Dimapur: The Nagaland government said the state is ranked 25th, along with Meghalaya, among all states in the SDG India Index 2023-24 and comes under ‘performer’ status.
In a statement on Tuesday, it said the Nagaland’s overall composite score has improved from 61 in 2020-21 to 63 in 2023-24.
The SDG India Index for 2023-24 released by the Niti Aayog on July 9 ranked Nagaland, along with Bihar and Jharkhand, among the worst-performing states.
The Nagaland Congress slammed the state government for the state’s low ranking in the SDG index, saying it validated the allegations of corruption and governance failures under the NDPP-BJP coalition government in the state.
The Nagaland government said the SDG index uses 113 indicators mapped across 16 SDG goals to measure the progress of SDGs among 36 states and UTs of India.
It added that the state ranks first in SDG 5 (Gender Equality) in the index and is frontrunner in six goals, performer in seven goals and aspirant in two goals.
The statement said that Nagaland has been working consistently on improving monitoring process and tracking of SDG indicators, capacity building in data systems and strengthening internal review mechanisms within the state.
“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,” it said.
The Nagaland government said as is accepted widely, some secondary data sources like sample surveys and reports suffer from data limitations resulting in flawed outcomes and may not be reflective of the state’s true position.
These matters are being taken up by the state government with the Niti Aayog emphasising the need for more rigour in this important process of SDG monitoring, the statement added.