On December 31, 2019 NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog has released the 2nd edition of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index and dashboard for the year 2019 in New Delhi. Kerala topped the index with a score of 70. The index gives a brief analysis on the progress made by states and union territories(UTs) towards achieving the 2030 SDG targets. The index was launched by NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar along with other members.
Index toppers:
i.Top three ranks: Kerala was followed by Himachal Pradesh in the 2nd rank with a score of 69. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu together ranked at the third position with a score of 67. All these states have made progress in social, economic and environmental terms.
- Among the UTs Chandigarh maintained its top spot with a score of 70.
ii.Rank improvers: The biggest improvements since 2018 were made by Uttar Pradesh (moved from the 29th position to the 23rd), Orissa (23rd to 15th) and Sikkim (15th to 7th). While Bihar’s score moved from 48 in 2018 to 50 in 2019, and is ranked as the worst performer.
iii.Worst performers: Bihar was followed by Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh as the worst-performing states. Gujarat did not show any improvement from 2018.
iv.Zero hunger: Based on the ‘zero hunger’ parameters, Goa, Mizoram, Kerala, Nagaland and Manipur were the front runners.
v.Members present: Members of NITI Aayog Ramesh Chand and V K Paul; NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer(CEO) Amitabh Kant; UN Resident Coordinator Renata Dessallien; MoSPI Secretary and Chief Statistician of India Pravin Srivastava, and NITI Aayog SDG Adviser Sanyukta Samaddar were present on the occasion.
2nd SDG India Index 2019:
i.Index development: The index has been developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), United Nations(UN) in India and Global Green Growth Institute.
ii.Indicators: The 2019 index was based on 54 targets spread over 100 indicators out of 306 outlined by the UN, and these 100 indicators are drawn from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s (MoSPI’s) National Indicator Framework (NIF). The 2018 index was launched with 13 goals and 39 indicators.
iii.The SDG India Index 2.0 and the dashboard will make India to track and encourage progress to meet the SDGs across all its states and UTs. Close coordination with the states for the next 5 years will be made as only 12 years are left to achieve SDG and to save planet from adverse effects of climate change.
- 2020 will be the final decade for achieving the SDGs- the ‘Decade for Action’.
iv.Being in the 5th year period of the SDG era, India’s progress in the global goals is very crucial as the country constitutes one-sixth of the world’s population.
v.SDG India Index score is given based on the following criteria. They are:
- Aspirant: 0-49
- Performer: 50-64
- Front Runner: 65-99
- Achiever: 100
vi.State categories:
- Uttar Pradesh(UP), Bihar and Assam were previously in the ‘aspirant’ category with scores in the range of 0 to 49. They have now improved to the ‘performer’ category (50 to 64).
- Andhra Pradesh(AP), Telangana, Karnataka, Goa and Sikkim that were previously in the ‘performer’ category,now moved to the ‘front runner’ category (65 to 99).
vii.The 1st of the SDG India Index was launched in 2018 with the help of UN & took into account 16 out of 17 goals specified by the UN as SDGs.
viii.The SDGs, have 17 goals ,169 related targets & 306 national indicators to be achieved by 2030 as framed by the UN.
Ranks:
| Rank | Best Performers | Worst Performers |
| 1 | Kerala | Bihar |
| 2 | Himachal Pradesh | Jharkhand |
| 3 | Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu | Arunachal Pradesh |
About NITI Aayog:
Formed- 1 January 2015
Headquarters- New Delhi.
Chairperson- Narendra Modi.
Chief Executive Officer(CEO)- Amitabh Kant.
Vice Chairperson- Rajiv Kumar.
