The second edition of the North Eastern Region (NER) District Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Index Report (2023-24) was released by NITI Aayog yesterday. The Index is developed by NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MoDoNER), with technical support from UNDP. The Index, which builds upon the momentum of the first edition released on 26 August 2021, measures the performance of districts across eight North Eastern States on the SDGs.
The (2023-24) Index is a major milestone in improving monitoring at the regional level. The index reflects the commitment to address development challenges across social, economic, and environmental dimensions while ensuring that no one is left behind in the NER. The latest data shows that 85% of the districts show increase in composite score.
All districts in Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura have achieved Front Runner status, with no districts falling in the Aspirant or Achiever categories. Mizoram has the highest-scoring district in the entire Northeast region (Hnahthial at 81.43) and Arunachal Pradesh has the lowest-scoring district in the entire region (Longding at 58.71). The composite scores for the 121 districts range from 58.71 in Longding, Arunachal Pradesh to 81.43 in Hnahthial, Mizoram.
Sikkim has the narrowest range (5.5 points) in terms of the score of the highest and lowest district, showing the most consistent performance across its districts. Tripura has the distinction of having some of the highest-scoring districts with minimum intra-state variation (6.5 points). Mizoram and Nagaland have some of the highest-scoring districts but also exhibit variation (ranges of 13.72 and 15.07, respectively).