Our Correspondent
Kohima, Aug. 17 (EMN): Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Monday launched ‘Nagaland Vision 2030: Leaving no one behind’, a document based on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Speaking at the launch programme in Kohima, Rio said that the 17 goals and the 169 targets for sustainable development documented in the 'Nagaland SDG Vision 2030' were aligned to the United Nations SDG – a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and to ensure that everyone enjoys peace and prosperity.
In this direction, the Nagaland SDG Vision Document 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.
The chief minister said that there were major challenges that needed to be addressed in order to meet the targets within the timelines. He urged the team from Delhi to reflect on the challenges and assist the state government in addressing them.
‘The north-eastern states, especially the hill states have lagged behind the rest of the country in terms of economic growth. One of the reasons is the low economic investments. 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,’ Rio said.
Further, the rigid implantation norms of most of the development interventions of Centrally-sponsored/Central schemes coupled with the shorter working seasons due to the monsoons, the typical land ownership system of the state and the comparatively higher cost of transportation etc., pose big challenges on the state in fulfilling the aspirations of the people, he added.
‘Therefore, it is important that the Central government recognises the required flexibility in the funding and implementation of schemes for the Northeast hill states,’ he shared.
He expressed hope that the Central government would take note of the strategies and the challenges highlighted in the document and suitably customise the programmes of the Centrally-sponsored and Central schemes to cater to the special needs of the state. Such actions, he said, would positively impact livelihoods and quality of life of the people in the long run.
Despite limitations, Nagaland has done reasonably well in various parameters like, being listed as the top performing state for Goal 12- Sustainable Consumption and Production, and being a front runner for Goal 2- zero hunger, Goal 6– clean water and sanitation, Goal 15– Life on land and others.
He asserted that the government of India and the UNDP would put a dedicated team in place to further guide the state so that its resources were optimally utilised with the targets in mind.
A target-oriented approach would help in reaching the goals. A proper monitoring mechanism and a dashboard to view the progress against each of the 169 targets on a regular basis should also be put in place, he suggested.
The chief minister called upon everyone to join hands to achieve the SDGs with renewed focus on innovation, co-operation and partnerships.
“Let us make this decade a 'Decade of Positive Action'. Let us work together to bring in long-term prosperity and better quality of life for people in the state, leaving no one behind, in the spirit and saying of the prime minister ''Sabka Saath, SabkaVikas,” he added.
Minister for Planning and Co-ordination, Land Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs, Neiba Kronu also launched ‘District SDG Localisation and Integration Manual’ during the programme.
In his address, he said that in order to ensure that the SDGs leave no one behind, it was essential to carry out the SDG localisation process across all districts and grassroots level in the state.
‘It is necessary to sensitise district administration and district-level departments on the SDGs in the first place. Secondly, it is important to share with them a structure on how they can work towards contributing to the goals,’ he said.
‘The manual contains the what, why and how of the SDGs, explained simply through interactive exercises and examples that are locally relevant, therein lies the key significance of this manual. It will be used as a key tool for carrying out the localisation process across all the districts and grassroots level in a structured and planned manner,’ he informed.
The minister stated that the manual would prove a useful guide during the process of planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation stages of SDGs at the local level. As soon as it is safe to travel, the SDG localisation process will also commence.
The State government through the SDGs Co-ordination Centre (SDGCC), with technical assistance from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has been engaged in the process of localisation and integration of the SDGs in the state.
‘The district manual will go a long way in localising the SDGs, that is to make them most relevant to the needs on ground,’ Kronu added.
Sanyukta Samaddar, Advisor (SDGs) NITI Aayog, lauded the state government on launching the document, saying that it was a matter of great pride for the state to be able to achieve a milestone.
The officer further said that the ministry of DoNER and NITI Aayog had come up with a collaborative project in developing the SDG index for 120 districts in eight north-eastern states, which would be launched on August 25.
She further informed that the ministry of DoNER would use the index as a tool for fund allocation, focusing on critical areas. Therefore, she requested the government of Nagaland to make use of the new multidimensional poverty index by NITI Aayog, which will help with policy planning and targeted intervention.
Nagaland is ranked 19th in the country with a score of 61 and fifth position among the north-eastern states in SDG performance, she said.
As for the district-wise performance in SDG, Kohima leads, while Kiphire is in the bottom. In Goal 1 (No poverty), 100% districts are in red category (aspirants, score of less than 50); in Goal 2 (zero hunger), 81% showed green (front-runners 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, Samaddar informed.
She expressed hope that the Steering Committee and with co-ordination among departments headed by the Planning department, Nagaland would improve in the years to come.
‘Nagaland performed well in some of the SDGs including clean water and sanitation, poverty eradication, clean energy, sustainable consumption and production, peace justice and strong institutions,’ she added.