Shillong, July 8: Meghalaya has shown mixed progress in advancing towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to the second edition of the North Eastern Region (NER) District SDG Index 2023-24. The Index, jointly developed by NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MoDoNER) with technical support from UNDP, evaluates the performance of 103 districts across the Northeast.

Among Meghalaya’s 12 districts, 10 have been placed in the ‘Front Runner’ category (scores between 65 and 99), indicating moderate to strong SDG performance. However, disparities within the state remain. East Khasi Hills has emerged as the top-performing district in Meghalaya with a composite score of 73, improving significantly from 66.27 in the previous edition. It is now ranked 26th across the Northeast. In contrast, East Jaintia Hills has slipped to the bottom within the state, falling into the ‘Performer’ category (score between 50 and 64) with a score of 63, down slightly from 63.33. It is now ranked 114th regionally, the lowest among Meghalaya’s districts.

The state has no ‘Aspirant’ districts (score below 50), signaling a baseline level of progress across all regions. However, Eastern West Khasi Hills has not been ranked in the current report due to data unavailability.

Meghalaya began its SDG journey with the formation of a dedicated SDG Cell in 2018 to coordinate planning and implementation, including the preparation of the “Meghalaya Vision 2030” roadmap. The Planning Department is the nodal agency overseeing this initiative. The state has established its own monitoring framework aligned with the national SDG indicators provided by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). It includes 195 State Indicators, of which 130 are integrated into the district-level framework, and 29 into the Block Level Indicators.

In November 2024, Meghalaya took a major step forward by hosting an SDG localisation workshop in collaboration with NITI Aayog and the German development agency GIZ under the Green and Sustainable Development Partnership (GSDP) Support Project. A significant outcome of this workshop was the launch of a mobile application and a dynamic district-level dashboard for SDG data collection and dissemination. This technology initiative is designed to empower stakeholders with real-time data input and analysis, enabling more responsive policy-making.

Another key policy innovation has been the “CM Catalytic Fund,” initiated in 2023 and expanded into its second phase in November 2024. Under this scheme, large and small districts receive ₹12 crore annually, comprising ₹4 crore as performance-based incentives and ₹8 crore as untied funds. The objective is to allow greater flexibility for Deputy Commissioners to design and implement local solutions to SDG-related challenges.

Meghalaya still lacks any ‘Achiever’ district (scoring 100), suggesting that while progress is visible, no district has reached SDG excellence yet.

In terms of specific goals, the state has notable success stories. In SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), South West Khasi Hills ranks at the top nationally, reflecting strong performance in reducing social and economic disparities. In SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), all ten ranked districts of Meghalaya fall in the ‘Front Runner’ category. The state also performs well in SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), with nearly 73% of its districts scoring in the top tiers.

It is in SDG4( Quality Education) indicator where 72.73 per cent districts are in the aspirant category where the state needs to improve. In SDG1( No poverty) indicator 63.64 per cent districts are in the performer category and in SDG2 ( zero hunger) 54.55 per cent districts are in the performer category.

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