Emphasising the need to have quality, transparent, accessible data in both developing and developed countries, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant has said it can help change the lives of citizens and hold the executive accountable.
Amitabh Kant addressed the G20 Development Working Group Meeting here on Tuesday.
"If you want to change the lives of citizens, of developing countries, and even developed countries, you need to have quality, transparent, accessible data. So that every political leader, every government servant, is held accountable to their people," G20 India tweeted quoting Amitabh Kant.
He said the government has tried to bring real-time access to data and improve its quality.
"In India, we have tried to bring real-time access to data and improve its quality. We launched a governance quality index and national data analytics platform. Without using data and harnessing technology, backward states, we can never leapfrog to achieve economic development," he said.
The four-day Development Working Group meeting began on Tuesday. Since 2010, the Development Working Group has been acting as a custodian of the development agenda in the G20.
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Amitabh Kant said India's priorities during its presidency of the grouping include resilient and sustainable growth and thrust on women-led development.
He said India will bring a "ray of hope" and "optimism" by being very action-oriented.
"I think India will bring in a ray of hope, optimism. As the Prime minister has said our objective will be to take the world forward in partnership," he said.
After the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Goals in 2015, DWG has steered the alignment of the development agenda of the G20 with the SDGs.
Given the nature of its work, the DWG has dealt with several different issues over the last decade depending on the priorities of the presidency.
"Today is the first meeting of Development working group. In Maharashtra we will do 15 more meetings, Over all, in India, we will do 215 meetings in 56 cities of India.This is a big opportunity to improve cities' infrastructure and highlight India's cultural talents," Kant said.
He said India's Presidency of G20 is a great opportunity.
"This is also an opportunity to push for India's priorities for G20 which has already been elucidated by the Prime minister in his Bali address," he said.
The Prime Minister had said that India's G-20 presidency will be "inclusive, ambitious, decisive, and action-oriented" and that over the next one year, India will strive to ensure that the G-20 acts as a global prime mover to envision new ideas and accelerate collective action.
The three-day meeting will focus on G20 collective actions for accelerating progress on the SDGs, support to developing countries in dealing with immediate concerns relating to food and energy security and debt distress, and a 2023 G20 New Delhi Update on SDGs.
Cultural programs showcasing Maharashtra's rich cultural heritage have been arranged for the G20 delegates with the help of the state government. An excursion to Kanheri Caves in Mumbai has also been planned for the visiting delegates.
( With inputs from ANI )
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