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Kerala retains top spot in the latest SDG India Index rankings
Kerala has retained its top ranking in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) India Index brought out by the Niti Aayog, sharing the top spot in the 2023-24 edition with Uttarakhand with a composite score of 79 points.
Among the States, Kerala topped the list in ‘zero hunger,’ and quality education, stood second in climate action and third in both gender equality, and ‘industry, innovation, and infrastructure. The State also ranked among 16 ‘achiever’ States in the matter of affordable and clean energy.
The data was released in New Delhi on July 12.
16 SDGs
The States and UTs were ranked based on their score across 16 SDGs, and 113 indicators under them.
Retaining the top spot in the rankings, Kerala has also improved its score by four points, from 75 in 2020-21 to 79, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said, commenting on the State’s performance. Mr. Vijayan credited the achievement to the welfare and social progress-oriented measures implemented by the Left government.
In SDG 1 (No Poverty), Kerala ranked seventh among the front-runner States with 81 points. In the headcount ratio on multi-dimensional poverty, the report noted that Kerala has performed the best with the lowest headcount ratio of 0.55%. Kerala also has only 0.3% households living in ‘kachha’ houses, the lowest in the country. In SDG Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) Kerala topped the list with 84 points.
In SDG 3 (good health and well-being), Kerala shared fourth spot with Karnataka. In this category, the State also topped the list of eight States that had achieved the national target on maternal mortality rate (MMR). Kerala has an MMR of 19 per 1,00,000 live births. Kerala also has the lowest under-5 mortality rate. On HIV incidence per 1,000 uninfected population, the report noted that Kerala (0.01) is closest to achieving the national target of zero HIV incidences.
In the case of SDG 10 (reduced inequalities), Kerala stood eighth, with the report observing that rate of crimes against scheduled tribes (ST) was the highest in Kerala at 36 crimes per 1,00,000 of the ST population. Kerala has the highest chargesheeting rate of IPC crimes at 96%. The report also noted that Kerala has the lowest percentage of biomedical waste being treated at 46.96%.
100% electrified
In the matter of affordable and clean energy, Kerala ranked among 16 ‘achiever’ States that have achieved targets with 100% electrified households and 100.18% of LPG+PNG connections. Kerala, along with Madhya Pradesh, stood 11th in the matter of clean water and sanitation, and eighth among the ‘front-runner States in ‘decent work and economic growth.’ Placing the State third after Goa and Haryana in ‘Industry Innovation and Infrastructure,’‘ the report observed that 97.3% of households in Kerala have at least one mobile phone, while 99.86% of villages have 3G/4G Internet coverage.
In the case of SDG 14 (life below water), Kerala ranked seventh among nine coastal states. The report noted that Tamil Nadu and Kerala show 0% increase in area under mangroves. The State also stood fifth in both Life on land (SDG 15 and Peace justice and strong institutions (SDG 16).
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