New Delhi, Jul 7 (PTI) Mizoram's Hnahthial has topped the NITI Aayog's ranking of north-eastern districts based on efforts towards tackling challenges to ensure social, economic and environmental development.

Mizoram's Hnahthial has emerged as the highest-scoring district with a score of 81.43 in NITI Aayog's second edition of North Eastern Region District SDG Index 2023–24, while Arunachal Pradesh's Longding was the lowest scoring district in the entire region at 58.71.

In the index released on Monday, the Aayog said 85 per cent of the districts of the NER are in the Front Runner category with overall score of 65–99. In the previous edition of the index, 62 per cent of the districts were in this category.

"The (2023-24) index is a major milestone in improving monitoring at the regional level. The index reflects the commitment to address development challenges across social, economic, and environmental dimensions while ensuring that no one is left behind in the NER," the Aayog said.

While Nagaland exhibited the widest range of 15.07 points between its highest and lowest performing districts, indicating the significant intra-state disparity, Sikkim has the narrowest range (5.5 points), showing the most consistent performance across its districts.

The latest index, developed by the Aayog collaboratively with the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (MDoNER), governments of north-eastern states, and UNDP India, covers 15 SDGs and ranks 121 of 131 districts of the region compared to 105 districts covered in the previous edition released in 2021.

According to the Aayog, Tripura has the distinction of having some of the highest-scoring districts with minimum intra-state disparities (6.5 points) while Mizoram and Nagaland have some of the highest-scoring districts but also show significant intra-state variation (ranges of 13.72 and 15.07, respectively).

The Aayog said all districts of Assam improved on indicators of Zero Hunger, Quality Education, Clean Water and Sanitation and Decent Work and Economic Growth.

Releasing the report, NITI Aayog's Vice Chairman Suman Bery emphasised that as India advances towards the vision of Viksit Bharat @2047, the achievement of intermediate milestones like the SDGs by 2030 is considered critical.

NITI Aayog CEO B V R Subrahmanyam cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling the region 'Ashta Lakshmi' of eight states, and highlighted the importance of their growth and progress.

MDoNER Secretary Chanchal Kumar emphasised the role of the index as a tool for identifying gaps, offer actionable insights to guide interventions and efficient resource deployment. PTI BKS HVA

District SDG ranking drives targeted interventions and resource deployment to address intra state development disparities. NITI Aayog's North Eastern Region District SDG Index 2023-24 ranks 121 districts across 15 Sustainable Development Goals as a performance-monitoring tool to identify development gaps, inform targeted interventions, and guide resource deployment. Compiled with MDoNER, state governments and UNDP, the Index highlights inter-district and intra-state disparities, records improvements on key social and economic indicators, and positions standardized metrics as actionable guidance for policymakers to prioritise interventions and track progress toward national development objectives.