All the three editions of NITI Aayog, the Centre’s policy think tank’s implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), have one common feature –Tamil Nadu finishing on top with regard to Goal 1 - “No Poverty.”
A perusal of the third edition of SDG reveals that even Kerala, the number one State in the implementation of all the SDGs, occupies the third rank, trailing behind Tamil Nadu’s score of 86 by three marks. In fact, two of its neighbours, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka that are bigger than Tamil Nadu in area and better placed in terms of natural resources, are behind the State.
Lauding Tamil Nadu as one of the best administered States with respect to the implementation of schemes in general, S.M. Vijayanand, former Kerala Chief Secretary (May 2016-March 2017), who had observed Tamil Nadu closely during his spell at the Union Ministries of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj in the 1990s and 2010s, says the State is known for having a sound development administration, particularly at the district level.
