The NITI Aayog’s index of UN’s Sustainable Development Goals reveals that Kerala is on top of the chart in the country while in the north, Himachal Pradesh is a leading performer and Haryana and Punjab are laggards

On December 30, 2019, the NITI Aayog released the second edition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index, 2019, which is more robust than the first edition, SDG India Index: Baseline Report 2018, on account of a wider coverage of goals, targets and indicators and has greater alignment with the National Indicator Framework (NIF). A composite score was computed in the range of zero to 100 for each State and Union Territory (UT). If a State/UT gets a score of 100, it signifies that it has achieved the 2030 national SDG targets. The higher the score, the closer the State/UT gets towards achieving the objectives.

For North India, the report revealed contrasting performances by States, with Himachal Pradesh (HP) fortifying its position as the lead performer and securing the second rank with a composite SDG index of 69. Punjab was placed 12th with a score of 62 and Haryana ranked much lower at 18th place with a score of 57, which was even lower than the country’s average of 60. Overall, Kerala achieved the first rank with a tab of 70, while Bihar was the worst performing State with a tally of 50.

The SDGs consist of a set of 17 broad-based global goals adopted by 193 countries at the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Summit at UN Headquarters in New York in September 2015. The objectives were intended to be achieved by 2030 as a part of the resolution, “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.” These SDGs for 2030 evolved from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for 2015. India is committed to achieve the 17 SDGs, the 169 associated targets and 232 SDG indicators, which comprehensively cover the social, economic and environmental dimensions of development.

The present analysis of the three North Indian States covers only 15 SDGs since the SDG 14 (life below water) is excluded as it applies only to nine coastal States and the SDG 17 (Partnership for the goals) is only qualitatively analysed in the report.

Out of the 15 SDG indices, HP is the best performer among these three States on 11 SDG indices while Punjab is the best performer on three goals viz. SDG 2 (zero hunger), SDG 3 (good health and well-being) and SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy) and Haryana is the best performer on only one of the goals viz. SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure).

However, appreciably, at an all-India level, Haryana is among the top three States in respect of SDG 9. However, Punjab has not found mention among the top three States at the all-India level on any of the 17 indices used for evaluating States and UTs on parameters of development. Significantly, on the other hand, at the all-India level, goal-wise HP has been the top State in three SDGs viz. Goal 4 (quality education), Goal 5 (gender equality) and Goal 11 (sustainable cities and communities).

Besides applauding the achievements of the States, the report also highlights several challenges before them, which need to be comprehensively addressed by Governments. Some of the critical issues highlighted reveal that at the all-India level, Haryana ranks second-highest in urban income inequality. Punjab and Haryana have less than 10 per cent of their geographical area under forest and tree cover. Both Haryana and Punjab have surpassed the maximum limit of annual groundwater withdrawal, which is 70 per cent, so that the ground water is replenished at a normal rate. These States have to improve this ratio.

Unfortunately, in terms of sexual crimes against the girl child as well as total crimes against children, HP is the worst. Moreover, it does badly in terms of SDG 2 (zero hunger), which reflects poorly on the performance of the State Government on ending starvation, thus requiring a more focussed approach on nutrition.

Among the positive aspects, Punjab has the highest agricultural productivity at 4,169.67 kg/Ha and is nearing the targetted productivity of 5,033.34 kg/ Ha. Similarly, Punjab with Gross Value Added (GA) in agriculture at Rs 2.4 lash, has the second-highest GA after Goad at Rs 3.7 lash, which is already above the target of Rs 1.3 lash.

Cellular density is over 100 per cent in both HP and Punjab and with a HIV incidence per 1,000 uninfected population at 0.01, HP is closest to achieving the UN target of zero HIV-incidence. In terms of the average annual drop-out rate at the secondary level, HP is the best performing State with a 7.03 per cent rate as compared to 19.89 per cent in India. it leads the States in the Female Labor Force Participation Rate at 39.70 per cent as compared to the all-India rate of 17.7 per cent.

In terms of the share of renewable power as a proportion of the total electricity generated, HP leads the country with 94 per cent of the total electricity generated in the State coming from renewable sources. The above analysis emphasises that the SDG India Index Report 2019 would spur the States towards necessary course-correction wherever required and encourage them to ensure timely achievement of the goals.

At the global level, it is widely agreed that India will play a leading role in determining the relative success or failure of the SDGs, as it is the second-most populous country, accounting for one-sixth of the world’s population. In this context, it is worthwhile to quote Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, “The coming years will be a vital period to save the planet and to achieve sustainable, inclusive human development.”

(The writer is an author and editor)