Meghalaya, like other states in the North East, has improved its score in the latest Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) India Index 2023-24, though it is not keeping pace with most of its neighbours.
Assam and Manipur have made the most progress, according to the index, since 2020-21, followed by Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram, Meghalaya and Nagaland.
There are four categories of performance – achiever, front runner, performer and aspirant.
Meghalaya and Nagaland are in the third performer category, with the others given front runner status.
Assam and Manipur have each improved by 8 points, Tripura by 6, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim by 5 each, Mizoram by 4, Meghalaya by 3 and Nagaland by 2.
The SDG India Index tracks the progress of all states and Union territories on 113 indicators aligned with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s (MoSPI) National Indicator Framework (NIF). It measures goal-wise scores on 16 SDGs for each state and UT, generating composite scores from these to assess aggregate performance.
Of individual SDGs, Meghalaya achieved front runner status in Good Health and Well-Being. It did not fare as well in SDG 1 (No Poverty) or SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) where it was only a ‘performer’. Meghalaya and the other states also lost out as they have no installed sewage treatment capacity.
