India improves Sustainable Development Goals Index score by three positions; Kerala tops the chart

NITI Aayog has released the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index 2019-20. The second edition of SDG India Index was released on December 30, 2019, by Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Dr Rajiv Kumar in New Delhi.

The report reveals that India has improved its composite score from 57 in 2018 to 60 in the Sustainable Development Goals Index 2019-20. Better works in water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy and industry, innovation and infrastructure has helped the country to achieve this fete.

Kerala that topped the list of states on the SDGs Index 2019-20 with a score of 70 is followed by Himachal Pradesh at 69. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu ranked at the third position with the score of 67. States like Gujarat and Maharashtra with score 64 each have not shown any improvement vis-a-vis first raking in 2018, while states like Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim have shown biggest improvement. In 2019-20 report, 14 states have fallen in the overall ranking in the index compared to last year. Bihar, which ranked last at 28th position has improved its score from 48 in 2018 to 50 in 2019, it still has a long way to go in achieving the targets.

Amongst Union territories, Chandigarh topped the list with score 70, while Puducherry with score 66 is ranked second. Dadra and Nagar Haveli with score 63 has been ranked third among Union territories. The newly-created Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh with score 59 are ranked at the bottom in their category.

While commenting after presenting the report, Dr Kumar said, the good thing is that this year no state has scored below 50 out of the score of 100. He said, however, nutrition and gender equality continue to be problem areas for the country which require a more focused approach. He added that the government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will not leave any stone unturned to make sure India achieves Agenda 2030. He said NITI Aayog has committed itself to building capacities and monitoring progress at the state level.

NITI Aayog also launched the Dashboard 2019-20. The SDG India Index and Dashboard track the progress and rank all States and Union Territories on 100 indicators drawn from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's National Indicator Framework, comprising 306 indicators.

It indicates where the country and its States and UTs currently are on SDG implementation. It also charts the distance to be travelled to reach the SDG targets. The Index covers 16 out of 17 SDGs and a qualitative assessment on Goal 17.