Sustainable Development Goals India Index 2018, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala,and Tamil Nadu top the rank

NITI Aayog released first-of-its-kind, the SDG India Index.

Highlights Of The SDG Index

According to the index, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu have been ranked highest in terms of being on track to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are the laggards in a ranking of states.The SDG Index Score for Sustainable Development Goals 2030 ranges between 42 and 69 for States and between 57 and 68 for UTs. The average Indian score was 57.Among the States, Kerala and Himachal Pradesh are the front runners, with an SDG India Index score of 69. Among the UTs, Chandigarh is the front runner with a score of 68.

Kerala’s top rank is attributed to-

Its superior performance in providing good health,Reducing hunger,Achieving gender equality, providing quality education.

Himachal Pradesh ranks high on-

Providing clean water and sanitation.

Reducing inequalities.

Preserving the mountain ecosystem.

Chandigarh takes the lead because of-

Its exemplary performance in providing clean water and sanitation to its people.

Good progress towards providing affordable and clean energy.

Generating decent work and economic growth Providing quality education.

Tamil Nadu has a score 66, and is the top scorer on the goals to do with eradicating poverty and also providing clean and affordable energy.Overall, the average score for the States was the worst when it came to-

1) Gender equality (36).

2) In creating sustainable cities and communities (39).

3) In enabling industry, innovation, and infrastructure (44).

4) In eradicating hunger (48).

About the SDG Index

The index comprises a composite score for each State and Union Territory based on their aggregate performance across 13 of the 17 SDGs.The 13 of the 17 sustainable development goals, includes healthcare, gender equality, clean energy, infrastructure, education, peace and building strong, accountable institutions.Four goals, including climate action and sustainable use of marine resources, were left out because of lack of data at the state level.The score, ranging between 0 and 100, denotes the average performance of the State/UT towards achieving the 13 SDGs and their respective targets.The SDG India Index is intended to provide a holistic view on the social, economic and environmental status of the country and its States and UTs.It has been designed to provide an aggregate assessment of the performance of all Indian States and UTs, and to help leaders and change makers evaluate their performance on social, economic and environmental parameters.It tracks the progress of all the States and Union Territories (UTs) on a set of 62 National Indicators, measuring their progress on the outcomes of interventions and schemes of the Government of India.

Significance of Index

The aim of the index is to instill competition among States to improve their performance across social indices.The Index can be useful to States/UTs in assessing their starting point on the SDGs in the following ways:

Support States/UTs to benchmark their progress against national targets and performance of their peers to understand reasons for differential performance and devise better strategies to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

 Support States/UTs to identify priority areas in which they need to invest and improve by enabling them to measure incremental progress. 

Highlight data gaps related across SDGs for India to develop its statistical systems at the national and State levels.

The States’ progress will determine India’s progress towards achieving the set goals by 2030.Using the index, States can be monitored on a real-time basis.

The index shows the country has reached a little beyond the halfway mark in meeting the sustainable development goals adopted by India and 192 other nations in 2015.

The scores represent the current status of achievement in meeting the goals and it will be updated in realtime, this will lead to a lot of improvements at the grass root level.

The Index can be as a tool by Finance commissions, while finalizing its recommendations on sharing of central government’s divisible pool of tax revenue with states.