Morung Express News
Dimapur | December 20
Nagaland was bracketed among the states/union territories with ‘High Social Progress’ as per the Social Progress Index (SPI) for states and districts submitted to the Economic Advisory Council-Prime Minister (EAC-PM) and released on December 20.
‘High Social Progress’ is the Tier-II (Score Range 56.40 – 60.02) of the SPI, designed by the Institute for Competitiveness and Social Progress Imperative and described as a comprehensive tool that can serve as a holistic measure of a country's social progress at the national and sub-national levels.
Specifically, with a total score of 59.24, Nagaland was ranked 14th among 36 states and UTs assessed in the index.
In Tier-I described as ‘Very High Social Progress,’ (64.19 – 72.90) there were 9 states/UTs, with Puducherry topping the index with an overall score of 65.99, followed by Lakshadweep (65.89) and Goa (65.53). Two states from North-East - Sikkim and Mizoram were in 4th and 5th with score 65.10 and 64.19 respectively.
The other tiers were Tier 3- Upper Middle Social Progress (56.40 – 60.02); Tier 4- Lower Middle Social Progress (47.44 – 52.16); Tier 5- Low Social Progress (47.44 – 52.16); and Tier 6 - Very Low Social Progress (38.77 – 47.40)
Three states were in the ‘Tier 6’ with Jharkhand and Bihar scoring the lowest, at 43.95 and 44.47, respectively while Assam was third lowest at 44.92.
What is SPI?
According to the EAC-PM’s release via PIB, the SPI assesses states and districts based on 12 components across three critical dimensions of social progress - Basic Human Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity.
Basic Human Needs assesses the performance in terms of nutrition and basic medical care, water and sanitation, personal safety and shelter, while Foundations of Wellbeing evaluates the progress across the components of access to basic knowledge, access to information and communication, health and wellness, and environmental quality, it said.
The Opportunity dimension focused on personal rights, personal freedom and choice, inclusiveness, and access to advanced education, it added.
In doing so, the index used an extensive framework comprising of 89 indicators at the state and 49 at the district level.
Nagaland’s district-wise performance
As per the interactive online platform of the Index, with a score of 59.24, Nagaland was designated as ‘overperforming’ in the overall assessment.
Dimension-wise, however, it was denoted as ‘overperforming’ in Basic Human Needs and Foundations of Wellbeing, while ‘performing within expectations’ in the Opportunity dimension.
Comparatively, based on the categorisation of the States/UTs, three districts in Nagaland - Kohima, Mokokchung and Dimapur, were in the ‘Tier-I’ with score 69.6, 66.9 and 66.2 respectively.
Phek was in ‘Tier-II’ while the rest -Wokha, Peren, Zunheboto, Kiphire Tuensang, Longleng and Mon were in ‘Tier-III.’
Five districts were above overall State’s average of 59.24 while data for the rest were not available on the portal.
Component-wise Nagaland scored well in Nutrition and Basic Medical Care, Water and Sanitation, Personal Safety, Personal Freedom and Choice, Environmental Quality while in Shelter, Health and Wellness, Personal Rights, and Inclusiveness, the State scored within ‘expectations.’ However, the lowest scores were in ‘Access to Information and Communications,’ Access to Advanced Education, Access to Basic Knowledge and Shelter.
