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Andhra Pradesh has bagged a creditable third position among the 28 states in the latest United Nations Sustainable Goals report by NITI Aayog. The state stood first in certain indicators such as health insurance coverage, clean water and sanitation, with an overall score of 67 points, which qualifies it as a frontrunner state.
According to the report, out of the 16 indicators, Andhra Pradesh has bagged the first position in providing clean drinking water and sanitation as well as peace, justice and strong institutions. The state is second in good health and well-being, climate action as well as economic growth, and third in alleviating poverty. It stands sixth at generating clean and affordable energy and 17th position at tackling gender inequality.
While Andhra Pradesh has scored a total of 67 points, the national average stands at 60 points. The state has improved overall by a margin of three points with 64 points in 2018.
In 11 categories, Andhra Pradesh has been termed a frontrunner, a performer in two categories and an aspirant in three categories, which is the lowest. The state has improved in parameters such as sex ratio at birth, open defecation-free districts, mobile teledensity, better road connectivity and door-to-door waste collection, among others.
Despite a third position in the ‘zero poverty’ category, Andhra Pradesh stands amongst the worst in ‘zero hunger’. The NITI Aayog report has mentioned food wastage as a primary factor for increased hunger levels. The state has bagged the second position in agricultural productivity.
Not left far behind, neighbouring state Telangana stands at the fifth position among all the states. While it has fared better at providing electricity, houses covered under electricity and economic growth, Telangana has scored fairly poor in maintaining gender equality.
Kerala ranks top in the list and Bihar at the bottom. Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim have shown maximum improvement compared to their ranks in 2018.