Jharkhandis among the three worst-performing states along with Bihar and Assam in this years Goals (SDG) index released by NITI Aayog. In terms of hunger reduction, the state fared at the bottom of all 28 states.
As far as the hunger situation is concerned, the State Government is at the forefront since the outbreak of the pandemic to help the people like running community kitchens and distributing advance ration among others.
However, Niti Aayog has put Jharkhand, with an overall score of 56, at 27th rank in the SDG, while neighbouring Bihar was in 28th position and Assam was placed just above Jharkhand. In 2019, the states overall score was 53. On the other hand, Kerala has retained its top slot in this years index.
Niti Aayog released the SDG index for the third consecutive year to evaluate the performance of the states on 16 different parameters comprising POVERTY, Health, Food Security, Environment protection and Industry among other Growth indicators.
According to the report, Jharkhand was rated on 15 parameters in which it showed progress in 10 indicators compared to 2019 but fared miserably in the remaining five.
For example, last year, the state scored 22 in the zero hunger indicator which slipped to 19 this year. Under the decent work & economic growth category, it scored 54 against 70 in 2019. In industry, innovation and Infrastructure, too, the score came down to 37 from last years 70.