IN DEPTH- GOVERNANCE INDEX
On 25th December, the government released a good governance index to assess the state of governance in the country. States and Union Territories were divided into three groups. They were measured on 50 indicators in 10 sectors of governance. Tamil Nadu emerged on top of the Index among 18 big states in the country. In the north-east and hill category, Himachal Pradesh topped the ranking, Puducherry stood first among union territories
Good Governance Day:
Good Governance Day is observed in India annually on the twenty-fifth day of December, the birth anniversary of former-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Good Governance Day was established in 2014 to honor Prime Minister Vajpayee by fostering awareness among the Indian people of accountability in government.
In keeping with this principle, the Government of India has decreed Good Governance Day to be a working day for the government
On 23 December 2014, the ninety-year old former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya (posthumously) were announced as recipients of India’s highest civilian award for merit, the Bharat Ratna, by Indian President Pranab Mukherjee.
Following the announcement, the newly elected administration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi established that the birth anniversary of the former Prime Minister would be henceforth commemorated annually in India as Good Governance Day.
The Good Governance Index:
It is a uniform tool across States to assess the Status of Governance and impact of various interventions taken up by the State Government and UTs.
The Minister said that good governance initiatives by the Government draw inspiration from former PM Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji.
He added that good governance initiatives are being replicated not only by the states in India, but also by the other countries. He added that many regional conferences have been organized by the DARPG in different parts across India to replicate good governance practices.
The purpose behind developing a comprehensive index, termed as Good Governance Index (GGI), is to create a tool which can be used uniformly across the state, and eventually districtlevel, to assess the status of governance and impact of various interventions taken up by Central and State Governments including Union Territories (UTs).
Another significant contribution of the GGI would be contributing in tracking the progress of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at statelevel.
Objectives:
The objectives of GGI are to provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance in all states and UTs.
Enable states and UTs to formulate and implement suitable strategies for improving governance and shift to result oriented approaches and administration.
Various principles have been kept in mind while selecting the indicators, i.e. it should be easy to understand & calculate, citizen-centric & result driven, leading to improved results and applicable to all states and UTs, among others. Various consultation meetings were held with the stakeholders, including consultations with sector experts, ministries, states & UTs.
