Repositioning Urban Agenda For Sustainable Development Goals In Jammu And Kashmir

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the UN member states, are considered as ambitious developmental goals for any country to be achieved by 2030 for the larger development of the society. These require for effective planning strategies with governance reforms along with adequate resource mobilisation which needs to be aligned with national developmental objectives. India, since adoption of SDGs has prioritised the implementation of the 17 indicators both nationally and locally. The country is becoming fast urbanised and SDGs for urban settings (as explained in Goal 11) require inclusive, liveable, safe, and sustainable progress. The real-time monitoring of programmatic interventions of SDGs, realisation with locally focussed results or developmental outcomes can deliver effective results. In this backdrop, the authors have attempted to study the SDGs intervention in the cities of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to draw inference that such interventions can reposition urban agenda through sustainable outlook. The cities of J&K are increasingly urbanised and that necessitates huge pressure on urban infrastructures and urban local bodies to deliver services. The paper attempts to analyse the SDG indicators of some of the preceding years and finds that there is increasing trend and gradual improvement in J&K’s progress in SDG achievement in the cities of J&K post annulment of the Article 370.