“Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy is the sine qua non to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).” Comment on the progress made in India in this regard. (UPSC IAS Mains 2018 General Studies Paper – 3)
Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy (SDG-7) is one of the 17 sustainable development goals (SDG), adopted by International community in 2015.
It is the sine qua non to achieve SDGs as it is directly or indirectly linked to other sustainable goals such as industry, innovation and infrastructure, health and well being, gender equality, sustainable cities and communities etc.
India has a crucial role to play in shaping the SDGs and has done a commendable job in providing clean and efficient energy to the people.
- Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) has provided 50 million connections till date and aims to provide 80 million LPG connections by 2020 to BPL households.
- Government is committed to provide 24x7 reliable and quality power supply to the people by 2019. In this direction Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) scheme and SAUBHAGYA scheme have been launched to achieve 100% village electrification and last mile connectivity. Because of all these efforts till now around 78% rural households have been electrified.
- India has increased the share of renewable energy which is around 3 times what it was in 2007. On 30th November, 2017 total installed capacity in India was around 330 GW out of which 18% was from renewable energy sources.
- Ministry of Finance has issued guidelines for mandatory installation of energy efficient appliances in all Central Government buildings which is implemented by Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) by 2020.
According to Lawson, there is reduction in gender gap in India by half over the period 2008-17 which was the result of access to modern energy sources to the women and girl thereby leading to the positive impact on girl’s education and employment. But there are few cases raising question on accessibility of sustainable and affordable energy, like wide regional gaps in electrification of households. However on the basis of the pace of developmental work, we can say that India will be able to achieve the goal of SDG-7 within the decided time frame.
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