Kerala: CM Vijayan lauds LDF Govt’s efforts after topping SDG India Index

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], July 13 (ANI): After Kerala topped the NITI Aayog’s latest Sustainable Development Index, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Saturday that it reflects the Left Democratic Front government’s “commitment to social progress and welfare.”

Notably, Kerala and Uttarakhand met the criteria of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and secured the first position among all the states and Union Territories (UT) in the NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index 2023-24.

Taking to the social media platform X, he said, “Kerala tops India once again! With a score of 79 in NITI Aayog’s latest Sustainable Development Index, Kerala remains first. This recognition reflects the Left Democratic Front government’s commitment to social progress and welfare.”

The 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 on Friday by NITI Aayog.

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 the top states with scores of 79 each, and Chandigarh maintains the top spot among UTs with a score of 77.

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

The 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.

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