Nagaland has called for greater flexibility in the way national Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators, policies and programmes are applied to the State, with Principal Secretary and Development Commissioner Y Kikheto Sema highlighting several areas where national measurements may not fully reflect the realities of Nagaland and the North Eastern Region (NER).
Kikheto raised the issues during a National Workshop on SDG Budgeting organised by NITI Aayog and UNDP and hosted by the Government of West Bengal under the State Support Mission in Kolkata on September 29.
On financial inclusion, linked to SDG 1 (No Poverty) and SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), Kikheto said 14 of Nagaland’s 76 blocks remained unbanked. He noted that people in some remote areas have to travel 30–40 km to access banking services.
He said access to banking services was essential for the effective delivery of government welfare schemes, as benefits are linked to bank accounts.
He called for appropriate financial support from the Government of India and innovative mechanisms to improve the viability and accessibility of banking services in underserved areas.
Kikheto also questioned whether some agricultural indicators used in the SDG India Index adequately capture Nagaland’s agricultural context.
Under SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), he referred to indicators such as average rice yield and productivity of fruits and vegetables. He said Nagaland remained relatively untouched by the Green Revolution and that many farmers continued to practise jhum and shifting cultivation.
According to Kikheto, lower productivity should not by itself be interpreted as an indication of food insecurity or poor agricultural performance. He suggested that such indicators should also be viewed alongside local cropping patterns, nutritional outcomes, environmental sustainability, high-value crops and farm incomes.
He further raised concerns over the SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) indicator measuring the area under jhum cultivation as a percentage of total agricultural area, for which the target is set at zero.
Kikheto said the target needed to be considered in the context of the hilly States of the Northeast. He argued that jhum was not merely an agricultural practice but was also connected with the culture, traditions and livelihoods of communities in the region, with agricultural cycles closely associated with traditional festivals.
He therefore stressed that jhum should not be assessed solely as a practice to be eliminated, but should also be understood through its ecological, cultural and livelihood dimensions.
The Development Commissioner also pointed to what he described as a gap between agricultural education and indigenous farming practices. He noted that Nagaland has eight Agriculture and Allied Departments with agriculture professionals, but indigenous systems, including jhum and shifting cultivation, were not adequately covered in agricultural education curricula, including in agricultural institutions in the State.
He called for greater inclusion of jhum and shifting cultivation in the curricula of agricultural colleges and institutions, particularly across the Northeast, to strengthen understanding and research and to develop approaches suited to the region’s indigenous farming systems.
Nutrition was another area where Kikheto sought contextual consideration. Referring to the SDG 2 indicator on the percentage of women aged 15–49 whose Body Mass Index (BMI) is below 18.5, he acknowledged the WHO classification as a standard benchmark but questioned whether a uniform BMI threshold adequately captured nutritional status across diverse populations.
He suggested that the distinct demographic, anthropometric and socio-cultural characteristics of the Northeast should be considered and that region-specific evidence could be examined while interpreting the indicator.
Kikheto’s broader argument was that India’s geographical, cultural and socio-economic diversity requires greater flexibility in the design and implementation of development policies.
He said a one-size-fits-all approach may not adequately address local realities and called for national policies, schemes and cost norms to provide greater flexibility while incorporating the perspectives of States and communities.
The workshop brought together senior officers from 36 States and Union Territories, Union ministries, UNDP and other stakeholders to deliberate on strengthening SDG budgeting and integrating the goals into State planning and budgeting processes.
The Nagaland delegation comprised Kikheto, Finance Commissioner and Commissioner & Secretary to the Chief Minister Kesonyu Yhome, IAS, and Assistant Planning Officer Loktimen Longchari.