The ‘Citizens’ Report on the MDGs’ was released today at the UNDP Hall, New Delhi among representatives of civil society and the UN. Mani Shankar Aiyar, Union Minister for Panchayati Raj & Youth Affairs and Salil Shetty (Global Director of the UN Millennium Campaign – New York) spoke about the importance of the report.

The India Citizens’ Report on the MDGs has been published by Wada Na Todo Abhiyan , which is a network of over 3000 development organizations across 23 states working to hold the government accountable to meet the MDGs and National Development Goals. The report provides an overview on the achievement of the MDGs in India, as well as focused reviews from the lens of socially disadvantaged groups such as Dalits, Denotified Tribes and Muslim Minorities; and across 10 states, namely Orissa, West Bengal, Himachal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

Salil Shetty said, “India’s progress on critical indicators such as Maternal & Infant Mortality, Food Security, School Enrollment and Retention, and Universal Access to Water & Sanitation will determine if the world as a whole will achieve the MDGs. Today the country has all the resources required to end extreme poverty and social exclusion. The people of India must act together to ensure that the political will to put these resources to action is also harnessed.”

“This report is the result of a concerted effort across civil society groups to track India’s progress on the MDGs. We are aggrieved to find that despite being on the fast track to economic progress, India still accounts for the highest number of maternal deaths in the world. India has a Maternal Mortality Rate of 301 deaths per 100,000 live births, against an average of 20 deaths in developed countries. Yet India spends under 1% of its GDP on public expenditure for Health – less than even countries like Sri Lanka and Sierra Leone,” said Jagadananda (Convenor, Wada Na Todo Abhiyan).