In a recent development, Tamil Nadu has excelled to be in the top position in the composite ranking for Good Governance Index (GGI), followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka, as per reports furnished by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) of the Government of India. The composite ranking is conducted on the basis of nine parameters including public health, human resource development, public infrastructure, security, and law.

The report was released on Wednesday by Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension in New Delhi. He launched the GGI to assess the state of governance in the country.

According to the department, GGI attempts to create a tool to assess the states and union territories in India on the aspect of governance. "At present, there is no uniform index to objectively assess the state of good governance in the states. The good governance index attempts to create a tool that can be used to assess the states of governance and impact of various interventions taken by the state governments and the UTs," the ministry said. The objectives of GGI are to provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance in all states and union territories, enable them to formulate and implement suitable strategies for improving governance and shift to result-oriented approaches and administration.

According to the report, Chhattisgarh got the fourth position, followed by Andhra Pradesh (fifth), Gujarat (sixth), Haryana (seventh) and Kerala at the eighth rank under the ‘Big states’ category. The states and union territories have been divided into three groups -- big states, north-east and hill states, and union territories -- for the rankings based on certain indicators separately.

In the big states category, Madhya Pradesh is at the ninth rank, West Bengal at the tenth position, followed by Telangana (11th), Rajasthan (12th), Punjab (13th), Orissa (14th), Bihar (15th), Goa (16th), Uttar Pradesh (17th) and Jharkhand at eighteenth position. 

In the northeast and hill category, Himachal Pradesh has topped the ranking followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura, Mizoram, Sikkim, Assam, Jammu and Kashmir (now divided into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh), Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

Among the union territories, Puducherry has got the first position, followed by Chandigarh, Delhi, Daman and Diu, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep.

Sector-wise rankings

Tamil Nadu, which has bagged the top spot overall, has also been ranked first in public infrastructure and utilities sector, which includes access to potable water, towns and villages that have been declared open defecation free, power supply etc. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh grabbed the sixth and eighth spot in this category, while Kerala has been listed at the ninth spot. Karnataka took the tenth spot in this category.  

Kerala grabbed the first place in public health category which assessed the state on parameters like Infant Mortality Rate, Maternal Mortality Rate, availability of doctors and paramedical staffs at PHCs etc. Tamil Nadu came second in this category. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka grabbed the seventh, eighth and ninth spots respectively. Manipur and Puducherry have got the first position for Public Health sector in the northeast and hill states, and UTs category respectively.

Under the economic governance sector, Karnataka has got the first position followed by Maharashtra, Telangana, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu among the big states. For the judicial and public security sector, Tamil Nadu has got the first position followed by Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Haryana, Orissa, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Bihar.

Under the environment sector, West Bengal has got the top spot followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu among the big states. Jammu and Kashmir is first among the north-east and hill states, and Chandigarh in the union territories category for the ranking under the environment sector.

Under the agriculture and allied sector, Madhya Pradesh has got first position followed by Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh in the big states category. Mizoram has got the first position in north-east and hill states category and Daman and Diu has bagged the top slot in the UT category for the sector.

In the commerce and industries sector, Jharkhand has got the first position in big states category, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Among the north-east and hill states, Uttarakhand has achieved the top rank, whereas Delhi is at the first rank in the union territories category.

Goa has got the first rank among big states for the human resource development sector. Himachal Pradesh has got the first position among the north-east and hill states and Pondicherry is at the first place among the UTs for this sector.

Under the public infrastructure ranking sector, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh have got the top slot in north-east and hill states, and UTs category. 

Under the economic governance category, Uttarakhand has got the top rank in the north-east and hill states category. Delhi has got the first position in the union territories category for the sector.

Chhattisgarh has got the first position in the social welfare and development sector ranking. Meghalaya has topped the slot for the northeast and hill states. Daman and Diu is at the first position in the UTs category for the sector.

Himachal Pradesh is at the first position among the northeast and hill states, and Pondicherry has got the top slot among the UTs, under the judicial and public security sector ranking.

"The tenth sector, i.e. citizen-centric governance has not been included for scoring and ranking purpose as at present only one indicator is identified as part of the sector," the Personnel Ministry said.

(with inputs from PTI)