As per SDG India Index and Dashboard 2020-21 published by the NITI Aayog, which one of the following States was NOT among the top five States in their performance regarding SDGs in the country ?
- (a)Gujarat
- (b)Andhra Pradesh
- (c)Goa
- (d)Tamil Nadu
Correct — A, Gujarat. In NITI Aayog's SDG India Index 2020-21 (the third edition, released in June 2021), Kerala retained the top rank, and the leading group of best-performing States included Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Goa. Gujarat — though a strong industrial economy — was NOT among the top five performers on the composite SDG score. Since the question asks which State was NOT in the top five, the answer is Gujarat. (Exact position ordering varies slightly across summaries; the reliably checkable point is that Gujarat fell outside the top five while Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Tamil Nadu were inside it.)
- (b)Andhra Pradesh — Andhra Pradesh was among the top-five 'Front Runner' performers in the 2020-21 index, so it cannot be the State that was NOT in the top five.
- (c)Goa — Goa featured among the top-five best-performing States in the 2020-21 index, so it is not the correct answer to a 'NOT among the top five' question.
- (d)Tamil Nadu — Tamil Nadu was one of the leading States in the 2020-21 index, placing within the top five — hence not the answer.
The SDG India Index, developed by NITI Aayog, is India's principal tool for measuring the progress of States and Union Territories against the UN Sustainable Development Goals (the 17 SDGs). It scores each State/UT from 0 to 100 and sorts them into four categories: Aspirant (0–49), Performer (50–64), Front Runner (65–99) and Achiever (100). The 2020-21 report was the third edition; the earlier editions were 2018-19 (baseline) and 2019-20.
The trap is to equate industrial or economic size with SDG performance. Gujarat is a manufacturing powerhouse, so it 'feels' like a top performer — but the SDG Index rewards outcomes across health, education, gender, environment and inequality, where southern and hill States scored higher. Fix in memory that Kerala topped the index, and that the front-runner cluster was dominated by States like Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka — Gujarat was outside the top five.
- SDG India Index 2020-21 was NITI Aayog's third edition, released in June 2021.
- Kerala was the top-ranked State; the front-runner group included Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Goa.
- Gujarat was NOT among the top five performers; Bihar was at the bottom of the ranking.
- Categories: Aspirant (0–49), Performer (50–64), Front Runner (65–99), Achiever (100).
Kerala topped the index; Gujarat fell outside the top five, so (a) is the odd one out.
- Assuming an industrially strong State (Gujarat) must top a social-development index
- Mixing up the SDG India Index rank order — Kerala was 1st, not a metro State
UPPSC frames current-affairs report items as 'which State was / was NOT in the top ranks' — remember the publisher (NITI Aayog), the topper (Kerala), and the outliers.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which State topped NITI Aayog's SDG India Index 2020-21?
- (a)Tamil Nadu
- (b)Kerala
- (c)Himachal Pradesh
- (d)Gujarat
Answer(b) Kerala — it retained the first rank on the composite SDG score in the 2020-21 index.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The SDG India Index that ranks States and UTs on the Sustainable Development Goals is published by
- (a)Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
- (b)NITI Aayog
- (c)Reserve Bank of India
- (d)Ministry of Finance
Answer(b) NITI Aayog — it prepares the SDG India Index in collaboration with the UN in India and MoSPI.