The goals

The UN has recommended for countries to track the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by taking recourse to some standard methods of estimation and projection for trend analysis of the indicators.
India has 12 of the 18 MDG-targets relevant to it and its national development plan for 2007-12 has reaffirmed its commitment to attain the MDGs.
As the country is only two years away from completing the Eleventh Five-Year plan in 2012, it is quite sensible for planners to know the proximity or distance from the MDG-targets.
Available statistical evidence in terms of measures of the outcome indicators of the MDG framework is not all that current for most of the targets. However, according to the government report, they do correspond in most of the cases with the mid-way times between the years 2000 and 2015.
The report is expected to serve as an important road-finder and guide to identification of problem areas.
In a sense, the targets laid down in the five-year plan are nationally dovetailed forms of the MDG targets therefore, the government report stated that it can’t afford to trail behind the MDG-targets.
While social sector remains a major thrust area of the UPA, more need to be done so that it percolates down to the grassroots.
Despite efforts, leakages have not been plugged. Sincere efforts would have to be put in place so that the least privileged which has been deprived of any social security for want to of honest governance, are brought into the ambit of these policies. For this government, Panchayats and administration and judiciary must act together. A new start has to be made as another year approaches.