The Punjab Government on Wednesday inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).The MoA was signed, in the presence of Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, by UNDP Resident Representative Ms Shoko Noda and Punjab Government Principal Secretary Planning Jaspal Singh. Under the agreement, a Sustainable Development Goals Coordination Centre (SDGCC) would be set up in the Planning Department with UNDP’s support.The Chief Minister said the MoA would result in integration of the administrative departments to ensure sustainable and holistic development of the state. He hoped these goals would go a long way in achieving the desired results of various citizen centric schemes and development oriented programmes in a time-bound manner.Responding to a brief presentation on Skill Development, Employability and Livelihoods made by the Senior Advisor, UNDP, the Chief Minister asked the Employment Generation Department to tie up with the UN agency to explore new possibilities for the skill development as well as self-employment and better employability of the youth in the private sector. Citing the success of his government’s flagship programme 'Ghar Ghar Rozgar', he assured the visiting delegation of all possible assistance in giving impetus to Skill Development and Employability plans.Earlier, the Finance Minister thanked UNDP for partnering with Punjab for implementing the SDGs, whose framework has already been adopted by the Punjab Government, which has started working on the preparation of a 4-year Strategic Action Plan, 2019-23 (4SAP).
Besides lying down clear goals and targets, 4SAP involves determination of the Key Performance Parameters (KPPs) for key functionaries of the departments. Punjab State is a pioneer in setting KPPs, which would not only measure the performance of the employees but also act as a benchmark for evaluation of their annual performance.It may be recalled that the state government has already approved 4SAPs of eight departments after extensive consultations at the level of the Steering Committee headed by the Chief Secretary. The Task Force with the Finance and Planning Minister as the chair met a number of times to finalise the departmental 4SAPs before the Council of Ministers gave their final approval.The SDGs are a set of 17 goals which universally call for an action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The SDG framework provides a fundamental shift in approach to development planning witth focus is on sustainability of development and defined outcomes rather than the spending or the processes.The Sustainable Development Goals Coordination Centre being set up in partnership with the UNDP would help state government deliver on the SDGs by working on the five components - Integrated Strategic Planning and Implementation, Awareness & Capacity Building, SDG localization, Resource Mobilization & Partnerships and Monitoring and Evaluation. It would also ensure that the State Indicators Framework is developed as per the National Indicators Framework and a comprehensive Monitoring and Evaluation plan is in place to measure performance against targets.Principal Secretary Finance Anirudh Tewari, Principal Secretary to CM Tejveer Singh, Secretary Employment Generation Rahul Tewari and Special Secretary Planning DS Mangat. The UNDP delegation was represented by Senior Advisor UNDP Harsh Singh, Additional Country Director UNDP, India Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Head of the State Office, UNDP, Chandigarh Vikas Verma, Partnership Specialist, UNDP Sukhman Randhawa and Programme Associate, UNDP Sharan Suri, were present on the occasion.