Kerala retains top rank in Niti Aayog’s SDG India Index; Himachal, TN share second spot

Mukesh Ranjan

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 3

The government’s top think tank NITI Aayog on Thursday launched the third edition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) India Index and Dashboard 2020-21, as Himachal Pradesh found a place among the first five performing states, with Haryana becoming one of the top gainer states.

Noting that the country’s overall SDG score has improved by 6 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 Member (Health) VK Paul, CEO Amitabh Kant and Adviser (SDG) Sanyukta Samaddar, has placed Kerala at the top of the chart with 75 points on a score of 100.

According to the Index Bihar was found to be the worst performing state with a score of 52, while Jharkhand came second from the bottom with 56 points. The other three bottom five states include Assam (57), Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Rajasthan and UP with 60 points, and Chhattisgarh, Nagaland and Odisha with 61 points.

“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), where the composite Goal scores are 83 and 92, respectively,” the SDG Index report said, while adding that Mizoram, Haryana, and Uttarakhand are the top gainers in 2020–21 in terms of improvement in score from 2019, with an increase of 12, 10 and 8 points, respectively.

According to the Index, Himachal Pradesh along with Tamil Nadu bagged 74 points to secure the second position, while Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Uttrakhand bagged the joint third position 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 indices.

On the good health front, Gujarat and Delhi have been adjudged the best, while on quality education, Kerala and Chandigarh were on the top of the chart. Chattisgarh and Andman & Nicobar Island did well in ensuring gender equality.

On clean water and sanitation, Goa and Lakhadweep did well. In terms of producing and consuming clean energy, the performance of 21 states and Union Territories (UTs), including Haryana, Punjab, J&K and Ladakh, proved to be good.

On the economic growth count, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh topped the chart, as Gujarat and Delhi topped the list in terms of having good infrastructure. Similarly, in terms of life below water Odisha found to be the best, while in case of life on the land Arunachal Pradesh and Chandigarh got the top ranking. In terms of peace and justice, Uttrakhand and Pudducherry were found to be the best.

Among the Uts, Chandigarh with 79 points topped the chart, followed by Delhi, Pudducharry and Lakshadweep (68), Andaman & Nicobar (67), J&K and Ladakh (66) and Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu (62).