Niti Aayog releases NER District SDG Index report; East Sikkim tops chart

East Sikkim has topped in terms of meeting sustainable development goals in the Niti Aayog's North Eastern Region (NER) District SDG Index Report 2021-22 and Nagaland's Kiphire featured at the bottom, as per the specified parameters.

It was the release of the first edition of the North Eastern Region (NER) District SDG Index Report and Dashboard 202122 by NITI Aayog and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (M/DoNER) on Thursday.

The index measures the performance of the districts of the eight states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their corresponding targets and ranks the districts based on the same.

East Sikkim, with a score of 75.87, ranks first in the region followed by districts Gomati and North Tripura (score 75.73) at the second position.

The score for the 103 districts ranges from 53 in Kiphire, Nagaland to 75.87 in East Sikkim, Sikkim, the report said.

According to the report, out of the 103 districts considered for ranking, 64 districts belonged to the front runner category while 39 districts were in the performer category in the composite score and ranking of districts.

All districts in Sikkim and Tripura fall in the Front Runner category and there are no districts in the aspirant or achiever categories, it said.

In his remarks, Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said: "The North Eastern Region District SDG Index is an important milestone in our SDG journey aimed at leaving no one behind and will strengthen SDG localization, by putting the districts, especially in our 8 northeastern states, at the forefront of SDG adoption, implementation, and monitoring."

Union Minister of DONER, Tourism and Culture G Kishan Reddy said the index will help in evidence-based planning, resource allocation, both financial as well as others, and effective supervision and monitoring of the developmental efforts for focused and balanced regional development.

The NER District SDG Index and Dashboard 202122 tracks progress of the districts of all eight states of the region on 84 indicators that are aligned to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's (MoSPI) National Indicator Framework (NIF).

The 84 indicators cover 15 of the global goals across 50 targets. Among these 84 indicators considered for computation, 40 per cent have been sourced from Union ministries and national level surveys; and 60 per cent from state sources.

It offers insights into the social, economic, and environmental status of the region and its districts in their march towards achieving the SDGs.