CHENNAI/BENGALURU: Tamil Nadu has been adjudged as the second best-governed State in the country, according to the Public Affairs Index-2020 released by the Public Affairs Centre based in Bengaluru on Friday. The report said the governance performance has been analysed in the context of sustainable development defined by equity, growth, and sustainability.
Four southern states, Kerala (1.388 PAI Index point), Tamil Nadu (0.912), Andhra Pradesh (0.531) and Karnataka (0.468) stood in the first four ranks in the ‘Large States’ category in terms of governance, the report said.
Former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Kasturirangan, who heads the PAC, said the States were ranked on governance performance based on a composite index in the context of sustainable development.
Uttar Pradesh came last in the ‘Large States’ category. Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Bihar were at the bottom of the ranking, scoring negative points in the category. They got - 1.461, -1.201 and -1.158 points respectively.
In the ‘Small States’ category, Goa was ranked first with 1.745 points, followed by Meghalaya (0.797) and Himachal Pradesh (0.725). Chandigarh emerged the best-governed Union Territory in the category of UTs with 1.05 PAI points, followed by Puducherry (0.52) and Lakshadweep (0.003). Dadar and Nagar Haveli (-0.69), Andaman, Jammu, and Kashmir (-0.50), and Nicobar (-0.30) were the below-par performers.
Kasturirangan emphasised on the importance of a scientific approach to sustainable development and 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.
To begin with, the influence of a ‘one size fits all’ approach on our development outlook has been pervasive; and the overwhelming majority of interventions, including centrally sponsored schemes, designed and implemented mechanically, sometimes unwittingly perhaps, running counter to the doctrine of objective pluralism.
“The evidence that PAI-2020 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.”