Experimental Activity 1:

AIM: Analysis of achievement of sustainable development goals of India:

Introduction:
India is critical in determining the success of the SDGs, globally. At the UN Sustainable
Development Summit in 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted, “Sustainable
development of one-sixth of humanity will be of great consequence to the world and our
beautiful planet. It will be a world of fewer challenges and greater hope; and, more confident
of its success”. NITI Aayog, the Government of India’s premier think tank, has been entrusted
with the task of coordinating the SDGs, mapping schemes related to the SDGs and their
targets, and identifying lead and supporting ministries for each target. In addition, the
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has been leading discussions
for developing national indicators for the SDGs. State governments are key to India’s progress
on the SDGs as they are best placed to ‘put people first’ and to ensuring that ‘no one is left
behind’. The UN Country Team in India supports NITI Aayog, Union ministries and state
governments in their efforts to address the interconnectedness of the goals, to ensure that no
one is left behind and to advocate for adequate financing to achieve the SDGs.

Analysis of the achievements of the SDGs by India:

• Significant progress in goals on eliminating poverty, providing decent work, economic
growth, climate action and life on land.
• Targeted interventions by the Government such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana,
Ujjwala, Swachh Bharat, Jan Dhan, Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY, Ayushman
Arogya Mandir, PM-Mudra Yojana, Saubhgaya, Start-up India etc. had impact and led
to rapid improvement.
• All States have shown an improvement in overall score
 • Overall SDG score for the country is 71 for 2023-24, significant improvement from 66
in 2020-21 and 57 in 2018 (Baseline report).
• Scores for States range from 57 to 79 in 2023-24, marking a substantial improvement
from the year 2018 range of 42 to 69.
• Significant progress in Goals 1 (No Poverty), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth),
13 (Climate Action) and 15 (Life on Land)
• Goal 13 (Climate Action) records highest increase in score from 54 in 2020-21 to 67 in
2023-24 followed by Goal 1 (No Poverty) from 60 to 72

• 32 States and UTs in the front-runner category with 10 new entrants -Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh, West Bengal, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu

• Between 2018 and 2023-24, 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), Madhya Pradesh and Odisha (15 each)

SDG India Index 2023-24, the fourth edition of the country’s principal tool for measuring
national and subnational progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) was released
today by NITI Aayog. The Index was launched by Shri Suman Bery, Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog
in the presence of Shri B. V. R. Subrahmanyam, CEO, NITI Aayog; Shri Shombi Sharp, UN
Resident Coordinator in India; Dr. Yogesh Suri, Senior Advisr, NITI Aayog and Ms. Isabelle
Tschan Harada, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP.
Key highlights and results from the fourth edition of the SDG India Index:
• The composite score for India improved from 57 in 2018 to 66 in 2020-21 to further to
71 in 2023-24
• India has taken significant strides in accelerating progress on the SDGs between the
2020-21 and 2023-24 editions of the Index. Noteworthy advancements have
been observed in Goals 1 (No Poverty), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 13
(Climate Action). These are now in the 'Front Runner' category (a score between 65–
99).

• Among these, Goal 13 (Climate Action) has shown the most substantial improvement,
with its score increasing from 54 to 67. Goal 1 (No Poverty) follows closely, with its
score rising significantly from 60 to 72. The progress underscores the effects of the
focused programmatic interventions and schemes of the Union and State
Governments in improving the lives of citizens.

• Since 2018, India has witnessed substantial progress in several key SDGs. Significant
progress has been made in Goals 1 (No Poverty), 3 (Good Health and Well-being), 6
(Clean Water and Sanitation), 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), 9 (Industry, Innovation
and Infrastructure) and 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities).

• Government's focus on ensuring food & nutrition security, health, education,

electrification, housing for all, sanitation, clean cooking fuel & energy has significantly
contributed to the improvements.

• Key interventions facilitating SDG achievements include:

o Over 4 crore houses under the PM Awas Yojana (PMAY),
o 11 crore Toilets & 2.23 lakh Community Sanitary Complexes in rural areas
 o 10 crore LPG connections under PM Ujjwala Yojana,
o Tap water connections in over 14.9 crore households under Jal Jeevan Mission
o Over 30 crore beneficiaries under Ayushman Bharat -Pradhan Mantri Jan
Arogya Yojana
o Coverage of over 80 crore people under the National Food Security Act (NFSA)
o Access to 150,000 Ayushman Arogya Mandir which offer primary medical care
and provide affordable generic medicines
o Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) of ₹34 lakh crore made through PM-Jan Dhan
accounts.
o The Skill India Mission has led to over 1.4 crore youth being trained and
upskilled and has reskilled 54 lakh youth
o PM Mudra Yojana sanctioned 43 crore loans aggregating to ₹22.5 lakh crore for
entrepreneurial aspirations of the youth besides Funds of Funds
o Start Up India and Start Up Guarantee schemes assisting the youth
o The Saubhagya scheme for access to electricity
o Emphasis on renewable energy resulted in an increase in solar power capacity
from 2.82 GW to 73.32 GW in the past decade.
o Between 2017 and 2023, India has added around 100 GW of installed electric
capacity, of which around 80% is attributed to non-fossil fuel-based resource.
o Improvement in digital infrastructure with reduced internet data costs by 97%
which has in turn positively affected and fostered financial inclusion
State and UT results
• The SDG India Index 2023-24 reports a positive trend in the performance of States and
UTs in their SDG journey. The scores for States now range from 57 to 79, while UTs
score between 65 and 77. This represents an improvement over the 2020-21 scores,
where the range was 52 to 75 for States and 62 to 79 for UTs.

The performance of State and UTs in terms of their overall score is given below:

• The Index records a significant increase in the number of States and UTs
achieving
 Front Runner status. This year, 32 States/UTs have scored between 65 and 99, up from
22 in the 2020-21 edition. Notably, there are 10 new States and UTs in the Front Runner
category. These include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
Manipur, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli
and Daman and Diu.

• The SDG India Index 2023-24 demonstrates the increase in composite scores across all
States, with improvements ranging from 1 to 8 points. Leading the way in terms of
score improvement are Assam, Manipur, Punjab, West Bengal, and Jammu and
Kashmir, each achieving a positive change of 8 points since the 2020-21 edition.

• Progress on the SDGs over the last four editions of the Index:

• Index methodology:
 o The methodology of the Index involves a series of steps. The first step consists
of compiling raw data for the selected indicators and identifying data gaps (if
any). Subsequently, target values for 2030 are established for each indicator,
providing clear benchmarks for evaluating progress. The raw data is then
normalised, transforming it into a score ranging from 0 to 100. The Goal score
for each SDG is computed by taking the arithmetic mean of the normalized
scores of its relevant indicators. The composite SDG India Index score is derived
as an average of all Goal scores. The index and indicators are updated
incorporating the latest developments in data availability.
o Goal 14 has not been included in the calculation of the Composite Score for the
Index as it solely pertains to the nine coastal States.

• The SDG India Index 2023–24 is also live on an online dashboard. The dashboard
provides user friendly visualizations to identify crucial development outcome based
gaps at the national and subnational levels.

• NITI Aayog has the mandate for coordinating the adoption and monitoring of SDGs at
the national and sub-national levels.

• The results demonstrated in the Index are not only significant at the national and
subnational levels, but have the potential to inform other countries in their pursuit of
accelerating progress on the SDGs. This is due to the sheer scale of transformation
brought forth through focused interventions and schemes in India which provide
valuable lessons for the rest of the world.

• NITI Aayog is committed to supporting all the States and UTs in the localisation and
acceleration of SDGs, an important barometer to measure progress towards Viksit
Bharat @ 2047. The SDG India Index stands as a key milestone for measuring our
progress and will help steer discussions, deliberations, and decisions in the journey
ahead.

Reference: Release of SDG India Index 2023-24