Amid the criticisms on the rank of Nagaland in the 4th edition of SDG India Index for 2023-24, NITI Aayog has said that the State’s ‘Performer’ status may not be reflective of the State’s true position and said “some secondary data sources like sample surveys and reports suffer from data limitations resulting in flawed outcomes”.

Nagaland is ranked 25th among the 36 states and UTs in the SDG India Index, released by the NITI Aayog on 9th July 2024. However, the State’s overall composite score has improved from 61 in 2020-21 to 63 in 2023-24.

The State has consistently been working on improving monitoring process and tracking of SDG indicators, capacity building in data systems and strengthening internal review mechanisms within the State, the statement said. However, this endeavour is made challenging by the heavy reliance of NITI Aayog on secondary data in this Report with no consultation mechanism with the State Government. These matters are being taken up by the State Government with Niti Aayog emphasising the need for more rigour in this important process of SDG Monitoring, it added.

Read more: NPCC slams PDA govt for Nagaland’s performance in SDG India Index 2023-24

The index uses 113 indicators mapped across 16 SDG Goals to measure the progress of SDGs among the states and UTs of India.

Nagaland ranks 1st in SDG 5 (Gender Equality) in the index. The state is Frontrunner in 6 goals, Performer in 7 goals and Aspirant in 2 goals.  The performance of the state in the different performance categories of the index is listed below:

– Frontrunner SDGs: 5 (Gender Equality), 6 (Clean Water & Sanitation), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 13 (Climate Action), 15 (Life on Land),16 (Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions)

– Performer SDGs: 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 3 (Good Health & Well Being), SDG 7 (Affordable & Clean Energy), 9 (Industry, Innovation &Infrastructure), 10 (Reduced Inequality), 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production)

– Aspirant SDGs: 4 (Quality Education), 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities)

As per the Report, the State made significant improvement in its performance across the following goals and development indicators:

SDG 2 (Zero Hunger)– Nagaland and Lakshadweep are the only State and UT that have achieved the target for pregnant women who are anaemic at 22.2%, against the target of 25.2.

SDG 5 (Gender Equality)– Nagaland is one of the only 5 states and UTs in the country which is in the Frontrunner category with a score of 74.

SDG 6 (Clean Water & Sanitation)– The score is highest among all the goals of the state with a score of 86 with 100% of rural population reported having improved source of drinking water.

SDG 7 (Affordable & Clean Energy)– The state has achieved 100% target on the households electrified.

SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth)– The state is Frontrunner with a score of 76. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) (%) (15-59 years) is 74.4%, which is higher than India value (61.6%) and national target (66.9%)

-55% of women account holders in Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) which is more than the national target of 50%

SDG 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production)– The state has achieved 100% Biomedical Waste treated to the total quantity of BMW generated.

SDG 13 (Climate Action)– Achieved the national target of 100% in Industries complying with environmental standards.