Context: Recently, NITI Aayog released the first edition of the North-Eastern Region District Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Index and Dashboard 2021–22 under which East Sikkim tops the chart.

About North Eastern Region District SDG Index 

• It was the  first edition of the North-Eastern Region District Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Index and Dashboard 2021–22.
• Developed by: It is designed and developed by NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) with technical inputs from the United Nations Development Programme and consultations with all the north-eastern States – who are the primary stakeholders of this tool.
• Measures: It measures the performance of the districts of the eight States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura on the SDG and their corresponding targets, and ranks the districts based on the same.
• It is based on NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index – the principal and official tool for monitoring progress on SDGs at the national, State, and Union Territory level.
• It tracks progress of the districts of all eight states of the region on 84 indicators that are aligned to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation's (MoSPI) National Indicator Framework (NIF).

Key Positions

• The 84 indicators cover 15 of the global goals across 50 targets. Among these 84 indicators considered for computation, 40 per cent have been sourced from Union ministries and national level surveys; and 60 per cent from state sources.
• According to the report, out of the 103 districts considered for ranking, 64 districts belonged to the front runner category while 39 districts were in the performer category in the composite score and ranking of districts.
• All districts in Sikkim and Tripura fall in the Front Runner category and there are no districts in the aspirant or achiever categories.
• East Sikkim was ranked first in the region, followed by districts Gomati and North Tripura in the second position.

Benefit of such Index

• The index offers insights into the social, economic, and environmental status of the region and its districts in their march towards achieving the SDGs.
• It will help in evidence-based planning, resource allocation, both financial as well as others, and effective supervision and monitoring of developmental efforts for focused and balanced regional development.
• It is an important milestone in our SDG journey aimed at leaving no one behind and will strengthen SDG localization, by putting the districts, especially in our 8 northeastern states, at the forefront of SDG adoption, implementation, and monitoring.

Road Ahead

• In this ‘decade of action’, it is crucial to take SDGs to finer levels of administration and measure their impact and outcomes in a more granular manner, which is exactly what the North Eastern Region District SDG Index aims to achieve.