Northeast SDG index report shows mixed picture of Nagaland

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Aug. 26 (EMN): The government of India’s think tank Niti Aayog’s indicators of social development has depicted a mixed picture of Nagaland in the North Eastern Region (NER) District Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) index report released on Thursday.

The index has been developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Development of Northeast Region (MoDoNER), state governments of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura, and UNDP India.

As many as 103 districts out of 120 were considered for computation and ranking in the NER District SDG index report. Noklak from Nagaland wasn’t considered for the same.

The score for the 103 districts ranged from 53 in Kiphire (Nagaland) to 75.87 in East Sikkim (Sikkim). Meanwhile, the score range in each state were — Sikkim between 71.87 and 75.87 ; Tripura between 71.93 and 75.73, Mizoram between 63.40 and 74.87, Manipur between 64.93 and 72.13, Assam between 62.67 and 71.73, Arunachal Pradesh between 55.60 and 68.87, Meghalaya between 56.87 and 66.27 and Nagaland between 53.00 and 64.07.

The top five performing districts were East Sikkim (Sikkim) at Rank 1 (score of 75.87), Gomati (Tripura) and North Tripura (Tripura) at Rank 2 (score of 75.73), West Tripura (Tripura) at Rank 4 (score of 75.67) and Serchhip (Mizoram) at Rank 5 (score of 74.87).

Kiphire is at the bottom of the overall ranking, followed by Zunheboto, and three other districts — Tuensang, Mon and Phek – are at bottom 10.

However, Nagaland performed well in SDG Goal two – Zero hunger, with Phek among the top performing districts.

The aim of SDG Goal two is to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030, the report informed.

The state also performed well in SDG Goal six – Clean water and sanitation, with Kohima among the top performing districts.

There were 64 districts in the ‘front runner’ category, and 39 districts in the ‘performer’ category in the composite score and ranking of districts. All districts in Sikkim and Tripura fell in the front runner category and there were no districts in the ‘aspirant or achiever’ categories.

The report also revealed that the NE region had shown remarkable performance in Goal 15 — Life on land — with 12 districts in the achievers category and 86 districts in the category of front runners.

The region also fared well in Goal six — Clean Water and Sanitation — where more than 75% of the districts were in the frontrunner category.

Meanwhile, Goal 13 — climate action — and Goal nine — industry, innovation and infrastructure — were the areas which required attention across the eight north -eastern states.

“The NER SDG Index is the first of its kind in the country as it focuses on a region and ranks the districts on SDGs and their corresponding targets. The Index offers insights into social, economic, and environmental status of the region and the districts in their march towards achieving the SDGs. It has been designed to be a tool in the hands of all interested stakeholders – policymakers, government functionaries, civil society organisations, academia, businesses, and citizens at large. The Index will be prepared and published annually and reports will be disseminated not only in the region but also at the national level and across the country,” read the report.

The composite score ranged from 0 to 100 and denoted the overall achievement of the district in realising the targets under the goals. A score of 100 implied that the district had achieved the targets set for 2030; a score of 0 implied that the district was at the bottom. Based on the score, each district was categorised into one of the four categories of aspirant (score of 0-49), performer (50-64), front runner (65-99) and achiever (100).

“The Goal calls for progressively reducing not only income inequalities but also inequalities-of-outcome by ensuring access to equal opportunities and promoting social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or any other status relevant within a society. It also aims at enhancing representation and voice for developing countries in decision making in international economic and financial institutions,” it stated.