Tamil Nadu has retained the third rank in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index 2019, released by NITI Aayog on Monday. The State’s overall score this year is 67, up from 66 in 2018.
This time, T.N. will share the third spot with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
The State saw major improvement in its scores relating to the goals of clean water and sanitation, sustainable cities and communities, life on land and peace, justice and strong institutions.
However, it also witnessed a steep fall in the scores pertaining to zero hunger and reduced inequalities.
Top performer
Tamil Nadu was the top-performing State in terms of the ‘no poverty’ goal. The indicators used to assess performance in this area include population below national poverty line, households covered by health scheme/insurance and benefices of social protection under maternity, among others. In the indicator relating to employment under MGNREGA, the State dropped to 94.07% in 2019 from 98.83% in 2018.
The State’s score on the ‘zero huger’ goal dropped to 48 from 61. Under the goal, in terms of the annual production of rice, wheat, coarse cereals (Kg/Ha) indicator, the State dropped to 2,598.00 in 2019 from 3,788.49 in 2018.
On the ‘reduced inequalities’ goal, Tamil Nadu’s score dropped to 65 in 2019 from 85 in 2018. A few new indicators were added under the goal for the second edition of the Index.
The proportion of seats held by women in Panchayati Raj institutions was 33.48%, while SC/ST representation in the Legislative Assembly was 19.66% in Tamil Nadu.
The report noted that Tamil Nadu, along with Kerala and Maharashtra, had achieved the goal relating to maternal mortality ratio (MMR). The State’s MMR stood at 63, as against the target to reduce it to 70 per 1,00,000 live births by 2030. In 2018-19, Tamil Nadu did not register any progress under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, which aims to provide access to all-weather roads to all eligible unconnected habitations in the country — one of the yardsticks under the ‘industry, innovation and infrastructure’ goal.
