Compared to the first quarter of the previous year, the GDP has declined by 23.9 per cent. The last financial year has seen a slowdown in growth. With the advent ofCOVID, growth had disappeared and the recession had started.

Even before the corona attack, our economy was in a weak state. Due to the lock-down following COVID, economic activity fell sharply and the economy was hit harder. The country experienced a bigger economic downturn in the first quarter than predicted by various studies. Only the agricultural sector has seen growth. The economy is becoming more dependent on agricultural activities than usual. The good monsoon has paved the way for the growth in the agriculture sector.

According to SBI, the country’s largest bank, the country is expected to experience a 10.9 per cent recession in the current fiscal. The report predicts a slowdown in the July-September quarter.

The central government needs to address this issue by recognising the reasons why the economy has been weaker than expected despite the expected slowdown. Even before COVID, the state of the economy was bad. We have been facing a situation where the economy has been struggling for a few years now due to the ban on notes and the shortcomings in the implementation of the GST. Last year saw the highest unemployment rate in the last 45 years. The corona came like thunder out of the clear blue sky at a time when the labour market and the small business community were in crisis. Prolonging the lockdown has exacerbated fundamental financial problems.

The endless opportunities for small businesses that are unique to India are disappearing. Cosmetic interventions are not enough at a time when wartime solutions need to be found to revive the economy. Interventions are urgently necessary to move the market, which has lost grounds due to the repercussions and lockdowns created by COVID-19.

The Prime Minister’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ announced in May was claimed to be a package of 10 per cent of GDP. But the new expenditure from the government for this package is only Rs.1.5 lakh crore. Even when corporate tax cuts were made last year, the government spent Rs.1.45 lakh crore. That’s about the same amount as government spending on the ‘self-sufficient’ package. That is, only 1-1.2 per cent of GDP. With such a plan, the current severe economic downturn cannot be eliminated. We can only recover from the recession if the government initiates a strong package with a long-term vision.

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Presenting India’s second Voluntary National Review at the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development-2020, Mr. Kumar highlighted India’s response towards COVID-19 pandemic under the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign. He said, India has achieved remarkable progress in reducing multi-dimensional poverty, providing food safety and clean cooking fuel and ensuring education for all. He said that India operationalised the world’s largest health insurance programme by covering 500 million citizens. He highlighted the leading role India has been playing in promoting global engagement platforms such as International Solar Alliance, Sendai Framework and the Paris Climate Agreement.

NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant said that the government is committed to undertake new initiatives to accelerate progress on the SDG’s targets for long-term transformation. He said, in this endeavour, peer learning and knowledge sharing will play a key role which the government is actively fostering among States and Union Territories.

The India Voluntary National Review-2020 report was also unveiled during this event. The report is a comprehensive account of the adoption and implementation of the 2030 agenda in India. Apart from presenting a review of progress on the 17 SDGs, the report discusses at length the policy and enabling environment, India’s approach to localising SDGs and strengthening means of implementation. NITI Aayog prepared and presented India’s first Voluntary National Review in 2017. The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development 2020 is an international platform for follow-up and review of progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Leveraging science, technology and innovation for SDGs, and costing and financing of SDGs are the two levers of strengthening means of implementation which have been introduced this year.

In line with the theme of Taking SDGs from Global to Local, the goal-wise account of progress on the SDGs has been appended with examples of a range of diverse good practices and success stories of interventions from the States, especially Aspirational Districts.

NITI Aayog has the mandate of overseeing the adoption and monitoring of SDGs at the national and sub-national level. The India VNR 2020 represents NITI Aayog’s efforts in embodying the whole-of-society approach and its commitment towards localisation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

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