Jammu and Kashmir stands at 20th spot in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) index of the 29 states of India.
NITI Aayog, with the support of United Nations, has developed SDG India index, a comprehensive index to measure progress of states and union territories, through a single measurable index and the first baseline report for 2018.
The index covers 13 of the 17 UN’s sustainable development goals including healthcare, gender equality, clean energy, infrastructure, education, peace and building strong and accountable institutions.
Four goals, including climate action and sustainable use of marine resources, were left out because of lack of data at the state level.
According to SDG report released by NITI Aayog, Jammu and Kashmir is placed at 20th spot, securing a total of 53 points. In the assigned sustainable development goals in India, J&K has not being able to bag top position in any of sustainable development goals.
The SDG includes no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economy growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequality, sustainable cities and communities, life on land and peace justice and strong institutions.
As per the SDG report, J&K is placed among performer states. States with 100 per cent score are enumerated as achievers, states with a score between 65 and 99 are front-runners, states with a score ranging between 50 and 64 are performers and states with 0-49 score are listed as aspirants.
Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have emerged as the front runners in the race to achieve key SDGs like removal of poverty and inequality, while Assam, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are the laggards.
A senior government official informed that the state government had in June this year ordered formation of a committee of 23 bureaucrats, including the chief secretary, and almost all administrative secretaries. They were asked to finalise the action plan for mapping of departments and schemes for each SDG target, facilitate approval of targets and indicators with timelines and resources for achieving SDGs, which would form Vision Document 2030 for the state and hold periodic review of progress on SDGs and suggest necessary corrective measures to achieve targets.
“But due to change of guard in the state’s power corridors, nothing much has been done in this regard,” he said.
According to the Index, the nation as a whole has a score of 58, showing the country has reached a little beyond the halfway mark in meeting the sustainable development goals adopted by India and 192 other nations in 2015.
The Index tracks the progress of all the states and UTs on a set of 62 priority indicators, measuring their progress on the outcomes of the interventions and schemes of the government of India.
The index is intended to provide a holistic view on the social, economic and environmental status of the country, its states and UTs. It is an aggregate measure which can be understood and used by everyone—policymakers, businesses, civil society and the general public. It has been designed to provide an aggregate assessment of the performance of all Indian states and UTs, and to help leaders and change makers evaluate their performance on social, economic and environmental parameters. It aims to measure India and its states’ progress towards the SDGs for 2030.