NITI Aayog Releases North Eastern Region District SDGIndex and Dashboard 2021–22

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A milestone towards localising the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was achieved with the release of the first edition of the North Eastern Region (NER) District SDG Index Report and Dashboard 2021–22 by NITI Aayog and Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (M/DoNER), today. The NER District SDG Index& Dashboard, a collaborative effort by NITI Aayog and Ministry of DoNER, with technical support from UNDP, is the first of its kind in the country as it focuses on the North Eastern Region, which is of critical significance to the country’s development trajectory. The Index measures the performance of the districts of the eight states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura on the Sustainable Development Goals and their corresponding targets and ranks the districts based on the same. The index is based on NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index –the principal and official tool for monitoring progress on the SDGs at the national and State/ Union Territorylevels and shares the common ethos of benchmarking performance and ranking on the SDGs to foster competition among the districts.

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 is a unique policy tool that has immense potential to measure district-level progress, highlight critical gaps, facilitate resource allocation, and will be a handy tool for policymakers in the eight North Eastern States, Ministry of DoNER and other Union Ministries.

NITI Aayog Vice Chairperson, Dr Rajiv Kumar; Union Minister of Development of North Eastern Region, Shri G.Kishan Reddy;and Union Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region, Shri B.L.Verma, launched the report titled, North Eastern Region District SDG Index & Dashboard: Baseline Report 2021-22, in the presence of Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog; Dr. Inder Jit Singh, Secretary, Ministry of DoNER; Ms Nadia Rasheed, Resident Representative (i/c), UNDP; and Ms Sanyukta Samaddar, Adviser(SDG), NITI Aayog. The launch was also attended virtually by Chief Secretaries, Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, and other senior State Governments officials of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura. Designed and developed by NITI Aayog in collaboration with the Ministry of DoNERwith technical inputs from UNDP, the preparation of the index followed extensive consultations with all the eight Northeastern states –who are the primary stakeholders of this tool.

In his remarks, Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog stated: “The North Eastern Region District SDG Index 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.”

Shri G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of DONER, Tourism and Culture, in his address said, “The North Eastern Region District SDG Index will help in evidence-based planning, resource allocation, both financial as well as others, and effective supervision and monitoring of the developmental efforts for focused and balanced regional development.”

Shri B.L Verma, Minister of State for Doner and Cooperation observed, “What the North Eastern Region needs today is proper planning coupled with efficient execution and robust monitoring, which will be offered by the North Eastern Region District SDG Index.”

Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog in his welcome remarks said, “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.”

Dr Inder Jit Singh, Secretary Minister of DoNER explaining the Index said, “The North Eastern Region District SDG Index will contribute immensely to providing reliable and high-quality data to design initiatives to address inter-State and intra-State disparities and accelerate SDG achievements in the region.”

Ms Nadia Rasheed, Resident Representative (i/c) UNDP, India reiterated the commitment of UNDP to work in collaboration with all States in developing SDG Action Plans and strengthening capacities of implementation and monitoring, especially in the northeast region.

Ms Sanyukta Samaddar, Adviser, NITI Aayog stated, “The NER District SDG Index represents the accelerated efforts towards localising the SDGs at the district level, a natural progression from the SDG India Index for States and Union Territories.This aligns with the approach of taking the SDGs from “global to national to local”.”

The NER District SDG Index aims at delineating progress at the district level on a basket of indicators and enhancing analytical understanding of sectoral issues as well as data gaps, while assisting in designing future courses of action in the region. The modular nature of the index makes it a policy tool and a ready reckoner for gauging progress of districts on the expansive set of the Global Goals, including health, education, gender, economic growth, institutions, climate change and environment, among others.

Overall Results and Findings

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 [Score 75.87] ranks first in the region followed by districts Gomati and North Tripura [Score 75.73] in the second position.

The score for the 103 districts ranges from 53.00 in Kiphire [NL] to 75.87 in East Sikkim [SK].

Composite scores: Top-10 and Bottom-10 districts:

Top-10 Districts	75.87	East Sikkim [SK]
	75.73	Gomati, North Tripura [TR]
	75.67	West Tripura [TR]
	74.87	Serchhip [MZ]
	74.80	South Sikkim [SK]
	73.47	Unakoti [TR]
	72.87	Lunglei [MZ]
	72.60	Dhalai [TR], Sepahijala [TR]
	72.40	South Tripura [TR]
	72.27	Kolasib [MZ]
Bottom-10 Districts	59.07	Longleng [NL]
	58.60	Shi Yomi [AR]
	58.27	East Kameng [AR], Phek [NL]
	57.40	Kamle [AR]
	56.87	North Garo Hills [ML]
	55.93	Mon [NL]
	55.87	Tuensang [NL]
	55.60	Kra Daadi [AR]
	54.53	Zunheboto [NL]
	53.00	Kiphire [NL]