Niti Aayog released the rankings for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) index for states and Union territories Thursday. Kerala and Chandigarh remained on top of the list. While Bihar was placed last in the rankings.
The Index evaluates how the country (India) and its regions have been performing on social, economic and environmental parameters. These have though improved by six points which suggest slight progress.
The report titled SDG India Index 2020-21 says, “The composite score for India improved, from 60 in 2019-20 to 66 in 2020-21. This indicates that the country overall has progressed forward in its journey towards achieving the SDGs.”
All members of the UN had adopted the 2030 agenda for sustainable development in 2015. And there were 17 SDGs (and a further 169 targets) identified. This, the third edition of the India-specific study that tracks progress on all 17 goals, and on 70 targets; the second edition covered 17 goals and 54 targets while the first covered 13 goals and 39 targets.
Delhi was ranked second as UTs, with a score of 68, up from last year’s 61. Bihar’s score was the lowest at 52 points as per NITI Aayog’s evaluation. The other worst performers were Assam (57) and Jharkhand (56). Although the three states made some advances, they have continued to be among the lowest performers since the rankings began in 2018-2019.
Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar presented the report. He said that the index encourages efforts to reach SDG goals.
“The report reflects on the partnerships we have built and strengthened during our SDG efforts. The narrative throws light on how collaborative initiatives can result in better outcomes and greater impacts,” Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant adds.
Though there has been considerable improvement in scores. The range for states has improved from between 50 and 70 to 52 to 75. For the UTs also, the previous range of scores was 59 and 70, which has now improved to 62-79.
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