Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio launched the ‘Nagaland SDG Vision 2030: Leaving No One Behind,’ at the Capital Convention Centre in Kohima on Tuesday.

The Nagaland SDG Vision 2030 is a document that provides state-specific short, medium and long-term targets with measurable indicators and strategies that the State should focus on to meet the aspirations of the people for sustainable livelihoods and living standards, Rio said in his address.

The document is based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015.

Minister for Planning and Coordination, Land Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs Neiba Kronu launched the ‘District SDG Localisation and Integration Manual’ on the occasion.

Rio said with the northeastern states, especially the hill states, lagging behind in economic growth and Nagaland being a resource-constrained State, there is hardly any elbow room for the State Government to meet the large investments needed for capital and infrastructure development in the State.

He said the rigid implantation norms of most of the development interventions of centrally sponsored or central schemes coupled with the shorter working seasons due to the monsoons, the land ownership system of the State and the comparatively higher cost of transportation pose big challenges for the State in fulfilling the aspirations of the people.

He suggested that the central government recognize the required flexibility in the funding and implementation of schemes for the North East hilly states and take note of the strategies and the challenges highlighted in the document and suitably customize the programmes of the centrally sponsored and central schemes to cater to the special needs of the State.

Addressing the event, NITI Aayog adviser Sanyukta Samadar said India can achieve the SDGs only if the states steer the entire process of SDGs and become leaders in taking them down to the districts, blocks and village levels. She added that the North East region plays a crucial and strategic role in this.

Lauding the State Government for coming up with the document and manual, Samadar expressed the hope that with the steering committee and coordination among departments headed by Planning Department, the State’s position will improve in the coming years.

She noted that Nagaland has done remarkably well in clean water and sanitation, poverty eradication, clean energy, sustainable consumption and production, peace justice and strong institutions.

On fund mobilization and financing, Samadar said the DoNER Ministry and NITI Aayog have come up with a collaborative project in developing SDG index for 120 districts in eight northeastern states which will be launched on August 25.

The index will be used by the DoNER Ministry as a tool for fund allocation, focusing on critical areas, she stated.

Samadar urged the State Government to make use of the new multidimensional poverty index by NITI Aayog which, she said, will help with policy planning and targeted intervention.

In SDG performance, Nagaland is ranked 19th in the country with a score of 61 and among the North East states, it occupies 5th position.

For the SDG performance of districts in Nagaland, Kohima is the top-performing district with Kiphire at the last position.

In Goal 1 (No poverty) of SDG – 100% districts are in red category (aspirants, score of less than 50); in Goal 2 (zero hunger) – 81% in green (frontrunners with score of 65-99), 18% in yellow (score of 50 to 64); and in Goal 4 (quality education) – 9 % in red, 63% in yellow and 27% are in green category.

Minister Kronu said it is important to sensitise and share the structure on how to work towards the goals with the district administration and district level departments. He added that the manual contains the necessary information that are locally relevant in achieving the goals.