Kerala adjudged the best governed state in India, Bihar worst

The Public Affair Centre (PAC) awarded Kerala as the best governed state for the third consecutive year. The award is bestowed based on the study of the governing pattern in large states across India.

With Kerala occupying the top spot in the report, neighbouring Karnataka is in the fourth position, said the Public Affairs Index 2018 released by PAC.

The report was released on Sunday at an event held in Bengaluru. It said, “Kerala has topped the Public Affairs Index (PAI) for 2018 as the best-governed state for the third consecutive year since 2016 among states.”

The ranking has been released since 2016, by examining the performance of the state government through a data-based framework, ranking them on social and economic factors.

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The think tank was founded by late Samuel Paul, a renowned Indian economist and scholar in 1994, the objective of the think tank is to mobilise demand for better governance in the country.

According to reports, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka and Gujarat followed Kerala among the top five states delivering good governance. Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand are ranked the lowest on the PAI, indicating higher economic and social inequalities in the state.

Among the smaller states (states with population of less than two crores), Himachal Pradesh tops the list of states with good governance following Goa, Mizoram, Sikkim, and Tripura. At the bottom of the index states like Nagaland, Manipur and Meghalaya are placed.

As a young country with a growing population, India needs to assess and address its developmental challenges, said the Chairman of PAC, K. Kasturirangan, on the occasion.

“The PAI 2018 is one example of a data-based framework that provides some basis, even if rudimentary, to assess the performance of states in India,” added Kasturirangan, the former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

For undertaking their research the think tank has segregated all the Indian in 10 parameters 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 CK Mathew.

The study is conducted using data collected by the government, measuring 100 indicators and 30 focus subjects. The PAC said it was not keen to access private data sources that may be interpreted as “biased”.

PAI has introduced a separate index on the children of India this year. Indicating a measure of how child-friendly each of the states is, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Mizoram occupied the top three spots.

“Children growing up in poverty cannot be blamed for their situation and it is the state’s responsibility to ensure that they are provided with opportunities for a better living,” Shantha Sinha, the former chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said.