Meghalaya has shown improvements in its ranking in the North Eastern Region District SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) Index 2023-24 but still does not feature in the top 10 list.
The second edition of the North Eastern Region (NER) District SDG Index Report 2023-24 was released today by NITI Aayog. The index is developed by NITI Aayog and the Union Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), with technical support from the United Nations Development Programme. The index, which builds upon the momentum of the first edition released on August 26, 2021, measures the performance of districts across eight North Eastern states on the SDGs.
It is meant to serve as a critical policy tool for evidence-based planning, resource allocation and monitoring of developmental efforts. The significant improvement in district performance reflects the impact of national flagship schemes coupled with localisation efforts through initiatives like the Aspirational Districts Programme, an official press release stated today. The index report provides detailed district-level analysis and recommendations for accelerating progress towards achieving the SDGs by 2030, ensuring that no district is left behind in the region’s development journey.
In 2021-22, Meghalaya’s only district to feature as one of the ‘Front Runners’ was East Khasi Hills, with all the others one place below in the ‘Performer’ grade. Those districts with the lowest scores are called ‘Aspirants’ and the best are called ‘Achievers’; no North East district fits either of these extremes.
In 2023-24 all of Meghalaya’s districts rose to ‘Front Runner’ status except for East Jaintia Hills, which remains a ‘Performer’. Eastern West Khasi Hills has not been assessed as it is a new district.
No Meghalaya district, however, has made it to the top 10 of the North East, with East Khasi Hills’ score being 73. In fact, Meghalaya’s best performing district still scores lower than the best district in any of the other states. On the other hand, East Jaintia Hills’ score of 63 is not the worst, with a few districts in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur scoring lower.
The top performing district in the region is Hnahthial of Mizoram with a score of 81.43. Mizoram has two more districts in the top 10 – second-placed Champai (79.86) and ninth-placed Kolasib (76.50).
Tripura also has three districts in the top 10 – third-placed Gomati (78.79), fifth-placed West Tripura (77.64) and seventh-placed South Tripura (76.64).
Nagaland is the third state with three districts in the top 10 – fourth-placed Mokokchung (78.43), sixth-placed Kohima (76.93) and tenth-placed Dimapur (76.29). The other district in the top 10 is Sikkim’s Gangtok (76.64) in eighth position.
All districts in Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura have achieved ‘Front Runner’ status. Arunachal Pradesh has the lowest-scoring district in the entire region (Longding at 58.71).
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).
