In the Public Affairs Index 2018 released by the think tank Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Himachal Pradesh tops the list as best governed state in small states category. Himachal also ranked in the top states in the index to provide better living conditions for all children.
Goa was the second in the list followed by Mizoram, Sikkim and Tripura in top five. Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya were ranked at the bottom of the index.
In the larger state category Kerala topped the list followed by Tamil Nadu. Telangana, Karnataka and Gujarat are ranked third, fourth and fifth among the top five states delivering good governance, according to the report. Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Bihar ranked the lowest on the PAI.
Released annually since 2016, the index examines governance performance in the states through a data-based framework, ranking them on social and economic development.
The think tank has undertaken the study across all the Indian states considering them across 10 themes such as essential infrastructure, support to human development, social protection, women and children as well as law and order.
“The index provides a multi-dimensional and comprehensive matrix that attempts to capture the complexities of governing the plural and diverse people of this sub-continent,” added Senior Fellow at PAC C.K. Mathew.
The states were divided into two categories — large and small — on the basis of their population. States with more than two crore population were considered large.
A total of 30 focus subjects and 100 indicators were measured to derive the PAI, relying solely upon government data.
The PAC said it was not keen to access private data sources that may be interpreted as “biased”.
This year’s PAI also included a separate index on the children of India, giving a measure of how child-friendly each of the states are. Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Mizoram topped the index on being the states to provide better living conditions for all children.
(With IANS inputs)
