India / Govt releases latest 'Good Governance' rankings, Gujarat comes out on top

New Delhi: The BJP-led Gujarat and Goa, as well as the Opposition coalition-ruled Maharashtra have topped states on governance scale, recording the best composite rank score covering 10 sectors.

According to the Good Governance Index 2021, which was released by Union Home Minister Amit Shah at an event in New Delhi on Saturday, Goa registered a 24.7 per cent increase in over GGI 2019 indicators, Gujarat saw a 12.3 per cent rise in key governance indices.

The GGI 2021 Framework covered 10 sectors, namely Agriculture and Allied Sectors, Commerce and Industries, Human Resource Development, Public Health, Public Infrastructure and Utilities, Economic Governance, Social Welfare and Development, Judicial and Public Security, Environment and Citizen-Centric Governance. It also assessed the states on 58 indicators.

Gujarat, which saw the BJP replacing Vijay Rupani with Bhupendrabhai Patel as the new chief minister and installing a whole new Cabinet earlier this year, fared strongly in 5 of the 10 sectors --- economic governance, human resource development, public infrastructure and utilities, social welfare and development, judiciary and public safety. The state is slated to go to polls next year.

Goa, which will also go to polls next year, returned good numbers in agriculture and allied sectors, as well as commerce and industry among others.

Maharashtra, which is currently under the ruling coalition of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress, also fared well on key governance indices. It is the only Opposition-ruled state to figure at the top of the GGI index.

Uttar Pradesh which will go to polls next year has shown an incremental growth of 8.9 % over GGI 2019 performance. Among the sectors, the state has secured top position in Commerce & Industry sector and has also shown an increase in Social Welfare & Development and Judiciary & Public Safety. Uttar Pradesh has also performed in citizen centric governance, including public grievance redressal.

As per GGI 2021, Jharkhand has bettered its 2019 performance by 12.6 percent. It has performed strongly in 7 of the 10 sectors. Rajasthan, on the other hand, has shown an incremental growth of 1.7 percent over the GGI 2019 performance.  

Among the North-East and Hill States category, Mizoram and Jammu and Kashmir have registered an overall increase of 10.4% and 3.7% respectively over GGI 2019. Mizoram has performed strongly in commerce and industry, human resource development, public health and economic governance, while Jammu & Kashmir has performed strongly in Commerce & Industry sector and has improved its scores in Agriculture & Allied Sector, Public Infrastructure and Utilities and Judiciary and Public Safety sectors.

According to GGI 2021, in the Union Territories category, Delhi has topped the composite rank registering a 14 percent increase over the GGI 2019 indicators. Delhi has performed strongly in Agriculture & Allied Sectors, Commerce & Industry, Public Infrastructure and Utilities and Social Welfare & Development.

Speaking at the event at Vigyan Bhavan in the national capital on Saturday, Amit Shah said people’s faith in democracy has been enhanced since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014.

The Union Home Minister said the Modi-led regime delivered on good governance that people had long been waiting for. Claiming that the PM has delivered on a “clean and transparent administration” over the last seven years, Shah added that people have been drawing the benefits of the development initiatives undertaken by the present dispensation at the Centre.

Shah further claimed that there hasn’t been a single corruption charge levelled against the present regime.