A R DAS
Himachal Pradesh capital, Shimla has achieved the top spot while Dhanbad on bottom of the list of the first Sustainable Development Goals Urban Index released by the Centre on Tuesday in an attempt to localise SDGs and ensure progress at the national, state, Union territory and local levels.
Among the metropolitan cities, Delhi got the 20th position and Mumbai at 33rd. Bengaluru and Chennai ranked higher at 11th and 13th positions, respectively, while Kolkata ranked among the bottom ten.
The index and dashboard are the result of the collaborative efforts of NITI Aayog-GIZ and BMZ, under the Indo-German Development Cooperation, that assessed 56 cities on 77 SDG indicators.
The list was prepared taking into consideration performance of cities under categories such as poverty, health, education, gender equality, affordable and clean energy and climate action, among others.
“Cities are fast becoming engines of growth. The SDG Urban index and dashboard, a product of an innovative partnership between NITI Aayog and GIZ, will go a long way in instituting a robust SDG monitoring system in our cities, and is a milestone step in our SDG localisation journey,” Rajiv Kumar, NITI Aayog’s vice chairperson, said at the launch event of the sustainable development goals index and dashboard.
In its journey towards localizing the SDGs and instituting robust SDG progress monitoring systems at the national, state, UTs, and local levels, NITI Aayog has achieved yet another milestone with the launch of the inaugural SDG Urban Index and Dashboard (2021-22) today.
The index and dashboard will further strengthen SDG localization and institute robust SDG monitoring at the city level. Dr Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog, and Prof Dr. Claudia Warning, Director General, BMZ, launched the index and dashboard. Dr Kumar said cities are fast becoming engines of growth.
He said, the SDG Urban index and dashboard, a product of innovative partnership between NITI Aayog and GIZ, will go a long way in instituting a robust SDG monitoring system in cities, and is a milestone step in country’s SDG localization journey.
The methodology, used for the SDG India Index and North Eastern Region District SDG Index as well, was finalised in close collaboration with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
Out of 56 urban areas ranked in the index, 44 are with population of above one million. 12 are State capitals with population of less than a million.
Here’s the list of the top 10 and bottom 10 cities on the SDG Urban Index:
Top 10 cities on the SDG Urban Index:
1. Shimla
2. Coimbatore
3. Chandigarh
4. Thiruvananthapuram
5. Kochi
6. Panaji
7. Pune
8. Tiruchirapalli
9. Ahmedabad
10. Nagpur
Bottom 10 cities on the SDG Urban Index:
1. Faridabad
2. Kolkata
3. Agra
4. Kohima
5. Jodhpur
6. Patna
7. Guwahati
8. Itanagar
9. Meerut
10. Dhanbad
The data on these indicators have been sourced from official data sources including the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Unified District Information System for Education (U-DISE), data portals of various ministries, and other government data sources.