VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh has retained its third place among the four best governed States in the country, as ranked by the Public Affairs Centre (PAC) in its Public Affairs Index - 2020. It scored 0.531 points, but the gap between it and the first two best performing States - Kerala and Tamil Nadu - continues.
PAI is an annual report prepared on the State’s governance on three broad parameters- equity, growth and sustainability- in two categories- large States with population of more than two crore and small States with less than two crore.
According to the report, Kerala topped the list in the large States category where its PAI was 1.388, followed by Tamil Nadu and AP. Karnataka ranked fourth with PAI of 0.468. In the small States category, Goa topped the list with PAI of 1.745, followed by Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim.
Releasing the report, PAC Chairman K Kasturirangan said, “Real obstacles stand in the path of a fuller understanding of persistent inter-generational deprivation and loss of opportunity challenges, that appear to reproduce themselves, especially in parts of some States. The evidence that PAI generates and the insights that it provides must compel us to reflect on the economic and social transition that is underway in India; and what its implications for future development praxis might be.”
Kerala ranks first in growth, sustainability
Explaining the report, Aparna Shrinivas, researcher of the paper, said, “States were assessed based on the data they share on public domain and what has been submitted to the Central government. It includes health, governance, children, malnutrition, women and child welfare, infrastructure, access to resources, gender equality in political and administrative participation and the Niti Aayog Report. Kerala ranked first in growth and sustainability but second in equity. For the study, 18 large States, 11 small States and seven Union Territories were assessed.
“Since there is no platform for States to evaluate themselves, through this we are showing them the mirror of what they have done and where they have lost out. The assessment is very subjective and if there are any differences in ground, then it only means that the data put on public domain and handed over by the Centre needs to be re-checked,” Aparna said.