Abstract
India is at a decisive juncture, as it advances towards the Viksit Bharat@2047 vision, aligning national progress with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. The country’s rapid economic growth, vast population and deep social diversity create a challenging balancing act between economic expansion, social equity and environmental sustainability (Boora & Karakunnel, 2024). Yet, progress tracking remains fraught with methodological and data limitations. Evaluating SDG achievement demands an exhaustive review of each indicator and its underlying data—an essential exercise for making mid-course corrections in policy and refining performance metrics (Gupta & Anand, 2024). In this context, systematically mapping the path, progress and promise of the SDGs is not just timely—it is imperative. Such an undertaking can illuminate successes, expose persistent gaps and provide evidence-based guidance for steering India towards an inclusive, sustainable and equitable future.
Mapping the Path: Progress and Promise on the SDGs, edited by two distinguished scholars, is a timely and meaningful contribution in this decisive juncture of India’s sustainable development journey. The book presents an in-depth assessment of India’s advancement towards the SDGs across key sectors. Through a balanced and critical lens, the volume not only celebrates the nation’s achievements but also draws attention to persistent gaps and priority areas requiring urgent as well as long-term action. Organised into 10 chapters, the book explores vital dimensions of development, including poverty and malnutrition, health, education, gender equality, water and sanitation, employment, social security and economic growth.
Unlike many edited volumes that suffer from a lack of coherence due to diverse authorship, this work maintains a unified narrative—except for one, every chapter is authored or co-authored by the editors. This continuity lends the volume a strong thematic and structural cohesion. The analysis moves beyond national averages, delving into regional and interstate disparities while providing valuable longitudinal and spatial insights. By positioning India’s progress within the context of the global SDG framework, it highlights the need for development strategies that are inclusive, collaborative and sustainable. Merging rigorous, evidence-based inquiry with practical policy recommendations, the book offers well-grounded guidance for policymakers and stakeholders committed to advancing the SDG agenda in India.
The comprehensive ‘Introduction’ offers a bird’s-eye view of the SDGs while tracing India’s development planning journey since the 1970s—a period that had already embraced many of the goals and programmes later formalised under the SDG framework. Yet, despite decades of planning, the pressing question remains: Can India realistically achieve the SDGs by 2030? The chapter addresses this by examining both the strengths and shortcomings of the journey, citing challenging factors such as ‘the unrealistic design of programmes, inaccurate targeting, lacklustre implementation, inadequate monitoring, discontinuity in many initiatives, and grossly insufficient funding’ (pp. 13–14). It also underscores the deep interconnectedness of the SDGs, setting the stage for the subsequent chapters, which delve into critical issues shaping standards of living, employment conditions, health, education and gender equity and equality.
Drawing on empirically validated research, the chapters unpack the complexities and challenges influencing India’s development trajectory, with a focus on three core pillars: inclusion, employment and enhanced human well-being.
Inclusion requires not only poverty reduction to raise living standards but also balanced progress across regions and social groups in terms of economic opportunities and entitlements. Chapter 2 advances this discussion by measuring deprivation and poverty through a multidimensional framework—going beyond income, caloric intake or outcome-only indicators—to capture a fuller picture of well-being. It argues that broad claims about achieving poverty eradication, hunger elimination or deprivation reduction are meaningless without addressing stark regional disparities; true success depends on rapid progress in the most disadvantaged states. Adding a novel dimension, Chapter 9 introduces a poverty-measurement approach that integrates machine-learning techniques with geospatial data from high-resolution satellite imagery and field surveys. This method offers a cost-effective and timely alternative to traditional surveys, enabling more precise monitoring of economic development and identifying areas most in need of intervention in countries like India.
Employment encompasses decent work, social security and gender equity. Chapter 7 examines India’s labour market, analysing labour force structure, participation trends, income elasticity and the organised–unorganised divide. It finds that labour force growth has recently lagged behind population growth, with women’s participation declining. From an SDG perspective, the priority is to generate large numbers of remunerative jobs for both men and women, alongside urgent population management. Chapter 8 focuses on social protection, reviewing expenditure patterns, scheme implementation and persistent challenges—such as underfunding, programme duplication, weak centre–state coordination, discontinuity, poor targeting and inadequate monitoring. It underscores the need for a robust mix of worker- and population-based social security systems to ensure comprehensive coverage.
Improved human well-being—encompassing health, education, water and sanitation and gender equity—is central to sustainable development. Chapter 3 assesses state-level progress in health, analysing outcomes by socio-economic status, health workforce density, expenditure and insurance coverage. It finds that reliance on private healthcare raises treatment costs, restricting access for disadvantaged households, and calls for stronger financial protection and investment in public health infrastructure. Chapter 4 examines education, noting post-Independence literacy gains but slower progress compared to East and Southeast Asia. It highlights disparities in enrolment, costs and access, recommending the expansion of secondary schools, improved teaching quality, tighter monitoring of private schools and a doubling of public education spending. Chapter 6 addresses water and sanitation through a Delhi-based primary survey, stressing equitable, affordable and continuous services alongside community-led hygiene monitoring. Chapter 5 analyses gender equality, ranking states on a Patriarchy Index, and urges legal enforcement, better justice access and improved data on violence, asset ownership and unpaid work to address deep-rooted inequalities.
The concluding chapter 10 synthesises the findings from the eight thematic chapters, outlining key challenges and policy recommendations. It concludes that adopting decentralised, non-partisan governance could be a promising approach to address India’s development gaps.
One might ask that when the NITI Aayog has been releasing the SDG India Index and Dashboard since 2018 to monitor the progress of states and UTs—and with the latest edition (NITI Aayog, 2024) further aligning SDG indicators with the National Indicator Framework and documenting India’s SDG localisation efforts—what unique contribution does this book offer?
While India’s progress on the SDGs has largely been measured in quantitative terms, questions remain: Are achievements linked to resource allocations at the central or state levels? And, given the interlinked nature of the SDGs, is there adequate inter-departmental coordination to drive strategies forward? The book addresses these grey areas, arguing that GDP growth—such as the Central Government’s goal of a $5 trillion economy by 2026–2027—is an insufficient measure of progress towards sustainable development. By focusing on three key pillars, it offers policymakers, researchers, practitioners and other stakeholders a nuanced understanding of the interplay between global goals and India’s national agenda. Rich in analysis, the chapters present a balanced assessment of achievements and challenges, offering actionable insights to advance an inclusive and equitable future. As a timely and valuable contribution to the sustainable development discourse, the book serves both as a critical reference and as a guiding framework for realising India’s developmental vision by 2047, underscoring the need to align national initiatives with the global SDG framework.
The book rightly recognises the environment as a fourth pillar underpinning inclusion, employment and human well-being, yet stops short of devoting a full chapter to it. Considering its profound influence on all other pillars, a dedicated discussion would have added significant depth and balance to the volume’s analysis. Addressing this omission in future editions could offer readers a more holistic and integrated understanding of sustainable development in the Indian context, further strengthening the book’s value as a comprehensive resource.
Overall, this volume not only documents India’s SDG journey with analytical depth and clarity but also invites critical reflection on the pathways needed to ensure that the nation’s development by 2047 is truly inclusive, sustainable and resilient.