Telangana secured 6th position in the SDG India Index 2020-2021 report released by Niti Aayog on the 3rd of June.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Index is released to evaluate the progress of states and union territories (UTs) on the scale of social, economical and environmental development.
The sustainable index is prepared considering a few checklist boxes of growth and development in the aforementioned sector. In 2018, there were 13 goals, 39 targets and 62 indicators, based on which ranking was given. Later in 2019, 17 goals, 54 targets and 100 indicators were considered and now in the third edition, 17 goals, 70 targets and 115 indicators are criteria to gain points.
Some of the goals considered while preparing the SDG index include, no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well being, quality education, gender equality, clear water and sanitation, economic growth, life below water, climate action, life on land, peace, justice and strong institutions, sustainable cities and communities and industry, innovation and infrastructure.
As per evaluation, Telangana scored 69 out of 100 points, which is above the national average of 66. The State improved compared to the 2019 score of 67.
While Telangana is at sixth position, Kerala topped the index with 75 points, followed by Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu at 74 points, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Uttarakhand with 72 points, Sikkim at 4th with 71 points and Maharashtra at 5th position with 70 points.
While Kerala is the best performing state, Bihar with 52 points is the worst State in SDG Index by Niti Aayog.
With this, Rajiv Kumar, the Niti Aayog Chairman, launched the third rendition of India’s SDG Index. The SDG Index report first edition was released in 2018.
Mr. Rajiv Kumar said, “SDG-focused initiatives and their progress monitoring are more relevant than ever in today’s world. When the world has charted the course to build back better after the global pandemic that has disrupted development progress on many fronts, it is crucial to embed the principles of sustainability in the rebuilding efforts.” He further added, “Lives have been lost; therefore, resilience has to be built. Livelihoods have been impacted; hence, sustainable jobs have to be created. Unless we build back sustainably, we leave it to fate to impede our hard-earned progress.”
The SDG Index and Dashboards report is one of its kind studies to help every state and UT to have access to their sustainable growth as per the index report. The SDG Index report was first initiated in 2018, to monitor the growth and development of Indian states, based on a few parameters. The index not only created awareness to states and UTs about their growth but also fostered competition by ranking them on the global goals.
The index, developed in collaboration with the United Nations in India measures the progress at the national and sub national levels.
