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India Advances Towards SDGs: SDG India Index 2023-24 Released

By Odisha Diary bureau
  • Significant progress in goals on eliminating poverty, providing decent work, economic growth, climate action and life on land.
  • Targeted interventions by the Government such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Ujjwala, Swachh Bharat, Jan Dhan, Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY, Ayushman Arogya  Mandir, PM-Mudra Yojana, Saubhgaya, Start-up India etc. had impact and led to rapid improvement.
  • All States have shown an improvement in overall score
  • Overall SDG score for the country is 71 for 2023-24, significant improvement from 66 in 2020-21 and 57 in 2018 (Baseline report).
  • Scores for States range from 57 to 79 in 2023-24, marking a substantial improvement from  the  year  2018  range  of  42  to  69.
  • Significant  progress  in Goals 1 (No Poverty), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 13 (Climate  Action) and 15 (Life  on  Land)
  • Goal 13 (Climate Action) records highest increase in score from 54 in 2020-21 to 67 in 2023-24 followed by Goal 1 (No Poverty) from 60 to 72
  • 32 States and UTs in the front-runner category with 10 new entrants -Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
  • Between 2018 and 2023-24, fastest moving States are Uttar Pradesh (increase in score by 25), followed by J&K (21), Uttarakhand (19), Sikkim (18), Haryana (17), Assam, Tripura and Punjab (16 each), Madhya Pradesh and Odisha (15 each)

 

SDG India Index 2023-24, the fourth edition of the country’s principal tool for measuring national and subnational progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) was released today by NITI Aayog. The Index was launched by Shri Suman Bery, Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog in the presence of Shri B. V. R. Subrahmanyam, CEO, NITI Aayog; Shri Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator in India; Dr. Yogesh Suri, Senior Advisr, NITI Aayog and Ms. Isabelle Tschan Harada, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP.

SDG India Index 2023-24 measures and tracks national progress of all States and UTs on 113 indicators aligned to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s (MoSPI) National Indicator Framework (NIF). The SDG India Index computes goal-wise scores on the 16 SDGs for each State and UT. Overall State and UT scores or Composite Scores are generated from goal-wise scores to measure the aggregate performance of the sub-national unit based on its performance across the 16 SDGs. These scores range between 0–100, and if a State/UT achieves a score of 100, it signifies it has achieved the targets. The higher the score of a State/UT, the greater the distance covered to the target.

India’s commitment to the SDGs since adopting the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development is reflected in concerted efforts on SDG localisation spearheaded by NITI Aayog, which works closely with States and UTs. NITI Aayog has the twin mandate to oversee the adoption and monitoring of the SDGs in the country and promote competitive and cooperative federalism among States and UTs. Together with States and UTs, NITI Aayog has focused on the institutionalisation of the SDGs – not only to look at sustainable development as a standalone or parallel framework, but also to make them an integral part of national and subnational thinking about development through institutional ownership, collaborative competition, capacity development, and following a whole-of- society approach.

The launch of the SDG India Index in 2018 provided the impetus for the localisation push, reaffirming States and UTs as key stakeholders in this transformative journey. The SDG India Index has been consistently improved over the years to provide a comprehensive and comparative analysis of progress on the goals. By fostering collaborative competition, the Index not only highlights achievements, but also encourages States and UTs to learn from each other to close outcome-based gaps. Grounded in the globally accepted SDSN methodology, the development of the Index followed extensive consultations with the States and UTs (the primary stakeholders); MoSPI; Union Ministries; and UN agencies. The Index represents the articulation of the comprehensive nature of the Global Goals under the 2030 Agenda while being attuned to the national priorities.

 

Key highlights and results from the fourth edition of the SDG India Index:

  • The composite score for India improved from 57 in 2018 to 66 in 2020-21 to further to 71 in 2023-24
  • India has taken significant strides in accelerating progress on the SDGs between the 2020-21 and 2023-24 editions of the Index. Noteworthy advancements have been observed in Goals 1 (No Poverty), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 13 (Climate Action). These are now in the ‘Front Runner’ category (a score between 65–99).
  • Among these, Goal 13 (Climate Action) has shown the most substantial improvement, with its score increasing from 54 to 67. Goal 1 (No Poverty) follows closely, with its score rising significantly from 60 to 72. The progress underscores the effects of the focused programmatic interventions and schemes of the Union and State Governments in improving the lives of citizens.
  • Since 2018, India has witnessed substantial progress in several key SDGs. Significant progress has been made in Goals 1 (No Poverty), 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).
  • Government’s focus on ensuring food & nutrition security, health, education, electrification, housing for all, sanitation, clean cooking fuel & energy has significantly contributed to the improvements.
  • Key interventions facilitating SDG achievements include:
    • Over 4 crore houses under the PM Awas Yojana (PMAY),
    • 11 crore Toilets & 2.23 lakh Community Sanitary Complexes in rural areas
    • 10 crore LPG connections under PM Ujjwala Yojana,
    • Tap water connections in over 14.9 crore households under  Jal Jeevan Mission
    • Over 30 crore beneficiaries under Ayushman Bharat -Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana
    • Coverage of over 80 crore people under the National Food Security Act (NFSA)
    • Access to 150,000 Ayushman Arogya Mandir which offer primary medical care and provide affordable generic medicines
    • Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of ₹34 lakh crore made through PM-Jan Dhan accounts.
    • The Skill India Mission has led to over 1.4 crore youth being trained and upskilled and has reskilled 54 lakh youth
    • PM Mudra Yojana sanctioned 43 crore loans aggregating to ₹22.5 lakh crore for entrepreneurial aspirations of the youth besides Funds of Funds
    • Start Up India and Start Up Guarantee schemes assisting the youth
    • The Saubhagya scheme for access to electricity
    • Emphasis on renewable energy resulted in an increase in solar power capacity from 2.82 GW to 73.32 GW in the past decade.
    • Between 2017 and 2023, India has added around 100 GW of installed electric capacity, of which around 80% is attributed to non-fossil fuel-based resource.
    • Improvement in digital infrastructure with reduced internet data costs by 97% which has in turn positively affected and fostered financial inclusion

State and UT results

  • The SDG India Index 2023-24 reports a positive trend in the performance of States and UTs in their SDG journey. The scores for States now range from 57 to 79, while UTs score between 65 and 77. This represents an improvement over the 2020-21 scores, where the range was 52 to 75 for States and 62 to 79 for UTs.

The performance of State and UTs in terms of their overall score is given below:

  • The Index records a significant increase in the number of States and UTs achieving Front Runner status. This year, 32 States/UTs have scored between 65 and 99, up from 22 in the 2020-21 edition. Notably, there are 10 new States and UTs in the Front Runner category. These include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.
  • The SDG India Index 2023-24 demonstrates the increase in composite scores across all States, with improvements ranging from 1 to 8 points. Leading the way in terms of score improvement are Assam, Manipur, Punjab, West Bengal, and Jammu and Kashmir, each achieving a positive change of 8 points since the 2020-21 edition.
  • Progress on the SDGs over the last four editions of the Index:
  • Index methodology:
    • The methodology of the Index involves a series of steps. The first step consists of compiling raw data for the selected indicators and identifying data gaps (if any). Subsequently, target values for 2030 are established for each indicator, providing clear benchmarks for evaluating progress. The raw data is then normalised, transforming it into a score ranging from 0 to 100. The Goal score for each SDG is computed by taking the arithmetic mean of the normalized scores of its relevant indicators. The composite SDG India Index score is derived as an average of all Goal scores. The index and indicators are updated incorporating the latest developments in data availability.
    • Goal 14 has not been included in the calculation of the Composite Score for the Index as it solely pertains to the nine coastal States.
  • The SDG India Index 2023–24 is also live on an online dashboard. The dashboard provides user friendly visualizations to identify crucial development outcome based gaps at the national and subnational levels.
  • NITI Aayog has the mandate for coordinating the adoption and monitoring of SDGs at the national and sub-national levels.
  • The results demonstrated in the Index are not only significant at the national and subnational levels, but have the potential to inform other countries in their pursuit of accelerating progress on the SDGs. This is due to the sheer scale of transformation brought forth through focused interventions and schemes in India which provide valuable lessons for the rest of the world.
  • NITI Aayog is committed to supporting all the States and UTs in the localisation and acceleration of SDGs, an important barometer to measure progress towards Viksit Bharat @ 2047. The SDG India Index stands as a key milestone for measuring our progress and will help steer discussions, deliberations, and decisions in the journey ahead.
  • The Goal wise progress of states since the baseline is given in the Annexure.
Odisha Diary bureau
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