Goal 1 : Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Goal 2 : Achieve universal primary education

Goal 3 : Promote gender equality and empower women

Goal 4 : Reduce child mortality

Goal 5 : Improve maternal health

Goal 6 : Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Goal 7 : Ensure environmental sustainability

Goal 8 : Develop a global partnership for development

India is a signatory to the above Declaration. A cursory reading of the goals shows that all the MDGs are of great relevance to population. The first goal aims at reduction in unemployment, poverty and malnutrition. The second goal aims at raising school enrolment rate and literacy rate, separately among men and women. The third goal aims at improving ratios of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education, share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector, and proportion of seats held by women in national parliament.

The fourth goal is to reduce infant and child mortality and increase the proportion of 1 year-old children immunised against measles. The fifth goal aims at reducing maternal the mortality ratio and the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel as home delivery and lack of emergency care, often leading to postpartum hemorrhage, which are the major causes of maternal deaths. The fifth goal also calls for universal access to reproductive health which implies:

• Increasing contraceptive prevalence rate

• Decreasing adolescent birth rate

• Improving antenatal care coverage (indicated by frequency of “at least one visit” and “at least four visits”)

• Meeting unmet need for family planning