Niti Aayog’s SDG India Index 2020-21: Kerala retains top rank, Bihar worst performer

New Delhi: Kerala has retained the top rank in Niti Aayog’s SDG India Index 2020-21, while Bihar has been adjudged as the worst performer, as per a report released on Thursday. The Index for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) evaluates the progress of states and union territories on social, economic, and environmental parameters. Kerala retained its rank as the top state with a score of 75. Both Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu took the second spot with a score of 74. Bihar, Jharkhand, and Assam were the worst-performing states in this year’s India index. The third rendition of India’s SDG Index was launched by Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar on Thursday. “Our effort of monitoring SDGs through the SDG India Index and Dashboard continues to be widely noticed and applauded around the world. It remains a rare data-driven initiative to rank our states and union territories by computing a composite index on the SDGs,” Kumar said. 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. The SDGs constituted through an unprecedented consultative process, have 17 goals and 169 related targets to be achieved by 2030. The SDGs are an ambitious commitment by world leaders which set out a universal and unprecedented agenda that embraces economic, environmental, and social aspects of the wellbeing of societies.