Poor performance of India’s most populated states to end hunger & empower women slows down national, global SDG progress

Poor performance of India’s most populated states to end hunger & empower women slows down national, global SDG progress

Sub: Economy

Sec: National Income

Context:

• India has performed the worst on SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) and SDG 5 (Gender Equality) among the 15 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) monitored, according to NITI Aayog’s SDG Index, 2023-24.
• SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) were not included in the ranking criteria, as SDG 14 applies only to coastal states.

SDG 5: Gender Equality:

• The national average score for SDG 5 is the lowest at 49 out of 100.
• 13 states and one Union Territory scored below the national average, including Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, and West Bengal.
• Odisha performed the worst with a score of 39, particularly struggling with the female-to-male wage ratio at 0.56, followed by Jharkhand (0.6).

SDG 2: Zero Hunger:

• The national average score for SDG 2 is the second lowest at 52 out of 100.
• 10 states and one Union Territory scored below the national average.
  • These include: Odisha, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Manipur, West Bengal, Tripura, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chandigarh and Telangana.
• Bihar scored the lowest at 24, followed by Jharkhand at 28.
• Bihar’s performance was notably poor, with 42.9% of children under five being stunted against a national target of 23.7%.

State Performance Analysis:

• Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh, some of India’s largest states by population, performed poorly on both SDG 2 and SDG 5.
• Bihar, despite improvements from a score of 32 in 2020-21 to 57 in 2023-24, remained the poorest performer, lagging in five SDGs including SDG 2 and SDG 5.

Global Perspective:

• India’s global rank improved to 109 out of 166 countries, yet the country still faces major challenges under SDG 2 and SDG 5.
• The Sustainable Development Report 2024 indicated India’s progress on ending hunger has stagnated, despite dismissing the findings of the Global Hunger Index, which reported the highest child wasting rate.

SDG India Index:

• The SDG India Index is a tool developed by NITI Aayog to measure and track India’s progress towards the SDGs set by the United Nations.
• The Index supports the localisation of SDGs, encouraging states to integrate these goals into their development plans.
• It serves as a benchmark for policymakers to identify gaps and prioritise actions towards achieving sustainable development by 2030.
• Methodology: The Index assesses the performance of states and union territories (UTs) across 16 SDGs using a set of indicators aligned with national priorities.
• The SDG India Index measures national progress using 113 indicators aligned to the National Indicator Framework.
• Goal-wise scores are computed for the 16 SDGs, and overall composite scores are derived for each State/UT. Goal 14 (Life Below Water) has not been included in the calculation of the Composite Score for the Index as it solely pertains to the nine coastal States.
• Scores range from 0-100, with higher scores indicating greater progress toward SDG targets.
• State/UTs are categorised based on their SDG India Index score as follows: Aspirant: 0–49, Performer: 50–64, Front-Runner: 65–99, and Achiever: 100.

Source: IE