Note:- The datasets and figures can be helpful in your GS answers, Essay and Optional Papers. Use it wisely. This is a two part series. This is Part I and covers 9 out of 17 goals of SDG. Rest will be published in Part II.
The composite score of SDG Index ranges from 0 to 100 and denotes the overall achievement of the State/UT in achieving the targets under the Goals. A score of 100 implies that the State/UT has achieved the targets set for 2030; a score of 0 implies that the particular State/UT is at the bottom of the table.
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Key Points:-
1) Kerala retained its rank as the top State with a score of 75. Chandigarh too maintained its top spot among the UTs with a score of 79.
2) Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh took the second spot while Goa, Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh shared the fourth spot on the table.
3) The composite score for India improved, from 60 in 2019-20 to 66 in 2020-21. This indicates that the country overall has progressed forward in its journey towards achieving the SDGs. Nine Goals drive the positive push – 3 (good health and well-being), 6 (clean water and sanitation), 7 (affordable and clean energy), 10 (reduced inequalities), 11 (sustainable cities and communities), 12 (responsible consumption and production), 13 (climate action), 15 (life on land), and 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions), where India has scored between 65 and 99
4) Two goals – 2 (zero hunger) and 5 (gender equality) demand special attention, as the overall country score is below 50. However, 9 States in Goal 2 and 12 States in Goal 5 moved out of the Aspirant category this year as compared to 2019-20.
5) In the other five goals (excluding 14 – life below water, which applies only to 9 coastal States, and 17 – partnerships for the goals, which is qualitatively analysed), the overall score lies between 50 and 64, including both, indicating the scope for significant improvement in the coming years.
6) While in 2019-20, 10 States/UTs belonged to the category of Front Runners (score in the range 65-99), 12 more States/UTs find themselves in this category in 2020-21. Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Punjab, Haryana and Tripura graduated to the category of Front Runners (scores between 65 and 99).
7) Goal 6 has the highest number of Front Runners with 25 States in this category while Goals 5 and 9 have the highest Aspirants with 14 States each.
SDG GOAL 1 :- NO POVERTY- End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 1 encompasses the aim of eradicating poverty – not only in monetary terms but in all forms and dimensions by 2030. This involves targeting the most vulnerable, increasing basic resources and services, and supporting communities affected by conflict and climate-related disasters.
SDG 2 ZERO HUNGER End hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
The SDGs aim to end all forms of hunger and malnutrition by 2030, making sure all people -especially children – have sufficient and nutritious food all year. This involves promoting sustainable agricultural, supporting small-scale farmers and equal access to land, technology and markets. It also requires international cooperation to ensure investment in infrastructure and technology to improve agricultural productivity. The goal also focuses at – doubling agricultural productivity, maintaining genetic diversity of seeds, plants and farmed animals, and strengthening capacity for climate change adaptive agriculture.
SDG 3 GOOD HEALTH AND WELL-BEING Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages
Good health is essential to sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda reflects the complexity and interconnectedness of the two. It takes into account widening economic and social inequalities, rapid urbanisation, threats to the climate and the environment, the continuing burden of HIV and other infectious diseases, and emerging challenges such as non-communicable diseases. It calls for a renewed focus on mental health issues as well. Universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health care services and access to safe, effective, quality, and affordable medicines are integral to this goal.
SDG 4 QUALITY EDUCATION Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Achieving inclusive and quality education for all reaffirms the belief that education is one of the most powerful and proven vehicles for sustainable development. This goal is aimed at ensuring that all girls and boys complete primary and secondary schooling by 2030 and are provided equal access to affordable vocational training, to eliminate gender and wealth disparities, and achieve universal access to a quality higher education. Additionally, it emphasises on lifelong learning opportunities, so as to achieve substantial adult literacy and numeracy, and on building and upgrading existing education facilities that are child, disability and gender-sensitive.
SDG 5 GENDER EQUALITY Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Ending all discrimination against women and girls is a basic human right and is a prerequisite for sustainable development. Goal 5 calls for ending all forms of violence, trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and girls. Recognising and valuing unpaid care and domestic work is a key component of this goal, with emphasis on the importance of full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life for women.
SDG 6 CLEAN WATER AND SANITATION Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
Goal 6 calls for access to safe and affordable drinking water, sanitation facilities, and hygiene for all by 2030. Water resources are also critical for agriculture and industrial use, and therefore protecting and restoring water-related ecosystems is essential. The goal is aimed at -improving water quality by reducing pollution, substantially increasing water-use efficiency across all sectors, and strengthening the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management.
SDG 7 AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
Energy security is a prerequisite for socio-economic development. Access to energy enables people to augment their income and productivity, enhance access to healthcare, water and education, and improve their overall well-being. Goal 7 is aimed at ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable and efficient energy services by 2030. Expanding infrastructure and upgrading technology to provide clean and efficient energy is critical to this endeavour
SDG 8 DECENT WORK AND ECONOMIC GROWTH Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Goal 8 promotes sustained economic growth, higher levels of productivity and technological innovation. Encouraging entrepreneurship and job creation are crucial to this, as are effective measures to eradicate forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking. It also seeks to protect labour rights and promote policies which support decent job creation and safe and secure working environments. With these targets in mind, the goal is to achieve full and productive employment, and decent work, for all women and men by 2030.
SDG 9 INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation
This goal promotes investment in innovation; and reliable and resilient infrastructure which are crucial drivers of economic growth and development. It further aims at promoting increased resourceuse efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes. It recognises the importance of promoting sustainable industries and investing in scientific research and innovation, which are all important ways to facilitate sustainable development.
To be Continued in Part 2
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Petrol in India is cheaper than in countries like Hong Kong, Germany and the UK but costlier than in China, Brazil, Japan, the US, Russia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, a Bank of Baroda Economics Research report showed.
Rising fuel prices in India have led to considerable debate on which government, state or central, should be lowering their taxes to keep prices under control.
The rise in fuel prices is mainly due to the global price of crude oil (raw material for making petrol and diesel) going up. Further, a stronger dollar has added to the cost of crude oil.
Amongst comparable countries (per capita wise), prices in India are higher than those in Vietnam, Kenya, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Venezuela. Countries that are major oil producers have much lower prices.
In the report, the Philippines has a comparable petrol price but has a per capita income higher than India by over 50 per cent.
Countries which have a lower per capita income like Kenya, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and Venezuela have much lower prices of petrol and hence are impacted less than India.
“Therefore there is still a strong case for the government to consider lowering the taxes on fuel to protect the interest of the people,” the report argued.
India is the world’s third-biggest oil consuming and importing nation. It imports 85 per cent of its oil needs and so prices retail fuel at import parity rates.
With the global surge in energy prices, the cost of producing petrol, diesel and other petroleum products also went up for oil companies in India.
They raised petrol and diesel prices by Rs 10 a litre in just over a fortnight beginning March 22 but hit a pause button soon after as the move faced criticism and the opposition parties asked the government to cut taxes instead.
India imports most of its oil from a group of countries called the ‘OPEC +’ (i.e, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Russia, etc), which produces 40% of the world’s crude oil.
As they have the power to dictate fuel supply and prices, their decision of limiting the global supply reduces supply in India, thus raising prices
The government charges about 167% tax (excise) on petrol and 129% on diesel as compared to US (20%), UK (62%), Italy and Germany (65%).
The abominable excise duty is 2/3rd of the cost, and the base price, dealer commission and freight form the rest.
Here is an approximate break-up (in Rs):
a)Base Price | 39 |
b)Freight | 0.34 |
c) Price Charged to Dealers = (a+b) | 39.34 |
d) Excise Duty | 40.17 |
e) Dealer Commission | 4.68 |
f) VAT | 25.35 |
g) Retail Selling Price | 109.54 |
Looked closely, much of the cost of petrol and diesel is due to higher tax rate by govt, specifically excise duty.
So the question is why government is not reducing the prices ?
India, being a developing country, it does require gigantic amount of funding for its infrastructure projects as well as welfare schemes.
However, we as a society is yet to be tax-compliant. Many people evade the direct tax and that’s the reason why govt’s hands are tied. Govt. needs the money to fund various programs and at the same time it is not generating enough revenue from direct taxes.
That’s the reason why, govt is bumping up its revenue through higher indirect taxes such as GST or excise duty as in the case of petrol and diesel.
Direct taxes are progressive as it taxes according to an individuals’ income however indirect tax such as excise duty or GST are regressive in the sense that the poorest of the poor and richest of the rich have to pay the same amount.
Does not matter, if you are an auto-driver or owner of a Mercedes, end of the day both pay the same price for petrol/diesel-that’s why it is regressive in nature.
But unlike direct tax where tax evasion is rampant, indirect tax can not be evaded due to their very nature and as long as huge no of Indians keep evading direct taxes, indirect tax such as excise duty will be difficult for the govt to reduce, because it may reduce the revenue and hamper may programs of the govt.