New Delhi: Odisha has been ranked 25th in its quest to achieve United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)s such as removing poverty, hunger and inequality in a report prepared by the NITI Aayog.
The UN has set 2030 as the deadline for member nations to achieve the set of 13 goals, and NITI Aayog has ranked the states based on the progress they have made till now in reaching the target. Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have emerged as the front runners.
As far as achieving the ‘no poverty’ goals is concerned, Odisha has been ranked 13th while Tamil Nadu has been ranked at the top in this category. Some of the North Eastern stated are even ahead of Odisha.
It stands at the 46th place in its drive to ensure ‘no hunger’ by 2030, putting it in the ‘aspirant’ section with to Gujarat, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
The only category where it has scored a perfect 100 out of 100 in ‘Life on Land’ goal which dictates sustainable use of forests, poverty reduction strategies, national accounts, fight against desertification, land degradation, etc.
The Opposition in the State was quick to latch on to the report to slam ruling BJD, arguing that the report was a reflection of the failure of the state government to achieve the economic growth “the way it should have made”.
Congress president Niranjan Patnaik said “several states used to stay below Odisha in the rankings released earlier but now in the name of development the government has made Odisha one of the poorest States in the country.”
BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra rejected such criticism saying, “the Opposition should have clear reason for their criticism as Odisha is an aspiring State and is on the way of performing better than what the report talks about.”
“The aim of the index is to instill competition among states to improve their performance across social indices as states’ progress will determine India’s progress towards achieving set goals by 2030,” NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has said in the report.
The nation as a whole has a score of 58, showing the country has reached a little beyond the halfway mark in meeting the SDGs.
Kerala’s overall top rank (69) is attributed to its strong performance in providing good health, reducing hunger, achieving gender equality and providing quality education.
