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India has improved its overall sustainable development goal (SDG) score in the last two years, but the country’s performance has stagnated when it comes to addressing the issue of inequality, indicated a new report by NITI Aayog, nodal planning and public policy agency of the Union government.
The report by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has turned out to be music to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s ears. It showed that though most states in the country recorded improvement in their overall since the last assessment in 2021-22, West Bengal achieved the most during the period, alongside Punjab, Jammu Kashmir, Assam and strife-ridden Manipur, with an improvement score of 8 points.
“The SDG India Index 2023-24 demonstrates the increase in composite scores across all states … Leading the way in terms of score improvement are Assam, Manipur, Punjab, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir, each achieving a positive change of 8 points since the 2020-21 edition,” stated a Union government communique accessed by this correspondent.
During the period, Uttarakhand improved rapidly to occupy the joint top spot alongside Kerala, which was the sole topper last time, with a score of 79 each. Bihar has been ranked at the bottom with an SDG score of 57; with Jharkhand occupying the second-last spot.
The report, SDG India Index 2023-24, has been prepared by NITI Aayog, along with the United Nations Development Plan (UNDP) and United Nations India to assess the performance of various states in achieving SDGs.
A set of 17 SDGs have been adopted by all UN member countries in 2015, including India with a target to achieve 100 per cent scores by 2030.
The national score on SDGs in 2023-24 was 71, a five-point increase over the 2021-22 score of 66. In the maiden assessment in 2008, the country’s score was 57.
Within 15 parameters for which national scores have been calculated, India did best in ‘affordable and clean energy’ with a score of 96; followed by parameters like ‘clean water and sanitation’ and ‘sustainable cities’ with scores of 89 and 83, respectively.
It made the most rapid progress in parameters like ‘climate action’ and ‘no poverty’ with an improvement of 13 and 12 points, respectively.
However the country did worst in addressing ‘gender equality’ with a score of 49 in the latest assessment, a barely one-point improvement in the last two years; while its score actually deteriorated from 67 to 65 in the parameter ‘reduced inequality’, the only parameter registering declining performance. Incidentally, the country also stood on the same score – 74 – in the parameters ‘peace, justice and strong institutions’.
Tamil Nadu ranked second in the country, followed by Goa and Himachal Pradesh as joint third.
Several northeastern states, many fighting several social crises, were found to be struggling. Nagaland, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, for instance, scored the lowest. Tripura, however, was much ahead with a score of 71, at par with the national score.
The report shows that West Bengal’s aggregate SDG score has improved 8 points in the last two years, improving from 62 in 2021-22 to 70 in the latest 2023-24 count. The improvement value was the highest in countries with few other states.
The assessment showed that West Bengal, which improved from 62 in 2021-22 to 70 in 2023-24, performed better than the national average in eight of the 15 parameters for which comparable scores have been available.
Bengal was better than the national average in parameters like ‘zero hunger’, ‘good health & well-being’, ‘affordable and clean energy’, ‘industry, innovation and infrastructure’, ‘reduced inequality’, ‘responsible consumption & production’, ‘life on land’ and ‘peace, justice & strong institution’.
On the contrary, it fared poorer than the national average score in parameters like ‘no poverty’, ‘quality education’, ‘clean water & sanitation’, ‘decent work & economic growth’, ‘sustainable cities & communities’ and ‘climate action’ — ranking 26th and 25th in the last two parameters, respectively, among 36 states and Union territories. Overall, West Bengal stood 10th in the country, improving one place over its 2021-22 position.