In 2015, the UN formulated the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to be followed by all its member states for peace and prosperity for all its people, and also for the entire planet. The agenda had 17 sustainable development goals and 169 targets to be achieved by each member country by 2030. It aimed at eradication of poverty, reducing inequalities, promoting economic growth, encouraging sustainable production and consumption and combating climate change. India’s role in attaining these goals included a holistic approach working at all levels, from local community levels to state level initiatives and National policies. Some of the schemes implemented by Govt. of India in this regard are Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY).

The NITI Aayog in India has developed a unique SDG India Index for all states and Union territories to measure India’s performance in the sustainable development goals.

Sustainable Goals: No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-being ,Quality Education, Gender Equality, Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable and Clean Energy, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Reduce Inequalities, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, Life Below Water, Life on Land, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, Partnerships for the Goals.

The score on these indicators varies from 0- 100. A state with a score of 100 is termed as an achiever, anywhere between 65- 100 are front runners and anywhere between 50 – 64 are called performers and less than 50 are called aspirants.

It was seen that the country’s overall SDG score improved from 60 in 2019-20 to 66 in 2020-21, an increase in 6 points. This increase is due to the Nation wise better performance in Goal 6 (Clean Air and Sanitation) and Goal 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy). While there are 15 states and 7 Union territories who have an SDG score above the national score of 66, 13 states and 1 union territory have a score below the National SDG score. Kerala is the best performer in the SDG Index with a score of 75, followed by Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu with a score of 74. Bihar has the least score of 52 compared to 50 in 2019, followed by Jharkhand with score 56 and Assam with the score 57. The states of Mizoram, Haryana, and Uttarakhand can be called the top gainers in 2020–21 in terms of improvement in score from 2019, with an increase of 12, 10 and 8 points, respectively.

Given below is the classification of states on the basis of their SDG scores.

              

 Source: SDG India – Index and Dashboard 2021

Considering the overall performance, there is no state which has outstanding performance in all the goals. But nevertheless, it’s also a great achievement that there are no states having SDG scores below 50. In 2018, we had 3 states who had a score below 50 (Uttar Pradesh, Bihar. Assam) but in 2021, they have all improved their scores to above 50.

Given below is the table that shows the best performers on various goals.

 

Sustainable Goals	India	Top 3 performers	Bottom 3 performers
No poverty	60	Tamil Nadu (86) Kerala & Goa (83) Tripura (82)	Bihar (32) Jharkhand (36) Odisha (41)
Zero Hunger	47	Chandigarh (97) Kerala (80) Goa (78)	Jharkhand (19) Dadar & Nagar Haveli (27) Bihar (31)
Good health & well-being	74	Delhi (90) Gujarat (86) Maharashtra (83)	Assam (59) Uttar Pradesh & Chhattisgarh (60) Nagaland (61)
Quality education	57	Kerala (80) Chandigarh (79) Delhi (75)	Bihar (29) Nagaland (39) Arunachal Pradesh (41)
Gender Equality	48	Andaman & Nicobar Islands (68) Puducherry (66) Chhattisgarh (64)	Assam (25) Delhi (33) Arunachal Pradesh (37)
Clean water and Sanitation	83	Goa & Lakshadweep (100) Chandigarh (99) Dadar & Nagar Haveli (95)	Rajasthan (54) Delhi (61) Assam (64)
Decent work and Economic growth	61	Himachal Pradesh (78) Goa (76) Telangana (73)	Manipur (36) Jammu & Kashmir (47) Nagaland & Odisha (48)
Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure	55	Gujarat (72) Tamil Nadu (71) Punjab (69)	Andaman &Nicobar Islands (23) Bihar (24) Meghalaya (25)
Reduce Inequalities	67	Chandigarh (100) Meghalaya (88) Tripura (85)	Uttar Pradesh (41) Rajasthan (45) Nagaland (46)
Sustainable Cities and Communities	79	Chandigarh (98) Punjab (91) Goa & Dadar & Nagar Haveli (89)	Arunachal Pradesh (39) West Bengal (45) Nagaland (48)
Responsible Consumption and Production	74	Tripura (99) Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh (95)	Goa (47) Delhi & Gujarat (50) Jharkhand (55)
Climate Action	54	Andaman & Nicobar Islands (77) Odisha (70) Nagaland,Kerala (69)	Bihar (16) Dadar & Nagar Haveli (18) Puducherry (23)
Life on land	66	Arunachal Pradesh (93) Chandigarh (85) Madhya Pradesh (84)	Ladakh (27) Rajasthan (43) Mizoram, Punjab, Haryana (48)
Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions	74	Uttarakhand & Puducherry (86) Gujarat (82) West Bengal (81)	Andaman & Nicobar Islands (46) Odisha (59) Assam & Delhi (62)

 

Around 20 states have attained the score of 100 in SDG 7, clean and affordable energy. Most of the states have done a commendable job in this area except Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand and the union territory of Daman and Diu. The highest number of states (20 states) has below the score of 50 in SDG 9, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.

The table given below shows the overall performance of the indicators.

Score	Indicators
Front runners (Above 65)	Affordable and clean energy; clean water and sanitation; Responsible consumption and production; peace, justice and strong institutions; Sustainable cities and communities; Good Health and well- being; Reduced inequalities; Life on Land.
Performers (50-64)	No poverty; Decent Work and Economic Growth, Quality Education; Climate action; Industry, Innovation and infrastructure
Aspirants (Below 50)	Zero Hunger, Gender Equality

 

The 2 indicators on which the country fairs very poorly are in achieving zero hunger and gender equality. These are the indicators which have a score below 50 (Score for India) and needs to go a long way ahead to achieve the target. There are 14 states and 18 states which are below 50 in achieving zero hunger and gender equality.

The state of Goa, which is at the fifth rank with a score of 72, has attained the score of 100 in Affordable and Clean Energy and Clean water and sanitation. But the state has done poorly in areas of Responsible Consumption and Production (47) and Climate Action (44)

Gujarat and Maharashtra are 2 states which have all the indicators above 50, except in achieving zero hunger.

Bihar is the worst performer with a composite SDG index of 52. It has 5 indicators who are in the front runner category, with the highest score of 91 in clean water and sanitation. And it has 7 indicators which are below the score of 50 with the lowest for climate action.

The state of Jharkhand has 7 indicators that are extremely doing good with the highest score in clean water and sanitation. There are 5 indicators which are below the score of 50, with the lowest for achieving zero hunger.

Chandigarh is the only Union territory who has gained top 100 score in 2 indicators – Affordable and clean energy and reduced inequalities. But it does badly in Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (45). Delhi, being the National Capital has fared badly in achieving Gender equality (33), which is the lowest among all the Union territories and States except Assam. Lakshadweep with a score of 100 in Clean water and sanitation has a poor score in Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure. Dadar and Nager Haveli and Daman and Diu is the only Union territory which falls below the score of 64, but it has the highest score (95) in clean water and sanitation.

The formulation of the SDG index has made a tremendous impact on the developmental goals of the Nation and the federal structure of our institutions have played a major role in the quicker attainment of these goals. This index has also helped in making a competitive framework among states to outperform one another, which has resulted in achieving better results in a short period of time. The two editions of index and dashboard which were introduced in 2018- 19 have helped states identify the issues and problems and helped them find solutions for improvements. Strategies and interventions are also incorporated in the problem-solving process as it might act as a catalyst for the developmental progress. The index report and dashboard has also identified gaps in the national level and state level statistical systems and has contributed ideas and resources to resolve the same.

The current SDG report titled, SDG Index and Dashboard 20-21: Partnerships in the Decade of Action is considered to be more robust and comprehensive than previous editions as more indicators could be traced and measured. The current index has 115 indicators incorporating 16 out of 17 SDGs, with a qualitative assessment on Goal 17, and covers 70 SDG targets. This is an improvement over the 2018–19 and 2019–20 editions of the index, which had utilised 62 indicators across 39 targets and 13 Goals, and 100 indicators across 54 targets and 16 Goals, respectively.

The report emphasizes the role of partnerships in achieving these millennial goals. Development is a collective action and we need a whole lot of institutions to come forward and work together. The role of partnerships was well identified and the need for it as a major game changer was emphasized in this report. We need institutions like the Government, academia, civil society, businesses, development partners, international organisations, etc. to come together and provide a collective action plan to move further in the path of development. Over the past 5 years, there have been a lot of partnerships that came up which mustered a lot of courage and enthusiasm in this area to move ahead. This is the main reason why the role of partnerships is emphasised in this report. We need each other to find resources, shoulder responsibilities, and equip ourselves to achieve these millennial developmental goals.

Partnerships with civil society are also identified as an essential prerequisite for achieving sustainability in the long run. The partnerships of the Govt. with CSOs helped in identifying the problems at the grass root level and rectifying them. The consultations that these partnerships focused on were much more efficient than the series of meetings that take place in normal scenarios. Also, these CSOs were the channels to meaningful dialogue between the Govt. and the civil society, which is very important and effective in achieving the sustainable goals in India.

The current pandemic has posed challenges in all walks of life. Progress towards SDGs are no exception. India put forth a systematic pandemic management plan which focused on system- wide measures and had initiatives for various specific groups.  There were 11 empowered groups that worked across the country in tackling the challenges brought in by the unprecedented pandemic. Senior officials from the various ministries and Govt. institutions were brought together to chalk out the plan ahead. Around 92000 CSOs and NGOs contributed towards the collective efforts. International Organisations such as UNICEF, WHO, UNDP and other UN agencies provided all the support they could across the country. Industry sector networks such as CII, FICCI, NASSCOM, and ASSOCHAM joined the efforts, brought in resources, facilitated innovations, and enabled ramping up domestic production capabilities for essential goods and equipment.

At present, even though we are facing challenges with this unprecedented pandemic, a lot can be achieved by meaningful and efficient partnerships between the Govt, NGOs and the people. India’s progress in the path to sustainable development has been consistent, considering the constraints we have. We have huge resource constraints considering the mammoth population we have. But nevertheless, the performance of the states on various indicators are improving from past times and we still have a long way to go. Govt. policies should aim at inclusiveness, equity and sustainable development. With the collaborative efforts of the Govt., NGOs and the civil society, and encouraging partnerships among various stakeholders, we can achieve the 2030 agenda more quickly.

The SDG index is not free from shortcomings and criticisms. It is a major drawback that SDG 17 could not be computed due to the unavailability of data at the state/UT level. But a qualitative measurement of the SDG is indicated in the report. And also, the full set of NIF could not be computed due to lack of availability of the data at the state and UT level. In addition, it is a serious malady that not all indicators are weighed equally in all states. Some indicators are given more or less weightage due to the local context. And even though it was taken care that the latest value of the indicators has been used, most of them are between 2018 and 2021.

References

1. SDG INDIA INDEX & DASHBOARD 2020-21 PARTNERSHIPS IN THE DECADE OF ACTION
2. CHAPTER 5: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE- ECONOMIC SURVEY 2018-19, Volume 2

 

 

 

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