Karnataka govt finds inherent contradictions in SDG report, goes to NITI

Karnataka has formally lodged a complaint with the NITI Aayog for giving the state low scores on various Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators.

Chief Secretary T M Vijay Bhaskar, in a letter to the NITI Aayog that DH has accessed, has pointed out 14 specific discrepancies in the SDG India Index Report 2019.

DH had earlier reported that the state government had flagged the NITI Aayog’s report in which Karnataka’s score dropped on poverty, hunger, quality education and industry, innovation & infrastructure among other goals.

Besides pointing out the discrepancies, Bhaskar pointed out some “inherent contradictions” in the selection of SDG indicators. The goal ‘Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure’ has no specific indicator for innovation, he said. “India Innovation Index 2019 was published by the NITI Aayog, and Karnataka topped the list, but the same is not reflected in SDG India Index,” he said.

Similarly, ‘manufacturing employment as a proportion of total employment’ is taken as an indicator for industrial growth. This “undermines the importance of the services sector, which is a bigger contributor to total employment compared to the manufacturing sector,” Bhaskar argued. “Hence, this indicator needs to be modified accordingly.”

The state wants NITI Aayog to look at progress achieved under central and state schemes that have the same outcome. He cited the examples of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana because the state runs own schemes that serve the same purpose — rural roads and housing.

Bhaskar has stated that Karnataka was wrongly shown as having 28.1% households with any usual member covered by any health scheme or insurance for the years 2018 and 2019. "Since this estimation is based on NFHS-4 data for the year 2015-16, the values remain constant, at the cost of ignoring the progress made by the state government. I would like to point out that our state covers 100% health assurance to all BPL as well as APL families under the Ayushman Bharat Agorya Karnataka (ABRK) scheme," he stated.

Similarly, Karnataka is shown as having 19.9% of the eligible population receiving social protection benefits under the maternity scheme. But according to the state’s health department report for 2019, 83% of the eligible population has received the benefits.

According to the NITI Aayog, the average annual dropout rate at the secondary education level is 26.18%, which Bhaskar says is just 6.30%. “It is demoralizing for the school education department to be ranked poorly on this vital indicator.”

In the SDG India Index 2019, Karnataka scored 66, coming behind Kerala (70), Himachal Pradesh (69), Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana (all 67).