SDG Index: Nagaland tops in gender equality, but falters in key parameters

Marginal increase in overall score but lowest among States in India;

Moa Jamir 
Dimapur | July 16

Nagaland has made significant progress in gender equality over the years but has either suffered declines in key Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) or the rate of improvement has been lower than other states and Union Territories (UTs) in India. 

This, among other factors, was a key highlight of the fourth edition of the SDG India Index 2023-24, released by the NITI Aayog on July 12.

Nagaland’s composite overall score for 2023-24 stood at 65, placing it 26th among 28 states in India, only ahead of Jharkhand and Bihar.

Additionally, with most UTs scoring higher than Nagaland, its rank among 38 states and UTs was joint third lowest, along with Ladakh. Nagaland was classified as a ‘Performer,’ the same as in the third edition (2020-21), when it was among the bottom five states.

It is notable that Nagaland’s overall score has consistently increased over the years, though the progress has been marginal.

During the first baseline report in 2018, Nagaland’s overall score was 51, which increased to 57 in 2019-20 and further improved to 61 in 2020-21. 

However, the lowest improvement was seen between 2020-21 and 2023-24, with the score increasing by just 2 points from 61 to 63. 

Overall, from 2018 to 2023-24, Nagaland’s score increased by 12 points from 51 to 63. In comparison, the overall all-India progress was from 57 to 71 during the same period.

Consistent Improvement and Decline
Among the 15 SDGs assessed, Nagaland has seen consistent improvement in ‘Gender Equality’ (Goal 5), topping the All-India Index in 2023-24. 

Some indicators for SDG Goal 5 are sex ratio at birth, female to male average wage/salary, regular wage/salaried employment, spousal violence, female to male labour force participation, women in managerial positions, and participation in three household decisions. Nagaland’s score nearly doubled from 42 in 2018 to 74 in 2023-24.

There has also been continuous progress in ‘Goal 13: Climate Action,’ from 51 in 2019-20 to 79 in 2023-24. This goal measures the number of human lives lost per 1 crore population due to extreme weather events, disaster preparedness, Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALY) rate attributable to air pollution (per 1,00,000 population), and the percentage of industries complying with environmental standards.

However, Nagaland’s performance in ‘Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production’ and ‘Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions,’ though high, has seen a concerning and consistent fall during the last four editions of the SDG Index. 

Goal 12 looks at per capita fossil fuel consumption (in kg), the percentage use of nitrogenous fertilizer out of total N, P, K (Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium), the quantity of hazardous waste recycled/utilized to total hazardous waste generated (%), plastic waste generated per 1,000 population (tonnes/annum), and the percentage of bio-medical waste (BMW) treated to the total quantity of BMW generated.

SDG 16 includes parameters such as murders per 1 lakh population, cognisable crimes against children per 1 lakh population, the number of victims of human trafficking per 10 lakh population, the number of missing children per 1,00,000 child population, the number of courts per 1,00,000 population, and cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act and related sections of the IPC per 10 lakh population.

Overall, between 2020-21 and 2023-24, Nagaland saw a rise in 8 SDG targets out of 15 measured, while there was a fall in 7. 
Looking ahead, Nagaland may see a better score on ‘Goal 10: Reduced Inequality,’ where women’s participation in local self-government is a key measure. Nagaland had civic polls for the first time in 20 years on June 26, 2024.

Nagaland also launched its own SDG Dashboard on October 17, 2023 with the objective of advancing thedevelopmental goals in the State.

National Outlook
As per an official release, all states have shown an improvement in their overall score while the national average was 71 for 2023-24, an increase from 66 in 2020-21 and 57 in 2018 (baseline report). 

Among states, Uttarakhand and Kerala have emerged as joint top-performing states with a score of 79, followed by Tamil Nadu (78) and Goa (77). Bihar (57), Jharkhand (62), and Nagaland (63) were the worst-performing states in this year’s index. Among the UTs, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, Puducherry, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Delhi were the top five performers.

Between 2018 and 2023-24, the fastest-moving states are Uttar Pradesh (increase in score by 25), followed by J&K (21), Uttarakhand (19), Sikkim (18), Haryana (17), Assam, Tripura, and Punjab (16 each), and Madhya Pradesh and Odisha (15 each).

Source: https://morungexpress.com/sdg-index-nagaland-tops-in-gender-equality-but-falters-in-key-parameters