Shillong: Hnahthial and Champhai in Mizoram, Gomati and West Tripura in Tripura, and Mokokchung in Nagaland have been ranked top five districts in the North Eastern Region district SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) index 2023-24 released by the Niti Aayog on Monday.

All districts of Mizoram along with Sikkim and Tripura have achieved frontrunner status, with no districts falling in the 'aspirant' or 'achiever' categories. Nagaland’s Mokokchung, Kohima and Dimapur break into the top 10 performers in the SDG index.

Mizoram’s Hnahthial district emerged as the best performing district at 81.43 per cent while Arunachal Pradesh’s Longding district has the lowest-scoring at 58.71 per cent in the entire region.

The tiny state of Sikkim has the narrowest range of 5.5 points in terms of the score of the highest and lowest district, showing the most consistent performance across its districts.

Tripura has the distinction of having some of the highest-scoring districts with minimum intra-state variation of 6.5 points, while Mizoram and Nagaland have some of the highest-scoring districts but also exhibit variation ranging of 13.72 and 15.07 respectively.

All districts of Assam improved on indicators of zero hunger, quality education, clean water and sanitation and decent work and economic growth, while Meghalaya has shown improvements in its ranking in the North Eastern Region District SDG Index 2023-24.

“The significant improvement in district performance reflects the impact of the national flagship schemes coupled with the localisation efforts of states and saturation of benefits through initiatives like the aspirational districts programme,” the NITI Aayog in its latest ‘North Eastern Region district SDG index’ report noted.

The North Eastern Region district SDG Index 2023-24 serves as a critical policy tool for evidence-based planning, resource allocation, and monitoring of developmental efforts.