Jitendra Singh, Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office | Photo Credit: Kamal Singh

Tamil Nadu topped the Good Governance Index launched by the Centre on Wednesday. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh followed among the ‘Big States’.

Among the ‘Big States’, the poor performers are Odisha, Bihar, Goa, and Uttar Pradesh with Jharkhand coming last.

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The States and UTs are divided into three groups — Big States, North-East and Hill States, and Union Territories.

Among the North-East and Hill States, Himachal Pradesh was ranked first, followed by Uttarakhand, Tripura, Mizoram and Sikkim. The worst performers in this group are Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, with Arunachal Pradesh coming last.

Puducherry is the best governed Union Territory followed by Chandigarh and Delhi. Lakshwadeep is the worst performing UT.

The rankings were launched by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, and the Centre for Good Governance.

Speaking at the launch of the Index, Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, said that the Index was scientifically designed based on various parameters of governance.

An official statement said that the index is a uniform tool to assess the status of governance and impact of various interventions taken up by State governments and Union Territories.

The States are assessed on performance in 10 sectors — agriculture and allied sectors, commerce and industries, human resource development, public health, public infrastructure and utilities, economic governance, social welfare and development, judicial and public security, environment, and citizen-centric governance.

In the agriculture and allied ranking, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Daman and Diu are the best performing States in their groups. This rating took into account the growth rate of agriculture and allied sector, foodgrains production, horticulture produce, milk and meat production, and crop insurance.

While assessing the performance of commerce and industries across States, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand and Delhi top the lists of their groups.