DIMAPUR: Nagaland has been ranked 19th in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) index among 35 states and union territories of the country.
Nagaland’s adviser to industries and commerce, labour and employment, skill development and entrepreneurship departments Imnatiba Jamir said this while addressing a state-level workshop on NER District SDG Index 2.0, SDG India Index, 2021-22, and Multidimensional Poverty Index in Kohima on Tuesday.
He said the North East Region District SDG Index, 2021 serves as a very important policy for the state governments of the region by providing a very granular understanding of the SDGs in their implementation at the district level.
Stating that Nagaland is making consistent progress in SDG Index, which focuses on state-level performance, Jamir said the compulsive score of the state improved from 57 in 2019 to 61 in 2021. He said going by the North Eastern Region District SDG Index, some of the districts of Nagaland are doing fairly well in certain goals such as zero hunger, clean water and sanitation, quality education, and gender equality.
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However, he said more works need to be done for bottom-ranked districts and on some indicators at the state level.
Jamir said the Nagaland SDG Vision 2030, which was launched by chief minister Neiphiu Rio in August last year, provides specific targets with measurable indicators and strategies to meet the aspirations of the people and to translate the Nagaland SDG Vision 2030 into reality.
He added that with the technical support of the UNDP and active collaboration from various departments of the state, the SDG Coordination Centre of the state planning department is already making rapid strides towards achieving the goals.
Acknowledging that to achieve sustainable development, Nagaland needs to address its difficult geographical terrain, he said some of the key priority policy focus areas also aligned to SDGs are universal access to health care and education, robust transport and communication infrastructure, effective and sustainable management system, innovative industrial growth, balanced regional development and enhanced agricultural production and marketing facilities.
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Regional head, North East India, UNDP, John Borgoyary, in his address, said the UNDP will soon initiate a CSR initiative which will be part of the SDG Coordination Centre under the state planning department.
Mimansa Mishra, associate (SDG ), NITI Aayog, gave a presentation on SDG India Index 2020-21; NER District SDG Index 2020-21, and context setting on version 2.0 and National Multidimensional Poverty Index.