“Encouraging…state is moving forward”: CM Dhami after Uttarakhand secures top rank among states in SDG

Dehradun (Uttarakhand) [India], July 13 (ANI): After Uttarakhand secured the top rank among states in Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said that the ranking is very encouraging for the state, adding that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi state is moving forward.

NITI Aayog released the report of SDG 2023-24 on Friday. In the report, Uttarakhand has met the criteria of Sustainable Development Goals and secured the first position in the entire country, jointly with Kerala.

“It is very encouraging for us that Uttarakhand has topped the SDG Index 2023-24. Our double engine government under the leadership of respected Prime Minister Narendra Modi is continuously working to take Uttarakhand forward,” Uttarakhand CM told ANI on Friday.

Congratulating all the people of the state, Chief Minister Dhami said that this achievement has been achieved with the blessings and cooperation of the people of the state.

“Under the able leadership of respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, due to the development-oriented efforts of our double engine government, today our state has moved forward towards becoming a leading state. Uttarakhand getting the top position in the report of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG INDEX) 2023-2024 released by NITI Aayog is a direct proof of this,” Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said on X.

Our government is continuously moving towards ‘developed Uttarakhand’ with the coordination of ecology and economy. Our top priority is to establish a transparent system in the state and bring about comprehensive and all-round development,” the X post read.

The SDG India Index 2023-24 scores for States range from 57 to 79, while for UTs they range between 65 and 77. This marks an improvement over the 2020-21 scores, where States ranged from 52 to 75, and UTs ranged from 62 to 79.

Uttarakhand and Kerala lead as top States with scores of 79 each; Chandigarh maintains the top spot among UTs with a score of 77.

Tamil Nadu took the third spot followed by Goa and Himachal Pradesh.

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 Suman Bery, Vice Chairperson, NITI Aayog in the presence of BVR Subrahmanyam, CEO, NITI Aayog; Shombi Sharp, UN Resident Coordinator in India; Dr Yogesh Suri, Senior Adviser, NITI Aayog and Isabelle Tschan Harada, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP.

SDG India Index 2023-24 measures and tracks the national progress of all States and UTs on 113 indicators aligned to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s (MoSPI) National Indicator Framework (NIF). The SDG India Index computes goal-wise scores on the 16 SDGs for each State and UT.