scale generation sources, and also availability of and access to food (inclusive

data on grid electricity quality and reliability. of micro-nutrient) for all its population. Apart

Major data gaps on economic indicators are from farmers directly growing their own

also faced in monetary policymaking. food, Public Distribution System in India is

Sector-wise methodological studies are responsible for availability of and access to

recommended to ascertain how to best plug food to all its citizens. This requires

data gaps in each sector.indicators to measure the efficiency and

Available technology may be leveraged or effectiveness of Public Distribution System.

new technologies innovated to plug data Ministry of Agriculture is the nodal ministry

gaps. Big data – the flood of information for collecting and reporting on agriculture

made possible by interactions on the production targets in the IAEG-SDG list of

internet – may be used to gather individual ind ica to rs . The unava i lab i l i t y o f

data points directly from people, albeit with disaggregated data on different classes

due caution as big data may or may not and categories of labour constrains the

possess desirable statistical properties. assessment of the labour productivity of

Global partnerships should be leveraged each class and thus measures of the overall

for countries to cross-learn and work well-being of the marginal groups like

together to enable the data revolution marginal and small farmers.

needed for effectively tracking SDGs.

The indicators for the production target in Part II - Analysis of the Indian Indicator

the IAEG-SDG list are inadequate with Framework

respect to the conditions of India. It is

The indicators that have been finalised by important to track value of food production

IAEG-SDG as of December 2015 were per unit resource used – water, land,

analysed to identify Indian counterparts, energy. Without this, one cannot track the

point out methodological issues and extensive natural resource consumption by

explore the appropriateness of indicators to agriculture sector which in turn impacts the

local context and/or national priorities. achievement of other goals using natural


resources (SDGs 6, 7, 11) and the ones that the method of collecting data from one

aim to improve the health of these natural member of the household.

resources (SDGs 14,15). Water use ?The NSS survey list of food has a total of

efficiency to track the progress of irrigation 209 elements including cereals,

status is critical in this case, for which the vegetables, cash crops, etc. Dropping

Ministry of Water Resources has begun to or combining certain items will reduce

set up mechanisms for collecting adequate data collection fatigue of surveyor and

data. The Ministry is in the process of the one being surveyed. A suggestion of

conducting base line assessment of water combining food items that can which

use efficiency of various micro and macro have similar base food may be helpful in

irrigation projects.this case. The grouping of food items

There is no indicator in the IAEG-SDG list and the specificity of the food list must

for the total use of fertilisers and the a l so ensu re t ha t i n t ake and

efficiency of fertiliser use. The Department consumption of micro-nutrient is not

of Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture collects missed.

the data for the use of chemical fertiliser, ?Implementation of Food Insecurity

which is an important indicator in the Indian Experience Scale Survey in India that

context.collects data for a 12 month period as

Based on the analysis, the following is a opposed to 7 day and 30 day recall

summary of recommendations. periods used by NSSO. Method and

timing of both surveys need to be ?Concern of seasonality on food

designed such that any abstract consumption is a critical factor in a

multiplication error can be prevented.country wi th huge rural -urban

temporary migration records. The ?It is recommended that the government

NSSO survey design (that is he revise the method of collecting

predominant source of information on agriculture land data in the Agriculture

food and nutrition status) should take C e n s u s a g a i n s t t h e g l a r i n g

into account spatial and temporal discrepancies with NSSO survey data.

variation in order to prevent distortions This may involve changing the

of the sample. approach of collecting data, or

developing systems to ensure changes ?The NSS survey collects information of

in land use pattern are informed at the a l l fami ly members f rom one

patwari or district level.representative family member who may

not be aware of the actual food SDG 6 (Safe Drinking Water and

consumption outside home of all other Sanitation)

members. In rural India, there are The Indian definition of ‘safe drinking water’

studies that show that one member may requires amendment, as there is evidence

not aware of the food consumption of to suggest that what Indian authorities call

the entire household as incidences of ‘safe’ is often not safe.

food outside home are higher in such

areas due to movement for labour work. The practice of focusing on only ‘access’ Addressing this will require change in indicators does not highlight concerns


relating to quality and efficiency of service • The Strategic Plan (2011-22) of the

delivery. The poor performance of water Ministry of Drinking Water and

access models – in particular inadequate Sanitation proposes the development of

operations and maintenance, and slippage a Management Devolution Index based

of habitations – is a pertinent problem and on selected indicators that measure the

requires monitoring. depth of management devolution for

use in allocation of incentive grants. Further, there is a need to track the

Such an Index should be developed existence, adequacy and effectiveness of

soon in consultation with stakeholders, the end-to-end sanitation chain in India as

and mainstreamed into planning current indicators do not adequately

processes.address the safe collection, transportation

and disposal of waste. • It is recommended that the existence,

adequacy and effectiveness of the end-In the area of sewage and effluent

to-end sanitation chain in India be treatment, there is scope to measure

tracked. This can be accomplished by performance metrics of facilities.

slightly amending existing indicators in

the Census and NSSO surveys. For Based on the analysis, the following is a starters, the percentage of population summary of recommendations.that defecates in the open despite

• The characterisation of groundwater access to a toilet may be measured. sources as ‘safe’ should be abandoned, Further, the extent to which toilets unless evidence from scientific tests constructed under the Swachh Bharat exists to back the claim. Data on water Mission are covered by a reliable water quality indicators are readily available supply and a safe disposal mechanism as they are tracked using IMIS by the for waste may be measured.Ministry of Drinking Water and

• Given India’s inadequate end-to-end Sanitation. Such data should now take management of sewage, additional the centre stage in policy planning.indicators pertaining to the performance

• Since per capita adequacy of water in and usage of wastewater are required, India is a major concern, it is namely i) percentage of STPs adhering recommended that the government to operations and maintenance track per capita availability of water and standards prescribed under the consumption of water, disaggregated Environmental (Protection) Rules for by use, and benchmark progress discharge into streams, ii) percentage towards contextually appropriate of conventionally treated sewage for threshold values. irrigation of crops not eaten raw, and iii)

percentage of STPs in which treated • A useful indicator that captures the

effluent conforms to prescribed quality effects of adequate operations &

standards. These indicators, however, maintenance, and source sustainability

are likely to be expensive to physically of water resources is slippage. It is

measure. One possible solution is to recommended that slippage, which

have STPs self-report this information.directly reflects the aforementioned

variables, be tracked actively as an • Installed capacity for effluent treatment indicator. in CETPs is the only currently available


indicator that is somewhat aligned with capita or household electr icity

the IAEG-SDG indicator for the target in consumption thresholds for rural and

question. However, performance urban areas may be set and adherence

metrics including capacity utilisation to these thresholds measured

should be tracked more frequently by • To measure affordability of energy,

CPCB or SPCBs (the last CPCB study percentage of per capita income (or

was in 2005). Alternatively, CETPs household income) spent on energy

should be asked to self-report this may be measured. The government

information.may want to set threshold values for this

SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) indicator to monitor that affordable

electricity is available to all. The The first challenge for a researcher or

government threshold for this indicator policymaker is the definition of electricity

should be applied only for low income access in India, which allows villages that

households (as it may not have much are not adequately electrified to still count

meaning for high-income households) as electrified. Another challenge is to

to ensure that these households are not reconcile the divergence of data available

paying more than their due share for from NSSO and Census surveys.

electricity.

Further, given India’s local context of • To measure reliability of electricity,

unreliable intermittent power supply and number of hours of load shedding per

low per-capita energy consumption, there is day (or per month) disaggregated by

a need to move beyond access indicators region may be used as an indicator.

and measure other aspects of energy

consumption such as energy affordability, • To assess “modernity” of energy

reliability and modernity. access, the government should first

define what kind of “modernity” it aims Disaggregated data on renewable energy

for and accordingly choose indicators share by source of renewable energy is not

for monitoring and evaluation.easily available in India.

• In addition to energy intensity, With regard to energy efficiency, ‘energy

emissions intensity should also be intensity’ and ‘emissions intensity’ present

closely monitored in line with India’s themselves as important variables. The

INDC commitments.IAEG-SDG framework only includes the

former. • The government should also closely

monitor the Energy Sustainability Based on the analysis, the following is a

parameters generated by the World summary of recommendations.

Energy Council, and ensure that these

scores improve as India makes • To ensure timely availability of reliable progress towards SDG 7.data and avoid divergence of data

available from NSSO and Census SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic

surveys, the NSSO and Census Growth)

questionnaires may be aligned.

There are two major employment and • To measure access to electricity, per

unemployment surveys in India, conducted


by the NSSO and Labour Bureau part time work for usually active

respectively. The surveys have similar workers, number of hours of work per

concepts and definitions; therefore the day etc.) may be included in the

question arises whether both need to be Employment and Unemployment

conducted, especially in the same year as Surveys of NSSO and Labour Bureau.

has happened in the past. Methodological studies should be

undertaken to identi fy specif ic India’s informal economy can be described

indicators and data.in terms of enterprises and/or conditions of

employment. There is scope to include • To track the much-desired formalisation

probing questions to ascertain the of the informal enterprise, an “ease of

conditions of employment of people in doing business by MSMEs” index may

employment surveys. be formulated by including a few

probing questions in India’s existing Some wage surveys in India are conducted

enterprise surveys. These questions quite infrequently, and in some cases one

should provide insights on the degree of wage survey is found to be duplicating the

formalisation in MSMEs’ regular effort of another.

activities. One such question, for

example, could be whether the Further, with regard to child labour, enterprise has a bank account.statistics are simply derived from age-wise

distribution of workers, demoting child • Further research on methods to

labour to a mere economic phenomenon estimate earnings of the self-employed

and ignoring its social and human rights is recommended.

characteristics.

• An International Labour Organization Based on the analysis, the following is a

(ILO) study notes that the occupations summary of recommendations.

covered in the Occupation Wage

Survey were identified almost 40 years • Reflection is recommended on whether ago and have not been revised to reflect it is necessary to conduct both NSSO changes in rural occupations. A revision and Labour Bureau surveys for the is therefore required at the earliest.same indicators on employment and

unemployment, especially in the same • The Occupational Wage Survey is the

year as happened in 2011-12.only source of occupation-wise wage

data. However, it seems to be quite • Labour market data, particularly irregular and there appears to be a large employment and unemployment data, delay between the administration of should be tracked at least quarterly. The survey and publishing of the findings, frequency of data collection should often rendering the findings irrelevant. match the frequency with which There is a need to determine the important policy decisions relevant to appropriate frequency of this survey the sector are made.and administer the survey according to

• More probing questions on the nature of this frequency. It is also recommended working conditions, job security, safety that the time taken to compile and and durability of employment(for publish data be reduced.example, non-regularity of work and



• A new definition of child labour that there is no metric that is followed by a

looks at the issue from a social and government agency. Town planning policies

human rights angle in addition to an need to expand to include holistic usage of

economic angle is recommended. public spaces.

• It is recommended that at least a Based on the analysis of indicators under

decennial survey of t ime use, SDG 11, following is a summary of

particularly of children, be attempted, recommendations:

learning from the pilot experience of the • A “bottom-up” approach, where local

Time Use Survey.data can be fed upstream, through a

• Disaggregated data on children’s sometimes complex system of statistics

involvement in various hazardous as well as policies and strategies, is

occupations and processes (as defined required. This would contribute to

by the Child Labour (Protection and further strengthening the cities as

Regulation) Act) is not available but is stakeholders and significant actors for

important. It is recommended that sustainability work. Importantly, this

collection of this data be integrated into also can be seen as an important step

existing NSSO surveys. forward in terms of the inclusion of local

and regional policymakers, as well as SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and

citizens all over the world, in this work. Communities)

• Many indices on mapping and tracking India’s urban population grew from the 290

urban deve lopment has been million reported in the 2001 census to an

developed by diverse stakeholders estimated 340 million in 2008, and could

Siemens with cities Index, in our own soar further to 590 million by 2030. This will

interviews with Centre for Sustainable pose an unprecedented policy and

Development and urban index is in the managerial challenge.

process, academic institutions such as

ISB has also released their smart cities There is no universal definition of index and green city index, CSO and ‘affordable housing’ in India and thus, national level data collectors need to estimating the demand and shortfall is a also observe the methodologies, key challenge. Further, the definition of findings from these respective sources. ‘convenient access’ to public transport Especially in the context when the requires thorough expansion since it is not government has released the list of first made clear by the concerned government 20 smart cities, the responsibility to agency. Hence, tracking of this indicator will measure the urban development has pose an immense challenge. increased for CSO and statistician.

Aspects of participatory decision-making in What metrics they will follow needs to be the case of land use for housing, closely observed.development, agriculture, etc. are virtually

• A direct engagement with the issue of absent. There are policies that aim to deal land value and land-value “capture” as a with these issues, but there is scope for means of financing and maintaining exploring this indicator in greater detail.inclusive and accessible public spaces

With regard to access to open public space, to achieve Target 11.7.


• The measuring indicator for India to There is currently no periodically measured

monitor public spaces needs effective indicator in India on food loss or food waste.

examin ing and wi l l requ i re a There are two possible tracks for estimating

combination of geospatial data and food loss as described above – one is the

user-perception surveys, especially physical measurement of food loss at each

when the indicator in consideration is a stage of the supply chain, and the other is

quantitative one that would specify the the GFLI method which estimates overall

area of public space in proportion to a food loss by observing physical factors that

city’s total space. contribute to food loss.

There is a need to develop a national To report on the current SDG target, India

information system and knowledge base needs to have robust administrative

with a focus on urban poverty and slums for records to supply information that is

better planning, policymaking, project required to calculate the GFLI. Whether

formulat ion, implementat ion, and India has the required data for this can only

monitoring and review, especially in the be analysed after the development,

area of slum development. This is in validation and publication of GFLI.

accordance with the objective of the Data on recycling in India is scarce. There is

Eleventh Five-Year Plan, which adopted the no established practice of periodic

concept of “inclusive growth” as the key measurement of waste generated and

development pattern for the country.recycled.

SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and The Public Procurement Bill, 2012 is under

Production)discussion in the parliament, which seeks to

The study develops a matrix to identify and regulate and ensure transparency in

map existing policies that address procurement by the central government

sustainable consumption and production and its entities. However, the focus of the

(SCP), and to identify gaps in the existing bill is to bring transparency in the

policy framework. The matrix includes six procurement procedures. Comparing it with

sectors and three categories of policy the expectations laid by the UNEP analysis

instruments – regulatory, economic and of indicators, it is clear that to fulfil the target

planning. Policies mapped in the matrix on sustainable public procurement the bill

address the four critical SCP concerns should aim to promote responsible

(critical thresholds, resource decoupling, c o n s u m p t i o n , r e d u c e a d v e r s e

impacts decoupling, social benefits). environmental impacts and enhance social

benefits.With regard to material footprint, it is found

that pressures on raw materials do not The ethos of the target on corporate

necessarily decline as affluence grows but sustainability requires thorough integration

o n l y g e t s e x p o r t e d t o o t h e r of sustainability into the corporate

developing/under-developed countries. sustainability reporting mechanisms.

This demonstrates the need for policy-Based on the analysis, a summary of

makers to consider new accounting recommendations is as follows.

methods that more accurately track

resource consumption.

• The Ministry of Statistics, Planning and • India may adopt a useful data collection

Implementation (MoSPI) may utilise the tool created by the World Bank for urban

matrix developed in this study for solid waste management. Intended to

mapping the policies in the sector that be used at the city level, the tool covers

regulate, incentivise and plan for SCP varied activities including waste

patterns. collection, recycling, transfer station,

landfi l l /dump (open or closed), • As pressures on raw materials do not

composting, and waste-to-energy necessarily decline as affluence grows

initiatives.but only gets exported to other

developing/under-developed countries, • India’s public procurement policy, it is recommended that policymakers cur rent ly under d iscuss ion in consider new accounting methods that Parliament, should aim to promote more accurately track resource responsible consumption. It should consumption. incentivise sustainably produced goods

and hence contribute in influencing • There are two possible tracks for

manufacturing patterns in business. estimating food loss as described above

This element is missing in the current – one is the physical measurement of

public procurement bill. Further, the food loss at each stage of the supply

public procurement policy should not chain, and the other is the GFLI method

only aim for reducing adverse which estimates overall food loss by

environmental impacts but also observing physical factors that

enhancing social benefits.contribute to food loss. In the Indian

context, it is important for both tracks to • While corporate sustainability reporting be used to estimate food loss for at least is widely practiced in the country, the one year, to see the extent to which the Ministry of Corporate Affairs should two tracks converge or diverge in their formulate a universal Corporate estimates for that year and thereby Sustainability Reporting Framework establish the reliability of GFLI in comprising of selective indicators drawn capturing the actual physical losses of from global and domestic reporting food. practices. The sustainability reporting

should be directly mandated from the • It is recommended that CPCB initiate a

government and its applicability should system for periodic studies of MSW

be extended to all business entities. management in a sample of cities, with

Further, a relook into the prescribed earmarked funds for the purpose. All

annual reporting format under Section studies should be made available in the

135 of the CSR Act, 2014 is suggested. public domain.

Currently, the format has a restricted

scope of measuring project based • Data on safety, hygiene and worker

modalities. It should be extended welfare should also be tracked within

towards the SDG principles and include existing sector-specific surveys and

certain indicators which enable a also general employment surveys

company to align its CSR initiative with described in the SDG 8 section.

the relevant SDG target, i.e. target 12.6.


Background

health, education and other social needs by About the Sustainable Development 2015. This enabled the United Nations to Goalsmonitor the progress made on these counts

The 17Sustainable Development Goals by member countries and helped ascertain (SDGs) and 169 targets under these goals, the success and failure with respect to each adopted by 193 member states of the goal. Likewise, the SDGs also provide for a United Nations in September 2015, outline framework of global development that can the future that the world aspires to achieve be measured, monitored and reported on in from 2016 to 2030. The predecessor of by individual countries. Each signatory to the SDGs, the Millennium Development the 2030 Global Agenda for sustainable Goals (MDGs), implemented from 2000 to development, while on one hand is 2015, allowed countries to learn from the responsible for contextualising the goals to successes and challenges of achieving a their own realities for implementation, on global development agenda. The end of the the other, has the primary responsibility for MDG period stressed the need of a new follow-up and review, at the national, order that would demonstrate the scale and regional and global levels.build of the MDGs, and integrate and

Notwithstanding the broad, generic and synergise the three dimensions of ambitious nature of the SDGs,the indicator sustainable development: economic, framework for SDGs sets indicators within social, and environmental well-being.The each target under each goal such that SDGs are more ambitious than the MDGs, progress can be accounted and reported. covering a broad range of interconnected These indicators will form the backbone of issues, from economic growth to social monitoring progress towards the SDGs.issues to global public goods.Collective

action and collaboration form the very The indicators to track the SDGs are

foundation of achieving the SDGs (see currently being developed by the Inter-

Figure 1 & Table 1).Agency and Expert Group on SDG

Indicators (IAEG-SDG). The IAEG-SDG Tracking the Sustainable has been mandated by the United Nations Development GoalsStatistical Commission (UNSC) to develop

The MDGs stressed onconcrete and an indicator framework for the SDGs at the

measurable improvements on an eight-fold global level. The indicators are scheduled

agenda comprising of eradication of to be finalised in March 2016.

poverty and hunger, and advancement in

1 (Jakarta, 2016)

“The 17 SDGs are our shared vision of humanity and a social contract between the world's

leaders and the people; they are a to-do list for people and the planet, and a blueprint for

success.”1 - Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General


Figure 1: The Basic Tenets of SDGs

Table 1: Key Principles of the 2030 Agenda

Global

Participation

Inclusion of voices of various stakeholders in the process of

creating the Agenda and seeking their efforts towards its

effective implementation.

Transformational

Governance

Inclusion of all forms of political, corporate and civil governance

to step up effective leadership commitments to achieve SDGs.

Leaving No One

Behind

Inclusion of people in the development process especially from

the ones placed at last mile post.

Following the Bangkok meeting in October the process the indicators were classified

2015 in which IAEG-SDG met for the as ‘green’ and ‘grey’ – green implying

second time to review the draft list of generally agreed indicators and grey

indicators, 4,588 comments were received implying the need of further discussion (see

on the global indicators marked green in a Box 1).

three-day consultation process. As a part of

2 Source: Developed by Radhika Ralhan, Senior Manager DA, for Development Alternatives on Piktochart (www.piktochart.com)


Box 1: Classification of SDG Indicators by IAEG-SDG

In November 2015, the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDG)

released the results of the list of indicators reviewed at the second IAEG-SDG meeting held

in Bangkok in October 2015. The indicators are currently classified in two categories:

Green Indicators - well established and have a general agreement

Grey Indicators - require in-depth research and discussions and are currently being

discussed

The final list of indicators will be released in March 2016. The current report looks at

indicators in the ‘green’ category.

At the conclusion of the Bangkok meeting, communication and advocacy campaigns.

159 indicators were coded green. Many of The indicators are crucial toensure

the comments received outlined that SDG consistency and collaboration in data

indicators were required to be relevant and compi la t ions , harmon isa t ion and

disaggregated by income, gender, age, rationalisation of development indicators,

ethnicity, migration status, disability, and policy-oriented statistics and statistical

g e o g r a p h i c l o c a t i o n o r o t h e r capacity building (DESA, 2015).

characteristics.A target specifies actions and interventions

The grey indicators are being addressed by that governments need to undertake to

the IAEG-SDGs from 1st December 2015 to ensure achievement of a goal. However, a

15th February 2016. The global indicator target does not immediately indicate how it

framework developed from the above is to be achieved or what is the benchmark

processes is mandated to be agreed upon for progress. This is well illustrated in the

during the 47th Session of the UNSC in the language of the goals. If we observe Goal

month of March 2016. This will eventually 1,“End poverty in all its forms everywhere”,

be adopted by the Economic and Social Target 1.4 states “by 2030, ensure that all

Council (ECOSOC) and the UN General men and women, in particular the poor and

Assembly. Governments may also develop the vulnerable, have equal rights to

their own national indicators to enable economic resources, as well as access to

monitoring on the goals and targets in basic services…” Similarly, under Goal

localised country contexts. The follow–up 6,“Ensure access to water and sanitation

and review process will be undertaken on for all”, Target 6.1 states “by 2030, achieve

an annual basis by the High Level Political universal and equitable access to safe and

Forum on Sustainable Development affordable drinking water for all”.The

through a SDG Progress Report to be wording clearly demonstrates the broad

prepared by the Secretary–General(Iyer, and subjective nature of the targets in the

2015). absence ofa numerical framework that

enables assessment of the progress The task before IAEG-SDG is, however, not

achieved over time. It is here that indicators without challenges, as the indicators form

play an important role in providing the the basis for the discussion of the

numerical framework that enables development agenda and in form

measurement of progress. If we observe


the proposed indicator for Target 1.1, The Need to Identify Indicators in

“p ropor t i on o f popu la t ion be low Country Contexts

international poverty line disaggregated by While global processes for identifying and

sex and age group and employment status developing indicators are underway,

(or proportion of employed people living countries especially developing countries

below the international poverty line)”, or that such as India need to reflect on their current

for Target 6.1,“percentage of population status of data collection for these indicators.

using safely managed drinking water The indicators will exert immense burden

services”, it is clear that indicators set a on the capacities of countries to collect data

benchmark for each target and a pragmatic for each of the 169 targets. Therefore,

methodology for each country to realise the appropriate mechanisms for timely,

specified goal. Determining appropriate transparent and reliable data collection,

indicators to support each target for each monitoring protocols, data analysis and

goal is, however, a daunting and critical research, as well as sufficient means and

cha l lenge tha t the in te rna t iona l resources to carry forward these exercises,

development community needs to need to be put in place. This will enable

undertake in order to ensure that goals do countries to generate periodic progress

not remain purely aspirational.The social reports for indicators, enable evidence-

aspect of sustainable development also based decision-making, and ensure

highlights the role of qualitative indicators, transparency and accountability of

which have deep connotations of cultural, government initiatives. The SDG process

governance, lifestyle, habits and related will outline an imperative role for the

human development issues. Therefore a statistical units, offices and commissions as

careful consideration of indicators at local primarily they will be assigned with the task

and state level contexts has to be observed of collecting the data, conducting analysis

as to whether they have covered the broad and report ing to their respective

spectrum of sustainable development. governments.


About the Study

• SDG 11 - Make cities and human Objectivessettlements inclusive, safe, resilient and

The objectives of the study are two-folds. sustainableThe first objective is to highlight the

• SDG 12 - Ensure sustainable challenges and opportunities in India to

consumption and production patternsstrengthen statistical capacity for tracking

the SDGs. Part I covers this objective.Part II The study considers only those indicators

of this report covers the second objective, that have been finalised by the IAEG-SDG

which is:as of December 2015, i.e. indicators in the

‘green’ category. Indicators still in the ‘grey’ • To explore the extent to which existing

category, i.e. indicators that require in-Indian indicators are aligned with global

depth review by IAEG-SDG, are not requirements, i.e. the IAEG-SDG

analysed in this study.indicators, as well as local context

• To describe challenges in monitoring, Methodologymeasurement and evaluation of the

The mode of inquiry of the study consisted indicatorsof both secondary and primary research.

• To provide recommendations to Secondary Research - The study policymakers and stakeholders to conducted a thorough perusal of strengthen data systems for the government publications, especially indicatorspublications emerging from India’s

statistical offices such as National Sample ScopeSurvey Office and Office of the Registrar

The study focuses on indicators pertaining General & Census Commissioner. This was to the following SDGs: done to identify existing indicators in India

relevant to each SDG target as well as the • SDG 2 - End hunger, achieve food data collection mechanism for these security and improved nutrition and indicators. promote sustainable agriculture

Tools Utilised - The indicators were • SDG 6 - Ensure availability and mapped against corresponding IAEG-SDG sustainable management of water and indicators. Information on parameters such sanitation for allas the data collection agency, frequency of

• SDG 7 - Ensure access to affordable, data collection and the definitions used was reliable, sustainable and modern a lso co l lec ted f rom government energy for all publications and other existing literature.

Using this information, the indicators were • SDG 8 - Promote sustained, inclusive

analysed as per the objectives outlined and sustainable economic growth, full

above. In particular, methodological issues, and productive employment and decent

and appropriateness of indicators to local work for all


context and/or national priorities were indicators. Instead, indicators areanalysed

studied. from one or both of the below perspectives,

as applicable:Primary Research - The study gained

further inputs through interviews with Methodological Issues - The definitions

stakeholders and a national multi- used, process of data collection, periodicity

stakeholder consultation. of data collection, and availability of data in

the public domain were studied among Tools Utilised -

other parameters. This led to the

identification of methodological issues in • Interviews with Stakeholders - data collection and dissemination. For Representatives from the United example, under Goal 6 (clean water and Nat ions and a l l i ed agenc ies , sanitation), it was found that definitions of Government of India, civil society ‘safe drinking water’ used in India are organisat ions, corporates and inappropriate and require to be changed. consul t ing organisat ions were Such issues are described in the report for interviewed. A diverse group of those indicators for which they are stakeholders was chosen for the a p p l i c a b l e . W h e r e p o s s i b l e , interviews so as to collate diverse recommendations are provided to perspectives for this study.strengthen the method of data collection

• N a t i o n a l M u l t i - S t a k e h o l d e r and dissemination.Consultation - A consultation titled

Appropriateness to Local Context “Locating the SDG Indicators in the and/or National Priorities - Emerging Indian Context” was organised on 28 local ground-level situations as well as December 2015. It was attended by a national priorities were drawn out for each diverse group of stakeholders including target. It was then assessed whether the r ep resen ta t i ves f r om l ead ing Indian indicator captures these emerging corporates, civil society, UN agencies issues and priorities. Gaps in the indicator and Indian official statistical agencies. framework with respect to these priorities The experts extended their insights on are highlighted. For example, under Goal 7 the indicators, statistical systems and (affordable and clean energy), it was found the challenge of integrating the global that indicators of energy access completely agenda with national plans and miss out some qualitative aspects of access priorities.such as reliability of power supply, which is

Framework of Analysis pertinent in India given its notoriously

intermittent power supply and frequent In the process of developing indicators,

power cuts. The chal lenges and IAEG-SDG invited inputs from various

opportunities are described in the report for stakeholders, including countries and

those indicators for which a misalignment multilateral agencies as well as civil society.

was found between what the indicator The assessment of indicators was done on

captures and India’s local contexts and/or the basis of 3 criteria: feasibility, suitability

national priorities. Where possible, and relevance, based on which the

recommendations are provided to improve indicators were then strengthened. This

the appropriateness of indicators.study therefore refrains from further

critiquing the language of the IAEG-SDG


Part IStrengthening India’s Statistical Capacity

Strengthening India’s Statistical CapacityThe Sustainable Development Goals reporting data on progress towards SDGs.

(SDGs) and their 169 targets present a NITI Aayog clarifies its role on its website as

mammoth task of data collection and follows (NITI Aayog):

reporting. This would pose a challenge to

especially developing nations. Consider the “The task at hand for NITI Aayog is not first SDG of ending poverty. During the 10 merely to periodically collect data on SDGs year period between 2002 and 2011, as but to act proactively fructify the goals and many as 57 countries have zero or only one targets not only quantitatively but also poverty estimate (Serajuddin, Uematsu, maintaining high standards of quality. Wieser, Yoshida, & Dabalen, 2015). Ministry of Statistics and Programme Without periodic, reliable and relevant data, Implementation (MoSPI) has already it is impossible to make evidence-backed undertaken a parallel exercise of interaction decisions address inconsistencies in with the ministries to evolve indicators progress towards targets, expose reflecting the SDG goals and targets.”underlying reasons and undertake

Given the interconnected nature of the corrective action.SDGs and the corresponding need for inter-

India, too, has several gaps to close in the Ministerial collaboration as well as way it measures and reports data on crucial collaboration among national and sub-indicators. This section explores the national governments, cooperative challenges and opportunities India faces in federalism in India assumes fresh improving its statistical capacity. The next significance as the SDG agenda cannot be sub-section explores the question of who achieved without it. NITI Aayog assumes an will track the global goals in India; and is important responsibility of coordinating the followed by a brief on the overall strength of efforts of a large number of agencies.India’s statistical capacity as evaluated by

The NITI Aayog has already undertaken the leading multilateral agencies; and the exercise of mapping each SDG target to a challenges and opportunities in ensuring nodal Ministry (while also specifying other that India’s existing indicator framework is related Ministries whose roles will influence transparent, easy to understand and the target in question). Each Ministry will periodic. Finally, an illustration of some data also be responsible for reporting on gaps still prevalent in India and how these indicators that reflect the SDG targets they may be plugged is provided.are responsible for to the MoSPI, which will

Who will Track the Global Goals in then provide data to the NITI Aayog. This

India? data will then be used by the NITI Aayog to

track progress and change the course of NITI Aayog is the nodal government agency

action where required. The NITI Aayog will for coordinating SDG implementation in

work closely with the Ministries, who will in India and monitoring progress. The

turn work with state and distr ict Ministry of Statistics and Programme

governments as required, to implement the Implementation (MosPI) is the nodal

SDG agenda at the local level.government agency for tracking and


For the physical process of data collection, scored around 90), it is encouraging that

India has numerous surveys to track India performed better than comparable

indicators, especially those relating to developing nations; China scored 70.0 and

social and economic outcomes. The two Brazil scored 65.6 in the same year.

largest surveys in India are the Census of Further, India was able to execute its 2011

India and National Sample Surveys, Census at a reasonable cost of USD 0.5 per

conducted by the Office of the Registrar person, compared to the world average of

General and Census Commissioner, USD 4.6 per person (Chandramouli, 2011).

Ministry of Home Affairs; and the While it is possible that India’s massive

National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), population enables economies of scale in

MoSPIrespectively. The bulk of indicators the Census survey, the statistic is still

studied in this report are captured through impressive considering the challenges

either one or both of these two surveys. posed by India’s tremendous geographical

Both surveys cover a large number of and cultural diversity.

indicators ranging from employment to

access to toilets to household consumption A 2004 study by the International Monetary characteristics. Other sector-specific Fund (IMF, 2004) assessed the quality of surveys also exist in India to track specific India’s national accounts, consumer price indicators – such as the Annual Survey of index, wholesale price index, and Industries to track key economic government finance, monetary, and characteristics of formal manufacturing balance of payments statistics, as well as enterprises, and the Wage Rates in Rural India’s dissemination practices. The India survey to capture wage data of rural f ind ings of th is assessment are workers. encouraging; some of them are as follows:

India’s Overall Statistical Capacity • India is in observance of the

i n t e r n a t i o n a l S p e c i a l D a t a The World Bank defines statistical capacity

Dissemination Standard (SDDS) of IMF.as nation’s ability to collect, analyse and

disseminate high-quality data about its • Indian statistical agencies demonstrate

population and economy. The World Bank’s awareness of quality as the cornerstone

statistical capacity indicator is a composite of statistical work, although there is

score assessing the capacity of a country’s scope to improve coordination among

statistical system. It is based on a various ministries, state agencies and

diagnostic framework assessing the local bodies responsible for data

following areas: methodology; data collection and dissemination.3

sources; and periodicity and timeliness , • India’s macroeconomic statisticians

and provides an overall score on a scale of display a high degree of integrity.

0-100.

• India’s macroeconomic statistics, on It is interesting to note that India scored 77.8

balance, follow international statistical in 2015. While clearly there is scope for

recommendations, although there are improvement (the top performing countries

deviations.


3Countries are scored against 25 criteria in these areas, using publicly available information and/or country input. The overall Statistical Capacity score is then being calculated as simple average of all three area scores on a scale of 0-100.

The above observations provide a sense of research by academia, civil society, private

the degree of reforms India would require to sector and other stakeholders, often

strengthen its statistical capacity. The leading to formulation and dissemination of

Statistical Capacity score is high enough to diverse perspectives, important insights

indicate that India has the basic structures and recommendations for policymakers.

and systems it requires to collect data on India‘s Open Government Data (OGD)

socio-economic indicators. However, the Platform at www.data.gov.in is a web portal

score also indicates that there is enough with the aim to allow government agencies

potential for improvements within existing to publish datasets, documents, services,

structures. The reforms required are not tools and applications collected by them for

major structural or systemic reforms but public use. This platform was extensively

smaller (but crucial) fine-tuning reforms. used for the research in this report. It was

This is confirmed by the analysis of specific found to have an easy and intuitive user

data collection mechanisms in part II of the experience, a useful search option, and a

report.broad range of datasets on topics ranging

from government budgets to railway Ensuring Data Transparency, Ease of statistics to prices, all available for Understanding and Periodicitydownload.

For each UN member country, theSDG The government also runs portals that indicators will define their respective SDG collate data on specific themes in one processes and translate each target into place. For example, the Ministry of manageable units of information to facilitate Environment, Forest and Climate Change decision-making processes. Indicators are has set up the Environmental Information communication tools that report the System as a comprehensive network in progress against targets and will play an environmental information collection, essential role in the creation of substantive co l la t ion , s to rage, re t r ieva l and reporting, drawing out accountability of dissemination to varying users. The portal governance structures at all levels.includes data on sanitation, hygiene,

To perform these crucial functions sewage systems and technology collated effectively, data should be transparent, from various sources. The Ministry also easy to understand and collected at an manages a “State of Environment Atlas of appropriate periodicity to measure trends, India”, an interactive online atlas that among other properties. These properties provides swift and precise data on the state contr ibute to the methodological of environment by state and by district. robustness of data. The challenges and States input data into this portal. The atlas opportunities in achieving the same are allows one to visualise geo-spatial data on described below. environment under various themes.

Transparency The MoSPI publishes a yearly “Statistical

Year Book” consisting of datasets on vital The practice of making data transparent

social aspects such as housing, and open to all, subjects data to the

env i ronmen t , educa t i on , hea l t h , technical scrutiny of stakeholders, which

infrastructure and tourism.helps improve quality of data. Further,

transparency of data enables useful In India, such initiatives have reduced the


time and effort required to access OGD. higher than 40% in 2005; the Asian

While previously those looking for data Development Bank arrived at almost 50%;

would need to peruse various Ministry and the current World Bank estimate pegs

websites, now much of this data is collated poverty at around 21% (ibid).

in one place. To some extent, this also Due to the large range of estimates, the

reduces the dependency on Right to general public often does not understand

Information (RTI) applications for gathering what to make of poverty in India. Further,

data on government institutions in India. poverty is multi-dimensional in nature,

Additionally, such portals reduce the consisting of deprivations beyond income.

burden on the government itself to locate This is recognised in the Socio-Economic

data for both internal use and for Caste Census of India, which in 2011

responding to RTI applications. Media tracked seven types of deprivations. Clarity

reports acclaim India’s OGD platform for its is important on which deprivations are

flexibility, robustness and non-involvement considered in each poverty estimate and

of commercial application (Ujaley, 2015).what thresholds are used. Otherwise, the

The aforesaid portals are not without range of estimates allows the politicisation

chal lenges and opportuni t ies for of poverty for targeting and other purposes.

improvement. A key challenge is the Such politicisation neither helps in effective

absence of metadata for many datasets. planning and implementation, nor provides

One has to refer to other sources for reliable data for research and decision-

descriptions of key variables and making.

methodology used in data collection. Moving forward, as India progresses

Integrating metadata into these portals towards achieving the SDGs, it is important

would further increase the convenience of that indicators used reflect the target they

data access.represent to the greatest extent possible,

Ease of Understanding such that the general public, if aware of the

target in question and the indicator It is important that the data collected and

associated with it, can correctly interpret the disseminated by the government is easy to

data. This has not been observed in the understand and communicate.

case of “access to safe drinking water”, as

what Indian authorities call “safe” is not Consider the data on poverty. The erstwhile actually safe, as elucidated in part II of this Planning Commission estimated poverty report. Inappropriate definitions often result using methodologies suggested by various in deduction of diverse forms of subjective expert groups. In the last decade, the derivations, which in turn result in Rangarajan committee estimate put the misinterpretation of facts by general public. poverty rate at roughly 30%, the Suresh Amendments to such definitions need to be Tendulkar committee at 37% and the done with a view for better comprehension Saxena committee at 50%, while the Arjun for the general masses.Sengupta commission identified 77% of

Indians as "poor and vulnerable" (Ghosh, Periodicity

2011). Comparing these estimates to

international estimates of Indian poverty Surveys conducted one-time and not

creates still more confusion. The World repeated periodically make it difficult to

Bank's PPP estimate of Indian poverty was analyse trends. Progress towards SDGs


has to be benchmarked, with target The Index of Industrial Production (IIP), one

indicator values for intermediate years of the most important economic indicators

between 2016 and 2030. For this, it is in India indicating the level of domestic

essential that data be collected with an industrial activity, faces a similar problem. It

appropriate periodicity, so that trends may uses data from 22 different manufacturing

be analysed. sectors. Some of these sectors do not

report data to their respective Ministries as In defining the appropriate periodicity, an

periodically as they are required to. When important consideration is that the

data is not made available, the estimation of periodicity of data collection should match

IIP uses past data available from that sector the periodicity of important policy decisions

or past averages, which often leads to or interventions, while simultaneously

inaccuracies. This could be a possible keeping in mind feasibility concerns. This

reason for the frequent dips and spikes has been a major problem in India.

often found in IIP trends (Krishnan, 2015).

Similarly, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) For example, consider the case of health for coal, bauxite and limestone in India has indicators. Health indicators are critical not changed throughout 2014, despite the social development indicators, and are turmoil in global commodity prices during intricately linked to a range of other social that time (Krishnan, 2015) – this is certainly development initiatives ranging from dubious and could be due to lack of access to food, to access to safe water and periodically available data.sanitation. An important source of data on

health indicators in India is the National The time taken for publishing and

Family Health Survey (NFHS). The last two dissemination of data is just as important as

NFHS surveys were in 2005-06 and 2014-the timely and periodic collection of data. In

15 respectively, indicating almost a decade India, it often takes several years after the

long gap in the collection and dissemination administration of surveys for data to be

of critical data on the population’s health published in the public domain, as in the

outcomes!case of the Occupational Wage Survey –

the latest available set of data was collected NSSO conducts surveys every year on a in 2002, published in 2010 and is of almost range of socio-economic indicators; no relevance now given the dynamic and however survey topics are repeated only fast-changing nature of labour markets.once in five years. Therefore, data on

several important indicators is available Plugging Data Gaps

only once in five years. The NSSO

Employment Unemployment surveys Both of India’s largest surveys – the NSSO

provide labour market data once in five and Census surveys – are household-

years; whereas many nations monitor their based, which means that within-household

labour markets on a quarterly or even disaggregated data is not available in India

monthly basis, as that is the approximate for many crucial indicators. A consequence

frequency at which important monetary of this is that for many crucial indicators,

policy decisions are made. In fact, only for a gender-disaggregated data is not available,

very small number of social development as this requires surveys to either use

indicators in India is data available on an individuals rather than households as the

annual or more frequent basis. primary unit (or probe specifically for data

on women within household surveys).


For example, there is not even basic “Non-availability of data at sub-state level

information available on women’s prevented statistical monitoring at bottom

ownership of assets. All data collected on level. In order to generate estimates at sub-

the subject use the household as the unit of state level, sufficiently large samples are

a n a l y s i s , w i t h t h e o n l y g e n d e r required from each district making the total

disaggregation being the sex of the head of sample size so large, that, it is not found

the household. This holds for assets feas ib le due to cos t and o ther

ranging from land to livestock to housing. In organisational considerations.”

the case of land, the only estimate that can From the MoSPI’s statement it appears that

be derived from available data is the land India will have to live without sub-state level

area owned by female-headed households, data for some indicators for the time being.

which is itself only a residual category in the

Census. In the case of housing, Census There are other data gaps in India in various collects data on ownership status of houses sectors. Some gaps in health statistics are b u t t h e r e s p o n s e i s g i v e n a s enumerated in (Garg, 2014). These include 'owned/rented/other. ' There is no information on preventive, promotive, information on the owner: whether it is r e h a b i l i t a t i v e a n d p a l l i a t i v e singly or jointly owned and whether the services;access/use of primary care women in a household have any ownership services, mental health, injuries, nutrition, rights (IndiaToday.in, 2015). While it may be chronic disease treatment, acute illness in possible to obtain data on land or housing children, etc. A critical deficiency is in the ownership of women from official land and area of non-communicable diseases. It is housing records, this data has not yet been also well known in India that civil digitised for the whole nation, and is registration statistics in India require currently not consolidated and published for tremendous work. Birth registration is public use (Swaminathan, 2013). Similarly, estimated to range from as low as 50% in water and toilets are two critical concerns Bihar and Chhattisgarh to 100% in 13 states for women, but gender-disaggregated data (Garg, 2014).on access to these essential services is not

In the energy sector, (Prayas, 2015) has available.analysed the data gaps in India and

A possible way to provide gender- concluded that on the energy supply side, disaggregated data for asset ownership is while Ministries are already collecting data to digitise official records. While this is a on most indicators, there is insufficient time consuming and resource intensive publishing and dissemination of data. The process, it will in future substantially most prominent gaps in availability of increase convenience in accessing data. energy data in India are with respect to Another opportunity is to include probing consumption sectors and decentralised questions in existing household surveys on small scale generation sources, which women. service a large number of rural areas that

are not connected to the grid. Further, data Another data gap is non-availability of data

on grid electricity quality and reliability are at the sub-state level. MoSPI in its report on

not published.India’s progress towards the Millennium

Development Goals (MDGs) (MoSPI, With regard to economic indicators, a 2015) outlined the issue as recent Reserve Bank of India (RBI)


publication (RBI, 2014) describes major First, available technology may be

data gaps faced in monetary policymaking. leveraged or new technologies innovated to

Data gaps include indicators such as plug data gaps. Big data – the flood of

producer price index, services sector output information made possible by interactions

and price index, labour force survey, urban on the internet – may be used to gather

wages, retail sales, construction activity individual data points directly from people,

survey, and surveys of household without the need for field investigators. Big

indebtedness. RBI monetary policy affects data should of course be treated with

the entire economy and therefore, it is caution as it may not possess important

crucial that decisions are backed by sound statistical properties, however a well-

data; the data gaps mentioned should informed approach may be able to make

therefore be plugged at the earliest. use of big data despite this drawback.

Similarly, with respect to data on another Further, mobile phones, satellite imagery,

important economic phenomenon – social media, online transactions etc. may

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) – a study all be leveraged (providing due respect to

(NCAER, 2015) finds that there is lack of privacy of individuals).

data on the operations of foreign firms in Second, global partnerships should be

India, state and district break-up of FDI leveraged. MDG mon i to r ing has

inflows, specific nature of FDI activity within demonstrated the effectiveness of inter-

a sector, and the correct country source of agency collaboration on data collection and

FDI inflows. Another major gap that exists is review. During the MDG implementation

the absence of a complete inventory, phase, over thirty international agencies

location-wise, of foreign direct investors in worked effectively together to produce

the country. Indian political discourse often yearly reports on MDG progress, oversee

emphasises FDI as an important growth methodological developments on the

engine, therefore it is crucial that data on indicators, and ensure that the best and

FDI be collected and disseminated.most up-to-date data on the goals and

Sector-wise methodological studies are ta rge ts were made ava i lab le to

recommended to ascertain how to best plug policymakers and to the citizens (Global

data gaps in each sector; the current study Social Justice, 2015). These collaborations

attempts this exercise for indicators under 6 and partnerships need to be fortified in the

SDGs. Two broader recommendations are future to ensure effective data collection

as follows. and review for tracking the progress in

SDGs.


Part IIAnalysis of Indicators

1.6 tonnes

per hectare of

top soil lost

every year

50%women aged

between

15-49 years

are anaemic

Domestic

production will

only meet 59%of food demand

by 2030

End Hunger

Achieve Food Security

Improved Nutrition

Sustainable Agriculture


Analysis of Indicators for SDG 2(Zero Hunger)

“End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”

s e c t i o n a l s o h i g h l i g h t s t h e Structure of this Sectiondiscrepancies in total agriculture land

This section is organised as follows: and total farmers in India, which form

the base data used for calculating Introductionagriculture value per labour unit.

• Overview of SDG 2: A brief overview of • Usage of Irrigation Systems: The the targets under SDG 2 is provided.

approach of the Agriculture Census to • India and SDG 2: India’s current collect this information and the

scenario with respect to some of the constraints of the same are highlighted.SDG 2 targets is described.

• Usage of Eco-friendly Fertilisers: • Comparing the IAEG-SDG Indicators The source of information and method

with Indian Indicators: A tabular of calculation in India for eco-friendly comparison of IAEG-SDG indicators fertiliser use are described. It also throw with corresponding indicators currently light on the measuring the efficiency of measured in India for SDG 2 is given. fertiliser use in India.

Analysis of SDG 2 Indicators Indicators not in IAEG-list but critical for

India• Prevalence of Undernourishment:

This sub-section discusses what India • Water Use Efficiency in Irrigation: This measures as undernourishment, some section discusses the methodology of critical definitions and critical analysis of calculating water use efficiency and the the methods, and the design and data sets required for the same. It also structure of the household surveys provides recommendations after conducted by India to col lect assessment o f the da ta and information relevant to prevalence of methodology used.undernourishment.

• Evaluation of Public Distribution • Food Insecurity Experience Scale: A Systems: This section studies the

brief on the food insecurity experience components to assess the impact of scale, developed by FAO, is provided public distribution. It studies the surveys along with caveats for introducing the conducted to assess the common survey in India. errors in the data of these systems.

• Value of Production per Labour Unit: Summary of Recommendations: Based A brief on the method of calculating on the ana lys is , a summary o f value of agriculture production per recommendations for policymakers is labour unit in India is provided. This sub- provided.


cent of India’s food demand by 2030. This Overview of SDG 2indicates that greater attention is needed to

SDG 2 deals with ending hunger and i n c r e a s i n g p r o d u c t i v i t y t h r o u g h improving nutrition, promoting sustainable technologies and practices that do not agriculture and achieving food security. stress the natural resource base.While targets 2.1 and 2.2 deal with ending

Non-judicious and unbalanced use of hunger and end ing ma lnu t r i t i on

inorganic fertilisers and unsustainable respectively, targets 2.3 and 2.4 deal with

irrigation practices over the years resulted sustainability in food production systems

in deterioration of soil fertility in large parts especially agriculture, with a focus on

of productive agricultural land in India. strengthening resilience of these systems

About one millimetre of top soil is being lost to climate change. The goal recognises the

each year due to soil erosion and the rate of complex nature of food security, spanning

loss is 16.4 tonnes per hectare (The Hindu, food production, to access food, to

2010).absorption of nutrition by the body as

reflected in health outcomes.Food security is influenced by a number of

factors, including those that determine food India and SDG 2availability – domestic food production and

Despite rapid economic growth and gains in the capacity to import food – as well as reducing its poverty rate, India is saddled determinants of food access, including the with one of the highest levels of hunger and distribution of food among various malnutrition in the world. More than half of segments of the population. While the Indian women aged between 15 and 49 consumption and absorption indicators are years are anaemic, and more than one-third covered by Census and National Sample have a low body mass index. Among Survey Office, the Agriculture Ministry looks children younger than age five, 48 per cent closely at the data and indicators for have low height-for-age, and 42.5 per cent production end of food security. have low weight-for-age (DES, 2015).

Comparing the IAEG-SDG Indicators India’s agriculture production changed with Indian Indicatorsdramatically from 1957 to 1968, when the

The following table compares IAEG-SDG expansion of the country’s research

indicators with corresponding indicators capacity and initiation of price support 4programmes for farmers set the stage for currently measured in India for SDG 2 . The

the Green Revolution. However, there has table only includes indicators that have

been a drop in the productivity growth over been finalised by the IAEG-SDG as of

time. According to the Global Agriculture December 2015. Indicators still in the “grey”

Productivity (GAP) Report 2014 (Global category, i.e. indicators that require in-

Harvest Initiative, 2014), at the current rate depth review by IAEG-SDG, have been

of total factor productivity (TFP) growth, omitted. In the case of SDG 2, the targets

domestic production will meet only 59 per and indicators omitted in this study are:

4The table only includes indicators that have been finalised by the IAEG-SDG as of December 2015. Indicators still in the “grey” category, i.e. indicators that require in-depth review by IAEG-SDG, have been omitted. In the case of SDG 2, this includes indicators under Targets 2.a and 2.c

• Target 2.a Increase investment, • Target 2.c Adopt measures to ensure

i n c l u d i n g t h r o u g h e n h a n c e d the proper functioning of food

international cooperation, in rural commodi ty markets and the i r

infrastructure, agricultural research and derivatives and facilitate timely access

extension services, technology to market information, including on food

development and plant and livestock reserves, in order to help limit extreme

gene banks in order to enhance food price volatility. The indicator under

agricultural productive capacity in discussion is “Indicator of (food) Price

developing countries, in particular least Anomalies (IPA)”.

developed countries. The indicator

under discussion is “The Agriculture

Orientation Index (AOI) for Government

Expenditures”.



Table 2: IAEG-SDG and Indian Indicators for SDG 2

IAEG-SDG Indicator Corresponding Indicator in India with Available Data

Frequency of Data Collection in India

Data Collecting Agency in India

Target 2.1 By 2030, end hunger and en sure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round

Prevalence of undernourishment Intake of dietary energy Quinquennial National Sample Survey Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

Prevalence of population with moderate or severe food insecurity, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)

Food Insecurity Experience Scale

Currently piloted by FAO, aim to align it with national surveys for disaggregation

Potentially, National Sample Survey Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

Target 2.2 By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on st unting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons

Prevalence of stunting (height for age <-2 SD from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under five years of age

Prevalence of stunting among children under five years of age (height for age)

Quinquennial National Family Health Survey, International Institute of Population Studies

Prevalence of wasting Prevalence of wasting (weight for height)

Quinquennial National Family Health Survey, International Institute of Population Studies

Target 2.3 By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small -scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment

Value of production per labour unit (measured in constant USD), by

Total production and value of production

Annual Directorate of Economics & Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture





classes of farming/pastoral/ forestry enterprise size Number of farmers/

agriculture workers Decennial

Census of India – lffice of the oegistrar deneral C Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs

Target 2.4 By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality

Percentage of agricultural area under sustainable agricultural practices

Not available

Percentage of agricultural households using irrigation systems compared to all agricultural households

Estimated number of operational holdings by size classes and irrigation status (fully irrigated, partially irrigated and un-irrigated)

Quinquennial Agriculture Census, Ministry of Agriculture

Percentage of agricultural households using eco-friendly fertilizers compared to all agricultural households using fertilizers

Cultivable land under organic certification

Annual Agriculture and Processed Food products Export Development Authority, Ministry of Commerce and Industry

2.b Correct and prevent trade restrictions and distortions in world agricultural markets, including through the parallel elimination of all forms of agricultural export subsidies and all export measures with equivalent effect, in accordance with the mandate of the Doha Development Round

Per cent change in Import and Export tariffs on agricultural products

Import and export tariffs on agriculture products

Annual Central Board of Excise and Customs, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance

Target 2.1 By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including

infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round





Prevalence of undernourishment Intake of dietary energy Quinquennial

National Sample Survey Office, Ministry

of Statistics and Programme

Implementation

Prevalence of population with

moderate or severe food

insecurity, based on the Food

Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)

Food Insecurity Experience

Scale

Currently piloted by

FAO, aim to align it

with national surveys

for disaggregation

Potentially,National Sample Survey

Office, Ministry of Statistics and


Target 2.2 By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and

wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and

older persons

Prevalence of stunting (height for

age <-2 SD from the median of the

WHO Child Growth Standards)

among children under five years of

age

Prevalence of stunting among

children under five years of

age (height for age)

Quinquennial

National Family Health Survey,

International Institute of Population

Studies

Prevalence of wasting Prevalence of wasting (weight

for height) Quinquennial

National Family Health Survey,

International Institute of Population

Studies

Target 2.3 By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous

peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and

inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment

Value of production per labour unit

(measured in constant USD), by

classes of farming/pastoral/

Total production and value of

production Annual

Directorate of Economics & Statistics,

Ministry of Agriculture

Number of farmers/ Decennial Census of India – lffice of the



basis of data on household monthly per Prevalence of Undernourishmentcapita consumption expenditure (MPCE).

How FAO Measures Prevalence of The last four NSS reports on nutritional Undernourishment intake in India have been those based on

NSS 50th round (1993-94), 55th round Intake of dietary energy per person (1999-2000), 61st round (2004-05) and continues to be the most widely used 66th round surveys. The household indicator of the level of nutrition of a consumer expenditure schedule used for population. FAO estimates the prevalence the survey collected information on quantity of undernourishment, defined as the and value of household consumption. The proportion of the population in the country schedules of enquiry used are of two types. with a level of dietary energy consumption The two types had the same item break-up lower than the dietary energy requirements. but differed in reference periods used for For the indicator of “prevalence of collection of consumption data. Schedule undernourishment”, the FAO methodology Type 1, as far as reference periods are accepts the view that (FAO, 2001): concerned, is a repeat of the schedule used

• N o u r i s h m e n t a s a s o c i a l l y / in most quinquennial rounds. For certain demographically relevant phenomenon categories of relatively infrequently refers to food intake, purchased items, including clothing and

consumer durables, it collects information • Food intake can be measured through

on consumption during the last 30 days and the amount of dietary energy, on the

the last 365 days. For other categories, account that the correlation between

including all food and fuel and consumer dietary energy and quality of the diet is

services, it uses a 30-day reference period. expected to be close to one.

Schedule Type 2 used ‘last 365 days’ (only)

for the infrequently purchased categories, What India Measures

‘last 7 days’ for some categories of food The household dietary energy consumption items, as well as pan and tobacco, and ‘last is calculated by NSS surveys, conducted by 30 days’ for other food items and fuel. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). table below summarises the reference Household food consumption at the periods used for collection of consumption national and state levels is computed on the data in the Schedules.

Table 3: Reference periods for collecting consumption data in Schedule 1.0, Type 1 & Type 2

Source: (NSSO, 2012)

Category

Item Groups

Reference Period for

Schedule Type 1

Schedule Type 2

I Clothing, bedding, footwear, education, medical (institutional), durable goods

Last 30 days & 365 days

Last 365 days

II Edible oil; egg, fish & meat; vegetables, fruits, spices, beverages and processed foods; pan, tobacco & intoxicants

Last 30 days Last 7 days

III All other food, fuel and light, miscellaneous goods and services including non-institutional medical, rents and taxes

Last 30 days Last 30 days


Consumer unit: The data on food Key Definitionsconsumption is collected for households as

Energy intake: The three components of a whole and not for individual members. food which provide this energy are The distribution of calorie intake over carbohydrates, fat and proteins. Proteins persons is derived by deriving per capita normally supply 10-12% of energy in most calorie intake of the household from diets; energy that carbohydrates and fat consumer unit. Consumer unit is a unit used contribute may vary from diet to diet. as an indicator of the energy requirement of Quantitative food requirements are usually a group of persons of different sexes and set in terms of energy. The unit of ages. Taking the calorie requirement of an measuring energy is kilocalorie (Kcal) average male in the age group 20-39 doing which is the amount of heat necessary to sedentary work as the norm, the average raise the temperature of one kg of water by calorie requirements of males and females 1 degree Celsius from 14.5 to 15.5 degrees of other age groups are expressed as a ratio Celsius. This is also called 1 Calorie and to this norm (see table).equals 1000 calories.

Table 4: Consumer Units by Age

Source: (NSSO, 2012)

Meal: A ‘meal’ is composed of one or more daughter residing in a hostel for studies is

readily eatable (generally cooked) items of excluded from the household of his/her

food, the major constituent of which is parents, but a resident employee or

usually cereals. The meals consumed by a resident domestic servant or paying guest

person twice or thrice a day provide him/her (but not just a tenant in the house) is

the required energy (calorie) and other included in the employer/host's household.

nutrients for living and for pursuing his/her Household consumer expenditure: The

normal avocations. A ‘meal’, as opposed to expenditure incurred by a household on

‘snacks’, ‘nashta’ or ‘high tea’, contains a domestic consumption during the reference

larger quantum and variety of food. Even period is the household's consumer

then, if the quantum of food in a plate is as expenditure. Expenditure incurred towards

heavy as a usual meal, the contents of the productive enterprises of households is

food plate are considered as a ‘meal’.excluded from household consumer

Household: A group of persons normally expenditure. Also excluded are expenditure

living together and taking food from a on purchase and construction of residential

common kitchen constitutes a household. land and building, interest payments,

The word "normally" means that temporary insurance premium payments, payments of

visitors are excluded but temporary stay- fines and penalties, and expenditure on

aways are included. Thus, a son or gambling including lottery tickets. Money

given as remittance, charity, gift, etc. is not What Critics Say

consumer expenditure. However, self-1. Recall period used for measurement – 30

consumed produce of own farm or other days or 7 days?

household enterprise is valued and

inc luded in household consumer The arguments given below are found in expenditure. (Sridhar, 2000).

Calculation of Household Intake of Recall periods are one of the most Calories, Protein and Fat important parameters in a Household

Consumption and Expenditure Survey The quantities of food recorded as

(HCES), and yet there is no obvious or consumed based on the food consumption

commonly agreed-upon recall period. In expenditure by the household are

part, this is because the choice is likely to be converted into the equivalent amounts of

conditioned by other characteristics of the calories, protein and fat on the basis of a

survey — such as whether data are Nutrition Chart largely based on an ICMR

collected using a diary or an interview, pub l i ca t i on (Gopa lan , Sas t r i , &

whether or not there are multiple visits, how Balasubramanian, 1991) which gives the

long the food list is, and the amount of time calorie, protein and fat content per unit of

required to conduct the survey — and other different foods in the Indian diet. Household

contextual factors — such as the diversity of food consumption is measured by the

the diet, the rate of literacy, degree of quantity of the article actually used by the

urbanisation and the level of income.household during the reference period,

irrespective of the expenditure incurred on Until the 50th round of the National Sample it. The consumption may be out of: Survey in 1993-94 the NSSO had been

using a method by which respondents were • purchases made in cash or credit during

asked to provide details about their food the reference period or earlier;

consumption in the previous 30 days. In the

• home-grown stock; 50th round, the concept of a seven-day

recall was introduced, because of the • receipts in exchange of goods and

suspicion that the longer time scale caused services;

respondents to miss from memory certain

items that they had actually consumed. In • any other receipt like gift, charity, the 1993-94, the nationwide sample was borrowing and divided into two separate samples, one

• free collection. using the seven-day recall and the other the

30-day recall. Indeed, the shorter recall Consumption out of purchase is evaluated

period did reveal higher consumption at the purchase price. Consumption out of

expenditure levels and, consequently, home produce is evaluated at ex farm or ex-

lower poverty levels. In 1993-94, poverty factory rate. Home produce is evaluated at

levels based on the seven-day recall were the ex-farm or ex-factory rate. Value of

about 16-17 per cent lower than those consumption out of gifts, loans, free

based on the 30-day recall.collections, and goods received in

exchange of goods and services is imputed There is a tension between, on the one at the rate of average local retail prices hand, having a longer recall period — in prevailing during the reference period. order to avoid the relatively greater


susceptibility of staples to telescoping both temporal and spatial aspects can be

errors — and, on the other hand, having a addressed simultaneously.

shorter recall period — so as to avoid the 2. Underestimation of the growth of per

relatively greater susceptibility of less capita expenditure

commonly consumed foods like fruits and

vegetables which are relatively more likely Angus Deaton and Jean Drèze (Deaton & to be important sources of micronutrient Drèze, 2009) interpreted the data on food rich foods. and nutrition in India and found chances of

underestimation in the growth per capita In setting a recall period, do we need to

expenditure. Income is notoriously difficult choose between better measurement of

to measure in rural India, especially for self-staples and calories/energy intakes, or

employed cultivators, and measurement alternatively, doing a better job measuring

error can easily cause the Engel curve to be micronutrients and assessing the quality of

s p u r i o u s l y f l a t t e n e d . H o w e v e r, the diet? To better understand the trade-offs

measurement error will only turn a negative involved in using different recall periods, we

slope into a positive one if richer people need a better understanding of diet

systematically report lower incomes than patterns. We need, for instance, to identify

poorer people, which is quite unlikely. One the key food sources of each essential

possible source of bias in the NSS Engel micronutrient and understand more about

curves arises from the fact that, in the NSS those foods. To the extent that differential

surveys, both total expenditures and total recall periods are used, this suggests we

calories are estimated by “adding up” should have longer recall periods for

expenditures and quantities applied to staples and shorter recall periods for fruits

various goods (in the National Nutrition and vegetables. This is consistent with the

Monitoring Bureau surveys, by contrast, findings of an experiment done in India

there are independent questions on income which lead the to the introduction of a 7 day

and food intake). Thus, measurement recall period for fruits, vegetables and

errors in reported quantities of goods will select other items, while retaining the 30

find their way both into total expenditures day recall period for cereals, milk and dairy

and totals (or subtotals) of calories, and this products which Indians consume more

common measurement error biases the frequently and more regularly.

estimated slope of the calorie Engel curve

Concern o f seasonal i ty on food towards unity, and could conceivably

consumption is a critical factor in a country convert a true negative slope into an

with huge rural-urban temporary migration apparent positive one. It is difficult to deal

records. It is important to note, however, with this problem in a convincing way. The

that seasonality has both spatial and standard treatment is to look for some

temporal aspects. While lengthening the variable that is correlated with total

recall period can help ameliorate its expenditure, but which is measured in a

temporal variations causing biased way that is not contaminated by the

estimates, spatial variations in seasonality measurement errors that are common to

within a country may still be a source of calories and to expenditures. For example

distorted estimates. It is only through use of ownership levels of the various

implementing the survey in a way that equal durable goods that are collected in the NSS

shares of the interviews are done in each surveys. Better-off people are more likely to

region of the country in the same month that own a bicycle or an electric fan, and


compute an index of durable ownership that 4. Length and specificity of the food list –

can be thought of as a proxy for living Fatigue concerns

standards.The NSS survey list of food has a total of

3. Data of food consumption outside home 209 e lements inc lud ing cerea ls ,

vegetables, cash crops, etc. The NSS Food away from home includes ‘meals and

Survey overall is an extensive exercise with snacks prepared outside the home’. There

detailed food items which may cause data are three levels of detail to take into

collection fatigue and surveyor fatigue in consideration to cover the concept. First,

answering each of them in detail. A whether the food is consumed at home or

suggestion of combining food items that away from home. Second, whether the food

can which have similar base food may be was purchased or consumed in kind. Third,

helpful in this case. For example, instead of the source of the food, which can be a

retaining two items as “milk liquid”, “milk commercial outlet, a government or social

condensed”, just include “milk”. The program, another household, the employer,

grouping of food items and the specificity of among others. This framework clearly

the food list must also ensure that intake highlights the complexity of the concept,

and consumption of micro-nutrient is not whose measurement in traditional multi-

missed. This may include food groups in purpose household surveys may well span

accordance to the nutrition it provides that over mul t ip le modules (Smi th &

helps in mapping the trajectory of micro-Frankenberger, 2012).

nutrients.

The NSS survey does consider food 5. Questionnaire Design

outside home as one of the components,

but it misses the mention of “snacks”. How This criticism relates to what information to

serious this omission is will depend on the collect from respondents. Some of the

context. A priori, however, we expect possibilities are: differentiate between

snacking to be an activity that will most meal, drink and snack; ask by eating

likely take place outside the home. Another occasion (breakfast, midday snack, lunch,

challenge arising relates to who reports the afternoon snack, dinner); report source of

information. In interview surveys it is usually preparation (commercial, government or

a designated household informant who soc ia l p rogram, employer, o ther

reports on household’s food consumption household) ; d i f ferent ia te type of

or expenditures. However, when the establishment (fine dining, fast-food

consumption takes place outside the home restaurant, street vendor, cafe, …); report

it is less likely that one individual is aware of day of the week (or weekday / weekend).

the consumption behaviour of all household There are two things to consider when

members. In a small-scale study in an thinking whether to differentiate along these

urban slum in India, where husbands and dimensions or not, and these are: a) the

wives were interviewed about the men’s intrinsic value of the information (which will

dietary intake, it was found that women are depend on the research question at hand);

not aware of the foods consumed by their and b) the influence that the structure of the

spouses outside of their home (Sujatha, questionnaire has on the information

Shatrugna, Rao, Reddi, Padmavathi, & collected. It is evident that more

Vidyasagar, 1997). methodological research is needed to

establish an optimal questionnaire design.


Additionally, findings suggest that survey Some researchers have also explored the

design might significantly matter to the potential for using regression modelling

measurement of food security. Differences rather than the AME algorithm to determine

in the manner in which food items were intra-household distribution of foods and

recorded (primary ingredients versus nutrients from household data (Rogers,

finished recipes) and differences in the Coates, & Blau, 2012) (Naska, Paterakis,

recall periods led to large differences in Eeckman, Remaut, & Trygg, 2001)

estimates of calorie consumption (Smith, (Vasdekis, Stylianou, & Naska, 2001).

Dupriez, & Troubat, 2014).Caution

6 . Househo ld ve r sus i nd i v i dua l 1. Quality of food data collected

consumption: Arguments for and against

consumer unit Disregarding the method of data collection,

food data collected in Household The assumption of ‘equitable’ intra-

Consumption Expenditure Surveys across household distribution based on energy

the world are never collected primarily to requirements has only rarely been tested, in

infer on the habitual food consumption of part because dietary data from more than

the household. The approach used to one individual per household is scarce. A

collect food data may influence the quality study (Rogers, Coates, & Blau, 2012)

and/or adequacy of data collected. Each analysed pr imary data f rom 600

approach presents some limitations. households in Bangladesh to assess the

Consumption type surveys often collects question of whether an Adult Mail

quantities in unit of measurement that are Equivalent distribution rule (used to derive

not easily convertible into standard unit, the consumer unit by NSSO in India)

they quite often fail in capturing accurately predicts intra-household

expenditures of food consumed outside the allocation across a range of foods and

house as well as the exact number of nutrients. The predicted and actual intakes

people who participated to the meals (Smith converged for many important nutrients for

& Frankenberger, 2012).certain age-sex groups; however, across all

nutrients studied, children under five and 2. Two common types of recall errors are pregnant/lactating women consistently omission and telescopingreceived less than what would be predicted

The process of forgetting some of the by the AME distribution rule (i.e. less than details of the event is referred to as their predicted energy requirements). “omission”. The other common type of There are other alternatives tried by recall error, telescoping, occurs when the researchers to prevent this error. In the time of the occurrence of the event is not absence of household and individual-level correctly remembered, and events that data from the same households to use for occurred before or after the recall period are purposes of validating the AME distribution included in it. Increasingly shorter recall assumption, other authors have sought to periods generally result in increasingly compare the results of “individualised” larger over-estimates of consumption estimates of intake derived from household (Sudman, 1973). More empirical analyses consumption survey data, using the AME quantifying the terms of the trade-offs and distribution rule, to the estimates derived more experiments to control for more from a different survey, of individual dietary confounding influences are needed.intake, drawn from the same sample frame.



4. You had to skip a meal because there Food Insecurity Experience Scale was not enough money or other (FIES)resources to get food?

The aspect of food insecurity measured by 5. You ate less than you thought you the FIES, developed by FAO, is a condition

should because of a lack of money or by which people are unable to access food. other resources?The severity of the food insecurity condition

is not directly observable but is manifested 6. Your household ran out of food because

by certain food-related experiences and of a lack of money or other resources?

behaviours. Food insecurity is measurable

on a one-dimensional scale using 7. You were hungry but did not eat

information from a set of questions because there was not enough money

analysed together. The survey module of or other resources for food?

the Food Insecurity Experience Scale has a 8. You went without eating for a whole day

set of 8 questions. The surveyor asks the because of a lack of money or other

surveyed whether during the last 12 resources?

months, there a time when:

A reference period of 12 months is used to 1. You were worried you would run out of

ensure comparability of surveys conducted food because of a lack of money or

in different months. Country sample sizes of other resources?

5000 individuals in India, representative of

2. You were unable to eat healthy and the male and female resident population

nutritious food because of a lack of aged 15 and over, is sought to be framed.

money or other resources? The answers from this questionnaire map

the food insecurity on the following scale:3. You ate only a few kinds of foods

because of a lack of money or other

resources?

Figure 2: Food Insecurity Experience Scale

Source: FAO

The Indian Food Insecurity Experience Caution

The global institutions aim for Inclusion of Until the 50th round of the National Sample

the FIES in nationally representative Survey in 1993-94 the NSSO had been

surveys carried out by countries that can using a method by which respondents were

produce sub-national prevalence levels. asked to provide details about their food

This indicates a possible integration of FIES consumption in the previous 30 days. In the

in the NSSO surveys at the national level in 50th round, the concept of a seven-day

India, which are conducted quinquennially. recall was introduced, because of the


suspicion that the longer time scale caused What India Measures

respondents to miss from memory certain There are no national estimates of

items that he/she had actually consumed. agriculture value added per worker.

In the 1993-94, the nationwide sample was However various studies have calculated it

divided into two separate samples, one using the available measures of Gross

using the seven-day recall and the other the Domestic Product (GDP), Gross Capital

30-day recall. However, what has raised the Formation (GCF) from agriculture; and

hackles of critics is the fact that the same number of agriculture workers available

set of respondents was quizzed about their from the Government estimates. FAO

consumption expenditures using the two estimates agriculture value per unit labour

methods.for each of the country but the methodology

Experts in statistics have argued that this of it is not available in the public domain.

kind of a survey would seriously There is a need for two data sets in order to

"contaminate" the data because measure agriculture value added per

respondents would tend intuitively to worker:

multiply the seven-day recall by four when

responding to the questions based on the 1. Total agriculture value30-day recall. Field staff would also tend to

Total agriculture value is calculated by total commit the same error when compiling the contribution to GDP by agriculture which is results. Critics have argued that this calculated by total Gross Value Added sequencing would contaminate the results (GVA) by agriculture using the production even more because the four-fold approach. The estimation of GVA involves multiplication would come even more easily valuation of products, by-products and to the respondents.ancillary activities at the price received by

An FIES scale that collects data for a 12 producers after deducting the value of month period as opposed to 7 day and 30 inputs of raw materials and services day recall periods used by NSSO can consumed in the processes of production at generate confusion or multiplication error purchasers ’ pr ice. Directorate of by people surveyed or data collectors. A Economics & Statistics, Agriculture caveat is in place, where the method and (DESAg), in the Ministry of Agriculture is the timing of this survey needs to be designed prime source for agricultural statistics used such that any abstract multiplication error for the estimation of GVA. can be prevented.

Following information is required to

Value of Production per Labour Unit calculate the GVA:

What the IAEG-SDG Indicator Measures• Land Use Statistics (LUS): Statistics on Agriculture value added per worker is a

land utilisation flow as by-product of a measure of agricultural productivity. Value normal activity of the State Revenue added in agriculture measures the output of Departments, collecting various data for the agricultural sector less the value of administrative needs of land revenue intermediate inputs. Agriculture comprises collection.value added from forestry, hunting, and

fishing as well as cultivation of crops and • Area and outturn of principal crops: livestock production. Periodic estimates of area and outturn


of major crops generally known as The Agriculture Census, conducted by the

forecast crops initially prepared by the Ministry of Agriculture, says that total area

State agencies are consolidated by the under operational holdings was 159.6

DESAg and issued in the form of crop million hectares. The Agriculture Census is

estimates. primarily based on land records with states,

except some states including West Bengal, • Cost of cultivation studies: For the

Odisha, and Kerala where these are not purpose of obtaining estimates of cost

available. In such states, a household of cultivation of major & minor crops, a

survey is carried out, but this category s c h e m e b y D E S A c o l l e c t s

constitutes only 9% of the total operated representative data on inputs and

area in the country. The method of outputs in physical and monetary terms.

collecting land use statistics for calculating Data available with respect to items like

Gross Value Added by agriculture also uses electricity, insecticides, fertilisers etc.,

state collected information similar to are not utilised as better and more

Agriculture Census. However, the National reliable data on such items are available

Sample Survey Office (NSSO) report on from sources like Central Electricity

land and livestock holdings estimates that Authority (CEA), Fertiliser Association

around 95 million hectares of land were of India (FAI), Pesticides Association of

classified as operational holdings in 2012-India (PAI) etc.

13. The NSSO figure is about 65 million

hectares lower than the numbers put out by The estimates of GVA are arrived at by the ninth agricultural census conducted in deducting the total value of intermediate 2010-11.consumption from the value of output of this

sector and then adding to it the GVA from While the Agriculture Census’s definition of

government irrigation system. operational holdings is also broadly similar

to NSSO’s, there are differences between 2. Number of agriculture workersthe two surveys in collecting information.

The number of agriculture workers is The divergence between the two estimates measured decennially by Census of India. has increased in the last two decades. The The NSSO survey, generally conducted increasing gap is largely on account of a once in 5 years also indicates on the sizeable decline in NSSO estimates.number of agriculture workers in the

Some academicians say that the NSSO country. Directorate of Economics & report probably indicates that active Statistics, Agriculture (DESAg), in the participation in farming is declining. Ministry of Agriculture compiles information Households, including absentee landlords, about cultivators and agriculture labourers might be shown operating agricultural which together constitute agriculture holdings in land records, but they might not workers every year in the “Agriculture be engaged in farming anymore, which is Statistics at a Glance”.reflecting in NSSO surveys. Indeed the

What Critics Say agricultural census admits that the situation 1. How much land is actually cultivated in reflected in land records might be different India? from the actual situation on ground.The arguments presented here have been

The glaring divergence in estimates of developed from (Kishore & Jain, 2015).

agricultural land is not of academic interest Usage of Irrigation Systemsalone. For the government to calculate total

In the Agriculture Census, India estimates value from agriculture, and the actual land the number of operational holdings by size under cultivation for estimating the total classes and irrigation status - fully irrigated, production, it is essential for estimates partially irrigated and un-irrigated (rain-fed) closest to reality. Given such large-scale quinquennially.differences in estimates of agricultural land,

according to its own data, and the number In India, the Agriculture Census data is of people dependent on each tract, policies collected following two broad approaches.for supporting farmers and agriculture in

In States where comprehensive land India has the possible of mis-judging the records exist (Land Record States), the scale and quantum of problem and the information on number and area of consequent support. operational holdings are collected by

2. How many farmers does India have? patwaris from a register popularly known as

Khasra. The Agriculture Census data Agriculture workers are categorised as (Phase-I / Phase-II) is collected and cultivators and labourers in the data compiled through re-tabulation of collected by Census, available in information available in the Village Land “Agriculture Statistics at a Glance” book by Records.Ministry of Agriculture, every year. For

knowing the agriculture value per unit For other states (Non-Land Record States), labour, it is important to differentiate this data is collected on a sample basis. In between full time agriculture cultivators and Phase-I of the Census, data on primary part time labourers. This means that the characteristics like number of operational number of hours put by cultivators and the holdings and area operated by different size number of labour hours put in a farm vary class (marginal, small, semi-medium, and each category of workers need to be medium and large), social groups (SC, ST, weighted according to the hours of work put Others), gender (male/female), types of in agriculture. The data provided by Census holding (individual, joint and institutional), of India has to be used with a caveat, as it etc. is collected. This operation covers all assumes the total number of labour hours villages in land record states and 20 per put in by agriculture cultivators and cent of the villages in non-land record agriculture labourers to be equal. states. During, Phase-II, holding schedule

is canvassed in selected 20 per cent There is an interesting piece of information villages in each tehsil for collecting detailed in the NSSO report (Kishore & Jain, 2015). data on irrigation status, tenancy For the first time, there is data on the particulars, cropping pattern and dispersal number of members who are engaged in of holdings, etc. The estimates of farming apart from the main operator of a agricultural characteristics of operational given operational holding. At the all-India h o l d i n g s a r e p r e p a r e d a t level, around 60% of operational holdings tehsil/district/state/national levels.have one to two members engaged with the

main operator. In 17%, there is nobody The Agriculture Census does not collect working with the main operator, while in data by agriculture households but can be 24% of operational holdings, three or more used as a dummy indicator assuming the than three people work.


each unit of operational holding represents provide information about agriculture

one farming household. In depth analysis households. This can however be gathered

may be required to calculate in detail the by learning about the number of

omissions and other cautions while doing certifications issued and assuming one

the same. certificate represents one household. In

depth analysis may be required to calculate Since 60 per cent of the cultivated area in

in detail the omissions and other cautions India is under rain-fed agriculture (Ministry

while doing the same.of Agriculture, GoI, 2013), producing 44 per

cent of the country’s food requirement, it is The assumption here is that eco-friendly

essential to focus on indicators of efficiency fertilisers are organic fertilisers. Organic

and climate proofing for sustainable fertilisers are derived from animal matter,

agriculture in these areas. Water use human excreta or vegetable matter (for

efficiency in irrigation in one way of example, compost and manure).

mapping the use and overuse of water in Apart from eco-friendly fertilisers’ use as

agriculture. mentioned in the indicator, it is also

important for India to reach balanced Usage of Eco-friendly Fertilisersfertilisers use. Balanced fertilisation refers

The Government of India has implemented to the application of essential plant nutrients the National Programme for Organic in optimum quantities and proportions. Product ion (NPOP). The nat ional Balanced nutrient supply is a best programme involves the accreditation management practice (BMP) that should programme for Certification Bodies, also include proper application methods standards for organic production, and timing for the specific soil crop-climate promotion of organic farming etc. The situation. The nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), NPOP standards for production and and potassium (K) use ratio is valuable as accreditation system have been recognized an index of balanced fertilisation if by European Commission and Switzerland comparing large regions of diversified crops as equivalent to their country standards. and soils such as a states or countries. Similarly, US Department of Agriculture has Grain based systems in developing recognised NPOP conformity assessment agriculture systems such as in India have a procedures of accreditation as equivalent to target NPK use ratio of 4:2:1. However, the that of US. The certified area includes 15% nutrient use ratio provides no indication of cultivable area with 0.72 million hectare and the actual amounts of nutrients being rest 85% (3.99 million hectare) is forest and applied in that region and does not give an wild area for collection of minor forest accurate assessment of fertiliser use produces. among crops (Dev, 1998). It is critical to

measure the balanced use of fertilisers The total area under organic certification is required and in actuals in order to measure 4.72 million hectare (2013-14).This is the the health and sustainability of the only measure available in India on organic agriculture practices. agriculture.

Water Use Efficiency in IrrigationCaution

Irrigation sector consumes 80 per cent of The Programme only measures the land the total water use in India. Estimates by under organic agriculture and does not


5 It is a process by which water is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from the soil and other surfaces and by transpiration from plants.

Ministry of Water Resources predict analysis of data be initiated in selected

reduction to about 70 per cent by 2050 due basins to assess the extent to which the

to competing demands from other sectors estimates of total rainfall in the basin would

(Central Water Commission, Ministry of be affected under different assumptions

Water Resources, 2014). In addition, about the margin of error in the estimates

increasing vulnerabil it ies of water for high rainfall segments.

resources due to climate change further Evaporanspiration (ET) data constitutes an

add to the reduction in availability of water objective basis for estimating the

for irrigation. Current use efficiency or consumptive water requirements of crops.

productivity of irrigation water is so low that Despite widespread application of the ET

most, if not all, of our future water needs concept, there has been considerable

could be met by increased productivity or ambiguity in the use of terms such as

efficiency alone, without development of potential ET and reference crop ET. To

additional water resources (Sharma, overcome this, the Food and Agricultural

Molden, & Cook, 2012). In this context, Organization (FAO) of the United Nations

water use efficiency in irrigation becomes a brought out a report, commonly referred to

critical indicator for ensuring availability of as FAO-56. This report has introduced

water for irrigation and its efficient use in the uniformity and standardization in the

scenario of increasing resource demand interpretation and use of various terms such

and depleting resource base. as potential ET and reference crop ET.

5 FAO-56 discourages the use of the term Data on rainfall, evapotranspiration and

potential ET because of 10 ambiguities in its soil moisture, and other aspects of climate

definition. FAO recommended that a are collected by observatories maintained

hypothetical reference surface ‘closely and operated by Indian Meteorological

resembling an extensive surface of green Department (IMD). Rainfall data are also

grass of uniform height, actively growing, collected by the CWC, state governments

completely shading the ground and with and numerous non-governmenta l

adequate water’ be adopted as the organisations, which together maintain

reference sur face. The Planning some 8500 rain gauges. Currently

Commission Working Group recommends generated data and gaps are as follows

that IMD adopts the FAO-56 PM method to (Planning Commission, GoI, 2011).

estimate RET and publish the data IMD uses data from 2500 observatories to (preferably at daily timescales) and maps of estimate daily, weekly and average rainfall RET annually for at least each agro-climate during the year. A Planning Commission region and at a finer resolution, if possible.Working Group (Planning Commission,

Water use efficiency in agriculture has two GoI, 2011) has observed that the

components: distribution of the observation points for the

rainfall data fails to capture the geographic 1. The ratio of effective, or consumptive,

distribution, since there is a lopsided water use per unit of crop area as a

concentration of the observatories in the proportion of the total average water

plains, while those in the upper catchment supply per unit of crop area (technical

areas of the basins are sparse. It was efficiency of water use)

suggested that studies for sensitivity


2. The value of output per unit of crop area sources and agro-climatic regions, and also

per unit of its effective or consumptive suggest that, contrary to expectation,

use of water (productive efficiency of productivity per unit of consumptive use

water use) under irrigation is not always and

significantly higher than that of rain-fed Technical Efficiency of Water Use

crops (Planning Commission, GoI, 2011).

But given the limitations of official data, and Crops get water from rainfall and supplies the fact that they involve a number of from irrigation sources. For un-irrigated assumptions, these estimates need to be crops rainfall is the only source of water. interpreted with caution. The usual working assumption that the

contribution of rainfall to soil moisture in The irrigation system perspective of water

cropped area is equal to 80% of the local use efficiency depends upon the water

precipitation is an approximation. The accounting where losses occur at each

Central Water Commission has initiated a stage as water moves from the reservoir

program for systematic assessment of (storage losses), conveyed and delivered at

these losses and the factors that cause the farm gate (conveyance losses), applied

them, mainly to help in planning corrective to the farm (distribution losses), stored in

measures to contain the losses to a the soil (application losses) and finally

minimum. consumed by the crops (crop management

losses) for crop production (Sharma, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) Molden, & Cook, 2012).has estimates of evapotranspiration, by

agro-climatic regions and seasons, based Managing water in agriculture should not

on empirical formulae and detailed data on exclusively focus on improving the

irrigated areas. Based on these the actual productivity of the 2,500 km3 of water

total consumptive use of irrigated crops can diverted to irrigation, but must also include

be estimated. The ratio of consumptive use improving the productivity of the 16,000

of irrigation water to gross volume of water km3 used in rain-fed agriculture (Singh,

supplied is a measure of the technical Kundu, & Bandyopadhyay, 2010).

efficiency of use of irrigation water.

Recommendations by the Working Group, Productive Efficiency of Water Use

P lann ing Commiss ion (P lann ing

Commission, GoI, 2011): Official statistics provides quite detailed

data on land use, and crop wise irrigated • Estimates of evapotranspiration are

and un-irrigated areas. Estimates of yield of conducted annually. Computing norms

irrigated and un-irrigated areas based on of consumptive use using the actual

sample crop-cutting surveys are available values of Potential Evapotranspiration

for major irrigated crops. and rainfall observed in the selected

periods. This is possible using the daily IMD has estimates of evapotranspiration in weather observations that are made a normal year for different agro-climatic available by IMD. It would then be regions. These can be used to estimate poss ib le to t rack the overa l l overall output per unit of irrigated and rain-performance of irrigated and rain-fed fed areas and per unit of consumptive use agriculture in terms of crop yields and at the state and district levels. They show productivity per unit of consumptive wide differences in all dimensions across


water use across different States and well as efficacy targeting are required. This

over time. requires assessment of method of targeting

adopted. In India, the identification of the • Making an independent and objective

poor for Targeted PDS (TPDS) has been left estimate of irrigated and un-irrigated

to state governments which follow different areas under different crops or, as a next

methods to identify the poor. Therefore the best alternative, of the extent of green

targeting method is a crucial factor to be cover at different points of time in each

examined.season. Satellite imageries, which are

available for at least the last 30 years, The evaluation of PDS is not conducted by

can be used to compile independent any national statistical body; however, there

estimates of irrigated and rain-fed crop are various studies (Ray & Ray, 2011)

areas in different seasons at different (Balani, 2013) (Panigrahi, 2014) conducted

points of time. by universities and institutions. A study

conducted by Planning Commission in • The density required to get sufficiently

2005 assesses the performance and disaggregated estimates for different

impact of TPDS in India (Programme agro-climatic regions, and to provide

Evaluation Organisation, 2005).information for management of water in

major projects and phased programs Food and nutrition programs face two types

covering design and costs, to achieve of targeting errors: error of exclusion (of the

optimum density over the next 10 years poor) and error of inclusion (of non-poor). A

needs to be worked out. low value of error of exclusion, ceteris

paribus, is an indicator of a well-functioning • Soil moisture status can also be

PDS, while high values are indicative of estimated through remote sensing

serious weaknesses in implementation and techniques, which needs to be

welfare loss. I f h igh values are corroborated/ validated through actual

disaggregated into identification error measured ground data. These

(which may be due to imperfect information estimates need to be validated by actual

on household characteristics, wrong measurements on the ground in

methodology for identification and agricultural research stations that have

deliberate policy to exclude some groups by experimental plots which are monitored

vested interest groups) and error due to by scientists.

administrative malpractices (such as

distortion of incentives and information to Evaluation of Public Distribution raise cost of participation for some BPL

Systemshouseholds or simply denying BPL cards to

genuine BPL families), insights can be Public distribution system (PDS) has the

derived on the quality of implementation of mandate for access, availability and

PDS (Programme Evaluation Organisation, affordability of the food to all the citizens of

2005).the country. The PDS warrants a diagnostic

evaluation of its different aspects; its impact The measurement of targeting errors is

on the target group, factors affecting important to understand whether and to

impact, effectiveness of targeting, leakage what extent the benefit of PDS is reaching

in delivery and its causes, etc. Indicators to the target group. Identification and

measure the impact on the target groups as


measurement of targeting errors require a PDS, apart from the efficiency and

formal analytical framework because, a effectiveness of reaching the targeted

number of factors relating to data base on citizens also needs to ensure the quality of

household characteristics, methodology of food that it provides. Indicators to measure

BPL identification, cost of participation and the availability of a balanced nutritious diet

various administrative malpractices have a at affordable prices via PDS is thus crucial

bearing on the types and magnitudes of for measuring of reach of nutritious food for

errors in the implementation of PDS. all in the country. It is critical for India’s food

Another kind of error discussed in the report security to evaluate the performance of its

deals with double counting error (large public distribution and identify ways to

numbers of excess ration cards over the corrects errors mentioned above for

number o f households) , miss ing access, availability and affordability of food

households’ error (no cards issued to the for all its citizens.

households), etc. (Programme Evaluation

Organisation, 2005).

Box 2: Summary of Recommendations for Tracking SDG 2 in India

Summary of Recommendations for Tracking SDG 2 in India

• Concern of seasonality on food consumption is a critical factor in a country with huge rural-urban

temporary migration records. The NSSO survey design (that is he predominant source of

information on food and nutrition status) should take into account spatial and temporal variation in

order to prevent distortions of the sample.

• The NSS survey collects information of all family members from one representative family

member who may not be aware of the actual food consumption outside home of all other

members. In rural India, there are studies that show that one member may not aware of the food

consumption of the entire household as incidences of food outside home are higher in such areas

due to movement for labour work. Addressing this will require change in the method of collecting

data from one member of the household.

• The NSS survey list of food has a total of 209 elements including cereals, vegetables, cash crops,

etc. Dropping or combining certain items will reduce data collection fatigue of surveyor and the

one being surveyed. A suggestion of combining food items that can which have similar base food

may be helpful in this case. The grouping of food items and the specificity of the food list must also

ensure that intake and consumption of micro-nutrient is not missed.

• Implementation of Food Insecurity Experience Scale Survey in India that collects data for a 12

month period as opposed to 7 day and 30 day recall periods used by NSSO. Method and timing of

both surveys need to be designed such that any abstract multiplication error can be prevented.

• It is recommended that the government revise the method of collecting agriculture land data in the

Agriculture Census against the glaring discrepancies with NSSO survey data. This may involve

changing the approach of collecting data, or developing systems to ensure changes in land use

pattern are informed at the patwari or district level.

• The usage of eco-friendly fertilisers is only measured as land accredited as fully organic under

National Programme for Organic Production in India. There is a need to track the ratio of the use

of eco-friendly fertilisers to chemical fertilisers in other land under agriculture to fully calculate the

use of eco-friendly fertilisers. This may require revisions in the NSSO survey or Agriculture

Household Survey for collecting the required information.


Per capita

availability of

fresh water down 3from 3,000m to

31,108m in

50 years

Only 35%of the rural

population has

access to

'adequate'

drinking water

Only 31% rural

households have

access to toilets

Ensure Availability of Water

Sustainable Management of Water

Sanitation for All

Analysis of Indicators for SDG 6(Clean Water and Sanitation)


“Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”

• The Sani ta t ion Conundrum: Structure of this SectionInadequate end-to-end sanitation

This section is organised as follows: solutions hamper the achievement of

the target of universal sanitation Introductioncoverage. Ways to track the end-to-end

• Overview of SDG 6: A brief overview of sanitation chain are discussed.the targets under SDG 6 is provided.

• Wastewater Treatment: The tracking • India and SDG 6: India’s current of wastewater treatment in India shows

scenario with respect to some of the tremendous scope for improvement, SDG 6 targets is described. both procedurally and in terms of the

indicators tracked. The challenges and • Comparing the IAEG-SDG Indicators

opportunities are analysed here.with Indian Indicators: A tabular

comparison of IAEG-SDG indicators • Water Quality Monitoring: India’s with corresponding indicators currently current system to monitor water quality measured in India for SDG 6 is given. is described.

Analysis of SDG 6 Indicators Summary of Recommendations: Based

on the ana lys is , a summary o f • Convenience Definitions for Safe

recommendations for policymakers is Drinking Water: Definitional issues

provided.with regard to safe drinking water are

described. Overview of SDG 6

• Adequacy of Water: The tracking of SDG 6 covers a wide range of water and availability and adequacy of water for all sanitation issues that span across is discussed. government ministries. The first two targets

look at drinking water and sanitation for all. • Strengthening Service Systems: The third focuses on water quality, correctly Weak service systems are a pertinent recognising that end-to-end water and problem in India in the delivery of sanitation solutions require handling essential services. Ways to track the wastewater safely. The SDG also focuses performance of service systems for on water use efficiency, integrated water drinking water are discussed.resources management, and the health of

• Water Priorities: The prioritisation of water-related ecosystems.

water resources for various competing

uses is discussed.


users. The website allows easy and quick India and SDG 6access to information available in the

India has a long way to go in ensuring safe database (SulabhEnvis). water and sanitation for all. Globally, India

has the largest number of people still Comparing the IAEG-SDG Indicators defecating in the open (UNICEF). India with Indian Indicatorsreports the highest number of deaths due to

The following table compares IAEG-SDG diarrhoea in children under five in the world indicators with corresponding indicators (ibid). Diarrhoea is caused by contaminated currently measured in India for SDG 6 .water and poor hygiene. The current

government is on an aggressive toilet The table only includes indicators that have construction spree under the Swachh been finalised by the IAEG-SDG as of Bharat Mission, intending to end open December 2015. Indicators still in the “grey” defecation in India by 2019. India’s category, i.e. indicators that require in-wastewater treatment capacity is also only depth review by IAEG-SDG, have been a small fraction of the total wastewater omitted. In the case of SDG 6, the targets actually generated, raising serious and indicators omitted in this study are:concerns about the health of water

• Target 6.4 By 2030, substantially ecosystems.

increase water-use efficiency across all Water is a key natural resource for human sectors and ensure sustainable well-being as well as economic growth. The withdrawals and supply of freshwater to majority of the indicators under SDG 6 are a d d r e s s w a t e r s c a r c i t y a n d output- and outcome- oriented. Policy and substantially reduce the number of government interventions are often people suffering from water scarcity. targeted at improving the values of specific The indicatorsunder discussion are indicators, which makes the definitions of “percentage change in water use these indicators a critical issue. As this efficiency over time” and “percentage of section describes, definitions of safe total available water resources used, drinking water in India are somewhat t a k i n g e n v i r o n m e n t a l w a t e r problematic. requirements into account (Level of

Water Stress)”.It is useful that the Indian government has

sponsored a portal for easy accessibility of • Target 6.5 By 2030, implement data pertaining to sanitation, hygiene, i n t e g r a t e d w a t e r r e s o u r c e s sewage systems and technology. The management at all levels, including Ministry of Environment, Forest and through transboundary cooperation as Cl imate Change has set up the appropriate.The indicator under Environmental Information System as a discussion is “Degree of integrated comprehensive network in environmental water resources management (IWRM) information collection, collation, storage, implementation (0-100)”.retrieval and dissemination to varying

6The table only includes indicators that have been finalised by the IAEG-SDG as of December 2015. Indicators still in the “grey” category, i.e. indicators that require in-depth review by IAEG-SDG, have been omitted. In the case of SDG 6, this includes Targets 6.4 and 6.5.




Frequency of

Data

Collection in

India

Data Collecting Agency

in India

Target 6.1 By 2030, achieve universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all

Percentage of population

using safely managed

drinking water services

Number and percentage of rural habitations covered under National Rural Drinking Water Programme

Annual Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation

Percentage of households (disaggregated as rural/urban) using [1) tap water from treated source, 2) tap water from untreated source, 3) covered well, 4) uncovered well, 5) handpump, 6) tubewell/borehole, 7) spring, 8) river/canal, 9) tank/pond/lake, 10) other sources] as main source of drinking water

Decennial

Census of India - Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs

Percentage of households using [1) bottled water, 2) piped water into dwelling, 3) piped water to yard/plot, 3) public taps/stand, 4) pipe tubewell/borehole, 5) protected well, 6) unprotected well, 7) protected spring, 8) unprotected spring, 9) rain water collection, 10) tank/pond, 11) other surface water, 12) others] as main source of drinking water

Not fixed

(previously

done in 1998,

2002, 2008-09,

2012)

National Sample Survey

Office, Ministry of

Statistics and Programme

Implementation

Target 6.2 By 2030, achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying s pecial attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations

Percentage of population using safely managed

Percentage of rural households with access to toilet facilities Annual Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation



Frequency of

Data

Collection in

India


in India

sanitation services Percentage of households using

1) Flush/pour flush latrine connected to

a. Piped sewer system

b. Septic tank

c. Other system

2) Pit latrine

a. With slab/ventilated improved pit

b. Without slab/ open pit

3) Night soil disposed into open drain service latrine

a. Night soil removed by human

b. Night soil serviced by animals

4) No latrine within premises

a. Public latrine

b. Open

Decennial

Census of India - Office of

the Registrar General &

Census Commissioner,

Ministry of Home Affairs

Percentage of households using

1) Flush/pour flush latrine connected to

a. Piped sewer system

b. Septic tank

c. Pit

Not fixed (previously done in 2008-09 and 2012)

National Sample Survey

Office, Ministry of

Statistics and Programme

Implementation



Frequency of

Data

Collection in

India


in India

d. Elsewhere

2) Others

a. Ventilated improved pit latrine

b. Pit latrine with slab

c. Pit latrine without slab/ open pit

d. Compositing toilet

e. Others

f. Not used

Target 6.3 By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally

Percentage of wastewater

safely treated, disaggregated

by economic activity

Installed sewage treatment capacity (in million litres per day)

as a percentage of total sewage generation Not fixed

Central Pollution Control

Board

Installed effluent treatment capacity (in million litres per day) in Common Effluent Treatment Plants

Not fixed Central Pollution Control Board

Percentage of receiving water bodies with ambient water quality not presenting risk to the environment or human health

Percentage of aquatic sources meeting ambient water quality criteria. Ambient water quality of each aquatic source is measured in terms of range of temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, biochemical oxygen demand, nitrate-n, faecal coliform and total coliform

Monthly or quarterly for surface waters, half-yearly for ground water

Central Pollution Control Board

Target 6.6 By 2020, protect and restore water -related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes



Frequency of

Data

Collection in

India


in India

Percentage of change in

fresh water ecosystems Not available

Target 6.a By 2030, expand international cooperation and capacity -building support to developing countries in water- and sanitation-related activities and programmes, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies

ODA for water and sanitation related activities and programmes

ODA for water and sanitation related activities and programmes

Annual Ministry of External Affairs

6.b Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management

Percentage of local administrative units with established and operational policies and procedures for participation of local communities in water and sanitation management

Percentage of Gram Panchayats (GPs) / Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) managing in-village water supply

Percentage of single-village/in-village water supply schemes

implemented by GPs/VWSCs

Number of village drinking water security plans developed

Number of village drinking water security plans implemented

Number of district drinking water security plans developed

Number of district drinking water security plans implemented

Annual Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation


data, yet diarrhoea—associated with Convenience Definitions for Safe contaminated drinking water —is common Drinking Water?across India and the third-most-common

India’s indicators on drinking water access cause of death among children under five, for target 6.1 are aligned with the IAEG- killing 13% of the 300,000 who die every SDG requirement. In fact, India’s indicators year in this age group (Kelkar-Khambete, are well disaggregated to cover various 2015). The Indian definition of safe drinking sources of drinking water. The information water allows this paradox. The Census is collected in a timely fashion by the considers groundwater supplied from Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation, handpumps, tubewells and borewells as the Census as well as the National Sample safe as piped drinking water. However, data Survey Office (NSSO). The Ministry submitted to the Parliament in 2012 by the publishes data regarding coverage of Ministry of Water Resources show that habitations, while the Census and NSSO groundwater sources in large parts of India publish data on the percentage of are contaminated by arsenic, fluoride, iron, population using each source as primary nitrate, and salinity (Sethi, 2012). The data source of drinking water. shows the following:

According to Census 2011, 91.4% of urban • groundwater in pockets of 158 out of the

and 82.7% of rural population has access to 639 districts has gone saline

‘safe drinking water’ facilities. In the • in pockets across 267 districts,

Census, safe water is defined as water from groundwater contains excess fluoride

taps, handpumps and tubewells (Kumar & • in 385 districts, groundwater has Das, 2014). The NSSO data paints a similar

nitrates beyond permissible levelspicture. According to the 69th round of

NSSO survey (July – December 2012), • in 53 districts, groundwater contains 94.2% of urban and 85.2% of rural arsenichouseholds use bottled water, piped water,

• in 270 districts, groundwater contains public taps, standpipes, tubewells or

high levels of ironboreholes as their primary source of

drinking water. • aquifers in 63 districts contain heavy

metals like lead, chromium and From these statistics, it appears that India is

cadmium, the presence of which in any on track to achieve target 6.1 by 2030 and

concentration poses a danger to health.India has the necessary data to track its

progress. However, the indicator masks The deeper and deeper drilling of aquifers

important concerns with regard to water to meet increasing water demand

safety. (especially for agriculture) has led to the

contamination of ground water with natural There is evidence that ground water,

contaminants like fluoride, arsenic and typically considered ‘safe’, is no longer as

salinity (Department of Drinking Water and safe as one would think. This could have

Sanitation). Open defecation and lack of serious implications for both Indian and

proper sanitation facilities are known to global definitions of ‘safe drinking water’.

cause bacteriological contamination of

water resources, causing diarrhoea that More than 85% of Indians have access to claims the lives of countless children.‘safe drinking water’ according to official

There is, therefore, no reason that past 50 years, and future projections of this

groundwater should be defined as ‘safe’ by trend makes it obvious that demand will

the government. The IAEG-SDG indicator outstrip supply by 2050 (Singh, 2015).

for the target in question specifically Since per capita adequacy of water in India

includes the phrase ‘safely managed’. The is a major concern, it is recommended that

current Indian definition of ‘safe’ does not do the government track per capita availability

justice to the intent of this target or to the of water and consumption of water,

n e e d s o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n . T h e disaggregated by use, and benchmark

characterisation of groundwater sources as progress towards contextually appropriate

‘safe’ should be abandoned, and threshold values.

government publications should refrain

from indicating that these sources are Strengthening Service Systems‘safe’, unless evidence from scientific tests

Development policies and interventions exists to back the claim. Data on water

often target specific indicators. Therefore, quality indicators are readily available as

indicators should appropriately capture the they are tracked using IMIS by the Ministry

problems that the intervention is trying to of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Such data

combat. Otherwise, the systemic response should now take the centre stage in policy

to these problems is likely to be limited. In planning.

the context of drinking water access, it is Adequacy of Water useful, therefore, to explore some of the

challenges on the ground and what The National Rural Water Supply

indicators could be used to capture these Programme defines an ‘adequate’ quantity

challenges.of drinking water in rural areas as 40 litres

per capita per day, to increase to 70 litres Two key challenges are as follows 7per capita per day soon (the XII Five Year (Department of Drinking Water and

Plan has set a target of 55 litres per capita Sanitation):per day as an interim target for the plan

• Operations and maintenance (O&M): period (2012-17), with 70 litres per capita 8 Many parts of the country are faced with per day as the eventual target) . The

dilapidated infrastructure (handpumps, Central Public Health and Environmental tubewells etc.) due to the lack of proper Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO) sets institutional arrangements at the norms for water supply and requirement per community level to carry out operations capita. However, India is far from meeting and maintenance.these norms. In 2011, only 35 per cent of the

rural population had access to 40 litres of • Source sustainability: The over-water per capita per day or more (Planning extraction of groundwater, in large part Commission, 2011). due to irrigation demand for agriculture,

has stressed water availability in many Further, water availability is another major regions and raised concerns about the concern – per capita availability of fresh sustainability of water sources.water has declined sharply from 3,000

cubic metres to 1,123 cubic metres over the


7 Mentioned on the website of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (http://indiawater.gov.in/IMISReports/MenuItems/AboutSite.aspx)

8 Urban norms are higher.

A major challenge facing the delivery of this tracked, alongside the capacity building

essential service is to move from a project support provided to these institutions to

mode wherein the focus is solely the carry out these activities. The Strategic

installation of infrastructure to a programme Plan (2011-22) of the Ministry of Drinking

mode wherein there is focus on providing, Water and Sanitation proposes the

improving and sustaining high standards of development of a Management Devolution

water supply services (Department of Index based on selected indicators that

Drinking Water and Sanitation). measure the depth of management

devolution for use in allocation of incentive A useful indicator that captures the effects

grants. Such an index should be developed of adequate O&M and source sustainability

soon in consultation with stakeholders, and is slippage. Slippage is defined as the

mainstreamed into planning processes.percentage of habitations fully covered that

9slip back to partial or nil coverage . It is a Water Prioritiesuseful indication of the system life of the

India’s National Water Policy (NWP) was installed infrastructure. The main reason first introduced in 1987. It specified a priority identified for slippage is the lack of principle for allocation of water resources sustainability in the source of water and as follows: drinking water, irrigation, hydro-inadequate O&M expenditure. Slippage power, navigation, and industrial and other was over 30% at the national level in 2008 uses, in order of decreasing priority. The (Safe Water Network, 2014). Similarly the most updated NWP was introduced in Strategic Plan 2011–2022 by the 2012. NWP 2012 did away with the Department of Drinking Water and aforesaid allocation priority, and instead Sanitation found that in 2010, out of 1.66 states, “Safe water for drinking and million habitations in India, 30 per cent (0.49 sanitation should be considered as pre-million) had slipped back to partial coverage emptive needs, followed by high priority and a further 9 per cent (0.14 million) saw allocation for other basic domestic needs their water quality affected negatively (Safe (including needs of animals), achieving Water Network, 2014). There is therefore food security, supporting sustainable clear evidence that service delivery does agriculture and minimum eco-system not sustain over time in India. While source needs. Available water, after meeting the sustainability and the quality of O&M are above needs, should be allocated in a somewhat difficult to quantify and track, it is manner to promote its conservation and recommended that slippage, which directly efficient use.” The drafting committee reflects the aforementioned variables, be

10 justifies the removal of the explicit allocation tracked actively as an indicator .priority by stating that different geographic

Decentralised management of water zones have different priorities and needs,

resources has been the objective of several and the earlier policy was “creating

rural water reform programmes. It is confusion” (Seth, 2012). For example,

therefore high time that the devolution of agriculture may become irrelevant and

functions and funds to local institutions be industrialisation may gain significance in an


9 Covered’ means that at least one public investment has been made to create drinking water sources and/or systems. Partially covered indicates that the investment has been made but service delivery norms are not fully met.

10 The difficulty lies in isolating the cause of slippage – as it can be caused by inadequate O&M; or due to water contamination due to, say, floods; or depletion of source due to climatic shifts.

area, due to which a rigid allocation priority Defecating in a toilet which is not safely

may create conflict, and therefore it is best managed may be just as harmful to health

to treat water as an economic good after as open defecation.

basic needs are met. This is intended to Globally, India has the largest number of

ensure sustainability of water resources; people still defecating in the open

however it is not clear how water resources (UNICEF). India reports the highest number

may be treated as an economic good in of deaths due to diarrhoea in children under

practice. Market failures such as negative five in the world (ibid). According to Census

externalities and the tragedy of the 2011, only 30.7% of rural households had

commons may continue to lead to the sub-access to toilets, compared to 81.4% of

optimal allocation of water resources in the urban households.

absence of well-functioning markets.

Setting up of these markets is dependent on The current government is on an the extent to which governance structures aggressive toilet construction spree under at sub-national levels are equipped to the Swachh Bharat Mission, intending to ensure that water is treated as an economic end open defecation in India by 2019. good only after its allocation for fulfilling Contemporary discourse clamours that basic needs as specified in NWP 2012. construction of toilets is not enough; cultural However, on a positive note, NWP 2012 reasons and lack of awareness of the health recognises the ecological needs of rivers hazards associated with open defecation for the first time, stating that a quantum of lead many people to continue to defecate in water, in proportion to a river’s natural flow, the open despite having access to toilets. should be conserved.

The cultural influences are evident from In light of the above analysis, it is reiterated National Family Health Surveys which that an important indicator of relevance – show that Muslims are more likely to use a consumption of water, disaggregated by toilet than Hindus, despite being poorer on use, be actively tracked in order to ensure average. This is because many Hindus tend that the mandates of NWP 2012 are met. to view toilets as ritually impure and are This indicator is important to ensure that all reluctant to have a toilet in the vicinity of basic needs of water are met, post which their household. Ideas of ritual purity are water is allocated for other uses. different among Muslims, because of which

they are much less averse to using latrines The Sanitation Conundrum

(Coffey, 2014).

Target 6.2 calls for adequate, equitable Obviously, such cultural factors cannot be

sanitation and hygiene for all and an end to directly measured due to their qualitative

open defecation. For many developing nature. However, the effects of these

countries, while open defecation is easy to cultural factors may be observed through

define, defining ‘sanitation’ is a challenge. toilet use data disaggregated by religion,

Sanitation should ideally cover the safe caste, gender etc. Such data may be useful

collection and disposal of waste especially in designing customised information

human excreta. It should also cover campaigns for different groups of people.

environmental, domestic and personal

hygiene. However it is frequently Public information campaigns are being run

misunderstood as ‘access to toilets’. by both the government and non-


government stakeholders to spread also extremely limited. Just 30% of

awareness on the benefits of using toilets. urban sewage from only the largest

cities reaches sewage treatment plants Besides awareness, there are other issues

(STPs) (ibid). STP inefficiencies ensure that need to be addressed, such as the

that a large part of this sewage flows following:

into our rivers untreated. In short, even

when people use toilets, land and our • Water availability for toilets: It goes drinking water sources continue to get without saying that toilets have to be contaminated (ibid).serviced by water, which should be

available and accessible in proximity.While the construction and availability of

toilets in rural habitations across the • Maintenance: In the case of privately country are tracked annually by the Ministry owned toilets constructed using of Drinking Water and Sanitation, this government grants or subsidies, it has indicator does not reflect whether the toilets been observed that households do not are actually used. The Census supplies this exhibit a sense of ownership over the information but only decennially. NSSO toilet and do not undertake its surveys may provide this information maintenance, eventually leading to the intermittently.dilapidation of the facility (Chikersal,

2015). The same problem is prevalent Tracking the existence, adequacy and

in community toilets. Often institutional effectiveness of the end-to-end sanitation

arrangements at the community level to chain in India may be accomplished by

undertake maintenance are not slightly amending existing indicators in the

sufficient – either the institution does not Census and NSSO surveys. For starters,

exist or does not have the capacity to the percentage of population that defecates

execute its responsibilities.in the open despite access to a toilet may be

measured. Further, the extent to which • Disposal of excreta: Toilets are only the toilets constructed under the Swachh initial collection point of excreta. Bharat Mission are covered by a reliable Sanitation includes not only safe water supply and a safe disposal collection but also disposal of waste in a mechanism for waste may be measured. safe manner so as to not contaminate Community level institutional arrangements land and water sources. Just about 34% to manage these operations and of the population’s latrines are maintenance are necessary, and a relevant connected either to septic tanks or indicator to track the same has been underground sewage; the rest have pit specified as the IAEG-SDG indicator under latrines where the waste decomposes, Target 6.b. Similarly, a measure of the safe usually in unhealthy conditions disposal of waste is covered under Target (Chikersal, 2015). Local bodies provide 6.3, and may be complemented by another little or no services for septic tank indicator – number and percentage of local cleaning – leading the gap to be filled by government bodies with technical and an informal industry, which lies outside administrative capacity to treat sewered regulatory jurisdictions and dumps excreta.polluting waste on any available empty

lot or water body. Government The intention is not to overburden already

capacities to treat sewered excreta are under-resourced statistical systems in India


by increasing the number of indicators. capacity (in million litres per day) as a

Most of the new indicators suggested percentage of total sewage generation; and

above require minimal additional cost to installed effluent treatment capacity in

measure. The intention, however, is to CETPs (in million litres per day). The

ensure that data that is used for decision- sewage generation is estimated by CPCB

making is reflective of the challenges on the using population figures from the Census.

ground in providing end-to-end sanitation While these indicators specify treatment

solutions.capacity, they do not provide information on

the actual utilisation of capacity. Utilisation Wastewater Treatmentof capacity is required to know what

The first IAEG-SDG indicator under target percentage of wastewater generated 6.3 reads “percentage of wastewater safely actually undergoes treatment, as per the treated, disaggregated by economic IAEG-SDG indicator. The actual capacity activity”. To understand the corresponding utilisation has been measured in the past by Indian official indicators, it is useful to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) understand the following: for a sample of STPs but this information is

not currently available in the public domain • Most wastewater is generated from for all STPs and CETPs, nor is it collected domestic and industrial sources. and reported on a periodic basis. However, Accordingly, wastewater treatment in this information can be easily gathered from India is classified into two types – STPs and CETPs as each plant is likely to sewage treatment and eff luent have information pertaining to its own treatment.operations.

• Sewage t reatment dea ls w i th

wastewater consisting of human waste, Clearly, the information currently available

generated from domestic sources and in the public domain is insufficient to report

treated in Sewage Treatment Plants periodically on the IAEG-SDG indicator.

(STPs). From the perspective of Sustainable

Consumption and Production (SCP), it • Effluent treatment deals with industrial would have been extremely useful to know wastewater. Large-scale industries are how much of the wastewater generated is responsible to treat their wastewater safely disposed and how much of it is before discharge. Micro, small and treated sufficiently to be ploughed back into medium enterprises (MSMEs) account industrial and domestic use. However, such for the vast majority of industrial an analysis, while possible for a sample discharges in India but rarely have the geographic region or a sample of technical and financial resources to STPs/CETPs, is not yet possible at a implement e ffec t ive t reatment national level due to inadequate data. The (Banerjee). To address this problem, following figure shows the data available for the government runs a subsidy scheme each stage of the water reuse process – for setting up Common Effluent wastewater generation, treatment and Treatment Plants (CETPs) to treat actual reuse. It is clear that inadequate effluents for clusters of MSMEs.information on the capacity utilisation of

Accordingly, India has separate indicators wastewater treatment plants prevents the

pertaining to sewage treatment and effluent estimation of total wastewater successfully

treatment: installed sewage treatment reused.



Figure 3: Availability of data on wastewater generation, treatment and reuse

Wastewater generated

•Indicator: Total amount of wastewater generated•Method of estimation: Estimated using population data from Census by CPCB

•Data available

Wastewater treatment capacity

•Indicator: Total capacity for wastewater treatment•Method of estimation: Survey of STPs and CETPs•Data available

Wastewater treated

•Indicator: Quantity of wastewater treated•Method of estimation: Estimated using total treatment capacity and capacity utilisation of STPs and CETPs, obtained from a survey of STPs and CETPs

•Capacity utilisation data is available for only some plants and only irregularly; therefore quantity of wastewater treated is not known for all plants.

Wastewater reused

•Indicator: Quantity of wastewater made reusable and/or reused•Method of estimation: Derived from total quantity of water treated sufficiently for reuse in plants, which is in turn derived from capacity and capacity utilisation of plants

•Capacity utilisation data is not available nationally for all plants, therefore total amount of treated wastewater is not known, therefore total wastewater reused is not known.

An analysis of available and desired assuming 30% decadal growth in urban

indicators relating to sewage treatment and population. Against this, there exist STPs

effluent treatment is given below. having 6190 MLD capacity while another

1743 MLD capacity is in the process of Sewage Treatment

planning or construction. This means that

the presently existing treatment capacity is In India, both the total installed sewage just 18.6% of present sewage generation, treatment capacity of STPs and the capacity with another 5.2% capacity being added. utilisation of these STPs are concerns. However, the actual capacity utilisation of CPCB (CPCB) est imates sewage STPs is only 72.2%. This means that only generation from Class I cities and Class II 13.5% of the sewage is treated.towns (as per 2001 census) to be 29129

million litres per day (MLD), which is Therefore, there is a dire need to increase

expected to be 33212 MLD at present available capacity and capacity utilisation of


sewage treatment plants. While data on influenced by policy planning processes.

available capacity is readily available, Indicators required to do so are i)

capacity utilisation could also be tracked. percentage of STPs adhering to operations

and maintenance standards prescribed A CPCB study (CPCB, 2005) conducted in

under the Environmental (Protection) Rules 2005 analyses the performance of 115

for discharge into streams, ii) percentage of STPs in India. Two of the observations from

conventionally treated sewage for irrigation the study are as follows.

of crops not eaten raw, and iii) percentage

of STPs in which treated effluent conforms One, operation and maintenance of existing to prescribed quality standards. These plants and sewage pumping stations is a indicators, however, are likely to be neglected field, as nearly 39% plants expensive to physically measure. One studied were not conforming to the general possible solution is to have STPs self-report s tandards p resc r ibed under the this information. The CPCB also surveys a Environmental (Protection) Rules for sample of STPs intermittently – we have discharge into streams. To the extent that data from the aforesaid 2005 and 2013 this could lead to the discharge of water studies.inadequately treated or not treated

according to prescribed safety standards, it Effluent Treatment

is an important concern.

Effluent treatment in India happens at two Two, utilisation of conventionally treated

levels. Large-scale industries are sewage for irrigation of crops not eaten raw

responsible for treating their own effluents. is important to i) save fresh water, ii) prevent

Effluents generated by clusters of small-nutrient pollution of our water bodies and iii)

scale industries are treated by Common utilise nutrient value of sewage in irrigation.

Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs).Importance of utilisation of treated sewage

in irrigation was emphasized in Water For effluents generated by large-scale

(Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act industries, the CPCB has developed

1974, but this issue continues to be largely detailed industry specific discharge

neglected by State Governments. standards for 104 categories of industries.

Enforcement rules, often backed up by Another CPCB study (CPCB, 2013)

court rulings, allow for shutting down conducted in 2013 evaluates the

industries that are out of compliance. performance of 152 STPs in India and

However, concerns remain about found that the actual capacity utilisation

inadequate monitoring and enforcement was only 66%. Out of the 152 STPs, the

resources at the State Pollution Control treated effluent from 49 STPs exceeds the

Boards. Policy analysts have pointed out biochemical oxygen demand standards.

that the current enforcement model is With respect to chemical oxygen demand, 7

inefficient in that it only allows for drastic STPs are violating the general standards of

action, such as shutting down, for grave discharge.

non-compliance. Instead, they have urged

the CPCB to move towards a market-based All the above concerns speak to the system of fines/levies based on the amount inadequate end-to-end management of of pollutant discharged which will act as an sewage. Data pertaining to these concerns incentive for industries to continuously should therefore be carefully monitored and


decrease their effluent discharges; shutting CETPs should be asked to self-report this

down may be reserved for extreme information.

violations (Banerjee). What is required is A concern that still remains is that CETPs

the development of appropriate indicators exclude dispersed MSMEs that are not part

to track compliance and the upgrading of of any industrial cluster. Currently there is

exist ing report ing and monitoring no way to know the quantum of effluents

frameworks and capacities at CPCB.discharged by these MSMEs and whether

For effluents generated by small-scale these effluents are treated.

industries, it is useful to look at performance Water Quality Monitoringmetrics of CETPs. CPCB conducted a

performance study of 78 CETPs throughout The second IAEG-SDG indicator under India between 2002 and 2005 (CPCB, target 6.3 is “percentage of receiving water 2005). Among others, a key conclusion was bodies with ambient water quality not that the performance of CETPs was very presenting risk to the environment or unsatisfactory, largely because of poor human health”. India has its own official operations and maintenance. For example, indicator quite aligned with the IAEG-SDG only 5 out of the 78 CETPs complied with all requirement: “percentage of aquatic q u a l i t y p a r a m e t e r s . T h e r e p o r t sources meeting ambient water quality recommended that State Pollution Control criteria”. Ambient water quality of each Boards (SPCBs) conduct regular aquatic source is measured in terms of monitoring of CETPs and persuade CETPs range of temperature, dissolved oxygen, to ensure proper operations and pH, conductivity, biochemical oxygen maintenance, failing which SPCBs should demand, nitrate-n, faecal coliform and total initiate action against negligent agencies coliform.and wilful defaulters.

CPCB in collaboration with concerned The report does not specify capacity SPCBs/Pollution Control Committees utilisation, although it specifies installed (PCCs) established a nationwide network capacity for effluent treatment, which is the of water quality monitoring comprising 2500 only currently available indicator that is stations in 28 States and 6 Union somewhat aligned with the IAEG-SDG Territories. The monitoring is done on indicator for the target in question. monthly or quarterly basis in surface waters However, performance metrics including and on half yearly basis in case of ground capacity utilisation should be tracked more water. Water quality data is reported in frequently by CPCB or SPCBs (the last Water Quality Status Year Book.CPCB study was in 2005). Alternatively,



• The characterisation of groundwater sources as ‘safe’ should be abandoned, unless

evidence from scientific tests exists to back the claim. Data on water quality indicators

are readily available as they are tracked using IMIS by the Ministry of Drinking Water

and Sanitation, and should now take the centre stage in policy planning.

• Since per capita adequacy of water in India is a major concern, it is recommended that

the government track per capita availability of water and consumption of water,

disaggregated by use, and benchmark progress towards contextually appropriate

threshold values.

• A useful indicator that captures the effects of adequate O&M and source sustainability of

water resources is slippage. It is recommended that slippage, which directly reflects the

aforementioned variables, be tracked actively as an indicator.

• The Strategic Plan (2011-22) of the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation proposes

the development of a Management Devolution Index based on selected indicators that

measure the depth of management devolution for use in allocation of incentive grants.

Such an Index should be developed soon in consultation with stakeholders, and

mainstreamed into planning processes.

• It is recommended that the existence, adequacy and effectiveness of the end-to-end

sanitation chain in India be tracked. This can be accomplished by slightly amending

existing indicators in the Census and NSSO surveys. For starters, the percentage of

population that defecates in the open despite access to a toilet may be measured.

Further, the extent to which toilets constructed under the Swachh Bharat Mission are

covered by a reliable water supply and a safe disposal mechanism for waste may be

measured.

• Given India’s inadequate end-to-end management of sewage, additional indicators

pertaining to the performance and usage of waste water are required, namely i)

percentage of STPs adhering to operations and maintenance standards prescribed

under the Environmental (Protection) Rules for discharge into streams, ii) percentage of

conventionally treated sewage for irrigation of crops not eaten raw, and iii) percentage of

STPs in which treated effluent conforms to prescribed quality standards. These

indicators, however, are likely to be expensive to physically measure. One possible

solution is to have STPs self-report this information.

• Installed capacity for effluent treatment in CETPs is the only currently available indicator

that is somewhat aligned with the IAEG-SDG indicator for the target in question.

However, performance metrics including capacity utilisation should be tracked more

frequently by CPCB or SPCBs (the last CPCB study was in 2005). Alternatively, CETPs

should be asked to self-report this information.


India imports

80% of

its crude oil

rdAlmost 1/3

of the population

lacks access

to electricity

Per-capita

electricity

consumption isth1/4 of

the world's

average

Affordable and Reliable Energy

Sustainable Energy

Modern Energy for All

Analysis of Indicators for SDG 7(Affordable and Clean Energy)

“Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”

• Measuring Renewable Energy Structure of this SectionShare: Challenges in tracking

This section is organised as follows: renewable energy share are described.

Introduction • Energy Intensity vs Emissions

Intensity: Two distinct concepts, • Overview of SDG 7: A brief overview of energy intensity and emissions the targets under SDG 7 is provided.intensity, are defined and a case is

• India and SDG 7: India’s current made for actively tracking both.scenario with respect to some of the

• Energy Sustainability: A measure to SDG 7 targets is described.track the overall sustainability of India’s

• C o m p a r i n g t h e I A E G - S D G energy systems is provided.Indicators with Indian Indicators: A

Summary of Recommendations: Based tabular comparison of IAEG-SDG on the analys is , a summary of ind icators wi th cor responding recommendations for policymakers is indicators currently measured in India provided.for SDG 7 is given.

Overview of SDG 7Analysis of SDG 7 Indicators

SDG 7 deals with the provision of • Are India’s Access Indicators sustainable energy for all. Target 7.1 calls Sufficient: The definition of electricity for universal access to affordable, reliable access in India allows villages not and modern energy services, while Target adequately electrified to still count as 7.2 calls for an increased share of electrified. The issue is described here.renewable energy in the energy production

• Access versus Consumption: A case mix. The goal also calls for an increase in is made for tracking consumption the rate of improvement of energy indicators in addition to access efficiency.indicators for electricity, as India’s

India and SDG 7current consumption standards are

quite low compared to international India is an energy poor country – according

norms.to the 2011 Census of India, 81 million

Moving Beyond Access: households or close to 400 million people • In line with

do not use electricity as their main source of the requirements of the target in

lighting.question, in addition to access,

affordability, reliability and modernity of India also faces an energy deficit. During

energy need to be assessed.the fiscal year 2014-15, the electricity


generated in utility sector is 1,030.785 December 2015. Indicators still in the “grey”

billion KWh with a short fall of requirement category, i.e. indicators that require in-

by 38.138 billion KWh (-3.6%) against the depth review by IAEG-SDG, have been

5.1% deficit anticipated (Jog, 2015). omitted. In the case of SDG 7, the target

and indicator omitted in this study are:Moving ahead, it is expected that India’s

energy demand will rise at unprecedented • Ta rge t 7 .b By 2030 , expand

rates for all kinds of energy – conventional infrastructure and upgrade technology

and renewable, residential and industrial. for supplying modern and sustainable

The demand will be fuelled by the changing energy services for all in developing

lifestyles and increasing aspirations of countries, in particular least developed

India’s 1.25 billion strong population and an countries and small island developing

anticipated economic boom over the next States. The indicator under discussion

decade (Patra, 2015). is “ratio of value added to net domestic

energy use, by industry”An analysis of the suitability and relevance

of indicators – both IAEG-SDG and Additionally, the indicator for Target 7.a,

corresponding Indian ones – against the which is that same as that for Target 13.1, is

backdrop of India’s current energy situation not included. Target 7.a reads “by 2030,

is attempted in this section. enhance international cooperation to

facilitate access to clean energy research Comparing the IAEG-SDG Indicators and technology, including renewable with Indian Indicators energy, energy efficiency and advanced

and cleaner fossil-fuel technology, and The following table compares IAEG-SDG

p r o m o t e i n v e s t m e n t i n e n e r g y indicators with corresponding indicators

in f ras t ruc tu re and c lean energy 11currently measured in India for SDG 7 . technology”.

.The table only includes indicators that have

been finalised by the IAEG-SDG as of

11The table only includes indicators that have been finalised by the IAEG-SDG as of December 2015. Indicators still in the “grey” category, i.e. indicators that require in-depth review by IAEG-SDG, have been omitted. In the case of SDG 7, this includes indicators under Targets 7.b. Additionally, the indicator for Target 7.a, which is that same as that for Target 13.1, is not included.


Table 6 : IAEG-SDG and Indian Indicators for SDG 7



Frequency of Data

Collection in India

Data Collecting Agency in

India

Target 7.1 By 2030, ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy service

7.1.1 Percentage of population

with electricity access (%)

Number and percentage of towns and villages electrified in India

Annual Central Electricity Authority, Ministry of Power

Percentage of households using electricity as main source of lighting

Decennial

Census of India - Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs

Percentage of households with electricity access

Not fixed (previously done in 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2012)

National Sample Survey Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

7.1.2 Percentage of population

with primary reliance on clean

fuels and technology

Number and percentage of households using [1) electricity 2) kerosene 3) solar 4) other oil 5) any other 6) no lighting] as main source of lighting

Decennial

Census of India - Office of the

Registrar General & Census

Commissioner, Ministry of

Home Affairs

Number and percentage of households using [1) firewood 2) crop residue 3) cowdung cake 4) coal/lignite/charcoal 5) kerosene 6) LPG/PNG 7) electricity 8) biogas 9) any other 10) no cooking] for cooking

Decennial

Target 7.2 By 2030, increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix



Frequency of Data

Collection in India

Data Collecting Agency in

India

7.2.1 Renewable energy share in the total final energy consumption (%) or renewable energy share in the total primary energy consumption (%)

Installed capacity and percentage of renewable energy sources in total installed capacity

Annual Central Electricity Authority,

Ministry of Power

Gross generation of electricity in utilities and non-utilities. For utilities, breakup provided by source: thermal (includes RE), hydro, nuclear

Annual Central Electricity Authority, Ministry of Power

Target 7.3 By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency

7.3.1 Rate of improvement in

energy intensity (%) measured in

terms of primary energy and

GDP

Energy intensity in terms of mega joules per

rupee of GDP Annual

Multiple agencies. Data

compiled by Central Statistics

Office, Ministry of Statistics

and Programme

Implementation


measure progress towards the SDG target Are India’s Access Indicators in question. The second indicator – Sufficient?percentage of households using electricity

In India, as demonstrated in the table, there as main source of lighting – serves this are three indicators to measure access to requirement, however the issue is that data electricity as specified in Target 7.1 – for this indicator is available only once in ten number and percentage of towns and years by means of the Census. Somewhat villages electrified in India measured similar to this indicator is the third indicator – annually, percentage of households using the percentage of households with electricity as main source of lighting electricity access – which is measured measured decennially, and percentage of slightly more frequently by the National households with electricity access collected Sample Survey Office (NSSO). The issue is intermittently. that the NSSO data and Census data on

electricity access are slightly different. For In collecting data for the first indicator, a

example, according to Census 2011, 55.3% village in India would be declared as

of rural households had access to electrified by the definition of the Ministry of

electricity, whereas according to NSSO Power if 1) basic infrastructure such as

66th round (July 2009 – June 2010), 65.7% distribution transformer and distribution

of rural households had access to lines are provided in the inhabited locality

electricity. The difference could be due to as well as the dalit basti / hamlet where it

the difference in the Census and NSSO exists (for electrification through non-

questionnaires (the exact wording of the conventional energy sources a distribution

question in the NSSO survey is not transformer may not be necessary); 2)

available for free public access), or perhaps electricity is provided to public places like

also due to the fact that NSSO is a sample-schools, panchayat office, health centres,

based survey while the Census surveys the dispensaries, community centres etc.; and

entire population.3) the number of households electrified

should be at least 10% of the total number If the Census data is considered more of households in the village. Naturally, it is reliable and used for tracking progress possible for a village to be considered towards the SDG target in question, the electrified even if 90% of the households in question that emerges is whether data the village are not electrified. Indeed, over availability at such a low frequency is 90% of India’s villages are electrified sufficient to enable effective monitoring and according to this definition, but a little less evaluation of such a crucial target. But at than a third of the population still lacks the same time there are feasibility access to electricity according to Census considerations that work against more 2011. frequent measurement of this indicator –

since data collection is a door-to-door The number and percentage of towns and

household-level exercise, it is resource-villages electrified is an essential indicator

intense in terms of time, manpower, t o m e a s u r e w h e t h e r e l e c t r i c i t y

paperwork and financial costs. Perhaps an infrastructure is available in villages

alignment of the NSSO questions with (particularly important in India as there are

Census questions can provide more timely still remote villages that do not have this

availability of reliable data.infrastructure), however it is not sufficient to


Similarly, the other indicator for target 7.1, consumption thresholds for rural and urban

i.e. percentage of population with primary areas, and measuring this consumption as

reliance on clean fuels and technology, an additional indicator of access to

finds a match among the list of Indian electricity.

indicators as shown in the table above, The analysis and evaluation of per capita or

however this indicator is also measured household electricity consumption as an

only decennially.indicator does not require much additional

effort or physical capacities for data Access versus Consumptioncollection, as this data is readily available

The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) from distribution companies / utilities that s u g g e s t e d t h r e s h o l d e l e c t r i c i t y supply electricity to households.consumption is 250 kWh and 500 kWh per

Moving Beyond Accesshousehold per year for rural and urban

households respectively. In rural areas, 250 Target 7.1 reads “By 2030, ensure universal

kWh can power a floor fan, a mobile phone access to affordable, reliable and modern

and two light bulbs. In urban areas, energy service”. Although both the IAEG-

consumption might include a small SDG indicator and corresponding Indian

refrigerator, a second mobile phone and a indicators measure the level of access, but

small television (International Energy neither speak to the “affordability”,

Agency, 2011). According to IEA data , “reliability” or “modernity” of access.

India’s per capita consumption of electricity

in 2012 was 760 kWh – while this is above To measure affordability of energy, a the IEA thresholds, it is also interesting to possible indicator is the percentage of per note that no country in the world with an capita income (or household income) spent income per capita above USD 10,000 has on energy. Using existing data on average electricity consumption below 3,880 per capita consumption of energy (easily kWh/person/year – nearly eight times the available from distribution companies / IEA target for a whole urban household utilities in the case of electricity, and various (Kenny, 2015)! regional and national estimates for other

forms of energy) and average per capita The causal relationship works both ways –

income (available from various publicly and higher incomes allow individuals to spend

privately funded socio-economic surveys), more and therefore consume more

this indicator can easily be monitored and electricity; and higher consumption of

evaluated without additional effort to collect electricity fosters economic growth by

data from the ground. The government may enabling healthier lives, an educated

want to set threshold values for this workforce, and a wide range of productive

indicator to monitor that affordable activities. India’s 760 kwh/person/year is

electricity is available to all. However, a quite meagre compared to US’s 12,950

drawback of this indicator is that in the case kWh, China’s 3480 kWh and Brazil’s 2150

of high income households, a high kWh. In light of these facts, the Indian

percentage need not be indicative of lack of government may want to consider setting

affordability but of overuse and wasteful per capita or household electricity

12 Available on the website of the IEA: www.iea.org


consumption, or of use for luxury purposes productive purposes. Dim lighting, often

rather than basic needs. Low income caused by low voltage, affects eyesight.

households are much less prone to Voltage and its stability should be

consumption of this nature, therefore the monitored carefully and targeted in policy

indicator may have some value when interventions.

applied to low income households. As such, As for modernity of energy access,

the government threshold for this indicator definitions may range from the source of

should be applied only for low income fuel used in production to the efficiency of

households to ensure that they are not generation to the quality of infrastructure. It

paying more than their due share for is not clear what is meant by modern, and in

electricity.any case no indicator to assess “modernity”

Reliability of energy access, particularly exists in the IAEG-SDG set of indicators. It

electricity access, is a major concern in is important for the Indian government to

India. Most Indians would remember the therefore define what “modernity” it aims for

massive collapse of the electricity grid in and accordingly choose indicators for

2012 across the northern tier of the country. internal monitoring and evaluation. For

The two successive blackouts that resulted example, the share of grid electricity in total

represented the biggest power outage in electricity consumption, or that of emission-

history, affecting more than 620 million free sources in energy access, could be

people. Airports, railways, and offices shut used as indicators of modernity. Another

down. Streets were gridlocked. Miners example is the ability of the infrastructure to

were trapped underground. Hospitals prevent electricity theft, for which a possible

struggled to keep patients alive with back- indicator could be estimates of revenue lost

up generators (Black, 2014). Even today, due to theft.

power outages are extremely common in Measuring Renewable Energy Shareurban and especial ly rural India.

Intermittent power supply for only a few To measure renewable energy share in hours a day can hardly be considered India, there are two indicators – a) installed “ re l iable” e lectr ic i ty. The current capacity and percentage of renewable government has already announced 24x7 energy sources in total installed capacity, power supply to all families by 2022 (Black, and b) gross generation of electricity in 2014), therefore it is imperative that utilities and non-utilities. In the second indicators for this endeavour are also indicator, for gross generation in utilities, a monitored and evaluated. Possible breakup is available by source (thermal, indicators of reliability could be “percentage nuclear and hydro). Strangely, renewable of population with access to electricity sources have ben clubbed with thermal.24x7” and “number of hours of load

The quantity of installed capacity is useful to shedding per day (or per month)”

assess the renewable energy potential in disaggregated by region.

India, but is not by sufficient in itself for India Besides outages, another issue in India is to report on the IAEG-SDG indicator of that of poor voltage. This causes several “renewable energy share in the total final problems. Besides damaging home energy consumption (%)” or “renewable appliances, fluctuating voltage makes it energy share in the total primary energy difficult to effectively use electricity for consumption (%)”. It is possible for capacity

13 published by the Central Electricity Authority and available in the Statistical Year Book 2015 web portal of the Ministry of Stat ist ics and Programme Implementation at http:/ /mospi.nic. in/Mospi_New/ upload/SYB2015/index1.html

14 It may be possible in the future to measure end consumption of electricity by source through technologies that, say, enable customers to choose energy by source.


to lie unutilised, or much of the production to Energy efficiency, or energy intensity, is the

be lost in transmission or distribution, ratio of energy used to work done using that

therefore such indicators should energy, which could be GDP. In other

supplement the existing one. The second words, energy efficiency is the amount of

indicator in India – gross generation in energy used to produce one unit of GDP. It

utilities – solves these problems to a certain is desirable for this indicator to have as low

extent and therefore can be used as a proxy a value as possible, as that would mean we

for the IAEG-SDG indicator. However, the are able to generate more GDP for each

data available in the public domain clubs unit of energy used.

renewable energy with thermal energy, and However, one related, important indicator

a breakup of electricity generation from that has been left out of the list of indicators

renewable sources is not easily available. for SDG 7 is the emissions intensity of GDP,

Nevertheless, data of this nature is easily which is distinct from the energy intensity

available as it is closely tracked by both indicator specified by IAEG-SDG.

electricity generation units and utilities, and

therefore India should not have a problem The emissions intensity of GDP is simply tracking and reporting this data. the carbon emissions (or GHG emissions in

general) generated per unit of GDP. It is, in It is important to note that both the

fact, this measure that India aims to reduce indicators used in India for the target 7.2 are

as specified in its Intended Nationally only proxies for the IAEG-SDG indicator –

Determined Contribution – India aims to India does not currently measure electricity

improve its emissions intensity of GDP by consumption by source at the final

33-35% from 2005 levels by 2030.consumption end. Data is only available

from the generation end, although it is Energy intensity of GDP indicates how reasonable to expect that the proportion of much energy is used per unit of GDP. electricity generated from a source and fed Emissions intensity of GDP indicates the into a centralised grid, would equal the quantity of emissions produced per unit of proportion consumed from that source GDP. It is possible for one indicator to through the grid . improve without a correlated improvement

in the other. For example, transitioning to Energy Intensity vs Emissions

renewable energy would reduce the Intensity

emissions associated with each unit of

GDP, and therefore reduce emissions Target 7.3 reads “By 2030, double the intensity of GDP, but this does not mean global rate of improvement in energy that the amount of energy used to produce efficiency”. The IAEG-SDG indicator each unit of GDP would necessarily change suggested for this target reads “rate of – i.e. the energy intensity of GDP may be improvement in energy intensity (%) left unchanged.measured in terms of primary energy and

GDP”.

SDG 13 on addressing climate change, the reliability of energy infrastructure,

surprisingly, does not include either of these and the ability of participating energy

two indicators. It is important that the companies to meet current and future

indicators suggested here be actively demand.

t racked by government agencies c. Energy environmental sustainability:

responsible for climate change mitigation. the achievement of supply and

Therefore it is recommended that India demand-side energy efficiencies and

closely monitor both energy intensity and the development of energy supply from

emissions intensity of GDP.renewable and other low-carbon

sources.Energy Sustainability

The Index rank measures overall An additional concern for India is the overall performance of 129 countries and the sustainability of its energy systems, given balance score highlights how well a country that India has a massive population and a manages the trade-offs between the three rapidly growing economy to service with competing dimensions: energy security, energy. The Energy Sustainability Index energy equity, and environmental ranks 129 countries in terms of their likely sustainability. The best score ‘A’ is given for ability to provide sustainable energy a very high performance. India’s rank and policies through the 3 dimensions of the scores in 2014 are shown in the table below energy trilemma:and they indicate extremely poor

a. Energy equity: the accessibility and performance (Patra, 2015).

affordability of energy supply across the It is recommended that the Indian population.government also closely monitor India’s

b. Energy secur i ty : the effect ive energy sustainability through this Index,

management of primary energy supply and ensure that these scores improve as

from domestic and external sources, India makes progress towards SDG 7.


Table 7: India’s Energy Sustainability Index 2014

Source: World Energy Council

Rank Score

Energy Equity 105 D

Energy Security 76 C

Energy Environmental Sustainability 123 D


• To ensure timely availability of reliable data and avoid divergence of data available from

NSSO and Census surveys, the NSSO and Census questionnaires may be aligned.

• To measure access to electricity, per capita or household electricity consumption

thresholds for rural and urban areas may be set and adherence to these thresholds

measured

• To measure affordability of energy, percentage of per capita income (or household

income) spent on energy may be measured. The government may want to set threshold

values for this indicator to monitor that affordable electricity is available to all. The

government threshold for this indicator should be applied only for low income

households (as it may not have much meaning for high-income households) to ensure

that these households are not paying more than their due share for electricity.

• To measure reliability of electricity, number of hours of load shedding per day (or per

month) disaggregated by region may be used as an indicator.

• To assess “modernity” of energy access, the government should first define what kind of

“modernity” it aims for and accordingly choose indicators for monitoring and evaluation.

• In addition to energy intensity, emissions intensity should also be closely monitored in

line with India’s INDC commitments.

• The government should also closely monitor the Energy Sustainability parameters

generated by the World Energy Council, and ensure that these scores improve as India

makes progress towards SDG 7.



116 million

unemployed

persons in

the country

Third largest

economy with

a GDP (PPP) of

US$ 8

trillion

43.53 lakhchildren aged

5 to 14 employed

in some form

Sustainable Economic Growth

Full Employment

Decent Work for All


Analysis of Indicators for SDG 8(Decent Work and Economic Growth)

“Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”

• Child Labour: Current surveys on child Structure of this Sectionlabour do not explicitly define child

This section is organised as follows: labour; they simply enumerate the

number of workers in different age Introductiongroups. Child labour is looked at from an

• Overview of SDG 8: A brief overview of economic angle but not from a human the targets under SDG 8 is provided. rights angle. The implications of such a

perspective are discussed here.• India and SDG 8: India’s current

scenario with respect to some of the Summary of Recommendations: Based SDG 8 targets is described. on the ana lys is , a summary o f

recommendations for policymakers is • Comparing the IAEG-SDG Indicators

provided.with Indian Indicators: A tabular

comparison of IAEG-SDG indicators Overview of SDG 8with corresponding indicators currently

SDG 8 deals with decent jobs and measured in India for SDG 8 is given.sustainable economic growth. While Target

Analysis of SDG 8 Indicators 8.1 deals with a sustained rate of per capita

economic growth, Target 8.2 aims for an • Employment and Unemployment: increase in economic productivity and There are two major employment and Target 8.3 calls for enhanced development-unemployment surveys in India. The oriented policies. Subsequent targets aim two are described and compared.for full and productive employment, labour

• The Informal Economy: The informal rights, eradication of child labour, financial

economy is highly complex and diverse. inclusion, reduced proportion of youth not in

To what extent do existing surveys education or employment or training etc.

capture this complexity and diversity is India and SDG 8discussed here.

India is the third largest economy in the • Wages: There are multiple surveys on world after the US and China in terms of its the subject, some of which duplicate the GDP (purchasing power parity) – its GDP in work of others. There are also

152015 was over USD 8 trillion . However, significant data gaps. due to its large population, India has low

• Youth Not in Employment, Education levels of per capita GDP. The Indian or Training (NEET): The NEET rate, an economy is characterised by a large IAEG-SDG indicator, is a relatively new informal sector. According to NSSO 68th

16concept in India. It is explained here. round, among workers in AGEGC and


non-agriculture sectors, about 72 per cent been finalised by the IAEG-SDG as of

were employed in the informal sector. December 2015. Indicators still in the “grey”

category, i.e. indicators that require in-India has a large proportion of young people

depth review by IAEG-SDG, have been in its population and is thus at a strategic

omitted. In the case of SDG 8, the omitted advantage to reap a demographic dividend.

indicators are as follows:However, whether it will actually benefit

from this demographic dividend would • Target 8.4 Improve progressively,

depend on how and how much India invests through 2030, global resource

in its human capital. India has a massive eff ic iency in consumption and

proportion of the workforce in the informal production and endeavour to decouple

economy, low levels of skill in its youth, low economic growth from environmental

levels of productivity especially in degradation, in accordance with the 10-

agriculture and social evils such as child year framework of programmes on

labour. The successful achievement of sus ta inab le consumpt ion and

SDG 8 will enable India to effectively reap production, with developed countries

the demographic dividend. taking the lead. The indicator under

discussion is “resource productivity”.With regard to indicators for SDG 8, most of

the IAEG-SDG indicators are fairly • Target 8.9 By 2030, devise and

straightforward and are already measured implement pol icies to promote

in India. sustainable tourism that creates jobs

and promotes local culture and Comparing the IAEG-SDG Indicators products. The indicators under with Indian Indicators discussion are “tourism direct GDP (as

% of total GDP and in growth rate)” and The following table compares IAEG-SDG

“number of jobs in tourism industries (as indicators with corresponding indicators

% total jobs and growth rate of jobs, by 17currently measured in India for SDG 8 .

gender)”. The table only includes indicators that have

15Gross domestic product based on purchasing-power-parity (PPP) valuation of country GDP (Current international dollar) according to International Monetary Fund data, available on www.imf.org

16[ag]riculture sector [e]xcluding [g]rowing of [c]rops, plant propagation, combined production of crops and animals without a specialized production of crops or animals

17The table only includes indicators that have been finalised by the IAEG-SDG as of December 2015. Indicators still in the “grey” category, i.e. indicators that require in-depth review by IAEG-SDG, have been omitted. In the case of SDG 8, this includes indicators under Targets 8.4 and 8.9.

18 Once in five years




Frequency of

Data Collection

in India


Target 8.1 Sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7 per cent gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries

GDP per capita, PPP GDP per capita, PPP Quarterly Central Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

Target 8.2 Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors

Growth rate of GDP per employed person

Growth rate of GDP per employed person

Quarterly Central Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

Target 8.3 Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity

and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access

to financial services

Share of informal employment in non-agriculture employment by sex

Share of informal employment in non-agriculture employment by sex

Quinquennial14 National Sample Survey Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

Annual Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment

Target 8.5 By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value

Average hourly earnings of female and male employees by occupations (Wages/Gender wage gap)

Average daily wage rate of female and male employees by occupations

Annual Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES),

Ministry of Agriculture

Not fixed Various surveys of Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment



Frequency of

Data Collection

in India


Unemployment rate by sex, age-group and disability

Unemployment rate by sex, age-group and disability

Quinquennial National Sample Survey Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

Annual Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment

Target 8.6 By 2020, substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training

Percentage of youth (15-24) not in education, employment or training (NEET)

Percentage of youth not in

education, employment or

training

Quinquennial National Sample Survey Office, Ministry of

Statistics and Programme Implementation

Target 8.7 Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms

Percentage and number of children aged 5-17 years engaged in child labour, per sex and age group (disaggregated by the worst forms of child labour)

Percentage and number of children aged 5-14 engaged in work by sex, disaggregated by occupational categories

Decennial Census of India – lffice of the oegistrar deneral C Census CommissionerI jinistry of eome Affairs

mercentage of children aged RJ9 and NMJN4 by sexI disaggregated by sector

nuinquennial kational pample purvey lfficeI jinistry of ptatistics and mrogramme fmplementation

qarget UKU mrotect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workersI including migrant workersI in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment

Frequency rates of fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries and time lost due to occupational injuries by gender

Not available



Frequency of

Data Collection

in India


and migrant status

Target 8.10 Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all

Number of commercial bank branches and ATMs per 100,000 adults


Annual Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance

% adults with a formal account or personally using a mobile money service in the past 12 months. Possible to have a break down by income e.g. bottom 40% of income share or <$1.25/day, by gender, age (youth) and rural. Adults: ages 15+

Number and percentage of households availing banking services

Decennial Census of India – lffice of the oegistrar General & Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs

Target 8.a Increase Aid for Trade support for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, including through the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries

Aid for Trade Commitments and Disbursements



Target 8.b By 2020, develop and operationalize a global strategy for youth employment and implement the Global Jobs Pact of the International Labour Organization

Total government spending in social protection and employment programmes as percentage of the national budgets and GDP and collective bargaining rates


Annual Various Ministries



Frequency of

Data Collection

in India


and migrant status

Target 8.10 Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all



Annual Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance

% adults with a formal account or personally using a mobile money service in the past 12 months. Possible to have a break down by income e.g. bottom 40% of income share or <$1.25/day, by gender, age (youth) and rural. Adults: ages 15+

Number and percentage of households availing banking services

Decennial Census of India – lffice of the oegistrar General & Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs

Target 8.a Increase Aid for Trade support for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, including through the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries




Target 8.b By 2020, develop and operationalize a global strategy for youth employment and implement the Global Jobs Pact of the International Labour Organization



Annual Various Ministries


• the quinquennial Employment and Employment and UnemploymentUnemployment Survey of the National

Background Sample Survey Office (NSSO)

The IAEG-SDG indicators for targets 8.3 • t h e a n n u a l E m p l o y m e n t a n d and 8.5 are, respectively, “share of informal Unemployment Survey of the Labour e m p l o y m e n t i n n o n - a g r i c u l t u r e Bureauemployment by sex” and “unemployment

Comparing NSSO and Labour Bureau rate by sex, age-group and disability”.

S u r v e y s o f E m p l o y m e n t a n d There are two major surveys that supply

Unemploymentthis information in India:

Table 9: A Comparison of the NSSO and Labour Bureau Surveys of Employment and Employment

There are no significant differences in the rates in the 2 surveys. The NSSO rate was

methodology adopted and in concepts and 2.8% in 2007-08, while the Labour Bureau

definitions followed by NSSO and Labour rate was 9.4% in 2009-10.

Bureau in their Employment and Given that the sample sizes and

Unemployment Surveys.geographical coverage of both surveys are

Although the Labour Bureau survey is more comparable, it is worth pondering whether

frequent, the NSSO survey is used more the NSSO and Labour Bureau surveys both

often in literature, perhaps due to need to be conducted in the same year for

availability of data for a longer duration. the same set of indicators, as was done in

Further, NSSO surveys have the 2011-12. The Labour Bureau and NSSO

advantage of unit-level data. surveys diverge in their estimates despite

similar concepts and definitions. This With regard to unemployment data, it is

creates additional confusion. There is a dire important to note that unemployment has a

need, therefore, to reflect whether the seasonal character. It is likely to be affected

conduction of both surveys is required, and by duration of survey fieldwork. Indeed,

why the estimates diverge.there is a divergence in unemployment

19 Although an employment and unemployment survey was conducted in 2011-12 just two years after the previous one.

20 Households.21 Except a few remote/interior villages in Nagaland and Andaman & Nicobar.


It is worth noting that most advanced explores the informal economy in further

countries track labour market data on a detail.

quarterly and even monthly basis, The Informal Economywhereas India relies on Labour Bureau’s

annual survey and NSSO’s quinquennial This sub-section is organised as follows.surveys for the same. The labour market

• First, the dimensions and definitions is quite dynamic; the lack of frequent real-

of the informal economy used in the time data on the characteristics of labour

NSSO and Labour Bureau surveys markets is a major macroeconomic

are described.handicap in India. The Ministry of

S t a t i s t i c s a n d P r o g r a m m e • Second, the question of why an

Implementation is planning to launch enterprise perspective of the informal

quarterly surveys in urban areas and economy is important in addition to an

annual surveys across the country to employment perspective is explored.

a s s e s s t h e e m p l o y m e n t a n d

unemployment situation (Surabhi, 2015). • Third, an attempt is made to visualise This is a welcome move that would plug a the informal economy by combining serious gap in India’s macroeconomic the enterprise and employment data. While monthly data reporting on perspectives together.labour markets may not be feasible in

• Fourth, recommendations to improve India due to its large informal workforce the effectiveness of NSSO surveys and numerous unregistered enterprises, are provided.at least quarterly data on labour markets

is necessary to inform crucial policy Dimensions and Definitions of the decisions. The frequency of data Informal Economycollection should match the frequency

In accounting for the informal economy, with which important policy decisions

NSSO and Labour Bureau surveys follow relevant to the sector are made. For

the same classification of activities. instance, in the US, the Fed monitors the

There are two broad dimensions of the labour market on a monthly basis to

informal economy: enterprises and the decide when to start tapering its bond

conditions of employment.purchase stimulus (The Indian Express,

2013). The initiation of such a survey in There are 8 categories of enterprises,

India can allow the discontinuation of among which the ‘proprietary’ and

NSSO and Labour Bureau surveys, ‘partnership’ enterprises are classified as

although it may be useful to retain one of i n f o r m a l ( N a t i o n a l S t a t i s t i c a l

the two surveys as quarterly or monthly Commission, 2012). It is worth noting that

data collection does not afford the large there are two other prominent enterprise

survey coverage that NSSO and Labour surveys in India – the MSME Census

Bureau provide.conducted by the Ministry of MSMEs, and

the Economic Census of the Ministry of Both NSSO and Labour Bureau surveys

S t a t i s t i c s a n d P r o g r a m m e unanimously indicate that a major share

Implementation. However, this section of India’s non-agricultural workforce

deals primarily with the NSSO surveys.works under informal terms of

employment. The sub-section below

22 [ag]riculture sector [e]xcluding [g]rowing of [c]rops, plant propagation, combined production of crops and animals without a specialized production of crops or animals


As for conditions of employment, jobs are MSMEs. NSSO surveys of enterprises

classified as informal or otherwise on the can enumerate the enterprises in the

basis of the following conditions of informal sector (most of which tend to

employment in the NSSO 61st and 66th be MSMEs), which is the starting point

rounds (National Statistical Commission, to design and execute policies to

2012): formalise these enterprises.

• type of contract (no written job contract, • Two, formalising MSMEs is also a

written job contract: for 1 year or less, national priority. Informally operated

more than 1 year to 3 years, more than 3 MSMEs find it difficult to access formal

years) channels of credit, which is important for

their growth. An enumeration of • whether eligible for paid leave

unincorporated non-agricul tural

enterprises along with data on their • availability of social security benefits o p e r a t i o n a l a n d e c o n o m i c (provident fund / pension / gratuity / characteristics, as done in NSS 67th health care and maternity benefits)round (2010-11), is essential to meet

Both surveys exclude agriculture sector national priorities as well as target 8.3, and agricultural workers. These surveys which reads, “promote development-supply exactly the data needed for the or iented pol ic ies that support IAEG-SDG indicator “share of informal productive activities, decent job e m p l o y m e n t i n n o n - a g r i c u l t u r e creation, entrepreneurship…”employment by sex” under Target 8.3.

Given these considerations, the current According to NSSO 68th round, among report strongly advocates a combined

22workers in AGEGC and non-agriculture employment-enterprise perspective of the sectors, about 72 per cent were employed informal economy. Such a perspective can in the informal sector. The proportion was provide crucial insights for policymakers. about 75 per cent in rural areas and about Some of these insights are described 69 per cent in urban areas (NSSO, 2014). below.

While the remainder of this section deals Looking at Employment and Enterprises primarily with NSSO surveys, much of the Together: The Employment-Enterprise analysis and recommendations provided Matrixhere may also be applied to Labour Bureau

The National Commission for Enterprises in surveys as their concepts and definitions the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) has been are similar.set up by the government of India to act as a

Why Look at Enterprises in Addition to watchdog and advisory body on issues Employment? relating to the informal sector. NCEUS

extensively uses the concepts and results An enterprise perspective, in addition to a

of NSSO surveys, and has grouped nature of employment perspective, is useful

employment in India into four categories. to track the current target for two reasons.

The categories may be visualised using the

matrix given below.• One, the target calls for formalising


Table 10: Categories of Employment

Source: Adapted from (NCEUS, 2009)

As is visible from the figure above, there are each category. Its report (NCEUS, 2009)

four categories of workers in non- notes that between NSSO 55th and 61st

agricultural employment in India: rounds, “the entire increase in the

employment in the organised or formal • Workers informally employed in the

sector over this period has largely been informal sector (category A)

informal in nature i.e. without any job or

social security. This constitutes what can be • Workers formally employed in the termed as informalisation of the formal informal sector (category B)sector, where any employment increase

• Workers informally employed in the consists of regular workers without social formal sector (category C) security benefits and casual or contract

workers again without the benefits that • Workers formally employed in the

should accrue to formal workers.“ This is an formal sector (category D)

important insight for policymakers.

Each of these categories is interesting to The question of why formal sector

study and provides its own set of insights. enterprises are hiring workers under

Category A represents the largest category informal terms of employment is an

of workers in India and it is this category, interesting one. It is possible that informal

along with category C, which needs to be hiring provides firms with greater flexibility

minimised. Category B represents a rare to respond to demand fluctuations, as

category – workers working in the informal informal labour comes with lower marginal

sector but under formal terms of costs. Further, a recent study (Castillo &

employment (i.e. with written job contracts, Montoro, 2012) points to the benefits of the

eligible for paid leave, and/or receiving informalisation of labour markets – the

social security benefits). Category C presence of informal labour markets

represents a somewhat low-hanging fruit – generates a "buffer" effect that diminishes

it shows workers who are employed the pressure of demand shocks on inflation,

informally but in the formal sector. To the implying that in economies with large

extent that formal sector enterprises fall informal labour markets, changes in

under the government regulatory net, they interest rates are more effective in

can be targeted relatively easily to convert stimulating real output and there is less

their informal employees into formal ones. impact on inflation. An important question to

Category D is what is required to be address, therefore, is whether these

maximised, i.e. formal workers in formal benefits come at the cost of worker welfare.

enterprises.In order to address this question, it is

Using NSSO data, NCEUS has computed important for NSSO surveys to provide

the number and percentage of workers in adequate data on worker welfare. While

Informal employment Formal employment

Informal sector/enterprise A B

Formal sector/enterprise C D


current data allows us to know the number part time work for usually active workers

and proportion of workers in each of the 4 was captured and its prevalence was found

categories in the employment-enterprise to be significant for female workers. The

matrix, there is scope for including more report recommends that to ascertain the

probing questions on the conditions under causes of such precarious employment,

which workers work in each category. methodological studies should be

Suggestions for the same are outlined in the undertaken and specific indicators and data

subsequent sub-section. need to be identified.

Further, the informalisation of the formal To track the much-desired formalisation of

enterprise is in direct contrast to what is the informal enterprise, an “ease of doing

desired – the formalisation of informal business by MSMEs” index may be

enterprises. It is important for informal formulated by including a few probing

MSMEs to become formalised so that they questions in India’s existing enterprise

can access formal channels of credit and surveys. The World Bank publishes a global

other entitled benefits. A relevant indicator Ease of Doing Business Index and ranks a

to assess the extent to which MSMEs are number of countries in terms of parameters

able to access such benefits and become like the ease of dealing with construction

formalised is an “ease of doing business” permits, enforcing contracts, paying taxes,

index for MSMEs, which is described below. registering property, etc. While most of

these parameters are mostly relevant to Increasing the Effectiveness of NSSO

larger formal enterprises, India may Surveys

similarly define for itself what is meant by

“ease of doing business” in the context of “Decent jobs” is an important component of MSMEs, and include a few probing Targets 8.3 and 8.5. Worker welfare should questions on the same in its existing therefore be effectively captured in NSSO enterprise surveys. One such question, for surveys. Currently, NSSO surveys capture example, could be whether the enterprise whether a written job contract is available, has a bank account. This would help track whether the worker is eligible for paid leave, progress towards the formalisation of and whether the job provides social security informal enterprises.benefits. There is scope, however, for

including more probing questions on the There is a tendency to underestimate the

nature of working conditions, job security, value of economic activity of informal

number of hours of work per day, safety and enterprises. This is because many of these

durability of employment (National enterprises are based out of households,

Statistical Commission, 2012). In particular, where the fixed capital used in production

durability of employment is an extremely may also be used for various other

important qualitative characteristic of purposes. This makes it difficult to separate

employment in India. A report by the household and enterprise activities.

National Statistical Commission (National Further, many informal enterprises do not

Statistical Commission, 2012) notes that maintain accounts properly. One way of

the lack of durability in employment makes getting around this problem is to integrate

employment p recar ious , reduces household expenditure surveys with

productivity and leads to the prevalence of enterprise surveys – this may increase

under-employment. In the NSSO 61st reliability of household expenditures and

round survey, non-regularity of work and

Survey Conducting/ Reporting Agency

Frequency

Remarks on Field Data Collection

Wage Rates in Rural India

Labour Bureau, using NSSO Employment and Unemployment data

Quinquennial

Data collected from local government functionaries such as the panchayat secretary and other village/block level officials

Agricultural Wages in India

Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES), Ministry of Agriculture

Annual

Data collected by the local officials, patwaris,mamlatdars and primary teachers and transmitted through district and state authorities to DES (Papola, 2014).

Occupational Wage Survey

Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment

Not fixed Data is collected from a sample of workers defined as defined under the Factories Act, 1948

Annual Survey of Industries

Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment

Annual Data is collected from a stratified sample of industrial units

income from entrepreneurial activities In dealing with the self-employed, there is

(NCEUS, 2008). This has been done in the an added complexity in quantifying

NSS 66th round and 68th rounds. earnings as the remuneration consists of

two parts: remuneration for labour and Wages profits of the enterprises. These two parts

Target 8.5 calls for full and productive are non-separable (NSSO, 2014). There is

employment for all. The IAEG-SDG therefore, no data currently available on the

framework has provided two indicators for earnings of the self-employed. This

this target. The second one has been dealt represents a serious gap in the data, as

with in the previous section. The first one according to NSSO’s own estimates,

reads “average hourly earnings of female around half of all workers are self-

and male employees by occupations”. employed. Further research on methods to

estimate earnings of the self-employed is Corresponding to this IAEG-SDG indicator,

recommended.several surveys are conducted in India on

the topic of wages. One of them is the NSSO data is the only set of data on wages

Employment and Unemployment Survey of which covers all categories of workers in the

NSSO, which has been dealt with in detail entire economy and is amenable to

above. NSSO collects data on the average disaggregation by rural, urban, gender,

daily wage earnings of casual labourers social group and states (Papola, 2014). The

and regular wage/salaried employees other surveys on wage rates in India are

during each of the seven days of the briefly described in the table below.

reference week.


Table 11: Surveys on Wages in India (Excluding NSSO Surveys)

Analysis of the Other Wage Surveys in Rural India survey were identified almost 40

India years ago and have not been revised to

reflect changes in rural occupations. An An International Labour Organization (ILO) urgent revision is therefore recommended.study (Papola, 2014) notes that the

occupations covered in the Wage Rates in

The annual publication, ‘Agricultural Wages (No. of youth – no. of youth in employment +

in India’, was found available on the DES no. of youth not in employment who are in

website for the crop years (July to June) education or training) / Total number of

2005-06 through 2011-12. There appears to youth

be a considerable delay between data The data required to calculate the NEET

collection and publishing of data in the rate can be easily derived from the NSSO

public domain, as the 2011-12 report was Employment Unemployment Surveys. It

only published in 2015. may also be derived from Labour Bureau

The Occupational Wage Survey is one of surveys and Census surveys. However, as

two surveys of the wage rate in the formal explained in (Elder, 2015), the level of detail

manufacturing (and later services, which needed to make the calculation –

has been included in the latest round) specifically, the education status of youth

sector. However, these surveys are quite (in school or out of school) cross-tabulated

irregular. The latest available set of data by labour force status (employed,

was collected in 2002 and is therefore of unemployed or inactive) – is rarely found

limited relevance now. There is a need to without direct access to the survey micro

determine the appropriate frequency of this datasets. These micro datasets are rarely

survey and administer the survey according available in the public domain in the case of

to this frequency, otherwise one loses the NSSO surveys. Nevertheless, India’s

ability to analyse trends over time. It is also NEET was calculated for the year 2004

recommended that the time taken to using NSSO data in (Elder, 2015). It was

compile and publish data be reduced. found to be 27.2% for youth aged 15-29.

Looking at sex-disaggregated NEET rates There appears to be an overlap in the

in the same year for the same age group ‘Wage Rates in Rural India’ and the

paints a picture of extreme gender disparity. ‘Agricultural Wages in India’ surveys of the

The NEET rate was 6.4% for males and Labour Bureau and the DES respectively.

49.0% for females. OECD estimates peg This leads to duplication of effort and cost.

India’s NEET rates for 15/16 – 24 year olds This issue needs to be examined and only

in 2012 at 28.9% (OECD, 2014).one agency, preferably the Labour Bureau,

which appears to have a better coverage Whi le India in i t ia tes the regular

and data collection set up, should be measurement of NEET rate, it should make

entrusted the task (Papola, 2014). sure that the calculation is done and

reported in a periodic fashion, i.e. after each Youth Not in Employment, Education NSSO Employment Unemployment or Training Survey.

Target 8.6 calls for reducing the proportion Child Labourof youth not in employment, education or

Target 8.8 calls for the eradication of child training (NEET). The IAEG-SDG indicator

labour. The corresponding IAEG-SDG for this target is “percentage of youth (15-

indicator is “percentage and number of 24) not in education, employment or

children aged 5-17 years engaged in child training”.

labour, per sex and age group NEET rate is calculated according to the (disaggregated by the worst forms of child formula specified below and expressed as a labour)”.percentage (Elder, 2015).


In India, child labour data is collected in the Even if all income-generating activities

Census and NSSO Employment and were included in definitions of child labour,

Unemployment surveys. The Census such a definition would still not capture the

decennially provides data on “percentage full complexity of activities that intuitively

and number of children aged 5-14 engaged encompass child labour. A large number of

in work by sex, disaggregated by children in India attend school and work

occupational categories”, while NSSO after school hours or during holidays. They

qu inquennia l ly prov ides data on may or may not directly earn remuneration.

“percentage of children aged 5-9 and 10-14 Activities such as household chores, animal

by sex, disaggregated by sector”. husbandry, working on the family farm etc.

need not directly generate an income for the According to the Census 2001 figures there

child; rather they generate income or value were 1.26 crore working children in the age

for the household as a whole. To respond to group of 5-14 as compared to the total child

this challenge and clarify whether such population of 25.2 crores. There were

activities constitute child labour, the approximately 12 lakh children working in

government has recently set in motion an hazardous occupations/processes as

official amendment to the CLPRA, to ban defined under the Child Labour (Prohibition

employment of all children below 14 in all & Regulation) Act. NSSO data from 2004-

occupations and processes. This would 05 put the number of working children at

solve the problem to an extent by bringing 90.75 lakh. As per Census 2011, the

chi ldren employed in agricul ture, number of working children in the age group

household chores etc. under the regulatory of 5-14 years has further reduced to 43.53

net by defining them as child labourers. lakh (Ministry of Labour and Employment).

However, there is another category of

children who are neither at work nor at There appears to be a reasonable school. Should such children be classified alignment between Indian indicators and as child labourers, as they are not receiving global requirement. However, there are free and compulsory education as some areas of concern in the way child mandated by the Right to Education Act? Or labour is defined and estimated in India. should they not count as child labourers These issues are explored below.because they are not working, in a technical

Areas of Concern in Child Labour sense? The government needs to take a Statistics well-informed stand on the same (Giri &

Singh, 2016).The Child Labour (Prohibition and

Regulation) Act (CLPRA), 1986 is the main Further, the Census and NSSO surveys act that governs child labour issues in India. that enumerate child labour in India simply The act defines child labourers as children derive the number of child workers from below 14 engaged in certain specified age-wise distribution of workers. Workers occupations and processes. As of now, are defined as those who contribute to the there are only 18 occupations and 65 national product as per economic processes in this list. However, children accounting principles. This, by definition, working inside their household or in family excludes ‘own account’ and ‘own farms, even if the work is hazardous, are not consumption’ processing of primary considered child labourers. products outside the agriculture sector. By


this definition, mining and quarrying powerful insights on how many children are

activities, prostitution, begging etc. are actually working. Armed with information on

excluded, even though they fetch earnings how children spend their time, even if they

(NCPCR). Thus, a number of working are enrolled in school, policymakers can

children are possibly being excluded from tailor policies to the ground-level situation.

these surveys.However, the pilot indicated that the time

A new definition of child labour that looks at use survey is highly resource intensive. It

the issue from a social and human rights requires a large number of skilled

angle in addition to an economic angle is investigators, and much time and financial

recommended. Further, regardless of resources to execute. Given this

definition, it would be useful to understand constraints, it may not be feasible to

exactly how children are spending their conduct such a survey annually or

time. A time use profile that describes time quinquennially. It is recommended that at

spent in school and after-school study, least a decennial survey may be attempted,

household chores, family enterprise work or learning from the pilot experience.

family farm work, direct income-generating Furthermore, by the government’s own

activities etc. would be useful to understand admission, disaggregated data on

the nature of ‘work’ they engage in and how chi ldren’s involvement in var ious

much time they devote to such activities.hazardous occupations and processes (as

A time use survey can serve this end. defined by the Child Labour (Protection and

The Department of Statistics, Government Regulation) Act) is not available (NSSO,

of India, organised a pilot time use survey 2014), although gathering such data was

between July, 1998, and June, 1999 in six attempted in the NSSO survey of 1993-94.

states - Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, In 1993-94, to elicit information on children

Gujarat, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and working in specific hazardous activities in

Meghalaya. The survey col lected manufacturing and building construction

comprehensive information on how people, industry, the processes in which the

including children above six years, spend children worked was collected. These

their time on different activities using a one- i n c l u d e d b i d i m a k i n g , c e m e n t

day recall method. The results show that manufacturing, manufacture of matches,

children spend 21.46 hours a week on explosives and splitting, etc. (Papola,

economic activities covered under national 2014). It is not clear, however, whether the

income accounts. This is about 47 per cent lessons from this experience have been

of the time spent by an adult on similar documented and used to in form

activities (NCPCR). More significantly, the subsequent surveys. It is, in any case,

results indicate that more than 32% of recommended that the government

children previously classified as neither in undertake sound research to incorporate

school nor working were actually working information on children’s involvement in

(NCPCR). hazardous activities in existing employment

surveys.Such time use surveys, when coupled with

existing enumeration surveys, can provide




• Reflection is recommended on whether it is necessary to conduct both NSSO and

Labour Bureau surveys for the same indicators on employment and unemployment,

especially in the same year as happened in 2011-12.

• Labour market data, particularly employment and unemployment data, should be

tracked at least quarterly. The frequency of data collection should match the

frequency with which important policy decisions relevant to the sector are made.

• More probing questions on the nature of working conditions, job security, safety and

durability of employment (for example, non-regularity of work and part time work for

usually active workers, number of hours of work per day etc.) may be included in the

Employment and Unemployment Surveys of NSSO and Labour Bureau.

Methodological studies should be undertaken to identify specific indicators and data.

• To track the much-desired formalisation of the informal enterprise, an “ease of doing

business by MSMEs” index may be formulated by including a few probing questions

in India’s existing enterprise surveys. These questions should provide insights on the

degree of formalisation in MSMEs’ regular activities. One such question, for example,

could be whether the enterprise has a bank account.

• Further research on methods to estimate earnings of the self-employed is

recommended.

• An International Labour Organization (ILO) study notes that the occupations covered

in the Occupation Wage Survey were identified almost 40 years ago and have not

been revised to reflect changes in rural occupations. A revision is therefore required at

the earliest.

• The Occupational Wage Survey is the only source of occupation-wise wage data.

However, it seems to be quite irregular and there appears to be a large delay between

the administration of survey and publishing of the findings, often rendering the

findings irrelevant. There is a need to determine the appropriate frequency of this

survey and administer the survey according to this frequency. It is also recommended

that the time taken to compile and publish data be reduced.

• A new definition of child labour that looks at the issue from a social and human rights

angle in addition to an economic angle is recommended.

• It is recommended that at least a decennial survey of time use, particularly of children,

be attempted, learning from the pilot experience of the Time Use Survey.

• Disaggregated data on children’s involvement in various hazardous occupations and

processes (as defined by the Child Labour (Protection and Regulation) Act) is not

available but is important. It is recommended that collection of this data be integrated

into existing NSSO surveys.


17.4% of

Indian urban

household live

in slums

India's urban

population

projected to soar to

590 million

by 2030

50% of

all road

accident victims

are pedestrians

Inclusive and Safe Cities

Resilient Cities

Sustainable Cities


Analysis of Indicators for SDG 11(Sustainable Cities and Communities)

“Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”

attention to the needs of those in Structure of this Sectionvulnerable situations, women, children,

This section is organised as follows: persons with disabilities and older

personsIntroduction

• Target 11.3: By 2030, enhance • Overview of SDG 11: A brief overview inclusive and sustainable urbanisation of the targets under SDG 11 is provided.and capacity for part ic ipatory,

• India and SDG 11: India’s current integrated and sustainable human scenario with respect to some of the settlement planning and management SDG 11 targets is described. in all countries

• Comparing the IAEG-SDG Indicators • Target 11.6: By 2030, reduce the with Indian Indicators: A tabular adverse per capita environmental comparison of IAEG-SDG indicators impact of cities, including by paying with corresponding indicators currently special attention to air quality and measured in India for SDG 11 is given. m u n i c i p a l a n d o t h e r w a s t e

management• State of Cities: The classification and

state of Indian cities are discussed. • Target 11.7: By 2030, provide universal

access to safe, inclusive and • Challenges in Achieving SDG 11:

accessible, green and public spaces, in Overall challenges relating to the

particular for women and children, older achievement of SDG 11, and the

persons and persons with disabilitiesimpl icat ions for indicators are

discussed. • Target 11.b: By 2020, substantially

increase the number of cities and Analysis of SDG 11 Indicators

human settlements adopting and

implementing integrated policies and The indicators pertaining to the following

plans towards inclusion, resource targets are analysed.

efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to • Target 11.1: By 2030, ensure access climate change, resilience to disasters,

for all to adequate, safe and affordable and develop and implement, in line with housing and basic services and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk upgrade slums Reduction 2015-2030, holistic disaster

risk management at all levels• Target 11.2: By 2030, provide access to

safe, affordable, accessible and Summary of Recommendations: Based sustainable transport systems for all, on the ana lys is , a summary o f improving road safety, notably by recommendations is provided.expanding public transport, with special


male population can be observed during the Overview of SDG 11recent decades from 18.3% in 1961 to

Cities lie at the core of ideas, commerce, 13.8% in 1991. Critically, the decline is culture, science, productivity, social noted significantly for urban areas - going development and much more. Cities have down from 37.5% to 26%(Kundu, 2006). been the bedrock of human civilisation and Urban inequality is rampant; land markets enabled people to progress socially and are polarised in cities like Mumbai and the economically. SDG 11 highlights the aspect urban poor in many cities end up paying of significance of urban transformation and more than their more affluent counterparts as such the targets outlined in the goal for basic services (Shiraz, 2015).address diverse issues from providing

The Government of India introduced the affordable housing, to universal access to

concept of ‘smart cities’ in 2014 with an public transport, to reducing the per capita

objective to promote cities that provide core environmental impact of cities. They also

infrastructure, good quality of life to citizens, address the institutional set-up to plan and

a clean and sustainable environment and manage cities, recognising that inclusive

application of ‘smart’ solutions. A 'smart city' institutions form the backbone of

is an urban region that is highly advanced in sustainable human settlements.

terms of overall infrastructure, sustainable India and SDG 11 real estate, communications and market

viability (The Hindu, 2016).The mission According to a report by McKinsey, India's

encourages states to plan for sustainable, urban population grew from the 290 million

inclusive and smart urbanisation, with reported in the 2001 census to an estimated

states that abide by central guidelines 340 million in 2008, and could soar further

eligible to receive substantial funding to to 590 million by 2030. The urban

implement their ‘smart city’ plans. The list of expansionwill continue to profligate as India

the first 20 ‘smart cities’ was recently could take only half that time to add the next

released in January 2016. These ‘smart 250 million to its urban population. This will

cities’, if planned and implemented pose an unprecedented policy and

intelligently and inclusively, could provide a managerial challenge(Economic Times,

roadmap for the achievement of SDG 11 in 2011).

India.

Roughly 1.37 crore households, or 17.4% Comparing the IAEG-SDG Indicators of urban Indian households lived in slums in with Indian Indicators2011, according to Census data. The

population census data on internal The following table compares IAEG-SDG

migration (excluding the international indicators with corresponding indicators

migrants) reveals that mobility has currently measured in India for SDG 11.The

generally declined over the decades, both table only includes indicators that have

in rural as well as the urban areas. In case of been finalised by the IAEG-SDG as of

migration for men, wherein economic December 2015. Indicators still in the “grey”

factors are likely to be relatively more category, i.e. indicators that require in-

important than that for women, the decline depth review by IAEG-SDG, have been

in the percentage of migrants can be noted omitted. In the case of SDG 11, the omitted

as significant. The decline in the targets and indicators are as follows:

percentage of lifetime male migrants to total


• Target 11.4 Strengthen efforts to protect • Target 11.a Support positive economic,

and safeguard the world's cultural and social and environmental links between

natural heritage. The indicator under urban, peri-urban and rural areas by

discussion is “share of national (or strengthening national and regional

municipal) budget which is dedicated to development planning. The indicator

p r e s e r v a t i o n , p r o t e c t i o n a n d under discussion is “cities with more

conservation of national cultural natural than 100,000 inhabi tants that

heritage including World Heritage implement urban and regional

sites”. development p lans integrat ing

population projections and resource • Target 11.5 By 2030, significantly

needs”. reduce the number of deaths and the

number of people affected and • Target 11.c Support least developed

substantially decrease the direct countries, including through financial

economic losses relative to global gross and technical assistance, in building

domestic product caused by disasters, sustainable and resilient buildings

including water-related disasters, with a utilizing local materials. The indicator

focus on protecting the poor and people under discussion is “percentage of

in vulnerable situations. The indicator financial support that is allocated to the

under discussion is “number of deaths, construction and retrofitt ing of

missing people, injured, relocated or sustainable, resilient and resource-

evacuated due to disasters per 100,000 efficient buildings”.

people”.







Annual mean levels of fine particulate matter (i.e. PM2.5 and PM10) in cities (population weighted)

PM2.5 and PM10 Levels

Real-Time State Pollution Control Boards / Central Pollution Control Board

Target 11.7 By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities

The average share of the built-up area of cities that is open space in public use for all

Floor Space Index Not fixed State Governments

Target 11.b By 2020, substantially increase the number of cities and human settlements adopting and implementing integrated policies and plans towards inclusion, resource efficiency, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, resilience to disasters, and d evelop and implement, in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, holistic disaster risk management at all levels

Percent of cities that are implementing risk reduction and resilience strategies aligned with accepted international frameworks (such as the successor to the Hyogo Framework for Action on Disaster Risk Reduction) that include vulnerable and marginalized groups in their design, implementation and monitoring.

Percentage of Land Vulnerable to Natural Disasters

Vulnerability Atlas of India (1997)

Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

as new or expanded transportation, energy State of Citiesand water systems. Is it estimated that India

Indian cities of Mumbai and Delhi are in line needs to invest USD 1.2 trillion in its cities in to gain a place among the top twenty urban the coming 20 years – equivalent to USD economies of the world by 2025. By 2006, 134 per capita per year, compared to the 27.5% of the country’s population lived in USD 17 spent today(The Economist, 2011). Tier I cities (with a population of over four The urban population in India grew 32 per million); 14.2 million lived in Tier II cities cent in the past decade according to 2011 (with a population of 1-4 million) and 58.3% census data; but the government expects in Tier III and IV cities (with population of another 42% growth in population over the less than one million). This landscape is next 15 years(The Economist, 2011). Such expected to change significantly, with many rapid expansion raises the prospect of city Tier II cities even doubling their population administrators reacting with short-term, in the next 20 years, and the Tier III and IV tactical measures, rather than responding bunch also experiencing a similar with long-term strategic direction. A further expansion (NASSCOM, 2014).However, a long-term challenge is adopting a truly proportion of the urban population lives in ho l is t ic approach to susta inab le informal settlements often referred to as urbanisation, which charts the path for a ‘slums’ or ‘shanty towns’, with no access to growth in the city population without a basic social and physical infrastructure like commensurate increase in resource health, education, water, sanitation and consumption. In actual terms, a holistic transportation. approach begins with the city plan - which in

turn gives rise to frameworks for the built Being at the epicentre of rapid urbanisation environment, for transportation networks, is both a bane and boon for India. Cities and for energy consumption. But have been contributing nearly 60% the sustainable urban growth must also include nation’s GDP and almost 85% of the tax measures to tackle urban poverty and revenues(Gopal, 2012). Indian cities are social exclusion and to deal with growing now acknowledged as the engines of diversity. Currently, around three-quarters economic growth. But rapid urbanisation is of India’s urban citizens earn an average of something that India was not prepared to USD 1.80 a day(The Economist, 2011). deal with. Urbanisation happened at a time Social inclusion measures could include when the nation was still heavily focused on providing access to low-cost housing to rural development. The rural bias is curtail the spread of slums – which currently reflected in national policies and house between 20-40% of India’s urban investments even in the 21st century. In per population (The Economist, 2011).capita terms, India’s annual capital

spending of $17 on urban infrastructure is a The role of c i t ies in addressing mere 14 per cent of China’s $116 and 4% of sustainability challenges worldwide has the United Kingdom’s $391(Gopal, 2012). been recognised as relevant. Many of the

SDG goals and targets will succeed or fail in Challenges in Achieving SDG 11

global cities since over 54 per cent of the

world population now resides in these sub-One widespread challenge in fast-growing

nat ional uni ts(Simon, 2015). The Indian cities is the archaic urban

availability of national data at a level of governance structure. A further obstacle for

disaggregation that would enable local many cities is financing infrastructure such


governments to implement policies or 2011 Census covers all 4,041 statutory

monitor outcomes is very limited. towns in India, as compared to 2001 when

Household surveys, for example, tend to only statutory towns with population over

produce single figures on issues such as 20,000 were covered. The 2001 data had

water or sanitation but fall short of set India's slum population at 15% of the

establishing the argument on how these total population (Shrinivasan, 2013). 60%,

numbers vary across districts. Government or eight million, people in Mumbai live in

data on housing, for example, is often slums characterised by degraded housing,

unable to keep up with the movement of poor hygiene, congestion, inadequate civic

population, with information on informal services, and deplorable quality of life.

urban settlements seldom reflecting reality Mumbai is not alone; most of the metros in

(D'Almeida, 2015). India have anywhere between 30 to 50% of

people living in squatter settlements. In Affordable Housing, Slums, and India, increasing prosperity in the cities Access to Basic Services paradoxically increased the number of poor

people too. The unskilled migrants from the This target concerns housing, informal

rural counterparts have access to neither settlements and “slums”. This is very hard

land nor jobs. It is estimated that India has a to measure in a comparable way, and it will

deficit of 50 to 70 million houses (Gopal, be a challenge for Indian cities to provide

2012); the need for other social robust and reliable data. “Inadequate

infrastructure too is not far behind. housing” was considered a better term than

“slum”, as it includes access to basic Housing Conditionservices, tenure security and quality of

According to the Task Force on Affordable housing across the participating cities.This Housing set up by the MoHUPA in 2008, has locked ci t ies in a perennial affordable housing for various segments is dichotomous state of contrasting realities, defined by the size of the dwelling and characterised by rapid economic growth on housing affordability derived by the the one hand and multiple deprivations on household income of the population (Jones the other. Nearly one in every six urban Lang LaSalle, 2012). Generally, in all State Indian residents lives in a slum. The new or Central government-subsidised numbers are, however, significantly lower schemes and projects, an ‘affordable’ than the 27.5% slum growth that had been dwelling with a carpet area of 60 square projected for India (Shrinivasan, 2013). The metres or less costs a maximum of five census defines a slum as "residential areas times a household’s annual income where dwellings are unfit for human (MoSPI, 2013).habitation" because they are dilapidated,

cramped, poorly ventilated, unclean, or Provision of adequate housing and

"any combination of these factors which are amenities are major challenges for human

detrimental to the safety and health.” development, particularly among low-

Roughly 1.37 crore households, or 17.4% income urban households in developing

of urban Indian households lived in a slum countries. In India, currently, there is a

in 2011, data released by the Registrar shortfall of 23 million houses, out of which

General and Census Commissioner's office nearly 96% belongs to the Economically

showed. The new data is difficult to Weaker Sections (EWS) and Lower Income

compare with previous years, because the


Group (LIG) Households. The gap between one was to look at smaller or affordable

the supply and demand of housing has units.

been widening thus, pushing up the market For instance, of the 700,000 houses sold

rates(MoHUPA, 2014).These challenges last year, 300,000 were in the 500 to 700

are further exacerbated when social sqft category. Since the shortfall of 23

exclusion makes access to adequate million is mostly in the affordable and mid-

housing and amenities difficult among segment, the increase in supply has to be

certain communities. In fact, it also that much more. At present, 70% of the

contributes to the creation of a housing sub-demand or shortfall of the 23 million

market, which imbalances supply and shortage is in the 700 to 1,000 sqft bracket

demand and ultimately leads to difficulty in (Business Standard, 2015). A country’s

access to affordable housing. Though housing situation is the by-product of

various levels of government have made household socio-economic conditions

modest attempts to provide housing and (including household income, property and

services through housing policies and assets) and government habitat policies

programmes, the results have so far not and programmes. Success in improving

been encouraging. The need, according to housing conditions can be limited because

the Housing for All Scheme of the policymakers often limit their efforts to

Government of India, is for more than three housing policies and programmes and do

million residential units a year, against not look at the whole picture, particularly

700,000 houses sold in 2014. The supply key drivers like socio-economic conditions.

has to grow by more than three times to fill

the gap. The numbers are distorted further if


Box 6: A glance at housing in urban India, 2011

A glance at housing in urban India, 2011

Total population: 377.11 million

Total households: 78.87 million

Condition of census house: good (68.4%), liveable (28.7%), dilapidated (2.9%)

Estimated housing shortage: 24.71 million

Estimated slum population: 93.06 million

Estimated number of slums: 49,000

Estimated poverty headcount: 25.7 million

Tap water as main source of drinking water: 70.6%

Latrine facilities within the premises: 81.4%

Source: (Ahmad, 2012)

The Census of India carries out decennial condition of nearly 94 million of Census

surveys on information on housing stock houses has been reported as ‘Good’, 83

and its condition. The surveys ascertain the million as ‘Liveable’, and 10 million as

safety and ‘liveability’ of each Census ‘Dilapidated’(Census of India, 2011).

house by determining the predominant Houses have been classi f ied as

material of the floor, walls, and roof which is Pe rmanen t , Semi -pe rmanen t , o r

derived from a list of materials under each Temporary based on the type of material

category. According to Census 2011, with used in the construction of the walls and

information on the state of housing, the roof. Nearly 99 million of the 187 million

houses fall under the Permanent category; round (January - June 1993) of operation,

58 million under Semi-permanent; and 35 the NSSO took up 'housing condition' again

million under Temporary. Nearly 22 million as a subject of enquiry. It is pertinent to note

of the temporary houses have been the issue of gaps within the NSSO surveys.

reported as ‘Serviceable’ while 13 million The fourth survey in the series was

are ‘Non-serviceable’ depending on conducted in the 58th round (July -

whether the walls of house were made of December 2002) after a gap of ten years. In

mud, un-burnt bricks, wood, grass thatch, this round also, information was collected

bamboo, plastic, or polythene(Census of on the structural aspects of the dwelling

India, 2011). The disaggregation of the units and enquiries had been made whether

IAEG-SDG target of achieving ‘safe’ the basic housing amenities such as

housing is through vague descriptions of drinking water, bathroom, sewerage,

‘good’, ‘liveable’, or ‘dilapidated’ based latrine, lighting, etc. were available to

primarily on the material of construction, but households or not. Information on

not the current condition. For instance, a construction activities carried out by the

‘temporary’ dwelling may be ‘good’ or households during the last five years was

‘serviceable’ without actually determining also collected. The latest available data on

the ‘liveability’ of the structure. housing condition is the data corresponding

to NSS 69th round (July 2012-December The National Sample Survey Office

2012) in which a nation-wide survey was (NSSO) conducted a nation-wide survey on

carried out to provide estimates on various ‘Drinking water, Sanitation, Hygiene and

characteristics of housing amenities, Housing Condition’ in its 69th round (July

housing condition, and cost of construction 2012-December 2012) of operations. The

(NSSO, 2012). Housing has emerged as objective of the survey was to examine and

one of the crucial areas of government study different aspects of living conditions

interventions with the nationwide policies necessary for decent and healthy living of

and programmes such as The Housing for the household members by developing

All (Pradhan Mantri AawasYojna) launched suitable indicators based upon collected

in June 25, 2015. The improvisation in the information. The last survey on these

periodicity of the data will be of crucial subjects was undertaken in the 65th round

importance as the government has set the of NSS (July 2008- June 2009). The survey

target to provide houses to two crore households, in rural and urban areas, are

families belonging to the economically aggregated based on the structure of the

weaker section (EWS) in urban areas by dwelling (pucca, semi-pucca, katcha),

2022. With the 6 states Chhattisgarh, plinth level, utilisation of space, floor area,

Gujarat, J&K, Jharkhand, Kerala, Madhya and micro-environment indicators that

Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan and determine safety and quality of life including

Telangana.good ventilation, access to any kind of

drainage, garbage disposal facilities, The Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty

access to roads and carriageways, and Alleviation (MHUPA) implemented the sub-

insect infestation. missions Basic Services to Urban Poor and

Integrated Housing & Slum Development However, the NSSO’s assessment of

Programme. Rajiv AwaasYojana was housing is carried out through surveys that

launched in June 2011 with the objective of have been more or less randomised since

‘Slum Free India’ with inclusive and the organisation’s inception. In its 49th



equitable cities in which every citizen has current housing and building construction

access to basic civic infrastructure, social activity. The sample survey by National

amenities, and decent shelter. Sample Survey Office covers various

aspects of housing condi t ion of The National Urban Livelihoods Mission

h o u s e h o l d s . N a t i o n a l B u i l d i n g s (NULM), which replaced the erstwhile

Organisation (NBO) - an attached office Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana in

under the Ministry of Housing and Urban 2013, focuses on organising urban poor in

Poverty Alleviation initiated efforts for self-help groups, creating opportunities for

collection of relevant statistics related to skill development leading to market-based

housing in urban areas from respective employment and helping them to set up

State Government/UT Administration self-employment ventures by ensuring

through its Directorate of Economics and easy access to credit. Additionally, the

Statistics and from Urban Local Bodies. Mission aims at providing shelter equipped

Irregular and/or lack of flow of information with essential services to the urban

f r o m S t a t e G o v e r n m e n t s / U T homeless in a phased manner. The

Administration, however, is a major National Policy on Urban Street Vendors

constraint. ‘Housing’, per-se, is not a sector (NPUSV), 2009 aims at fostering a

in National Accounts Statistics and its congenial environment for the urban street

contribution to GDP is subsumed under vendors to carry out their activities without

‘Construction’. harassment from any quarter. The Street

Vendors (Protection of Livelihood & Finally, housing statistics do not form part of

Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014 has administrative statistics. The availability of

been enacted to protect the rights of urban relevant statistics on various parameters

street vendors and to regulate street r ega rd ing hous ing and bu i l d i ng

vending activities. The Real Estate construction required by MHUPA is

(Regulation & Development) Bill, 2013 has c o n s t r a i n e d a n d d a t a g a p s

been formulated in consultation with all persist(MoHUPA, 2015).

stakeholders to establish a uniform Slums

regulatory environment to enforce

disclosure, fair practice, and accountability The Census of India (1991) followed the norms in real estate transactions (buying or slum definition given by the Government of selling), and to provide an adjudication India (1956). Until then, only notified slums machinery for speedy dispute redressal. were included in the slum census. It should The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Housing be also noted that in the 1991 census, only for All (Urban) Mission has been launched those slums with a population of 50,000 or in June 2015 to address the housing more were covered for slum demography. shortage in urban areas. The Mission will be This led to an underestimate of the total implemented during 2015-2022 and will slum population, since smaller slums were provide central assistance to Urban Local not counted. The Census of India in 2001 Bodies (ULBs) and other implementing used a new definition for slums, whereby, in agencies through States/UTs. However, the addition to the notified slums, all areas decennial population census enumerates recognized as a “slum” by the state or local the stock of houses, buildings and related government and the Union Territories (UT) parameters. The Census of India, however, administration that have not been formally does not provide information regarding notified as slums under any act the purpose


of differentiation in the NSSO surveys, basic services and living conditions. In

‘slums’ in India are divided into ‘notified’ and 2014, the government of India set up a

‘non-notified slums’. It is important to note committee to develop a slum index at the

here that ‘squatter settlements’ fall outside city, state, and national levels to sharpen its

the definition of ‘slums’ and are categorised policy focus on the urban poor. The

separately. ‘Notified slums’ are areas committee suggested a method for

notified as slums by the concerned state developing the slum index by studying

governments, municipalities, corporations, various aspects and data. It also tried to

local bodies, or development authorities. determine how the slum situation in the

‘Non-notified slums’ are any compact country is changing by looking at the

settlement with a collection of poorly built ‘quality’ and ‘quantity’ of slums. Additionally,

tenements, mostly of temporary nature, the committee also looked at qualitative

crowded together, usually with inadequate improvements in slum populations through

sanitary and drinking water facilities in a slum upgradation index. According to the

unhygienic conditions, provided at least 20 Census, roughly two-thirds of households

households live there. If such a settlement are within Indian slums. The type of housing

was not notified as a slum, it was structure is often used as an indicator of

considered as a non-notified slum. While housing quality. In India, pucca refers to

these characterist ics help in the permanent materials, such as brick, stone,

differentiation of the two settlements, there and cement. Katcha refers to temporary

is little clarity on what constitutes ‘poorly materials, such as mud, bamboo, and

built tenements’ or ‘unhygienic conditions’. wood. Pucca housing includes both a roof

and walls built with pucca materials; semi-A ‘squatter settlement’ is defined as slum

pucca, with either a roof or walls built with like settlements with less than 20

pucca materials; and katcha, with both roof households. The point to be noted here is

and walls built with katcha materials. that the definition of slums is not limited to or

Whereas more than 80% of houses in unilateral with respect to merely housing,

notified slums are pucca housing, the but broader with the inclusion of access to

Table 13: Comparison of Slum Definitions

Definitions provided by: Lack of

sanitation

Access to safe

drinking water

Structural

quality

Over-crowding

Living area

Security of tenure

Slum Area Act 1956 ? ? ? ? x x

UN-Habitat ? ? ? ? ? ?

UN Development Program

? ? x x ? ?

Cities Alliance x x x ? ? ?

Census of India 2001 ? ? ? ? x x

NSSO ? ? ? ? x x

Central Statistical Organisation

? ? ? x x x

Slum Census 2011 ? ? ? ? ? x

Source:(Wilson Centre, 2011)


proportion remains at 65% in non-notified recognized, it may or may not be notified as

slums. Households in non-notified slums a slum under a ‘Slum Act’.

are usually not eligible for such public Public policy interventions begin to kick in

programs. Government agencies have when a slum is notified. Those interventions

notified slums in which a majority of houses are less when the slum is recognised, lower

were already pucca housing.still when it is identified, and non-existent for

There has been a ‘ remarkab le ’ households that are below the cluster

improvement in the quality of living of the threshold(Debroy, 2013). Formalising a

slum population with improved access to slum settlement is often followed by the

drinking water, sanitation and electricity, installation of infrastructure and services by

according to Census 2011 (Mint, 2014). government agencies, which would

otherwise be reluctant to do so to illegal Slums are present in 66% of all statutory

squatters. In India, for instance, households towns in India,108,000 slums are home to

in not i f ied slums are ent i t led to 13.7 million households, and 17.4% of

infrastructure and services provided by urban households live in slums (Debroy,

local municipalities. Assurance of security 2013). However, urban slum population

and the expectation of the provision of isn’t spread uniformly throughout the

services in the future may motivate nation. Living in a slum often means

construction activities by slum households inadequate access to drinking water,

that wish to rent out the newly built spaces sanitation, sewage treatment, and even

and thus gain a new source of steady health and education. Given the pressures

income. One of the challenges in combining of urbanization and nature of migration to

the various data sets for comparison metro cities, the slum issue will increase in

pertains to the varying definitions of slums importance in the future. For instance, there

use (Planning Commission, 2011). As UN-are estimates that 9% of India’s population

Habitat suggests, there are multiple (104 million people) will live in slums by

reasons for the nonexistence of a 2017 (Debroy, 2013). According to the NSS,

universally accepted and quantifiable the proportion of households that engaged

definition of a slum: in construction work (i.e., any types of

remodelling, renovation, and repair work) to • Slums are too complex to define

improve their houses during the last five according to one single parameter.

years is higher in non-notified slums (9.7%) • Slums are a relative concept, and what

than in notified slums (8.8%), and the is considered a slum in one city will be

average amount of money they spent for regarded as adequate housing in

the investment is larger in notified slums another city—even in the same country.

(INR 32,737) than in non-notified slums

(INR 21,252) (Debroy, 2013). The average • Slums change too fast to render any duration of residence in the slums is criterion valid for a reasonably long approximately fourteen years both in non- period of timenotified and notified slums(Debroy, 2013).

Key issues pertaining to the data of the Once a slum has been identified, it may or slums involve firstly, discrepancy in values may not be recognised as a slum by the for the same year in different data sets State or local government, or by Housing largely due to the inadequate official slum and Slum Boards. Once a slum has been


boundaries which makes it cumbersome to within the society and economy. The role of

confirm the number of households in a municipalities and state governments will

particular area makes it difficult. Eventually, be immense as the nature of data collation

involving diverse parameters utilised by will be critical from the bottom units and will

varied agencies to collect and measure the be devised for effective and coordinated

data. Secondly, the lack of common codes policies. Slums pose a large array of

for slum verification as each slum in a problems of an urban cape there for

survey set have their own survey codes, detailed database, information will be

this would involve intensive work to search essential to provide us with a defined

individually for a single slum from a data set compressive outlook on the size,

to compare with another set with all the characteristics, diverse population growth

limiting factors constraining the parameters trends, existence on varied basic

for identification. It is essential that the city services,structure, and the challenges that

government create a central database for are city specific. Thus many literature and

slums with a unique code for each slum, discussions have also invoked a call for a

which can then be used for future slum central database related to slums which will

surveys. That way, all the data sets could be also entail the methodologies and research

linked with each other to study trends. conducted by diverse agencies. These

Thirdly, there is a dichotomous procedure should also be aligned with the Open Data

for rating infrastructure services, while Movement that is being initiated by the

some survey sets measure the percentage Ministry of Statistics and Programme

of households that have access to Implementat ion (MOSPI) . In fact

infrastructure services in a particular slum; acommittee set up under the chairmanship

some survey sets only indicate the of the secretary of MOSPI in 2009 talked

presence or absence of infrastructure about evolving a sustainable and viable

services. This kind of data is unable to methodology for conducting slum and other

provide the micro level details on whether surveys between successive census

a l l househo lds a re dep r i ved o f surveys and at the same time suggested

infrastructure services. We have a measures to build an Urban Information

misleading data inference, for instance, a Management System on Slums and Urban

slum having only 10% of households Poverty, Housing, and Construction, duly

covered by infrastructure services is taking into account the data collected by

considered as having infrastructure, and so agencies such as the National Sample

is a slum having 90% of households Survey Office (NSSO), various NGOs, and

covered by infrastructure services (Debroy, so on (Government of India, 2008). An

2013).Lastly, in the absence of clear objective and roust data and information will

demarcations of changes in slum ward be necessary for building a foundation

boundaries, it becomes a challenge to structure for policy makers, researchers,

combine multiple data sets for ward-level practitionersinterested in the dynamics of a

analysis. India needs to essentially gear up city’s slum development.

its efforts in revamping the existing

procedures, and mechanisms towards

slum in order to achieve the set target for The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban the SDG11. The task is immense as the Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was launched attempt is to address the informal structures in 2005 for a period of seven years to

implement reform-driven, planned children. Providing safe spaces for

development of cities with a focus on the pedestrians will thus significantly reduce

improvement of urban infrastructure, this number (Shorta & Pinet-Peraltaa, No

creation of housing stock, and provision of Accident: Traffic and Pedestrians in the basic services to the urban poor, Modern City, 2010). Public transportation is community participation, and accountability defined as a shared passenger transport of urban local bodies. The Report of the service that is available to the general Committee on Slum Statistics by the public. It includes buses, trolleys, trams, Government of India (2008),stated that the trains, subways, and ferries. It excludes advent of Mission (JNNURM), has led to a taxis, car pools, hired buses not shared by real izat ion that the database for strangers without prior arrangement. undertaking such a huge program is grossly Effective and low-cost transportation for inadequate. Due to non-availability of mobility is critical for urban poverty authentic statistics on states’ slum reduction and economic development populations, there has been faulty planning because it provides access to jobs, health and the financial requirements for JNNURM care, education services, and more. The have been underestimated in the absence Partnership on Sustainable Low-Carbon of an accurate understanding of the extent Transport (SLoCaT) and others proposed of the problem due to lack of data on slums. indicators for urban access to sustainable In the absence of such adequate and transport that include: mean daily travel re l iab le data, the p lans for the time, percentage of income spent by urban developmentof cities and towns have not families on transport, and percentage of adequately addressed the concerns of the households within 500 meters of good urban poor, especially slum dwellers. quality, affordable public transportation(UN Preparation of municipal-level action plans Habitat, 2006).will require a considerable amount of data

The Government of India very recently on the actual number of existing released the significant issue of Road households, availability of infrastructure Transport Year Book: 2010-2011 provides a services (or lack thereof), and many other wide range of information, data and such parameters.analysis pertaining to motor vehicles, motor

Sustainable Public Transport and vehicle taxation regimes, motor vehicle

production and sales, permits and licenses, Road Safetyrevenue realized from motor vehicle taxes

Affordable and Sustainable Public across States/Union Territories and million-Transport plus cities. The Transport Research Wing

(TRW) of the Ministry of Road Transport & Transportation is a key development issue Highways collects, compiles, analyses, and target 11.2 is important to achieve safe, publishes, and disseminates information on resilient and, sustainable cities. Active the road transport sector in India (Ministry of transport, like bicycling or walking, can Road Transport and Highways, 2011).contribute to achieving the target of halving

the number of global deaths and injuries Delhi, the National Capital Region, loses from road traffic collisions. 65% of the 1.2 nearly 420 million person-hours every million deaths that occur each year month to commuting between home and worldwide due to road accidents involve work(Gopal, 2012). Several million vehicles pedestrians; 35% of those deaths are



ply on the streets where vehicle-to-road public transport is more than 40% in cities

length ratio is poor. Respirable Particulate with more than 5 million populations (mostly

Matter (RPM) is always several notches organized bus systems)(Tiwari, 2011). The

above the acceptable level; 50% of the road average trip length in medium and small

accident victims are pedestrians; and size cities is less than 5 km, it will be

billions of working hours are lost with people pertinent to measure relate the data

stuck in traffic. The footpath-to-road ratio is collected with the target 11.2 Percentage of

poor in most cities. The ‘Walkability Index’ is people within 0.5 km of public transit

less than 0.6 on average(Walkability Index, running at least every 20 minutes(Tiwari,

2015) and captive walkers often don’t walk 2011).

by choice - they have little access to public Transit-Oriented-Development (TOD) is

transport. The share of motorised vehicles viewed as the next big solution that will

increased from 65% to 90% while the share connect susta inable t ransport to

of non-motorised vehicles decreased from sustainable urban development in India.

35% to 10%. Even as the public Given that the spatial expansion of Indian

transportation share decreased, urban cities is inevitable, mainstreaming concepts

sprawl increased - trip lengths, fuel like TOD will be vital for ensuring this growth

consumption, and emissions went up happens in a compact and sustainable

exponentially. For growing cities like those manner, minimizing negative externalities

in India, the share of public transport should like sprawl, air pollution, and increased

ideally be around 80 per cent but most have infrastructure cost.

it in the range of 40 per cent(Gopal, 2012). It

is also a fact that many cities in India do not In Indian cities, TOD has been largely used have any kind public transport at all. to mean transit-adjacent development, with Transport choices are often not made in a the discussion revolving largely around city-centric fashion based on the increasing the intensity of real estate transportation needs, available budgets, development near transit stations. Indian and the readiness of people to accept that cities ought to focus more on ‘multi-modal mode of transportation. Indian cities have transport integration, urban design, and mix land use structure with substantial enhanced priority for pedestrians and informal settlements (15-60 per cent cyclists. This would ensure the creation of population living in slums). This has walkable neighbourhoods. Ultimately, resulted in short trip lengths irrespective of central and state governments will need to city size. Even in big cities like Mumbai and rethink their priorities while designing Hyderabad 80 per cent of the trips are less roads, placing pedestrians’ and cyclists’ than 10 km in length and 70 per cent of the safety and comfort at the core of their road trips are less than 5 km(Gopal, 2012). In development process (Dalkmann & cities like Pune, 97 per cent of the trips are Prabhu, 2013).less than 10 km and 80 per cent of the trips

While the benefits to health are obvious, are shorter than 5 km (Gopal, 2012).The sustainable means of transportation will longer trips are dependent on bus system also determine how easy it is to access and in cities where formal organised bus other key services in the city, such as service is not available, motorised two education and employment, and is wheelers (MTW), intermediate public therefore connected indirectly to SDG 1 transport (IPT) and cycle rickshaws (Eradicate poverty) and SDG 4 (Ensure dominate the modal share. The share of

inclusive and equitable quality education). land or invest enough in appropriate

Finally, efficient transportation systems can transport infrastructure, to keep transport

support SDG 5 (Gender equality) by problems manageable. This harms the poor ensuring that they meet the unique needs of in three ways:women. Transportation systems in Indian

• Growth of measured GDP is reduced by cities are often built to address the needs of freight congestion, delays and men with little consideration of the needs of unpred ic tab i l i ty, d i f f i cu l t ies o f women. When compared to men, women conducting business, and increasing move about cities at different times, for

signs of disarticulation of the labour different reasons, in different ways, and

market in some large cities.may have fewer financial resources; they

are less able to afford many of the • Also efficiency - reducing but not transportation options available to them

directly reflected in GDP statistics are (Asian Development Bank, 2013). A well-most transport-originated air pollution, designed transportation system that ‘non-business’, and time lost to supports walking, cycling and public transit congestion and traffic accidents.use will enable all people to fully participate

in community life and creates cleaner, safer, • In the acute battles for space the poor

healthier, and more social places. suffer particularly, either from dwelling

on pavements to be close to work or The ‘High Powered Expert Committee’

from only slightly less health-destroying commissioned by the Ministry of Urban

accommodation in central slums, or Development Government of India

from multi-hour journeys to work.estimates a total expenditure of INR39 lakh

crores on urban infrastructure and services Although some data exists for public

by 2031 (Ministry of Urban Development, transport companies and individual cities,

2012). As per this report, major expenditure harmonized and comparable data on the

is on urban roads; INR 17 lakh crores. world level does not yet exist. To obtain this

Urban transport is estimated to require a would require engagement with the

fraction of this, about 4 lakh crores (Ministry municipal/city level, as urban transport is

of Urban Development, 2012). The level of not in the purview of the Central

investment required in urban transport and government in India. In general, there is

roads, which is the main infrastructure for currently a lack of data on the number of

urban transport, as a percentage of total people with access to mass transit and on

investment for upgrading all urban services transport infrastructure (You, 2015).Urban

suggests the importance of urban transport transport policy can thus contribute to

in raising the economic potential of cities. poverty reduction both through its impact on

The biggest challenge of economic growth the city economy and hence on economy

and development, however, is that of equity. growth and through its direct impact on the

The relationship between transport, urban daily needs of the very poor.

economic growth, and poverty is states that

urban transport is the life blood of cities, and Safe, Secure, and Accessibleemerges as a subject of concern of all

The need to improve safety in cities in India studies of the poor urban areas. The central requires little justification. Fatalities in India problem for the big cities in the developing per million of population have increased world is that with low incomes but very rapid from 79 in 2001 to 101 in 2007(Ministry of growth, they are unable to devote enough


Urban Development, 2012). The actual systemic level implies that components of

situation may be much worse as a number public transit systems like trains and buses,

of accidents are not even reported. A recent their stations and stops, the ticketing and

report estimated a 50% increase in road any other user interfaces should be within

accidents over a 10 year period (2005-15). reach of people with different types of

Traffic fatality rates have been increasing in impairments. At the infrastructure level,

most cities; pedestrians, bicyclists and two pedestrian paths and crossings, parking

wheeler riders comprise of 60-90% of the facilities and access to public land uses

total fatalities; motorcyclists represent a should be inclusive in their design for

large portion of urban fatalities (about 25%); differently-abled persons.

the involvement of trucks in fatal crashes is I n c l u s i v e a n d S u s t a i n a b l e high; and night-time driving in India is Urbanisationsubstantially riskier than daytime driving

(Ministry of Urban Development, 2012). Land Use Statistics in India

Several factors contribute to the declining

safety levels including the quality of road This indicator marks a measure of land-use

infrastructure; poor driver training, testing, efficiency, benchmarks and monitors the

and licensing; registration, testing, and relationship between land consumption and

certification of Vehicles Road Accidents population growth, it informs and enables

Data Collection and Analysis; and decision-makers to track and manage

enforcement of traffic rules and regulations. urban growth at multiple scales and

Road Safety Audit (RSA) is an examination enhances their ability to promote land use

of an existing or planned road network by an efficiency. In sum, it ensures that the SDGs

independent and well qualified auditor who address the wider dimensions of space and

reports on any deficiencies in safety land adequately and provides the frame for

aspects and prepares recommendations on the implementation of several other goals,

improvements that may be necessary. notably health, food security, energy and

Cities could undertake safety audit for climate change. This land use efficiency

hazardous locations to reduce accidents, indicator not only uniquely highlights the

fatalities, and injuries. The initiative needs form of urban development but also

to be taken by urban civic bodies since illuminates human settlement patterns. It

there is no single agency or department that can be employed to capture the three

is responsible for improving safety in a dimensions of land use efficiency:

comprehensive, scientific, and a systematic economic (e.g., proximity of factors of

manner in a city. production) environmental (e.g., lower per

capita rates of resource use and GHG The organisational framework to deal with

emissions,) and social (e.g., avoidance of all road safety related issues should be

settlement of on vulnerable land, promotion provided by creating a Safety Board at

of reduced travel times/distances). Finally, State level with safety cells in cities with

urban configuration largely predetermines dedicated personnel and budget.

the technologies and behavioural patterns

within a city. Once built, cities are expensive Universal accessibility needs to be and difficult to reconfigure. Fast-growing provided, by the urban transport systems, cities in the developing world must ‘get it both at the systemic level and the r ight ’ before they are beset by Infrastructure level. Accessibility at the



infrastructural lock-in. Though density is a g g l o m e r a t i o n s a r e u n d e r f a s t

typically measured in units of inhabitants transformation resulting into haphazard

per hectare, and its inverse, land growth of slums, unauthorised colonies,

consumption, in hectares per inhabitant, piecemeal commercial development,

this indicator is ultimately measuring a intermixes of conforming and non-

unitless ratio (i.e., rate to rate). India conforming uses of land coupled with

occupies 2.4% of the total land area of the inadequate infrastructures, services, and

world, but supports 16.7% of the world facilities.

population (Kumar, 2011). Notwithstanding The growth of cities, at all points, has often

the facts, developing countries, in general, meant the erasure of rural spaces and the

including India lack a scientific land associated impacts - social, cultural, and

accounting system in order to place a economic - on the village communities.

monitoring and regulatory system for the More often than not, the result has been

use of land (Kumar, 2011). negative on communities especially the

Urbanisation and Land Use in India landless labourers, small entrepreneurs,

and local artisans. It may be true that the The level of urbanisation in India increased

physical expansion of the city, caused by from 17% in 1951 to 31% in 2011(Kothari,

the State or private developers, is detached 2006). According to the world population

from any concern for the needs and rights of prospects by the United Nations, 55%

the affected rural communities. There is population of India will be urban by the year

rarely any participatory process initiated in 2050. With this pattern of urbanisation, the

either land use planning or implementation. urban population of 377 million as in 2011

The 73rd and 74th Constitutional will be 915 million by the year 2050. During

Amendments Acts were introduced in the the decade 2001-2011, the number of

early 1990 in a bid to achieve democratic towns in the country increased from 5,161

decentralization and provide constitutional to 7,935 (Ministry of Rural Development,

endorsement of local self-governance 2 0 1 3 ) . T h e n u m b e r o f u r b a n

authorities. These amendments confer agglomerations, having a population of

authority on legislatures of States to endow more than one million increased from 5 in

respectively Panchayats and Municipalities 1951 to 53 in 2011 (Ministry of Rural

with such powers and functions as may be Development, 2013). Most of the cities are

necessary to enable them to act as traditionally located along the major rivers,

institutions of self – government. For the around lakes and along the coastline, the

p u r p o s e , t h e P a n c h a y a t s a n d agriculturally productive belt, and

Municipalities have been charged with the environmentally sensitive areas. Urban

r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f p r e p a r i n g a n d land is about 7.74 million hectares, which is

implementing plans for economic only 2.35% of the country’s total land area

development and social justice. The central (Ministry of Rural Development, 2013). The

objective of these amendments is the mega cities are mostly spilling over to rural-

decentralization of planning and decision agricultural belt (peri-urban areas) due to

making procedures. It also has the implicit high land prices as compared to household

intention of removing centralized notions of income of the average citizens. The peri-

control and monopoly over development of urban areas or f r inges o f such

resources.

There is a need to support initiatives, such Systems (GIS) and remote sensing,

as those of urban progress, industrial however, are handy for developing a spatial

growth, mining, and infrastructure database.

enhancement through properly guided The Government of India is already working

development in a sustainable and on setting up the National Spatial Data

harmonized manner to minimize land use Infrastructure. Systematically, such spatial

conflicts. More than two-thirds of India’s databases would be built-up over a period

rural population is directly dependent on of time. The existing database on land use

various combinations of private and in the country is inadequate. There is no

common pool lands and waters for a very mechanism to monitor land use changes

wide diversity of agricultural, agro-pastoral, taking place and their impacts. An

and fisheries-related livelihood systems introduction of systematic and integrated

(Kothari, 2006). These include ecosystem-land use planning at the national, state, and

based variations of settled agriculture, regional levels might prove to be a major

shifting cultivation, nomadic and non-challenge (Ministry of Rural Development,

nomadic pastoralism, and various 2013). There have to be supportive

combinat ions of agr icu l ture, and instruments (mapping, spatial information,

pastoralism. planning processes, tools, methods,

This percentage has remained almost procedures, standards etc.) for land use

unchanged in the last 80 years, as planning and management which also take

employment generation in the secondary into account inclusiveness, poverty,

and tertiary sectors of the economy is gender, and climate change aspects.

unable to absorb even the additional urban Another aspect is the availability of

labour force (Kothari, 2006). Despite this guidelines for uniform land use planning.

scenario, tenurial security over land for Except for the urban sector, where the

small and marginal farmers, particularly for Urban Development Plan Formulation and

farmers in so-called ‘marginal’ lands (like Implementation (UDPFI) guidelines exist,

mountains, marshlands, coasts, arid and o ther sec tors such as indus t ry,

semiarid areas), and access to common environment, transport, mining, agriculture

lands for gathering, pasture, shifting lack similar directives. For ensuring proper

cultivation and pastoralism is declining land use planning, there is a need for the

rapidly with changing land policies in the development of detailed guidelines to follow

context of nationalisation, privatisation, and integrated approaches catering to all the

globalization. sectors. There is also lack of adequate

institutional structures at the national, state, Inadequate Land Use Planning

regional/district, and local levels for Capacities

planning and management of land

resources (Ministry of Rural Development, There is a lack of systematic, orderly, and 2013).up-to-date spatial database that is readily

available for land use planning purposes Environmental Impact of Cities

(Kumar, 2011). Due to the lack of a

systematic database, there are also Reporting on Municipal Solid Waste difficulties initially in making projections of

One of the major problems being faced by prospective needs for land use by various cities and towns in India relates to sectors. The use of Geographic Information management of municipal solid waste


(MSW). The quantity of waste has Control Board and consolidated as the

increased consistently and municipal Annual Report. Local bodies are required to

authorities have largely not upgraded or forward their respective annual report for

scaled up facilities required for proper each year to the SPCB before the 30th of

management and disposal. In many cities June every year and SPCBs in turn, send

and towns, garbage continues to be their consolidated report for the year before

dumped in open areas. At large, a lack of an the 15th of September to CPCB. The

organised system of house-to-house Hazardous Waste Contaminated Dump

collection of waste has also contributed to Sites data is collected annually as per state

underdeveloped waste management and wise distribution of contaminated dump

proper disposal methods. The Municipal sites in the country, identified by the

Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Supreme Court Monitoring Committee

Rules, 2000 is the law that governs (SCMC).

municipal solid waste collection and Issues with MSW in India

treatment. The assessment of the status of

solid waste management is based on Key issues with MSW in India are:annual reports furnished by local bodies to

• No comprehensive short- and long-the State Pollution Control Boards that are term plan of the municipal authorities to then forwarded to the Central Pollution

Table 14: Responsibility of official agencies for solid waste management


Agency Responsibility

Municipal Authorities

· Ensuring that municipal solid waste is handled as per rules.

· Seeking authorization from State Pollution Control Board

(SPCB) for setting up waste processing and disposal facility

including landfills.

· Furnishing annual report.

· Complying with Schedule I, II, III and IV of the rules

Department of Urban

Development or

District Magistrate

· Overall responsibility for the enforcement of the provisions of

the rules in the metropolitan cities.

· Overall responsibility for the enforcement of the provisions of

the rules within the territorial limits of their jurisdiction.

CPCB

· Co-ordinate with State Boards and Committees with reference

to implementation and review of standards and guidelines and

compilation of monitoring data.

· Prepare consolidated annual review report on management of

municipal solid wastes for forwarding it to Central Government

along with its recommendations before the 15th of December

every year.

· Laying down standards on waste processing/disposal

technologies including approval of technology.

SPCBs

· Monitor the compliance of the standards regarding ground

water, ambient air quality and the compost quality including

incineration standards as specified under Schedule II, III & IV.

· Issuance of authorization to the municipal authority or an

operator of a facility stipulating compliance criteria and

standards.

· Prepare and submit to the CPCB an annual report with regard

to the implementation of the rules.

handle MSW in accordance with the entire management of MSW.

MSW Rules, 2000Segregation

• A majority of the municipal authorities Segregation of waste from the source is

lack the preparedness to set up waste possible where there is a house-to-house

processing and disposal facilitiescollection system. Also, it may be achieved

• Waste management is only looked at by placing separate bins for each category

from the perspective of revenue of waste. However, the objective of

generation segregation could be achieved when

facilities are provided for treatment/ • Cities and towns, in the future, will not

processing of the segregated wastes. In be permitted landfill zones (CPCB,

many cases, the segregated wastes are 2013).

mixed up again at the time of transportation

and disposal.The total quantity of waste generated in the

country is not reported regularly by Transportation

municipal bodies, SPCBs, or the CPCB.

However, the Min is t ry o f Urban Most municipalities are well equipped with

Development in its manual on solid waste waste transporting vehicles, but many of

management (2000) had estimated waste them do not follow the waste transportation

generation at 100,000 million tonnes norms like transporting waste under

(CPCB, 2013). The CPCB, with the covered conditions so that littering does not

assistance of NEERI, had conducted occur on the way (CPCB, 2013)

survey of solid waste management in 59 Waste Processing

cities (35 metro cities and 24 state capitals

in 2004-05) (CPCB, 2013). According to the CPCB, mechanical

composting and vermin-composting are the Disposal

most popular in the country. As per the

Efforts are being made by many local C P C B A n n u a l R e p o r t 2 0 1 0 - 11 ,

bodies for creating mass awareness among implementation of waste disposal facilities

the c i t izens for ensur ing proper in the country is found to be far from

management of MSW including collection, satisfactory. Most cities/towns face issues

segregation, storage, and transportation. with identifying sites for landfill. This is

However, such efforts are confined to a few primarily due to public resistance, rapid

wards/localities within the city or town. growth of urban areas, escalating land

Some good initiatives were reported in prices, and the lack of a Master Plan.

West Bengal (17 ULBs), Punjab (8 ULBs) However, some states including Gujarat,

and Tripura (5 ULBs). Also, improvement in Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra

waste collection, segregation, storage, and Pradesh have taken initiatives to identify

transportation were reported in the state of regional or common landfills for disposal of

Andhra Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, municipal solid waste. According to the

Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, CPCB Annual Report 2010-11 there are 59

M e g h a l a y a , M a d h y a P r a d e s h , landfills in the country, 376 landfills have

Maharashtra, Orissa and West Bengal. It been planned, and 1305 landfill sites have

was observed that house-to-house been identified for future use (CPCB, 2013).

collection is the most critical issue in the


Table 15: Quantity of waste generated, collected and treated by state


Recommendations agreements for the private sector

participation in solid waste management At the Central level, an authority may be

may be widely circulated to the local bodies. designated to provide assistance to the

Central ministries such as the Ministry of state governments and UT administrations

Urban Development (MoUD), Ministry of enabling them to take decisions on

Agriculture, and Ministry of New and implementation of MSW Rules particularly

Renewable Energy (MNRE) may provide relating to setting up of waste processing

assistance to the states in terms of and disposal facilities. Indicative guidelines

technical assistance and in selection of on selection of waste processing and

appropriate technologies relating to waste disposal technological options, model

processing and disposal. The use of

Source: (CPCB, 2013)


technology like the Brihanmumbai human habitat areas, areas close to newly

Municipal Corporation promoted Global planned development/economic centres

Positioning System (GPS) based vehicle and areas close to road networks. The

tracking and monitoring system for Solid “Guided Development Areas” include rest

Waste Management (SWM). of the lands that are not covered under

above three types. All these have been This was done in order to track the SWM

proposed by the Department of Land vehicles on a real time basis. A pilot project

Resources, Government of India, under the was started from G-south ward in the city.

National Land Utilisation Policy, 2013. While the SWM vehicles possess GPS

tracker, there would be Radio Frequency The city planning authorities in India have

Identification (RFID) on the dustbins within been proposing the increasing open space

the ward to ensure that waste is collected area in their successive plans. The issue of

regularly. required open green space per capita in

urban systems has been around for a long Access to Urban Public Spaces time. However, in India there is no indicator

to calculate the percentage of public space The “Land-use Management Areas” in cities. FSI or FAR is the ratio of the total (LMAs) are to be identified within the built-up area to the plot area. For example, identified Land Utilisation Zones, during the on a plot of 10,000 sq m, a FSI of 1.33 for planning process, so as to ensure proper South Mumbai would allow for construction management of various land uses. These of 13,000 sq m while that of 1 would allow are categorised into: a) Protected Areas; b) for built-up area of 10,000 for the project. Regulatory Areas; c) Reserved Areas; and

d) Guided Development Areas. The According to Open Mumbai, a civilian “Protected Areas” include land uses with a group, Mumbai has just 1.1 square metres clearly defined geographical space that is of open space - gardens, parks, recreation recogn ised . Such a reas inc lude grounds, (RG) and playgrounds (PG) - per environmentally sensitive and fragile person (Times of India, 2012). The city has ecosystem areas, viz. national parks, 2.5 sq km of gardens and parks, 4 sq km of forests, biosphere reserves etc. that are PG and 7.7 sq km of RG. This adds up to protected under the environmental laws; just over 14 sq km of open spaces for 12.4 socially important areas, viz. protected million people; or 1.1 sq m per person. This tribal settlements etc.; culturally important corresponds to the oft-repeated statistic areas, viz. historic areas, monuments etc. that Mumbai has a poor 0.03 acre of open The “Regulated Areas” are the areas that space per 1,000 people (Times of India, are not legally restricted but have important 2012). Compare this to London's 31.68 sq functions associated. These may include m per person, New York's 26.4 sq m per agricultural areas such as prime agricultural person or Chicago's 17.6 sq m per person. lands, human habitat areas such as rural Mumbai's per capita open space ratio ranks settlements, landscape conservation & among the lowest of all the world's major tourism areas, cultural and heritage areas, metropolitan areas, and especially more so and hazard-prone areas. All such areas if the national park and mangrove creeks should be clearly demarcated in the land are not included as open spaces.use plans of the Land Utilisation Zone. The

It estimates that 0.5% of the city has been “Reserved Areas” include areas near the


reserved for parks and gardens. Another development ministry for architects and

0.8% has been reserved for playgrounds, those who own or manage such public

and 1.6% has been reserved for spaces to make them accessible for the

recreational grounds. This means 2.9% (or elderly and differently-abled people. The

around 14 sq km) of Mumbai's 482.7 sq km ministry has come out with the final draft of

has been reserved for open spaces, like the harmonized guidelines and space

gardens, parks, recreation grounds, and standards for barrier-free environment for

playgrounds. differently-abled people in urban areas

considering that cities provide abundant If 14 sq km is divided by 12.4 million

opportunities and experiences but, the built (Greater Mumbai's population), then one

environment imposes obstacles for the discovers that Mumbai has an average of

same demographic. around 1.1 sq m of open space per person.

London has 31.7 sq m per person and New The designs and specifications, which form

York 26.4 sq m. Another 1.1% of Mumbai part of the guidelines, aim at ensuring all

comprises encroached open spaces public spaces including hospitals, offices,

(including gardens, parks, RGs, and PGs). bus and railways stations, hotels,

restaurants, sports facilities, libraries and If these are cleared, 4% of Mumbai would

shopping complexes cater to the needs of comprise open spaces. Then the ratio

this category of users. One of the focus would improve to 1.5 sq m of open space

areas is to ensure that there is adequate per person (Times of India, 2012). Urban

provision for toilets in each and every floor open space is defined as public and private

of such complexes for their convenience. space, primarily covered by vegetation,

which is directly available for recreation or The final draft guidelines also specify norms

indirectly having positive influence on the for placement of fire alarm boxes,

environment. Urban open space is critical emergency call buttons and lighted panels,

for keeping our cities habitable and makes installation of audible alarms with 'voice

them healthy and energy efficient. instructions' that can help guide people to

However, for urban open space to the nearest emergency exit. As an

contribute to their fullest to the quality of our alternative to pre-recorded messages,

cities, they have to be thoughtfully planned, these alarms may be connected to the

efficiently created, and managed. With land central control room for broadcasts. The

prices skyrocketing, open spaces are Persons with Disability Act mandates that

considered worthless unless they can be people with disabilities be provided with

put to commercial use. equal opportunities and protects their rights

to full participation and the Model Building Public Space for the Differently-abled

Bye Laws also mandate that a barrier-free

environment is maintained to ensure New hotels and motels should have at least inclusive cities and universal designs two rooms ‘preferably on the ground floor’ (Times of India, 2015).for wheel-chair users and every theatre,

movie or assembly hall should have Urban Poor, Street Vendors, and Public

provision for a minimum of six seating Spaces

spaces for such persons (Times of India,

2012).These are some of the guidelines Despite the presence of a full-fledged Act

that have been prescribed by the urban which seeks to protect the rights of street

vendors across the country (the Street Adaptation to Climate Change and

Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Resilience to Disasters

Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014), What is a resilient city? Broadly, it is a

objections regarding the quality of what proactive city with high levels of emergency

they sell or that they cause traffic preparedness, planned with environmental

disturbances often come second to this sustainability embedded through robust

primary concern that street vendors are processes of integrated planning,

often seen as dirtying the streets with their connected with access to urban services

public displays.network, and importantly, well governed

While there is a law that attempts to protect with strong institutional coordination and

street vendors from harassment, the idea command systems. Any comprehensive

that specific groups of people are not attempt to build climate resilience through

worthy of appearing or being visible in a one or more of these four concepts would

public space is not a new one. In the current aim to address most probable scenarios,

and popular mind set it is, therefore, simpler and should leave sufficient room for

to evict street vendors for being combating low probability-high risk events.

impoverished and trying to earn a This will need strategies on all fronts: policy,

livelihood, than to adhere to policies which plans, projects, and regulation.

really protect and them. This is evidenced For example, representatives from an all-

by how local government authorities and stakeholder institution in the city of

bodies choose not to form Town Vending Semarang, Indonesia, formed a team to

Committees under the Act, which will create a ‘Climate Resilient Strategy (CRS)’

conduct surveys and allocate vending prior to revision of their mid-term

zones as well as licenses to street vendors. development and spatial plan. The timing of

However, at the same time, these bodies preparation of the CRS prior to the mid-term

are extremely proactive in implementing deve lopment p lan was c ruc ia l l y

only those provisions which prohibit street synchronised, which resulted in the

vending in particular areas. These actions integration of climate change resilient

infringe upon the street vendors’ right to measures in the development and spatial

livelihood and to work, protected by plan.

constitutional law.

In India, cities like Indore and Surat have In a country where an overwhelming

developed their own CRS. How these are n u m b e r o f p e o p l e l i v e i n d i r e

integrated within their respective land-use impoverishment, caused by circumstance

planning is to be seen. That India can do a coupled with governmental inefficiencies,

good job in successfully pulling off a large-there is a specific need to focus on the

scale strategy on the ground has been attitude that social issues are approached

proved at the time of cyclone Phailin in with. The passing of a law to protect street

Orissa. Similar demonstrations of strong vendors does not translate to automatic

will and collective effort are a must for immunity from harassment unless it is

building resilience through spatial planning accompanied by a concrete understanding

as well. A possible method is to begin with of the fact that street vendors are not

cl imate change-sensit ive land-use irritants by virtue of existing on a street and

planning. To exemplify, this could mean are equally entitled to it (Mathew, 2015).

planning recreational open spaces with


water features for low lying areas to allow climate-resilient, need more than high

for natural flow of water and extra water levels of wealth and assets in the form of

retention in the event of sudden heavy infrastructure, and cities with diversified

rainfall, rather than completely covering economic opportunities may be better

such areas with buildings. These areas equipped to adapt to risks posed by climate

again have to be adequately distributed to change. Cities that heavily rely on a single

serve certain catchment zones from where resource or exported commodity have low

water will flow. Equally important would be potential to adapt to climate change.

location specific planning for naturally Economic diversification fosters innovation

vulnerable or disaster-prone areas rather and facilitates knowledge transfers. This

than generic planning guidelines, raises cautions against urban planning and

optimising daily travel requirement within infrastructure creation that are devoid of

the c i ty by c rea t ing mixed use ecological considerations. In many cities,

n e i g h b o u r h o o d s a n d j u d i c i o u s for instance, due to encroachment of

development control regulations. The plan drains, streams and lakebeds, heavy

must also look at the provision of futuristic rainfall events - projected to happen more

infrastructure including identification and often due to climate change – often lead to

availability of spaces for community traffic disruptions, loss of work hours, water

gathering at the time of an emergency, logging of homes and increased risk of

mitigation of localised adverse climatic water-borne diseases.The disastrous

impact (such as extreme heat pockets) by results of improper urban planning were

suitable urban design and the like. This most recently highlighted in the 2015

would be essentially followed by efficient Chennai floods. Chennai has grown by

city forms and built structures guided by filling up its water bodies by draining out the

green design standards. The need for other water, which disrupts natural water flow.

strong measures such as pricing and This highlights the importance of planning

regulatory instruments are also extremely according to the local topography. Diverse

important for realising the benefits of in-built factors, natural and human induced,

resiliency (Bhattacharya, 2014). adverse geo-c l imat ic cond i t ions ,

topographic features, environmental The idea of sustainability and resilience

deg rada t i on , popu la t i on g row th , advocated by the global community through

urbanisation, industrialization, and SDG 11 needs to be reflected in the urban

unscientific development practices play a policy discourse in Indian cities today.

huge role in accelerating the intensity and

frequency of disasters resulting in huge The BRT (bus rapid transit) system economic losses and human casualties. implemented in the city of Ahmedabad is an These coupled with the impact of climate example of achieving sustainability through change and climate variability, are integration of land use and transport accentuating disaster impacts and systems for reduced travel durations and underscore the criticality of promoting emissions. However, it is not always new disaster-resilience and risk reduction i n f r a s t r u c t u r e o r t e c h n o l o g i c a l practices. Out of 35 states and union advancement but economic diversity that territories in the country, 27 are prone to could help cities adapt to the impacts of different disasters. With increased socio-issues like global warming. Cities, to be



Figure 4: Natural Disaster Occurrence Reported during 1980-2010 in India

economic development, threat to Chemical, air programmes. A major reason is that the

Biological, Radiological and Nuclear 573 air quality monitoring stations in India

disasters demand greater preparedness are manually operated, collecting

levels at national, state and district levels information every two days, and data is

(NDMA, 2011). available only after at least one week of

collection (The Wire, 2015). Only a handful There are few details at this stage of what

of cities operate continuous monitoring kind of projects the government will invest in

stations, currently 40 in India, and there are as part of the smart cities programme, and it

not enough in any city to be able to present is unclear whether it has factored in future

a representative index. For example, the natural disasters and extreme events that

Delhi Pollution Control Committee operates are projected to increase due to global

six continuous monitoring stations warming. Another aspect that planners of

compared to 35 by authorities in Beijing. At smart cities seem to have ignored is

least 30 monitoring stations will be required pollution. Technical solutions alone, such

in 50 smart cities in India - each with at least as introducing compressed natural gas,

10 lakh people - costing approximately Rs.1 changing standards for vehicles and

crore (plus 10% annual maintenance industries or relocating industries, will not

costs)(The Wire, 2015). The entire cost be sufficient to control air pollution in Indian

works out to Rs.7,500 crore for 10 years. cities.

According to the Petroleum Planning and

Analysis Cell (Ministry of Petroleum and Institutional changes that will allow Natural Gas, Government of India), in ministries and departments to work January 2015 alone, the total consumption together and coordinate, including proper of petroleum products in India was 13.9 dissemination of information to the public million metric tonnes. An additional cess of are required. The current monitoring and 50 paise per kg of petroleum products sold information dissemination system in India is will translate to Rs.695 crore a month - or weak and needs a complete overhaul in approximately Rs.8,340 crores per year - order to reach the level of transparency and enough to cover the estimated costs to accuracy required for implementing clean


operate a reliable and transparent air Conclusionquality information management system in

Considering the MDG experience, a lot 50 cities for ten years (The Wire, 2015).depends on the way SDGs are

The measuring indicator for India to monitor implemented. A ray of hope can be found in

public spaces needs effective examining the recommendations of the South Asian

and will require a combination of geospatial consultation on the post 2015 development

data and user-perception surveys, agenda held in Nepal in 2014 that

especial ly when the indicator in advocates an implementation strategy

consideration is a quantitative one that focused on a rights-based approach,

would specify the area of public space in ingrained in equity and monitored by robust

proportion to a city’s total space. data. Together with the emphasis on urban

inclusion, there is the potential that the Surat is undertaking multi-disciplinary

urban SDG could help Indian cities to break research on reducing vulnerability and

free from the strict dichotomy of economic increasing the resilience of urban systems

growth and inequality. The urban SDG towards anticipated risks of climate change.

p rov ides e lements tha t p romote Moreover, most Indian countries have

mainstreaming equity in existing priorities. made an effort to decentralise as a part of

The SDG also creates conditions where cross-cutting governance reforms to further

existing and future multilateral support to the agenda of sustainability and resilience

power economic growth in Indian cities along with establishing democratic

would have to be more sensitive towards institutions for participation. Despite these

the goal of achieving equity, inclusiveness, efforts, the status quo has remained in

resilience, and sustainability. Developing terms of urban inequality and poverty. Land

country-specific standards for each of the markets are still polarised in cities like

individual targets not only by the Mumbai and the urban poor in many cities

international community, but also national end up paying more than their more affluent

civil society organisations, and citizens counterparts for basic services (Shiraz,

would go a long way in converting the vision 2015).

of equitable cities into a reality. Participatory

governance plat forms and social Each of these concepts is again accountability tools like citizen report cards interconnected through upstream or have already been utilised in India to collect d o w n s t r e a m r e l a t i o n s . B u i l d i n g data on aspects like inclusiveness in supply proactiveness is much easier in a planned of basic urban services. These tools need to City, where the networks and connections be further strengthened to provide are known. The generic scope of a Master complementary env i ronments fo r Plan encompasses guidance of the urban implementation of the urban SDG. An urban form and morphology. The aspects of SDG, therefore, holds great promise for integrated infrastructure planning and Indian cities in terms of shifting the focus of services, environmental sustainability and urban policy discourse which has been on urban governance are ideally to be promoting competitiveness and economic embedded adequately in the master growth to one on inclusiveness. It has the planning process itself.potential to meddle with the existing power


dynamics that are at play and may offer cities where people are involved in

r es i s t ance t o a comprehens i ve influencing how they live and interact with

implementation of such an agenda. their community. Civil society can play an

Politically nuanced approaches that take important role in bringing together local

cognisance of such power dynamics and people and Governments. SDG 11 can go a

restructure the same to suit the long way towards contributing to the SDGs.

implementation of urban SDG are of prime Like many other goals, the identified

importance.targets need to be tangible, concrete, and

There are, of course, many challenges in measurable. There needs to be clarity on

achieving SDG 11. Cities will require solid what is meant by “access to green space”

implementation plans and support in order and determine how “access for all” to safe,

to achieve the targets. Innovative solutions affordable, accessible, and sustainable

are needed to help create people-centred transportation systems is to be measured.



?A “bottom-up” approach, where local data can be fed upstream, through a sometimes

complex system of statistics as well as policies and strategies, is required. This would

contribute to further strengthening the cities as stakeholders and significant actors for

sustainability work. Importantly, this also can be seen as an important step forward in

terms of the inclusion of local and regional policymakers, as well as citizens all over the

world, in this work.

?Many indices on mapping and tracking urban development has been developed by

diverse stakeholders. Siemens with cities Index, in our own interviews with Centre for

Sustainable Development and urban index is in the process, academic institutions such

as ISB have also released their smart cities index and green city index, CSO and

national level data collectors need to also observe the methodologies, key findings from

these respective sources. Especially in the context when the government has released

the list of first 20 smart cities, the responsibility to measure the urban development has

increased for CSO. What metrics they will follow needs to be closely observed.

?A direct engagement with the issue of land value and land-value “capture” as a means of

financing and maintaining inclusive and accessible public spaces to achieve Target

11.7.

?The measuring indicator for India to monitor public spaces needs effective examining

and will require a combination of geospatial data and user-perception surveys,

especially when the indicator in consideration is a quantitative one that would specify the

area of public space in proportion to a city's total space.

Food worth

US$ 8.3 billionis wasted

annually

Per capita

ecological footprint

of richest 1% is

17 timesthat of poorest

40%

73% of India's

N100 companies

have some CR

disclosure

Sustainable Consumption Patterns

Sustainable Production Patterns


Analysis of Indicators for SDG 12(Responsible Consumption and Production)

“Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns”

contaminants, especial ly chemical Structure of this Sectionsubstances as specified under target 12.4.

This section is organised as follows: The goal engages all stakeholders to

contribute to sustainable development, Introductionincluding the private sector, as seen in

• Overview of SDG 12: A brief overview of target 12.6. Target 12.7 identifies the role of the targets under SDG 12 is provided. the public sector through sustainable public

procurement, while target 12.3 recognises • India and SDG 12: India’s current

the shift towards SCP required in the food scenario with respect to some of the

system. The need for policies for SCP is SDG 12 targets is described.

underlined in the 10-year framework of

programmes on sustainable consumption • Comparing the IAEG-SDG Indicators

and production patterns mentioned in target with Indian Indicators: A tabular

12.1; while the issue of fossil fuel subsidies comparison of IAEG-SDG indicators

is covered under target 12.c.with corresponding indicators currently

measured in India for SDG 12 is given.India and SDG 12

Analysis of SDG 12 IndicatorsOn a per capita basis, India has a low level

Summary of Recommendations: Based of carbon emissions. However, at an

on the ana lys is , a summary o f aggregate level, India is the third largest

recommendations for policymakers is emitter of greenhouse gases, behind only

provided. China and USA! It is threatened by the

impact of global warming and climate Overview of SDG 12 change. India has several policies to

address the need of sustainable Everything the global community produces consumption and production. For example, and consumes has either a positive or the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) negative impact on the economy, the per iod ica l ly mandates regu la tory environment, and social development. standards, and also formulates promotional Achieving sustainable consumption and schemes, which encourage the use of production (SCP) patterns secures efficient lighting, heating, ventilation, air-efficiency and productivity gains, ensuring conditioning (HVAC), and electric motor that human activities remain within the based appliances in the residential and carrying capacity of the planet, while commercial establishments across the respecting the rights of future generations. country. The Energy Conservation Building SDG 12 covers both, the environmental Code specifies the energy performance impacts such as waste management as requirement of commercial buildings specified under target 12.5, and release of


(Planning Commission, GoI, 2014). use of natural resources. The indicator

under discussion is “material footprint India’s industry sector presents an

(MF) and MF/capita”.opportunity for considerable energy

savings, in the iron and steel, and cement • Target 12.8 By 2030, ensure that

sectors, which are the most energy people everywhere have the relevant

intensive manufacturing sectors in the information and awareness for

country. The main policy driver, the National sustainable development and lifestyles

Manufacturing Policy coupled with National in harmony with nature. The indicator

Mission on Enhanced Energy Efficiency under discussion is “percentage of

(NMEEE), has introduced the Perform, educational institutions with formal and

Achieve and Trade (PAT) scheme to save informal education curricula”.

energy. Similar opportunities are available • Target 12.a Support developing

in the transport and power sectors in India countries to strengthen their scientific

(Planning Commission, GoI, 2014).and technological capacity to move

To achieve the SDG agenda, India would towards more sustainable patterns of

have to meet explicit targets in low-carbon consumption and production. The

growth, and also implement the right mix of indicator under discussion is “number of

policies like energy pricing, carbon tax, cap- qualified green patent applications over

and-trade, subsidies and regulation. total”.

• Target 12.b Develop and implement Comparing the IAEG-SDG Indicators t o o l s t o m o n i t o r s u s t a i n a b l e with Indian Indicatorsdevelopment impacts for sustainable

The following table compares IAEG-SDG tourism that creates jobs and promotes indicators with corresponding indicators local culture and products. The indicator currently measured in India for SDG 12.The under discussion is “residual flows table only includes indicators that have generated as a result of tourism direct been finalised by the IAEG-SDG as of GDP (derived from an extended version December 2015. Indicators still in the “grey” of the System of Environmental-category, i.e. indicators that require in- Economic Accounting (SEEA) for depth review by IAEG-SDG, have been tourism)”.omitted. In the case of SDG 12, the omitted

targets and indicators are as follows:

• Target 12.2 By 2030, achieve the

sustainable management and efficient




SEBI

Ministry of Corporate Affairs

SEBI

Corporate Sustainability Reports

CSR Reports (Section 135, Indian Companies Act, 2014)

Business Report


per unit of production/consumption.National Policies for Sustainable

Consumption and Production• Impacts decoupling: This includes

policies that aim to reduce degrading For target 12.1, “Implement the 10-year environmental impacts as the outcome framework of programmes on sustainable of production and consumption consumption and production, all countries processes.taking action, with developed countries

taking the lead, taking into account the • Social benefits: This includespolicies

development and capabilities of developing on revenue and/or social benefits

countries”, the IAEG-SDG indicator is (health, education, and well-being) for

“number of countries with SCP National poor and vulnerable people and groups

Actions Plans or SCP mainstreamed as a from the shift to SCP.

priority or target into national policies,

poverty reduct ion st rategies and 10YFP is currently developing a global

sustainable development strategies”. survey on national SCP policies and

initiatives. The survey aims to develop The IAEG-SDG indicator for the current

baselines on SCP at the national level on t a rge t t r acks t he coun t r y l eve l

the availability and implementation of SCP plans/laws/acts that ensure effective

policies and initiatives in countries(UNEP, implementation of the 10 Year framework of

2015). The methodology used to identify programmes (10YFP) on Sustainable

national policies and initiatives, and classify Consumption and Production (SCP). The

them as SCP policies or initiatives, is not yet themes under 10YFP include consumer

in the public domain. However, it is information, sustainable lifestyles and

expected that the required information will education, sustainable public procurement,

be sourced from national development sustainable buildings and construction,

plans, ministerial proceedings, policy sustainable tourism and sustainable food

declarations, parliamentary rulings, systems.

planning documents, etc.

A United Nations Environment Program A study on policy instruments for eco-

(UNEP) report on indicators for SDG 12 innovation (Jang, Park, Roh, & Han, 2015)

(UNEP, 2015) provides a framework for maps policies of Asian countries that

assessing target 12.1 using the above contribute to SCP. Eco-innovation can be

indicator. There are four properties and defined as introduction, development, and

objectives that determine the features of application of new ideas, behaviours,

SCP in the national policies and actions of products and processes to contribute to

any country. These are:reducing environmental burdens or

ecologically specified sustainability targets. • Reaching critical thresholds: This Eco-innovation is a broad concept, includes policies associated with comprising innovation in pollution control increasing carrying capacity of the earth (new, better, or cheaper abatement systems and the perturbations of critical technology), green products, cleaner earth systemthat may contribute to process technologies, green energy crossing critical thresholds.technology and transport technologies, and

• Resource decoupling: This includes waste reduction and handling techniques policies for reduction in resource use


(Jang, Park, Roh, & Han, 2015). This study Six sectors are used in the study to interpret

has classified policies into four categories: regulatory, economicand planning

instruments: environmental protection and • Regulatory instruments: This

management, waste, renewable energy, comprises all regulatory political

purchase or procurement , c lean interventions that formally influence

technology, and climate change.social and economic action through

binding “regulations”. Using the three types of instruments and

the six sectors identified in (Jang, Park, • Economic/f iscal instruments:

Roh, & Han, 2015), as well as the UNEP Economic instruments are fiscal and

report (UNEP, 2015), the current study other economic incentives and

proposes a matrix to map national SCP d i s i n c e n t i v e s t o i n c o r p o r a t e

policies, as shown in the table below. The environmental costs and benefits into

matrix maps policies that a) fall under each the budgets of households and

sector identified above b) fall under the enterprises, with the objective to

category of regulatory, economic or encourage environmentally sound and

planning instruments c) fulfil the properties efficient production and consumption.

of SCP policies defined in the UNEP report.Economic instruments include effluent

taxes or charges on pollutants and

waste, deposit-refund systems, and This table can be utilised by the Ministry of

tradable pollution permits. Subsidies for Statistics, Planning and Implementation

e n v i r o n m e n t a l r e s e a r c h a n d (MoSPI) for mapping the policies in the

development can also be viewed as an sector that regulate, incentivise and plan for

economic instrument as they rely on the SCP patterns. The choice of the policies to

use of economic incentives.be reported as the ones mainstreaming

• Planning instruments: Planning SCP has to be governed by the four

instruments are political mechanisms properties of such policies (critical

that aim to solve problems in planning thresholds, resource decoupling, impacts

through innovative designs. A plan is a decoupling, social benefits) as detailed by

sort of consciously intended course of UNEP (UNEP, 2015). For India to achieve

action. The national plans present Target 12.1, it will need to ensure adequate

policy goals and strategies, steer policies in the sectors specified in the table,

certain policies, and initiate a policy in accordance to the properties established

dialogue. by the UNEP framework.


Table 17: Regulatory, economic and planning instruments of public policy in India for SCP

Source: adapted from (Jang, Park, Roh, & Han, 2015) and (UNEP, 2015)

of natural resources”. The IAEG-SDG Material Footprintindicator for this target is “material footprint

Target 12.2 reads “by 2030 achieve (MF) and MF/capita”.sustainable management and efficient use

Sector

Public Policies

Regulatory Instruments

Economic Instruments

Planning Instruments

Environment management

· National Green Tribunal Act (NGT) (2010)

· EIA Notification for Environmental Clearance (2006)

· National Conservation Strategy on Environment and Development, 1992

· Environment Protection Act, 1986

· National Environment Policy, 2006

Waste

· Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act (1981)

· Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules (1999)

· Municipal Solid Wastes Rules, 2000

· Plastic waste management Rules, 2011

· Hazardous Waste 2008 (amended 2011)

Renewable energy

· Energy Conservation Act (2001, revised 2010)

· Feed-in-Tariff scheme for renewable energy (2010)

· Strategic Plan for New and Renewable Energy Sector (2011–2017)

· National Biofuel Policy (2015)

· National Offshore Wind Energy Policy

Purchase/ procurement

· Indian Contract Act, 1872

· Sale of Goods Act, 1930

· General Financial Rules (GFR), 2005

· Public Procurement

Bill, 2012

Clean technology

· Motor Vehicles Act (1988)

· Air (Prevention and Controlof Pollution) Act (1981)

· Science, Technology

and Innovation Policy (2013)

Climate change

· National Action Plan

for Climate Change


Target 12.2 aims to achieve the sustainable physical quantity of traded goods. In

management and use of all natural 2008, the total amount of raw materials

resources. The material footprint/capita extracted globally was 70 billion metric

measures the progress in sustainable tons - 10 billion tons of which were

management of natural resources. This physically traded. However, the results

indicator is in the grey list of IAEG-SDG show that three times as many

indicator list. However, this section resources (41% or 29 billion tons) were

discusses the current sources of data and used just to enable the processing and

methodology of calculation of this indicator. export of these materials. The

researchers say that because these Material footprint is the global allocation of

resources never leave their country of used raw material extraction to the final

origin, they are not adequately captured demand of an economy. In contrast to

by current reporting methods. (Science material consumption indicator – earlier

Daily, 2013)used for measuring natural resource use of

a country, the MF does not record the actual 2. A paper in the journal “Proceedings of

physical movement of materials within and the National Academy of Sciences” by

among countries but, instead, enumerates (Wiedmannar, et al., 2015) titled “The

the link between the beginning of a material footprints of the nations”

production chain (where raw materials are presents a time series analysis of the

extracted from the natural environment) MF of 186 countries and identify

and its end (where a product or service is material flows associated with global

consumed) (Wiedmannar, et al., 2015). production and consumption networks.

The material categories studied were – There are two studies available that have

crops, fodder, ores, construction calculated that material footprint of all the

material and fossil fuels. The study nations:

points out that material footprint does

not provide information on actual 1. The University of New South Wales, environmental impacts of resource use Sydney has conducted a study, “The (RU) but only on the potential for true raw material footprint of nations”. impacts on the basis of consumption of This study maps the flow of raw resources. A true decoupling of materials across the world economy to environmental damage from economic determine the true “material footprint” of growth, however, can only be achieved 186 countries over a two decade period if not just the total mass of materials (1990-2008). The detailed methodology consumed but the associated and complete study is not in the public environmental impact is reduced. domain to assess the methodology and

source of data sets covered. The study Both the studies mentioned above are not

looks at the following resources - metal available in the public domain for their

ores, biomass, fossil fuels and detailed approach and calculations.

construction materials. One important However from the insights of these studies,

conclusion of the study is that there are certain recommendations at the

developed countries are relying on country level:

international trade to acquire their

natural resources now more than ever. • The material footprint calculates

This dependence far exceeds the actual material resources which are crops,


fodder, ores, construction material and and validation by the FAO. It is expected to

fossil fuels. It is not inclusive of water be made available in 2016. GFLI is

and land as resources. As natural expected to estimate the quantity of food

r e s o u r c e m a n a g e m e n t m u s t loss using observed variables that

encompass use of these two resources conceivably influence food loss, like road

also, it is important that India tracks density, weather, pests etc. Data on these

water use efficiency, land use efficiency variables is expected to be sourced from

in relevant sectors of agriculture, country administrative records and

sanitation, energy, urban development statistics (Rome-based Agencies, 2014).

etc. The water use efficiency is covered For the current target, there is currently no

in SDG 6 on water and sanitation for all, periodically measured indicator in India on

but the indicator is yet to be finalised. food loss or food waste. The only available

The results confirm that pressures on raw data is a 2010 study by the Central Institute

materials do not necessarily decline as for Post-Harvest Engineering and

affluence grows but only gets exported to Technology (CIPHET) commissioned by

other developing/under-developed the Ministry of Food Processing Industries

countries.This demonstrates the need for (Press Information Bureau, 2014). The

policy-makers to consider new accounting study estimates post-harvest losses of

methods that more accurately track major agricultural commodities. A repeat

resource consumption. study was commissioned by the Ministry in

2012, but the report is not yet published in Reducing Food Loss and Waste the public domain.

Target 12.3 calls for reducing food loss at A related source of information is the food various levels – production and supply loss encountered by the Food Corporation chains, as well as retail and consumer of India (FCI) as part of Public Distribution levels. Specifically, it calls for halving food System (PDS) operations. FCI has records waste at the retail and consumer levels, and of region-wise and commodity-wise stock reducing an unspecified amount of food that is ‘non-issuable’ (damaged) each year; loss along production and supply chains, however this information has in the past including post-harvest losses. only been obtained using Right to

Information queries and is not available in In this report, food waste is understood as the public domain. It is recommended that food that is fit for human consumption but is FCI publish data on food loss in its stock not consumed, for example because it is left annually.to spoil or discarded by retailers or

consumers. Food loss on the other hand is India’s data on food loss and food waste is food that gets spoiled or spilt before it inadequate. In order to identify the data becomes a final product. These definitions gaps, it is useful to first contemplate the are consistent with those of the Food and various stages in which food loss/waste Agriculture Organization (FAO), as found may occur: food production, processing, on (FAO, 2016). distribution and consumption. The existing

information from CIPHET and FCI do not The IAEG-SDG indicator for the current capture losses in all stages of the supply target is the Global Food Loss Index (GFLI). chain.The GFLI is in the process of development


The four stages identified above are briefly food. Food wastage in this stage refers to

described below, along with challenges and the wastage of final food products in the

opportunities in capturing data at each market system (for example, food which

stage. reaches expiry date before sale). Where

large players – wholesalers, distributers, Production – This stage refers to the actual

retailers etc. – are concerned, data on food production of food (cultivation of crops,

loss is likely to be documented and harvesting of fish etc.). Food loss in this

accessible. However, Indian food markets stage may occur due to poor technique or

include a large number of informal retailers, other limitations in production. Physical

including farmers who produce for self-measurement of food that is discarded at

consumption. It is obviously a challenge to the cropping and harvesting stages is not

collate information at the national level on feasible; there is currently no robust

the same.methodology to capture food that is

discarded by a large number of dispersed Consumption – This stage refers to the

producers, who themselves may not phase wherein the food is purchased by the

precisely have records of their losses. consumer. Food wastage here refers to

However, food loss at this stage may be wastage at the consumer’s end (for

estimated to an extent by observing factors example, food on the plate that is thrown

that contribute to food loss at this stage, away without consumption, food that is

such as suff ic iency of i r r igat ion spoilt because of improper storage or

infrastructure and untimely rainfall. cooking technique etc.). Data on food that is

wasted in this stage is perhaps the hardest Processing – This stage includes post-

to capture.harvest storage, transportation, value

addition, packaging and marketing Below is a description of possible ways

systems. Post-harvest handling of food forward to measure food loss (losses at the

conceivably entails some food loss. The production and processing stages) and

extent of loss is often known to the parties food waste (wastage in the distribution and

handling the food during this stage. For consumption stages) in India.

example, a middleman knows the Food Loss

difference between the quantity of food

received by him and the quantity of food he To some extent, the GFLI circumvents the is able to transfer to the next link in the tremendous challenge of physically supply chain. However, collating this measuring food loss and instead estimates information at the national level from a large food loss by observing factors that number of such parties, all dispersed and conceivably contribute to food loss, such as widespread, and most of them operating infrastructure, weather, pests etc. However, informally, is difficult. Therefore, for this this methodology may not be able to stage too, instead of physical measurement provide disaggregated data on food loss – of loss, it is more feasible to estimate the for example, food loss by commodity and loss by observing factors that contribute to food loss by supply chain stage cannot be loss, such as cold storage infrastructure, estimated using this method. In the Indian transport infrastructure, road density, etc. context, given that policies addressing food

loss at the production, processing and Distribution – This stage includes the

distribution stages are distinct and are wholesale and retail end distribution of


handled by different Ministries, it would be Food Waste

useful to have food loss data disaggregated While GFLI deals with food loss, it is unlikely

by the stage at which the loss happens. to supply information on food waste. Food

For such disaggregated data, a physical waste occurring at the consumer’s end is

measurement of food loss at each stage of extremely difficult to capture. At the

the supply chain would be required. This is consumer level, a possible way forward is to

likely to be an extremely time-consuming, combine data on the purchasing habits and

resource intensive exercise that could take consumption habits of consumers. The

the form of an extensive survey, of the kind difference between what is purchased and

done by CIPHET to estimate post-harvest what is consumed may be regarded as a

losses. Methodological studies on how proxy for food wastage. Questions on food

such an exercise may be attempted, as well consumption are already part of NSSO

as studies regarding the feasibility and surveys, and may be supplemented by

ut i l i ty o f such an exerc ise, are questions on food purchase.

recommended as disaggregated food loss At the wholesale and retail levels,

data is extremely pertinent in the Indian inventories maintained by registered units

context, even though it is not a global may be collated using technological

reporting requirement for the SDGs.platforms. However, inventories of

There are two possible tracks for estimating unregistered units would be difficult to

food loss as described above – one is the collate, and can perhaps only be captured

physical measurement of food loss at each through a survey.

stage of the supply chain, and the other is Extensive research is recommended on the

the GFLI method which estimates overall suggestions outlined here to determine the

food loss by observing physical factors that methodology and process of data collection

contribute to food loss. In the Indian of food waste.

context, it is important for both tracks to be

used to estimate food loss for at least one

year, to see the extent to which the two

Target 12.5 calls for reducing waste tracks converge or diverge in their

generation through prevention, reduction, estimates for that year and thereby

recycling and reuse. The IAEG-SDG establish the reliability of GFLI in capturing

indicators for this target are “national the actual physical losses of food.

recycling rate” and “tonnes of material To report on the current SDG target, India recycled”.needs to have robust administrative

Data on recycling in India is scarce. There is records to supply information that is

no established practice of periodic required to calculate the GFLI. Whether

measurement of waste generated and India has the required data for this can only

recycled. The information currently be analysed after the development,

available is from various intermittent and validation and publication of GFLI, as

infrequent surveys and studies conducted currently it is not known exactly what data

by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) would be required from individual countries

and a few other agencies. However, none of to calculate GFLI.

these studies provide any information on

Recycling

the proportion or tonnes of waste recycled repeated to identify trends. Further, data

as required for the IAEG-SDG indicator. collated does not appear to be in the public

The available studies are summarised domain. The data presented above was

below: gleaned from CPCB summary reports and

media reports; however the complete study • Ministry of Urban Development in 2000

with methodology, limitations etc. could not estimated the total quantum of waste

be found for most of them. It is generated daily in India at 100,000 MT.

recommended that CPCB initiate a system

for periodic studies of MSW management in • CPCB commissioned a study to a sample of cities, with earmarked funds for National Environmental Engineering the purpose. All studies should be made Research Institute (NEERI) in 2004-05 available in the public domain.to study the status of Municipal Solid

Waste Management in 59 cities. The Urban local bodies are required to annually

total waste and waste per capita furnish information on solid waste

generated in these cities were management, in particular the quantum of

estimated. Further, the composition of waste collected and their adherence to the

waste in each of these cities was mandated MSW Rules, to their State

studied; the proportion of compostables Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs), which

and recyclables, calorie content and then send consolidated reports to CPCB for

moisture content were reported. This the purpose of the publication of an annual

information could be used for the report on solid waste management in India.

selection of appropriate waste However, no such annual report could be

management technologies. CPCB found on the CPCB website. Further, other

commissioned a repeat study to NEERI publications of CPCB mention that data

in 2012; however the completed study from SPCBs is not received within set

could not be found published in the deadlines, creating data gaps and delays in

public domain.publishing the information (CPCB).

• CPCB with Central Institute of Plastics A similar issue is faced with Plastic Waste

Engineering and Technology (CIPET) in Management (PWM). Most municipal

2010-12 quantified and characterised authorities have not developed systematic

plastic waste generated in 60 major mechanisms for the collection, segregation,

cities in India.transportation and disposal or recycling of

plastic wastes; therefore it is but obvious Other related CPCB studies include one on that data on recycling rates is not tracked methane emission from Municipal Solid periodically (CPCB, 2015).Waste (MSW) disposal sites, one on

characterisation of compost quality and its India also has a large informal waste

application in agriculture, and one on the management industry. “Waste-pickers” are

health status of conservancy staff and often found looking for recyclable waste in

community landfill workers.landfill sites. Welfare of these workers, as

also the welfare of workers employed by Waste management in general and municipal authorities to handle waste, are recycling in particular are major data gaps important concerns. Data on safety, in India. The surveys conducted so far have hygiene and worker welfare should also be been one-time surveys that have not been


tracked within existing sector-specific sustainable public procurement policies

surveys and also general employment and action plans”.

surveys described in the SDG 8 section.Def in i t ion of ‘susta inable ’ publ ic

India has a long way to go in ensuring the procurement policies is not provided by UN-

adequacy of facilities to collect, transport, IAEG system. According to UNEP (UNEP,

process and recycle waste; ensure 2015), which is taking the lead in the Goal

adequate and efficient institutional 12 of the SDGs, the sustainable public

frameworks for the process; ensure procurement policies and action plans

availability of sufficient finance; and should be based on the four properties of

develop facilities to manage special wastes reaching critical thresholds, resource

such as e-waste. These requirements are decoupling, impacts decoupling and social

far from fulfilled in most cities and benefits.

settlements in India. These basic India as a country will not be counted as a

requirements need to be developed before country implementing sustainable public

any data can become available on India’s procurement policies and action plans.

waste management capacity and recycling There is no law exclusively governing public

rate.procurement of goods.

Moving ahead, India may adopt a useful However, Article 299 of the Constitution is

data collection tool created by the World the legal framework governing the public

Bank for urban solid waste management. procurement in India. It stipulates that

The tool was developed on the Microsoft contracts legal ly b inding on the

Excel platform as a framework to assist Government have to be executed in writing

cities, consultants, and donors with by officers specifically authorized to do so.

collecting and storing important solid waste Further, the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and

data in a consistent manner to support the Sale of Goods Act, 1930 are major

interventions. Intended to be used at the legislations governing contracts of sale/

city level, the tool covers varied activities purchase of goods in general(Ministry of

including waste collection, recycling, Finance, 2006). A comprehensive rules and

transfer station, landfill/dump (open or directives in this regard are also available in

c l o s e d ) , c o m p o s t i n g , a n d the General Financial Rules (GFR), 2005,

waste- to- energy initiatives. Urban local Delegation of Financial Powers Rules

bodies may use this tool to systematically (DFPR); Government orders regarding

record information on the status of their price or purchase preference or other

solid waste management, and send the facilities to sellers in the Handloom Sector,

information further to SPCBs and CPCB Cottage and Small Scale Industries and to

which can then collate harmonised central public sector undertakings etc. and

information from across the country.the guidelines issued by the Central

Vigilance Commission to increase Public Procurementtransparency and objectivity in public

Target 12.7 reads “promote public procurement. These provide the regulatory procurement practices that are sustainable, framework for the public procurement in accordance with national policies and system (Ministry of Finance, 2006).priorities”. The IAEG-SDG indicator for this

The Public Procurement Bill, 2012 is under target is “number of countries implementing



discussion in the parliament, which seeks to companies. It aims to invigorate the entire

regulate and ensure transparency in framework of corporate and public

procurement by the central government governance, as the UN member states are

and its entities.India will have a public required to develop national level policies

procurement policy if this bill gets passed directing companies to make sustainability

and becomes a law. However, the focus of reporting an intrinsic part of their publishing

the bill is to bring transparency in the cycle. These will explicitly showcase

procurement procedures. Comparing it with commitments and actions placed by

the expectations laid by the UNEP analysis b u s i n e s s e s o n r e s p o n s i b i l i t y ,

o f i nd ica to rs , the re a re ce r ta in accountabi l i ty, t ransparency, and

considerations for the government of India: participation on accelerating the SDG

agenda within their respective purview. • The public procurement policy should

a i m t o p r o m o t e r e s p o n s i b l e “The global economy is on the wrong track,

consumption. It should incentivise and business is not playing its part in forging

sustainably produced goods and hence a sustainable future”, is a strong view that

contribute in influencing manufacturing emerged from more than 1,000 CEOs

patterns in business. This element is across the world (Accenture; UNGC, 2013).

however missing in the current public It has also been observed that many

procurement bill. companies were unable to conjoin

sustainability with their core business • The public procurement policy should

strategy, which hampered their overall not only aim for reducing adverse

effects on scaling-up sustainability environmental impacts but also

operations and outreach, especially in enhanc ing soc ia l bene f i t s . A

terms of addressing the global challenges mechanism that leads to such choices

(Ralhan, 2015). Therefore, the UN-IAEG in the rules of procurement is not clearly

Group, while framing the 12.6 target, defined in the bill.

acknowledged the wider impact that will be

brought forth by corporate sustainability The aim of Public Procurement Bill 2012 reporting and largely placed the thrust on that aims to bring transparency in the publicly listed and large companies. procedures of public procurement surely is Simultaneously, the principle of financing first steps towards developing a policy and for SDGs and invoking private stakeholder reviewing the process in the public domain. participation towards the implementation of However, additional amendments or SDGs is reflected within this specific SDG policies may be required to promote desired target. Any reporting process on the lines of environmental and social benefits. sustainability will require businesses to

Sustainability in Businesses develop diverse models for best practices

aligned with existing frameworks and Role of Corporate Governance in

integration of metrics that define the Leveraging the SDGs

parameters which represent a company’s

holistic sustainability process and The SDG target 12.6 holds deep operations. connotations and needs to be perceived

beyond the quantifying aspect of Private Finance for SDGs – Encourage

emphasis ing on the ‘number ’ o f Company Disclosures

sustainability reports being generated by

The UN Global Compact-Accenture CEO universal reporting mechanisms are set in

S t u d y o n S u s t a i n a b i l i t y f u r t h e r place. Secondly, for achieving the objective

encapsulated strategic issues through of encouraging private finance into the

primary research, including interviews of SDGs, it is pertinent to measure the impact

leading CEOs across the world. It was one of the business operations, responsibility

of the leading reports which, for the first initiatives, through the utilisation of diverse

time, summarised vital issues explicitly metrics and indicators so as to assess their

expressed by corporate leaders across the progress in imbibing the principles of triple-

world. It stated that 67% of them do not bottom-line approach within and by their

believe that business is doing enough to businesses.

address global sustainability challenges Bridging the Gap between Business and

(Accenture; UNGC, 2013). Some 63% of Stakeholders – Why and What to

CEOs expect sustainability to transform Report?

their industry within five years and 76%

believe that embedding sustainability into There has been a shift in the corporate core business will drive revenue growth and reporting trends. Earlier in 1990s the term new opportunities (Accenture; UNGC, susta inabi l i ty repor t was large ly 2013). The discourse on integrating synonymous with environment reporting. sustainability principles across the entire The paradigm shift happened with the value chain will be possible only when establishment of World Business Council companies are required to do mandatory for Sustainable Development (WBSCD) in disclosures of their practices, procedures, 1999 where the then UN Secretary General compliance mechanisms, that will enable Kofi Annan in his speech invoked that them to identify the gaps, issues, and areas businesses were required to integrate of interventions wherein they can revitalise people placed at the bottom of the pyramid or introduce sustainability principles in their within their operations. This also marked core business strategy and operations the advent of corporate social responsibility (Accenture; UNGC, 2013). Global which was defined by the WBSCD as commitments are being garnered by “…continuing commitment by business to businesses on platforms such as the behave ethically and contribute to Business Call to Action Consortium which economic development while improving the has extended its commitments towards the quality of life of the workforce and their creation of over 2.2 million new jobs, access families as well as of the local community to financial services for more than 58 million and society at large”. These developments people, essential healthcare services for 60 extended a huge impact on the reporting million people, prevention 7.2million tons of frameworks, as it became apposite for carbon emissions from entering the company to transcend from merely atmosphere and allowing 89 million low- disclosing on their compliance to income households to access sustainable environment norms but also towards issues energy (The Guardian). In order for such such as human rights, sustainable supply commitments to be translated into concrete chain, interaction with civil society, and actions, it is vital for companies to collate sustainable product diversifications. the diverse practices, initiatives and

As a result of the speech delivered by Kofi programmatic interventions so as to align Annan at the World Economic Forum in the future commitments with the already 1999, in the year 2000, when the world existing ones; these can only be possible if



adopted the Millennium Development organisation and its reporting process.

Goals (MDGs) the United Nations Global They apply to all organisations,

Compact (UNGC) emerged as a call to regardless of their mater ia l i ty

business across the world to meet their assessment. There are seven types of

sustainability commitments by providing a General Standard Disclosures, ranging

principle-based framework, guidance and from the organisation’s strategic

best practices, action platforms fostering p e r s p e c t i v e o n a d d r e s s i n g

collaboration among participants. Global sustainability issues, and how it

Compact was set up in 2000 and includes involves stakeholders in this process, to

more than 8,000 business participants from how it approaches key issues such as

all parts of the world, working to advance governance and ethics and integrity.

corporate sustainability and environmental, 2. Specific Standard Disclosures that are

social and governance (ESG) issues. For divided into two areas: Management

the first time it brought a new reporting Approach (MA), The Disclosures on

feature where companies as signatories to Management Approach (DMA) provide

the UNGC were required to submit the the organisation with an opportunity to

Communication of Progress (CoP). The explain how it is managing its material

CoPs are published on the main website of economic, environmental or social

the UNGC and showcases business impacts (Aspects), thus providing an

commitments to the ten universally-o v e r v i e w o f i t s a p p r o a c h t o

accepted principles in the areas of human sustainability issues. The DMA focus on

rights, labor, environment and anti-three things: describing why an Aspect 23corruption . is material, how its impacts are being

managed, and how the approach to The World Summit on Sustainable

managing this Aspect is being Development in 2000 paved the way for the

evaluated. G4 contains Indicators Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) which

(largely quantitative) for a wide range of issued its first exposure draft guidelines for

sustainability issues largely quantitative sustainability reporting in 1999. The GRI’s

for e.g. water usage, health and safety, mission is to make sustainability reporting

human rights or an organisation’s standard practice by providing guidance

impact on local communities (Global and support to organisations. The GRI

Reporting Initiative). The indicators guidelines have developed into the de facto

allow companies to provide comparable global standard for non-financial reporting.

information on their economic, By 2015, 7,500 organisations were using

environmental and social impacts and the GRI guidelines to create their

performance. Organisations are only sustainability report. GRI has developed

required to provide Indicators on the latest fourth generation G4 guidelines

A s p e c t s t h a t t h e y a n d t h e i r launched in May 2013. There are two kinds

stakeholders have identified as material of disclosures:

to the business. These reflect the entire 1. General Standard Disclosures that set sustainable value chain as the

the overall context for the report, indicators address environment aspect providing a description of the (Materials Energy, Water Biodiversity

23 In the year 2013 UNGC also emerged with Communication of Engagement, where reporting for civil society stakeholders was introduced. For more details, see https://www.unglobalcompact.org/participation/report/coe


Emissions Effluents and Waste integrate environmental information and

Products and Services Supplier natural capital into mainstream corporate

E n v i r o n m e n t a l A s s e s s m e n t , reports. The SDG Live Tracker is useful as it

E n v i r o n m e n t a l G r i e v a n c e illustrates the country-wise level of

Mechanisms), economic aspects sustainability reporting and their support to

(Economic Market Presence Indirect the new SDG Target 12.6. In the Indian

Economic Procurement Practices) and context, it also showcases that the number

has an extensive list of social aspect of report generated in the period of 1999-

indicators with sub categories such as 2015 was 448, with 77 sustainability reports

(Labour Practices and Decent Work - published in 2015, from companies already 24occupational health and safety, implementing their sustainability policies .

diversity and equal opportunity, equal Also, the top reporting sectors across the

remuneration for women and men Indian industr ies are automotive,

supplier assessment, Human Rights – conglomerates, metals products, financial

freedom of association and collective services, and mining. These are also

bargaining, child labour, forced or sectors that face huge compliance based

compulsory labour, security practices, issues with respect to environment, supply

indigenous rights, assessment, supplier chain, labour, and occupation health and

human rights assessment etc. and hazards. Therefore, the reporting becomes

Product Responsibility - customer crucial for such business sectors as it will

health and safety, product and service, enable them to analyse the risk and

labelling, marketing, communications, challenges that they pose to the

customer privacy and Society - Local environment and community and large and

Communities, Anti-corruption Public to emerge with strategic and adopt those

Policy, Anti-competitive Behaviour, relevant sustainable practices that will

Compliance, Supplier Assessment for eventually lead towards mitigation of the

Impacts on Society and Grievance risks placed by the respective industry

Mechanisms for Impacts on Society sector.

(Global Reporting Initiative). Given the With concepts of Principles of Responsible extensive reporting format, GRI through Investment (PRI), reporting frameworks on their country wide focal points, also investments and payments also exist in the enhances the capacity building of form of Extractive Industries Transparency professionals by conducting worldwide Initiative (EITI) that emerged from the and coun t ry spec i f i c t ra in ing notion ‘Publish What You Pay’ campaign in p r o g r a m m e s t o s p e c i a l i s e 1999 and encouraged companies to report professionals to report on the universal on their payments to governments in framework. developing countries. Set up as a tool to

In one of its recent efforts to encourage counter the ‘resource curse’ where

global reporting in alignment with the target revenues from oil, gas, and mining do not

12.6, GRI in partnership with an Indian deliver development but contribute to

technology company, Tata Consultancy poverty, corruption, and conflict. EITI

Services, has released the SDG Live consists of 12 principles for increased

Tracker that enables companies to transparency on payments and revenues in

2 4 U N S u s t a i n a b l e D e v e l o p m e n t G o a l Ta r g e t 1 2 . 6 - L i v e T r a c k e r a v a i l a b l e a t : http://database.globalreporting.org/SDG-12-6

the extract ive industr ies ( Impact UNGC has emerged with an Industry Matrix

Transforming Business). The Climate developed with KPMG which is presented

Disclosure Standard Board (CDSB) has in a series of publications. Each matrix will

emerged with the Climate Change highlight bold pursuits and decisions made

Reporting Framework launched on the 8th by diverse companies for each SDG. With

of June, 2012 which guides companies to the prevalence of diverse kinds of reporting

integrate environmental information and frameworks UNGC has developed the SDG

natural capital into mainstream corporate Compassin partnership with GRI and

reports. The CDSB Framework sets out WBSCD. It is a very significant platform with

address the absence of an accounting a comprehensive objective on how to

standard for reporting environmental implement the Global Goals through

information in mainstream reports, such as interesting GRI reporting and other

the annual report by taking the highest corporate reporting indicators with the SDG

common denominators of the most widely indicators.The platform also includes

used and tested corporate reporting resources, such an SDG Guide for

frameworks, standards and regulation that Business Action, an innovative tool to

are emerging around the world. The support advancement of the SDGs, which

Framework helps companies to provide contains business performance indicators,

clear, concise and comparable information organising no less than 834 sustainability

to investors that connect the organisation’s indicators from different sources to match

environmental performance with its overall the 169 SDG targets (Cohen, 2015). The

strategy, and prospects, adding value to SDG Compass has a range of indicators

organisation’s existing mainstream report developed in the business context. It also

in a way that minimises the reporting highlights the particular indicator source for

burden and simplifies the reporting process the relevant SDG target and describes the

(CDSB, 2012). indicator, as illustrated below.


Table 18: An Illustration of SDG Compass

Source: SDG Compass, derived from http://sdgcompass.org/business-indicators/

SDG Goal SDG Target Business Theme

Type of Indicator

Indicator Source

Indicator Description

SDG 7- Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

7.3 By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency

Energy efficiency

Sector-specific

GRI G4 Electric Utilities Sector Disclosures

Average generation efficiency of thermal plants by energy source and by regulatory regime

SDG 4- Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

4.1 By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes

No indicators have been identified




25 Measure What Matters available at: http://measurewhatmatters.info/the-project/

A similar argument on the excessive changes and improvement in performance

divergence of varied forms of reporting throughout an organisation. As set out in

frameworks, indicators was outlined by the the International Framework, an integrated 25 report is a concise communication about Measure What Matters (MWM) that

how an organ isa t ion 's s t ra tegy, attempts to bring alignment between

governance, performance and prospects, co rpora te , na t iona l , and g loba l

in the context of its external environment, sustainability data frameworks. MWM

lead to the creation of value in the short, focuses on aligning the SDGs and their

medium and long term. The Framework targets with other reporting frameworks,

enables a business to bring these principally national (alternative GDP

elements together through the concept of metrics) and corporate (sustainability)

'connectivity of information', to best tell an reporting frameworks. Most crucially, given

organisation’s value creation story.the existence of diverse reporting

frameworks, MWM has also placed a For the purpose of this report we have

perspective to business leaders and UN categor ica l ly s t ressed on those

statisticians for a broad harmonisation of contemporary and specific reporting

corporate reporting frameworks and the frameworks which are directed to align the

SDG targets. This principle has also been businesses with the SDGs and relevant

argued in their recent publication targets. There are diverse tools that too are

(Hoekstra, et al., 2014) which entails applied to companies’ initiatives with

thematic reports on water reporting, and specific SDGs. For example, these include

corroborates an excessive divergence the GHG Protocol Scope, Evaluator, the

among water reporting frameworks. MWM Social Hotspots Database, the Human

argues that while the requirements of Rights and Business Country Guide, the

different stakeholders necessarily differ, WBCSD Global Water Tool, and the

there needs to be a greater overlap Poverty Footprint Tool. These are

between different indicator sets and developed to enhance the scope of a

performance measures so that all company’s goal with respect to defined

stakeholders and governments can better SDG priority areas, select key performance

manage their shared assets, risks, indicators and will facilitate the company to

opportunities and responsibilities.set up a foundation base to measure,

monitor, and communicate on its progress Further, Integrated Reporting (IR) is an

made towards achieving an SDG target. evolution of corporate reporting, with a

focus on conciseness, strategic relevance Although the above frameworks are

and future orientation. As well as improving essential to mobilise the overall principle of

the quality of information contained in the corporate sustainability, there still lies a

final report, IR makes the reporting process challenge for companies to emerge with

itself more productive, resulting in tangible objective disclosures. Around 35% of the

benefits. IR requires and brings about G250 companies (88 companies) publish

integrated thinking, enabling a better an HSE report across the world (2012)

understanding of the factors that materially (Leirgulen, 2015). While 80% of all

affect an organisation’s ability to create countries are Global Compact business

value over time. It can lead to behavioural



participants, only 25% of the Fortune Global company committing to sustainable

500 companies are signatories to the development. The ISO 26000 Guidance on

Global Compact (Leirgulen, 2015). Earlier, Social Responsibility, regional guidelines

the notion of non-disclosures used to such as the OECD Guidelines comprise of

largely arise from a fear of legal some other guidelines that are being

implications, or the information being used followed by many companies reaffirming

by a competitor and so on. their commitments to the SDGs. Many

Indian companies have adhered to the However, with the reporting trends and

above global reporting guidelines and existence of massive frameworks, some of

submit these reports as per the prescribed the prime reasons which now discourage a

mandates. In the Indian context, it is company to report are that many business

significant to note that one of the essential leaders and professionals are unable to

initiatives in form of the National Voluntary visualise the significance on reporting, the

Guidelines (MCA, 2011)was translated into value proposition it will generate for the

one of the corporate sustainability policy company’s profile or in terms of sale. Given

and was released by the Ministry of the extensive and lengthy processes many

Corporate Affairs (MCA), GOI based on companies, especially the small scale

interactions with various stakeholders. If we ones, lack enough bandwidth especially in

carefully examine the NVGs we observe terms of human resource that are equipped

that the structure of the 9 elements and 48 or sensitised with the overall human rights,

core targets were largely influenced by the environmental and social issues. As a

Ten UNGC principles, for instance human result, it becomes difficult to gather

rights and environment amongst others. consistent data from all operations select

One of the crucial features of the NVGs was precise indicators, and adhere to the

that it was applicable to all business entities universal guidelines to report. Therefore, it

and included a list of representative compels a company to largely outsource

indicators which were not that exhaustive, this service to consulting organisations and

as the objective was to largely enable make the entire process extremely

businesses to monitor their own expensive in terms of time and finance.

implementation process and enhance

applicability of these guidelines. One of the Aligning the Global and Indian most significant features of the guidelines Sustainability Reporting Framework was its applicability on the micro, small and

Overall, companies globally and even in medium enterprises (MSMEs) to adopt the India follow prevailing normative principles Guidel ines. However, despite the and guidelines for responsible and ethical conscious effort, it was vividly argued that business practices such as ILO Tripartite disclosures by MSMEs would affect their Declaration of Principles Concerning overall business prospects, compliance Multinational Enterprises and Social Policy, norms and other supply chain related UN Global Compact Principles, UN Guiding issues as they largely deal with the informal Principles on Business and Human Rights. sector too. The NVGs paved a new These are guiding in nature, which enable threshold in the parameters of sustainability companies to respect basic rights and reporting and disclosures by Indian uphold certain minimum standards defining companies on environmental, social, and minimum expectation drawn from any governance parameters. The Securities


and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) in sustainability objectives with business

2012 largely adopted the NVG principles process and corporate policy. The landmark

and mandated a policy of reporting non- legislation too is beyond the mandatory

financial information via Business concept of expenditure but also extends to

Responsibility Reports for the top 100 listed ‘compliance’, ‘reporting’, ‘disclosure’ and

companies of the Bombay and National ‘accountability’, as it requires companies to

Stock Exchanges in 2012. With the “apply report on their CSR policy and programs

and explain” principle” these policy along with CSR budget spent. These have

guidelines emphasised the role of business to be then disclosed on the company’s

sector in helping India achieve the goal of website and be made accessible for public

sustainable development and economic dissemination (Ralhan, 2015). It also

growth. reinstates the fact that in case a company

has failed to spend the two per cent of the India is among the first in the world to have

average net profit of the last three financial formally mandated Corporate Social

years or any part thereof, the company shall Responsibility (CSR) through Section 135

provide the reasons for not spending the of The Companies Act of 2014. The

amount in its Board report which will be duly legislation advocates 2% of net profits as a

published and signed by the CEO or prescribed allocation for CSR expenditure.

Managing Director of the company and The schedule VII of the act has wide range

Chairman of the CSR Committee. However, of areas which needs to be aligned with the

despite these provisions if we carefully national programmes and SDGs. It is

examine the recent release of the Annual pertinent to mention the above measures

CSR format by the MCA, we observe that it have taken place in the Indian business

is making the accountability restricted to space as they were key attempts in the

project mode activities and does not pol icy spheres that out l ined the

captures holistic as to how the concepts of

Table 19: Annual CSR format of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs

CSR Project or activity defined

Sector in which the Project is covered

Projects or programs 1) Local area or 2) Specify the State and district where projects or programs were undertaken

Amount Outlay (budget) project programs Sub Heads (l)Direct expenditure on projects or programs (2) Overheads

Cumulative expenditure upto the reporting period

Amount spent: Direct or through implementing agency

Source: Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Gazette Notification 27th February, 2014.

The wider arguments on the format by the largely a not for profit section 25, trust or

MCA were to curb the extensive long registered society also accountable.

reports which companies used to publish However, if India has to actively engage the

and largely showcased their achievements India Inc. to accelerate the SDGs, the

and expenditure. The MCA aspires to now government has to fo rmu la te a

collate pertinent information as specific to comprehensive reporting strategy. This is

the projects, areas of the project and is also vital considering that the CSR law is

making the implementing agency which is applicable to only companies with a net

worth of Rupees five hundred crore or by revenue) has witnessed high rates

more, a turnover of rupees one thousand (73%) of CR disclosure with 45% of

crore, or a net profit of rupees five crore or N100 companies use standard

more during any financial year. This frameworks for CR disclosure

includes close to 16,000 companies with • Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is the

around 2.5 billion $ (INR 1500 crore) of CSR most widely used reporting framework

funds (Ramanathan, 2015). The format with 64% of N100 reporting companies

does not prescribe any universal set (using standard reporting frameworks)

indicators, parameters which a company referring to GRI.

can utilise to measure the progress and

outcome impact of its CSR project. From • 31% of N100 comprehensively report the company’s point of view, too many on CR through separate reports. There reporting standards and formats becomes a is higher rate (70%) of N100 companies cumbersome and complex exercise, as disclosing CR information in annual some of them are already following the reports but Integrated Reporting will universal reporting formats. Also, the take a few years to gain prominence. sustainability reporting needs to be

• IT companies have the best quality developed by the MCA to move beyond the reports in India with an average score of purview of the CSR Act, 2014 as it targets 64, while the Pharmaceutical sector has selective companies and leaves out SMEs the lowest average score of 20and MSMEs. At the same time, similar to

global universal indexes, there has been an • The quality of data reported sees an

emergence of diverse forms of indexes improvement with 71 per cent

such as the S&P BSE Greenex, Carbonex, restatements relating to improved

CII, ICA and BSE CSR Platform which estimations/calculations, enhanced

separately track companies with better CR scope of reporting and updates in

performance and disclosure frameworks. A definitions while 29% of restatements

universal framework of reporting needs to were made owing to an error or

be formulated by the MCA by taking into omission (KPMG, 2013).

considerations key characteristics of global

guidelines, and the prevalent domestic On the overall quality score for all CR report

indicators. is 42 out of a possible 100, indicating that

there is a need to significantly improve the Reporting Trends and Quality of

quality of CR reporting in India. Moreover, Reporting in India

Indian CR reports tend to have relatively

better disclosures on the stakeholder These domestic developments coupled engagement process and least disclosure with international developments on on supplier and value chain impacts. reporting guidelines are expected to Businesses in India have a tendency to s ign i f i can t l y a l te r the corpora te showcase their sustainability principles responsibility (CR) reporting scenario in through one time project which is usually a India. A recent study indicates the following CSR initiative. Although it has been reporting trends and quality of corporate observed that SDG embedded in business, responsibility (CR) in India influence buying behaviour, around 87% of

• India’s N100 (top 100 listed companies citizens in India stated that were likely to



use the goods and services of companies Framework comprising of selective

that had signed up to the SDGs (PwC, indicators drawn from global and

2015). There is a need to arise with clarity domestic reporting practices.The

and awareness is required from business sustainability reporting should be

professionals to adopt SDGs. In doing so, directly mandated from the government

knowledge sharing, mapping case studies, and its applicability should be extended

best case practices, framing policies, to all business entities.

guidelines, and essential tools to monitor • MCA needs to relook into the prescribed

and measure are some of the key annual reporting format under Section

mechanisms need to be developed within 135 of the CSR Act, 2014. At present,

the reporting framework by the private the format has a restricted scope of

sector to assess the impacts leveraged by measuring project based modalities, it

the SDGs. should be extended towards the SDG

Recommendations principles and have certain indicators

which enable a company to align its • The MCA has to formulate a universal

CSR initiative with SDG Y and target Corporate Sustainability Reporting

Y.1.



?The Ministry of Statistics, Planning and Implementation (MoSPI) may utilise the matrix

developed in this study for mapping the policies in the sector that regulate, incentivise and

plan for SCP patterns.

?As pressures on raw materials do not necessarily decline as affluence grows but only gets

exported to other developing/under-developed countries, it is recommended that

policymakers consider new accounting methods that more accurately track resource

consumption.

?There are two possible tracks for estimating food loss as described above – one is the

physical measurement of food loss at each stage of the supply chain, and the other is the

GFLI method which estimates overall food loss by observing physical factors that

contribute to food loss. In the Indian context, it is important for both tracks to be used to

estimate food loss for at least one year, to see the extent to which the two tracks converge or

diverge in their estimates for that year and thereby establish the reliability of GFLI in

capturing the actual physical losses of food.

?It is recommended that CPCB initiate a system for periodic studies of MSW management in

a sample of cities, with earmarked funds for the purpose. All studies should be made

available in the public domain.

?Data on safety, hygiene and worker welfare should also be tracked within existing sector-

specific surveys and also general employment surveys described in the SDG 8 section.

?India may adopt a useful data collection tool created by the World Bank for urban solid

waste management. Intended to be used at the city level, the tool covers varied activities

including waste collection, recycling, transfer station, landfill/dump (open or closed),

composting, and waste- to- energy initiatives.

?India's public procurement policy, currently under discussion in Parliament, should aim to

promote responsible consumption. It should incentivise sustainably produced goods and

hence contribute in influencing manufacturing patterns in business. This element is missing

in the current public procurement bill. Further, the public procurement policy should not only

aim for reducing adverse environmental impacts but also enhancing social benefits.

?While corporate sustainability reporting is widely practiced in the country, the Ministry of

Corporate Affairs should formulate a universal Corporate Sustainability Reporting

Framework comprising of selective indicators drawn from global and domestic reporting

practices. The sustainability reporting should be directly mandated from the government

and its applicability should be extended to all business entities. Further, a relook into the

prescribed annual reporting format under Section 135 of the CSR Act, 2014 is suggested.

Currently, the format has a restricted scope of measuring project based modalities. It

should be extended towards the SDG principles and include certain indicators which

enable a company to align its CSR initiative with the relevant SDG target, i.e. target 12.6.


Conclusion

The statistical capacity of a nation includes well as national priorities. Data should also

several components. There should be an be transparent, easy to understand and

institutional structure with a mandate to have an appropriate periodicity. Next, data

collect and disseminate data. Within the should be disseminated both domestically

structure, there should be processes for and externally in a timely fashion. Finally,

data collection in the form of surveys or data should be effectively used to make

other tracking processes. These processes evidence-backed decisions. This may be

should collect data that is methodologically visualised as follows.

robust and appropriate to local context as

Figure 5: Components of a Country’s Statistical Capacity

In the case of India, to what extent data is the Office of the Registrar General and

effectively used for decision-making, Census Commissioner, Labour Bureau etc.

especially policymaking, is beyond the Processes – India has processes in place

current scope; however where India stands to track development outcomes in the form

in its institutional structures, processes, of a large number of surveys and censuses,

data collection and data dissemination for developed and executed by various

the six SDGs considered in this study is government agencies at national, state and

summarised below.district levels. These processes also

Institutional Structure – India has a include web portals for data collection and

dedicated Ministry responsible for tracking dissemination, satellite-based monitoring

development goals. The Ministry of of indicators, Management Information

Statistics and Programme Implementation Systems etc.

(MoSPI), and its Central Statistical Office Data Collection – There is scope to

(CSO), coordinate statistical activities increase the effectiveness of data collection

throughout the country. The MoSPI has in India. As demonstrated in the case of 6

developed an indicator framework for SDGs, there are several obsolete

tracking progress towards national goals, definitions (such as that of safe drinking

and has assigned targets to corresponding water) and outdated schedules (such as in

Ministries, which are then responsible for the case of Occupational Wage Survey, in

collecting and reporting data on the targets which the occupation list has not been

assigned to them. Additionally, other revised in decades). There is divergence in

government agencies exist to measure data reported by different surveys. There

specific sets of indicators. These include are also several data gaps (such as the

the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO),


absence of data on quality and reliability of more timely dissemination, as often there is

electricity) because of which local context is a t ime l ag be tween the ac tua l

not comprehensively represented in administration of survey and final

available data. There is potential to make publishing of data.

the indicators easier to understand and also India seems to have the required

to increase periodicity for some crucial institutional structures and processes for

indicators (such as the quinquennial labour data collection. Therefore, in terms of

ma rke t su r veys ) . A l so , gende r -tracking SDGs, the reforms India needs are

disaggregated data and sub-state level not structural but methodological. While the

data have always been deficient in India. existing system is, broadly speaking,

The bulk of reforms in India’s statistical sufficient to define the overall direction

system are required in these areas.required in policymaking, there are a few

Data Dissemination – The Indian existing indicators that need to be

government has provided online portals for methodologically strengthened, and new

making available data open and accessible indicators introduced, within existing

to all – both for internal use by Ministries processes of data collection. With such

and for external use, including reporting to reforms, India’s statistical capacity will be

the international community. The Open strengthened enough to report to both the

Government Data (OGD) online portal is an domestic and international community on

example. However, there is potential for progress towards the SDGs.



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nbsapforum.netnbsapforum.net/sites/default/files/Development Alternatives. 2016... · 15.02.2016 · Contents Tracking the Global Goals in India 01 Tables, Figures and Boxes