Patna: Stressing the importance of evidence-based governance, planning and development minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav on Wednesday said accurate, reliable and timely data is crucial for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).He was addressing a two-day national capacity-building workshop on SDG monitoring frameworks, environmental accounts and gender statistics, organised jointly by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Bihar’s planning and development department and supported by United Nations Development Programme.Chief secretary Pratyaya Amrit said quality data underpins policymaking and is vital to achieving the SDG goal of “Leave No One Behind”. He added Bihar is now aiming to emerge as a technology hub, focusing on industrialisation, artificial intelligence and tourism, with targets set for Nov 2026.Officials emphasised strengthening statistical systems, bridging data gaps and improving data quality for effective SDG tracking. Representatives of around 20 states and union territories participated in the workshop. The workshop also focused on district-level monitoring, gender-sensitive data and environmental accounting. Several publications were released during the event.
