❖ SDG India Index 2023-24 has analysed the performance of States and Union Territories in achieving the goals on the basis of 70 targets and 113 indicators.

❖ Tamil Nadu stands third with a composite score of 78, surpassing national average of 71

.❖ Tamil Nadu has been classified a ‘front runner’ in 13 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations.

❖ The report categorises the performance of the States based on their scores as ‘aspirant’ (0-49), ‘performer’ (50-64), ‘front runner’ (65-99), and ‘achiever’ (100).

❖ Tamil Nadu took the third spot with a composite score of 78, surpassing the national average of 71

. ❖ The State also retained its position as a front runner.

❖ The composite score of Tamil Nadu was 74 in the previous report released in 2020-21.

❖ Tamil Nadu tops in the goal of eradicating poverty, compared with the other States and the Union Territories

. ❖ According to the Multidimensional Poverty Index, Tamilnadu stands at 2.2%, as against the national average of 14.96%.

❖ The report says 22% and 25% of the children aged below five in the State are underweight and stunted respectively.

❖ The Maternal Mortality Ratio for one lakh live births and Under-five Mortality Rate for 1,000 live births stood at 54 and 13 respectively.

❖ The rate of deaths in road accidents per one-lakh population was 23.31, one of the highest in the country.

❖ The gross enrolment ratio of students in higher secondary and higher education was 81.5% and 47% respectively,

❖ The national average of the same is 57.6% and 28.4%.

❖ Further, 81.87% of the rural households in Tamil Nadu are getting safe and adequate piped drinking water.

❖ The unemployment rate and labour force participation rate in the State in the age group of 15-59 were 4.8% and 62.3% respectively.

❖ Nearly 92.8% of the households own at least one mobile phone.

❖ The percentage of the population covered by Aadhaar is 97.94.

❖ The unemployment rate has come down from 7.2% to 4.8%