Hyderabad: Telangana has been ranked sixth in the SDG India Index 2020-21 report released by Niti Aayog on Thursday.
The Index for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) evaluates the progress of states and union territories on social, economic, and environmental parameters.
According to the report, Telangana scored 69 out of 100 points, which is above the national average of 66. In the previous report, released in December 2019, Telangana scored 67 points and was ranked third along with Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
As per the 2020-21 index report, Kerala has retained the top rank and is the best-performing state with a score of 75, while Bihar (52 points) has been adjudged as the worst performer.
The third rendition of India’s SDG Index, which was launched by Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar, also revealed that the country’s overall SDG score improved by six points. It increased from 60 in 2019 to 66 in 2020.
“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,” Rajiv Kumar said.
“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,” he added.
Top performing states
- Kerala: 75 points
- Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu: 74 points
- Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Karnataka and Uttarakhand: 72 points
- Sikkim: 71 points
- Maharashtra: 70 points
Worst performing states
- Chhattisgarh, Nagaland and Odisha: 61 points
- Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh: 60 points
- Assam: 57 points
- Jharkhand: 56 points
- Bihar: 52 points
What is the SDG Index?
The SDG Index and Dashboards Report is the first worldwide study that helps each country to assess their scores based on their Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) achievements. First launched in December 2018, the index has become the primary tool for monitoring progress on the SDGs in the country and has simultaneously fostered competition among the states and union territories 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 level in the country’s journey towards meeting the global goals and targets and has been successful as an advocacy tool to propagate the messages of sustainability, resilience, and partnerships, as well.
From covering 13 goals, 39 targets, and 62 indicators in the first edition in 2018-19 to 17 goals, 54 targets, and 100 indicators in the second; this third edition of the index covers 17 goals, 70 targets, and 115 indicators.