Lok Sabha Question No. 43 (STARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: SDG India Index
Ministry: PLANNING
Asked by: Sukanta Majumdar, Vinod Kumar Sonkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF PLANNING

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *43

TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2020

## SDG INDIA INDEX

## *43 DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR: SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

Will the Minister of PLANNING be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  NITI  Aayog  has  recently  released  the  Sustainable  Development  Goals  (SDG) India Index;
- (b) If so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the country has made significant progress to meet the targets under the SDGs;
- (d) if so, the details of progress made by the Government in meeting the various targets set under the SDGs so far; and
- (e) the other steps being taken by the Government to achieve the SDGs within the stipulated timeframe?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION

## (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

- (a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION No. *43 REGARDING 'SDG INDIA INDEX' RAISED BY DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR MP SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR MP FOR ANSWER ON 5 th  FEBRUARY, 2020.

(a):  Yes,  Sir.  NITI  Aayog  launched  the  SDG  India  Index  and  Dashboard  2019-20  on  30 th December 2019.

(b):  The  SDG  India  Index  and  Dashboard  2019-20  measures  the  progress  achieved  by  all States and Union Territories in their journey towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the associated targets. The Index is constituted of 100 indicators across SDGs 116.  The  report  contains  a  qualitative  analysis  on  SDG  17.  The  SDG  India  Index  adopts  a methodology in  which  the  performance  of  each  State  and  UT  as  well  as  the  country  as  a whole on each SDG is measured on a scale of 0 to 100, 100 implying the achievement of the target and 0 indicating worst performance.

A score of 100 implies that the State/UT has achieved the targets set for 2030; a score of 0 implies that the particular State/UT is at the bottom of the table. States/UTs with scores equal to/greater than 65 are considered as Front-Runners (in Green); as Performers (in Yellow) in the range of 50-64 and as Aspirants (in Red) if the score is less than 50.

The SDG India Index provides critical insights on the country status of SDGs. It is a useful development tool to:

-  Support  States/UTs  to  benchmark  their  progress  against  the  national  targets  and performance of their peers and devise better strategies to achieve the SDGs by 2030.
-  Support States/UTs to identify priority areas as working on all SDG areas at the same time may be challenging. It would help States/UTs to modulate their initiatives and investments as well as to measure incremental progress.
-  Highlight  data  gaps  across  SDGs  and  identify  areas  for  building  individual  and systems capacity for better data management.

The SDG India Index 2019 is available via an online dashboard (http://sdgindiaindex.niti.gov.in/).  The  report  is  in  the  public  domain  and  can  be  found  in https://niti.gov.in/sites/default/files/2019-12/SDG-India-Index-2.0\_27-Dec.pdf

- (b) and (d)  :  India'  overall  SDG  Score    in  2019  stands  at  60  on  a  scale  of  0-100,  thereby implying that the distance to target remaining to be achieved by 2030 is equivalent to 40 points.  Among  the  States,  Kerala  scored  the  first  rank  with  a  score  of  70.  Himachal Pradesh  came  second  with  69.  Three  States  -  Tamil  Nadu,  Andhra  Pradesh  and Telangana-  came  in  the  third  spot  with  a  score  of  67.  Among  the  UTs,  Chandigarh secured  the  top  position  with  a  score  of  70  and  Puducherry  came  second  with  66. Lakshadweep and Dadra and Nagar Haveli shared the third rank with a score of 63.

(e):  All  key  stakeholders,  including  NITI  Aayog,  Ministry  of  Statistics  and  Programme Implementation and Ministries/Departments of Central Government are committed towards achieving  the  SDG  targets  through  multi-pronged  initiatives,  such  as  capacity  building, awareness  generation,  implementation  of  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  and  Central  Sector Schemes, and SDG monitoring through the National  Indicator  Framework  and  SDG  India Index. However, it is the States and Union Territories that are the key drivers for achieving the SDGs within the stipulated time frame. NITI Aayog regularly follows up with the States and UTs and conducts half-yearly reviews of progress with them.

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