Kolkata, Nov. 30 -- The Bengal government has begun a coordinated exercise to match every departmental scheme and expenditure head with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ahead of introducing an SDG-linked section in the 2026-27 Budget.

Sources in Nabanna confirmed that an order issued by the Finance (Budget) department has directed other state government departments to map every head of account-ranging from routine administrative spending to major state development schemes-to one or more of the 17 SDGs.

The global goals, adopted by the UN in 2015, cover areas such as poverty, food security, health, education, gender equality, clean water, energy and climate-related action.

It was learnt that the initiative will help the state government present its spending in an organised format and record which goals different schemes relate to. The order states that the mapping is also intended to capture "expenditure-cum-achievement" and help departments assess sector-wise spending, resource utilisation and the progress made towards specific targets when the new reporting system begins from 2026-27.

An official said that a new module has been added to the state's 'i-Budget' portal for the exercise. Departments will have to log in and select the relevant SDGs for each scheme. Where a scheme does not fall under any of the goals, it must be tagged as "not aligned". The Finance department is learnt to have also circulated a detailed user manual showing the login process, data-entry screens and approval steps. The manual notes that departments may select multiple SDGs for a single scheme where applicable.

Further, departments have been asked to finish the mapping by December 12. Officers of at least joint secretary rank or financial advisors will act as nodal officers to supervise the work. The workflow involves multiple checks: operators will enter the data, nodal officers will review it, financial advisors will verify the entries, and the final submission will be made online to the Finance Department. The system will block final forwarding if any Head of Account under any major head or scheme type remains unmapped.

The annexure attached to the order lists all 17 goals and provides brief descriptions, including those on sustainable cities, reduced inequalities, industry and innovation, responsible consumption, and life below water and on land.

The Finance Department has asked departments to treat the exercise as urgent and ensure that the full mapping is completed within the deadline.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.