From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Dec 23: Karnataka is ranked 6 in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations Organisation (UNO).
Chief minister B S Yediyurappa, who released the Strategies and Action Plan 2030 on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) prepared by the state planning department, urged the officials to strive to do better in meeting the SDGs set by UNO.
The Strategies and Action Plan 2030 on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) prepared by the State Planning Department provides the path for implementing the action plan and strive for better performance, the chief minister said.
The Action Plan provides the roadmap for improving the living conditions of all people, create a clean environment, better health, quality education and provide nutritional food, Yediyurappa said and declared that the state government would allocate additional funds in the coming budget.
State Planning Board deputy chairman, B J Puttaswamy said he had personally visited states like Kerala and Gujarat which have performed better in meeting the SDGs and the officials have made a study of the methods and strategies adopted by all states. "We will strive to do better and improve our performance," he said.
Chief secretary, T M Vijay Bhaskar said the state government had constituted separate committees comprising of retired and senior officials on achieving the 17 UN-designated SDGs as suggested by the NITI Aayog. The reports of these committees have been studied to evolve suitable strategies and also to provide budgetary support in consultation with the Finance Department.
The additional chief secretary and head of the planning department, Dr Shalini Rajneesh said, "Karnataka had secured 66 points to achieve the sixth rank as per the SDG India Index 2919 released by the NITI Aayog. Efforts are being made to improve the performance in the areas where the state’s achievement was below par."
Additional chief secretary, P Ravikumar, additional chief secretary and development commissioner, Vandita Sharma and other senior officials participated in the meeting.
Earlier, the commissioner for Income Tax Department (Karnataka and Goa), Dinesh Chandar Patwari called on the chief minister and held discussions.
The chief secretary, T M Vijay Bhaskar and other senior officials were present during the meeting.