KOCHI: Kerala has retained the top rank in Niti Aayog’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index 2020-21 for the third consecutive year, a recognition of its social, economic and environmental progress.Kerala bagged 75 points, an improvement from 70 and 69 in the previous years. Since its launch in December 2018, Kerala has been topping the index, which has become the primary tool for monitoring progress on the SDGs in the country.
It has also fostered competition among the states and union territories by ranking them on the global goals.
Bihar, Jharkhand and Assam were the worst performing states this year, as per the report released in New Delhi on Thursday. Kerala scored in segments such as ‘zero hunger’, ‘quality eduction’, and ‘affordable and clean energy’, according to Niti Aayog.
Niti Aayog rank: Proud moment, says Pinarayi
“Even amidst this global pandemic, Kerala retains the top rank in NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index 2020-21, with 75 points. Proud moment!” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted.Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu took the joint second spot with 74 points.
Launching the third edition of India’s SDG Index, Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar said: “Our effort of monitoring SDGs through the SDG India Index and Dashboard continues to be widely noticed and applauded around the world. It remains a rare data-driven initiative to rank our states and union territories by computing a composite index on the SDGs,” he said.