With OSIF 2.0, Naveen Patnaik guides Odisha to speedily achieve development goals
By Pradeep Kumar Panda
Bhubaneswar, March 2: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has launched Odisha SDG Indicator Framework (2.0). The first version of OSIF was launched in 2019 with 367 indicators. The OSIF 2.0 has 311 indicators. The OSIF 2.0 will be the backbone of SDG monitoring in Odisha.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted on September 5, 2015 with a resolute global unanimity, and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets laid out the new epochal human aspirations. The SDGs essentially made room for bold and transformative steps which are urgently needed to shift the world onto a sustainable and resilient path, “with no one left behind”.
It set off a collective journey to free humanity from the tyranny of poverty and deprivation and to “heal and secure our planet”. The SDGs expanded from the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and comprehensively integrated social, economic and environmental dimensions of development, including reducing inequalities, greening economic growth, providing decent jobs, enabling sustainable industrialization, tackling climate change and challenges to ecosystems, strengthening sustainable consumption and production, as well as promoting peace, providing justice and building strong institutions.
Unlike the MDGs, which were focused on developing countries, the SDGs apply to all countries whether high, middle or low income. One of the most fundamental challenges posed by the SDGs relate to the measurement of progress. Along with the number of Goals and Targets (the MDGs had only eight goals and 21 targets), complexity of these targets has greatly increased.
The scope of the 2030 Agenda is also far more encompassing than that of its predecessor, as it spans the full spectrum of development concerns including aspects of social, economic, environmental, and institutional sustainability. In view of the ambition and complexity inherent in the SDG targets, measurement of progress on them poses an “unprecedented statistical challenge”.
A key tool to address this challenge is a sound SDG indicator framework. In this direction, the international statistical community developed the Global Indicator Framework (GIF) which comprises 231 indicators.
The focus of SDG monitoring is at the national level as the 2030 Agenda is nationally owned and country-led, with full freedom for each country to design and pursue customized national framework for achieving the SDGs. Accordingly, at the country level, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has devised and periodically updated the National Indicator Framework (NIF) constituted of indicators that are considered best suited to track India’s progress towards sustainable development. Thus, the NIF indicators are based on nationally appropriate criteria, respond to national development agenda and priorities, and refer to comparable datasets available across States and Union Territories (UTs).
As per MoSPI, 2022, the NIF version 4.0 contains 286 indicators. For the SDGs to be achieved at the country level, they must be achieved at the State/UT level and therefore, national monitoring must be ably complemented by that at the State/UT level. Such an approach has been fostered by both MoSPI and NITI Aayog.
State level monitoring plays an important role in promoting and strengthening localisation of SDGs along with knowledge sharing and mutual learning. The world of data is constantly in flux.
The need for revision of the OSIF has arisen due to the following reasons. The NIF has been modified several times by MoSPI, GoI after the 1st edition was approved in 2019. Similarly, the indicators chosen for NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index have changes every year. Hence, modifications were necessary in the OSIF.
Since 2019, various new data have emerged both at State and district levels through research and related interventions which can be used to better understand progress. Therefore, a detailed review of the OSIF was undertaken and areas of modification identified. A revised OSIF was developed and shared with departments of Government of Odisha.
An iterative and participatory process of consultation was continued with the departments with a view to generating shared clarity about the conceptual and metadata details of the indicators, identifying sources of data and ensuring their authenticity and validity, confirming the consistency and periodicity of data availability, exploring the extent of disaggregation of data, understanding and establishing the channels of data low, and establishing responsibility and accountability for data low.
After the process was completed, all inputs were consolidated into the OSIF 2.0 which also includes State-specific indicators/metrics in order to address unique priorities and issues of the State. Thus, the OSIF 2.0 comprises 311 indicators of which 293 are Unique Indicators and 18 repeat indicators.
While all these indicators are statistics to measure performance on the ground, they significantly differ by their types, whether Outcome, Output or Process Indicators. Outcome indicators tell us about results in terms of overall changes that affect the quality of life of people served. On the other hand, the output indicators tell us about the goods, services, knowledge, skills, attitudes and enabling environment that are created or delivered by virtue of activities undertaken.
Differently focused, the process indicators throw light on strategic aspects of implementation of interventions which are crucial to generating desired outputs or outcomes. Wherever the outputs or outcomes are long in coming or sound data on them are difficult to obtain, process indicators are resorted to. Process indicators help track time sensitivities in the process low.
The OSIF 2.0 will be the backbone of SDG monitoring in Odisha. The use of OSIF 2.0 indicators will turn the SDGs and associated targets from a conceptual framework into an effective management tool to help the State analyse performance and allocate resources accordingly. It could also be used to periodically measure progress towards SDG targets and help ensure accountability of all stakeholders.
The OSIF 2.0 will play a significant role in interlinking outcomes across the different SDGs. Further, mapping of schematic linkages with goals, targets and indicators can be drawn up based on the expected long-term results of schemes. Collectively as well as individually, the indicators are expected to throw light on the status of various social groups, which will help highlight the extent of vulnerability and the success in addressing them. This is in keeping with the spirit of the SDGs which enjoins that all attempts are made to ensure that no one is left behind.
Each department and user can prioritise such relevant indicators while also using OSIF 2.0 for long term monitoring. Going forward, therefore, the most direct and important use of OSIF 2.0 is in SDG monitoring at the State level.
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