As India appears to be seriously off track on a number of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Rajya Sabha deputy chairman K Rahman Khan has called for parliament to step into the matter and monitor the commitments.

“Parliaments have to play a crucial role in achieving the MDGs,” Khan said at the inaugural address ‘promoting the MDGs’ organised by the UN Information Centre and the Indian Institute of Public Administration in New Delhi on Wednesday.

“As parliaments are entrusted with the oversight, legislative and budgetary functions, it is their responsibility to hold the governments to account for their development commitments such as the MDGs by monitoring the activities of the governments in these areas,” Khan added.

Despite signing in 2000 at the UN platform to achieve the eight goals, India looks to be slipping out of eight targets, measured by 48 separate indicators, to be achieved by 2015.

The deputy chairman of the upper house also asked for mobilisation of adequate resources so that concerns of the people are fairly reflected in national plans, policies and budgets.

Khan’s message came after civil society groups raised the demand of greater accountability by the parliamentarians on achieving the MDGs.

Last month in its rejoinder to India’s country report on MDGs 2009, Wada Na Todo Abhiyan (WNTA), a civil society effort to track MDGs indicators, said, “By all indications, it is understood that we are going to fail in living up to those promises that we have made.” WNTA had also urged the parliament to form committees to look after MDGs.

The 10th year of MDGs kicks off with a summit in New York during September 20-22, which will look at the accelerated achievement of MDGs and accountability mechanism of its implementation. India is represented by external affairs minister S M Krishna at the summit.