Himachal Pradesh among top five states on NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index

Mukesh Ranjan
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 3

Himachal Pradesh figures among the top five performing states in NITI Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) India Index 2020-21, according to a report released on Thursday. Kerala retained the top rank, while Bihar has been adjudged the worst performer. Bihar’s score is 52 and Jharkhand’s 56 (the worst performing states this year).

Country’s Overall score up by 6 points

Country’s overall SDG score improved by 6 points—from 60 in 2019 to 66 in 2020-21. This positive stride towards achieving the targets is largely driven by exemplary country-wide performance in goal 6 (clean water and sanitation) and goal 7 (affordable and clean energy).

Noting that the country’s overall SDG score has improved by six points—from 60 in 2019 to 66 in 2020-21, the index, which was released by NITI Aayog’s Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar in the presence of Member (Health) VK Paul, CEO Amitabh Kant and Adviser (SDG) Sanyukta Samaddar, has placed Kerala at the top of the list with 75 points on a scale of 100.

“This positive stride towards achieving the targets is largely driven by exemplary countrywide performance in goal 6 (clean water and sanitation) and goal 7 (affordable and clean energy), where the composite goal scores are 83 and 92, respectively,” the SDG Index report said. Mizoram, Haryana, and Uttarakhand were the top gainers in 2020-21 in terms of improvement in score from 2019, with an increase of 12, 10 and eight points, respectively.

Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu bagged 74 points to share the second spot, while Andhra, Goa, Karnataka and Uttarakhand shared the third spot with 72 points. The fourth and fifth positions were bagged by Sikkim (71) and Maharashtra (70), respectively.

As the index was prepared on the basis of 16 identified goals, including a host of social, environmental and economic parameters, different states did well on different counts. Tamil Nadu and Delhi have been adjudged best in dealing with issues relating to poverty. Similarly, Kerala and Chandigarh did well to ensure zero hunger.