NEW DELHI: The country’s first ‘Good Governance Index’ — the Modi government’s attempt to measure governance across states and rank them on it— is likely to mirror the findings of numerous other reports which show southern states leading.
ET gathers that the Good Governance Index (GGI), soon to be announced by the Centre, shows southern states scoring high with Tamil Nadu leading on almost every parameter. Maharashtra and Karnataka come next.
Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat are said to be the top six rankers among big states while Odisha, Bihar, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand are at the bottom of the tally, ET has learnt.
Among the northeast and hill states, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Tripura lead while Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh are at the tail end of the rankings. Jammu & Kashmir is in middle.
In case of Union Territories, Pondicherry and Chandigarh lead while Lakshadweep is at the tally’s end. The GGI was conceptualised under the first term of the Modi government after the Sectoral Group of Secretaries on Governance recommended developing an index to gauge the performance of states. It takes off from the PM’s mantra of ‘maximum governance, minimum government’, and is envisaged as a tool to help states make informed policy decisions and bring a targeted approach to achieve maximum ‘good governance’. The index, through 10 sectors and 50 indicators, measures delivery of ‘good governance’ to citizens by way of delivery of essential services to citizens- like education, healthcare, economic growth, environmental protection, access to legal protection and judicial services.
Sector wise assessment of states shows the finer print of India’s governance story, and where each state may need to focus more. While West Bengal is learnt to have scored high on the environment sector along with Kerala, mining hit Goa and Andhra Pradesh are at the bottom as is the national capital Delhi, officials in the know indicated.
West Bengal, on the other hand does poorly on the judicial and public security rankings where Tamil Nadu and Kerala score high.
Karnataka which has seen considerable political turmoil of late is said to top the economic governance rankings while Kerala with its good record on medical facilities tops public health facility category.
Source: Economic Times
