The third edition of the SDG India Index and Dashboard 2020–21 was released by NITI Aayog on 3rd June 2021. The SDG India Index 2020-21 has been developed in collaboration with the United Nations in India. It is an index that tracks the progress of all states and Union Territories. It is based on 115 indicators aligned to MoSPIs National Indicator Framework.
The Index evaluates states and Union Territories on parameters such as Health, Education , Gender, Economic growth,Institutions, Climate Change and Environment.
The index was first launched in december 2018 by the Government think tank NITI AAYOG.
The index fostered healthy competition among the states and Union Territories by ranking them on global goals.
Table of Contents
FEATURES OF THE SDG INDEX
- Its scores range between 0-100.
- If a State /UT achieves a score of 100 ,it signifies that it has achieved the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development target. Hence the higher the score of a state/UT, the greater the distance to target achieved.
- States/Union Territories are classified in four categories based on the SDG India Index score-
- Aspirant 0-49
- Performer 50-64
- Front Runner 65-99
- Achiever 100
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SDG INDEX
- The Index is a key tool for focussed policy dialogue, formulation and Implementation through development actions.
- It is intended to provide a holistic view on social, economic and environmental status of the country and its states and Union Territories.
- It is an aggregate measure that can be understood and used by everyone – policymakers, businesses, civil society and the general public.
- It aims to benchmark performance and measure progress in India and its states towards the SDGs for 2030 as per NITI AAYOG.
LATEST KEY FINDINGS OF THE SDG INDEX
- The country’s overall SDG score improved by 6 points from 60 in 2019 to 66 in 2020-21.
- The major improvements have been in providing facilities including clean water and sanitation(GOAL 6) and affordable and clean energy(GOAL 7) among others.
- The top 5 and bottom 5 states have been shown in the figure given below along with their index scores.
- Kerala retained its spot at the top for the consecutive year while Bihar, Assam, and Jharkhand were the worst-performing states.
- Chandigarh maintained its top spot among the Union Territories with a score of 79 followed by Delhi with a score of 68.
- Mizoram is the top gainer in 2020-21 in terms of improvement in score from 2019 with an increase of 12 points.
- Scores of all the states can be assessed from the graph given below.
- In 2019, ten States/Union Territories belonged to the category of Front runners which increased to 22 with 12 more states graduating to the category. They are Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Mizoram, Punjab, Haryana, Tripura, Delhi, Lakshadweep, Andaman, and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
CONCLUSION
The NITI AAYOG has a twin mandate to.oversee the adoption and monitoring of the SDGs in the country and promote competitive and cooperative federalism among states.
In 2015 The UN’s General assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable development.
The 17 SDGs are a bold commitment to finish what the Millennium Development Goals started and to tackle some of the more pressing challenges.
