NITI Aayog holds workshop to strengthen 'Sustainable Development Goals' budgeting

New Delhi: NITI Aayog held a national workshop on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) budgeting in collaboration with the West Bengal government and with technical support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kolkata, according to an official statement on Friday.

The workshop which was organised under NITI Aayog's State Support Mission focused on aligning planning and budgeting processes with the SDGs and institutionalising SDG budget tagging at the state level.

West Bengal Finance Minister Swapan Dasgupta said SDG budget tagging helps establish a link between development goals, targets, budget allocations and the agencies responsible for spending.

Meanwhile, NITI Aayog Member R. Balasubramaniam said mapping SDGs to state expenditure was a significant step towards ensuring that government spending was aligned with development priorities.

Moreover, the workshop also discussed the ‘Guide on Mapping State Budgets to the SDGs’ that jointly developed by NITI Aayog, CAG and UNDP as a framework for aligning state budgets with the SDGs.

Discussions focused on identifying expenditure for SDG tagging, determining the appropriate level of tagging, linking expenditure with the relevant Head of Accounts and SDG targets, and assigning values through NITI Aayog's scheme-SDG mapping.

They also discussed integrating SDG budgeting into the annual budget cycle, including institutional responsibilities, reconciliation, quality assurance, reporting and performance audit.

Participants from 32 states and Union Territories attended the workshop along with officials from NITI Aayog, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), other government bodies.

Representatives from the UNDP, UN Resident Coordinator Office, development partners, industry bodies and private-sector organisations also participated.

In addition, a separate session examined private-sector participation in achieving the SDGs through policy frameworks, innovative financing and responsible business practices, the government said.

The workshop reaffirmed its commitment to supporting states and Union Territories in integrating SDGs into their planning, budgeting and governance processes, according to NITI Aayog.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

IANS

[email protected]