SRINAGAR: On the concluding day of the workshop organised by the J&K Planning, Development & Monitoring Department for administration, CS, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta remarked that J&K is well on track to achieve the milestones of ‘Zero Poverty’ and ‘Housing for All’ by the year 2024.Dr. Mehta was presenting on the topic of “Systems, Processes, and Use of Technology for SDG Implementation,” which was also attended by Shri Anurag Goel, a former secretary of corporate affairs for the Indian government and an SDG advisor for the UNDP, as well as other UNDP experts and administrative secretaries. The Chief Secretary claimed in his speech that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a worldwide framework for achieving the necessary all-around improvement. According to what was addressed, several of the States and UTs here have found budgeting in line with the SDGs to be useful, and J&K is also aware of this practise for reaching the intended goals.He remembered that the UT plans to cover roughly 1.9 lakh dwellings under PMAY, which is sufficient to meet all of the houseless people’s housing demands. According to him, J&K has advanced to the top States and UTs in the Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen and each of its villages is now ODF+, but much more work needs to be done to achieve the desired result and advance to the model category. He added that the UT is far better than the national average in several metrics and would eventually rank among the top States and UTs in the nation. He placed emphasis on building people’s and institutions’ capacity so that they can reframe their thinking to meet SDG ambitions.According to him, J&K intends to adopt SDG 2.0 as its goal with a clear roadmap and practical timetables. He suggested that we have a clear vision of where we want to be six months from now, a year from now, or ten years from now. He also gave the go-ahead to launch the SDG site for the UT by the end of the month, which would provide real-time data for targeted initiatives. On this occasion, he praised Mr. Goel for educating the officers about the issues the government will face in the future by sharing his views and skills with them. He requested that he assist J&K in charting its future course in light of its advantages.In his speech, Mr. Goel referred to the SDGs as a means of achieving future-ready governance. He said that the administration should concentrate on increasing institutional capability. He noted that working together with UNDP might help make J&K more future-ready. He focused on efficient systems, processes, and technology in his presentation so that the SDGs could be implemented more quickly. He requested spreading knowledge about technology, which, in his words, is not just based on IT tools but also on emerging innovations that are in step with the pace of change.He gave off the impression that J&K had the leadership and direction it needs to carry out all of the measures necessary to achieve the SDGs. He implied that the recent rapid ascent on several rungs of the ladder, as demonstrated here, is strengthening it even more. He requested the creation of an SDG coordination centre to speed up and oversee implementation at the highest level. The administrative secretaries of planning, education, health, industries, and other departments gave a series of presentations about their accomplishments and future plans. They all talked on how to make the SDGs’ implementation in the UT even stronger.
