NITI Aayog releases North Eastern Region District SDG Index and Dashboard 2021–22

• NITI Aayog and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (M/DoNER) has released the first edition of the North Eastern Region (NER) District SDG Index Report and Dashboard 2021–22 after achieving a milestone towards SDGs.
• The index measures the performance of districts on sustainable development goals and their corresponding targets and ranks them.
• It is released with technical support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

North Eastern Region District SDG Index and Dashboard 2021–22:

• It is the first of its kind in the country as it focuses on the North Eastern Region, which is of critical significance to the country’s development trajectory.
• It 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 and their corresponding targets.
• The index is based on NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index i.e the principal and official tool for monitoring progress on the SDGs at the national and State/ Union Territory levels.
• The index estimation is based on data on indicators for 15 SDG Goals (Goal 14 and 17 are not included).
• The index offers insights into the social, economic, and environmental status of the region and its districts in their march towards achieving the SDGs.

Key findings:

• Out of the 103 districts considered for the 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.
• East Sikkim ranks first in the region followed by districts Gomati and North Tripura in the second position.
• The North East as a region has shown remarkable performance in Goal 15- Life on Land, across indicators on forest cover, wasteland, and wildlife cases, with 12 districts in the Achievers category and 86 districts in the category of Front Runners.
• The region has also fared well in Goal 6- Clean Water and Sanitation where more than 75 per cent of the districts are in the Front Runner category across indicators on sanitation and drinking water services.
• Goal 9- Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure is an area that requires attention across the eight states of the region with 28 districts in the Aspirant category in this goal encompasses areas such as roads, broadband and mobile connectivity.

Significance of index:

• It will facilitate in identifying crucial gaps and inform interventions to fast track progress towards achieving the SDGs in the region.
• The index is designed to function as a tool for focused policy dialogue, formulation and implementation through development actions, which are pegged to the globally recognizable metric of the SDG framework

Sustainable Development Goals:

• The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the United Nations in 2015.
• It was launched as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

Goals:

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
3. Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages
4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all
7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all
8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable Economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production Patterns
13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
17. Strengthen the means of implementatio n and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable Development