Tamil Nadu has topped the Good Governance Index among 18 big States in the country. The State was ranked among the top five in six parameters, including public infrastructure, judicial and public security and public health, among others. However, it lagged behind its competitors in the ranking for commerce and industries.
The Good Governance Index was released by the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions.
The Index takes 10 sectors into consideration: agriculture and allied, 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. Performance in these sectors is measured on the basis of 50 indicators.
Tamil Nadu was followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh in the overall ranking of 18 big States.
For the purpose of the rankings, the States and Union Territories (UTs) were divided into three groups – Big States, North-East & Hill States and UTs. The States and UTs were ranked on all indicators separately. At the same time, a composite ranking was also calculated for these States and UTs under their respective groups, based on the indicators.
Among the big States, Tamil Nadu was ranked number one on the Public Infrastructure and Judicial and Public Security parameters.
The indicators for public infrastructure included access to potable water, towns declared open defecation-free, villages declared open defecation-free, connectivity to rural habitations, access to clean cooking fuel (LPG/PNG), availability of 24/7 power supply, energy availability against the requirement and growth in per capita power consumption.
For judicial and public security, the indicators were conviction rate, availability of police personnel, proportion of women police personnel, disposal of court cases and disposal of cases by consumer courts.
Tamil Nadu was followed by Gujarat, Punjab, Maharashtra and Haryana in the public infrastructure rankings, and by Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra in the rankings for judicial and public security.
While the State managed to find a place in the top 10 when it came to environment (3), human resource development (5), economic governance (5), social welfare and development (7) and agriculture and allied (9), it was ranked 14th in commerce and industries.
The commerce and industries parameter had indicators such as ease of doing business, growth rate of industries and micro, small and medium enterprises. Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat rounded out the top five in this area.
| Rank | State |
| 1. | Tamil Nadu |
| 2. | Maharashtra |
| 3. | Karnataka |
| 4. | Chhattisgarh |
| 5. | Andhra Pradesh |
| 6. | Gujarat |
| 7. | Haryana |
| 8. | Kerala |
| 9. | Madhya Pradesh |
| 10. | West Bengal |
| 11. | Telangana |
| 12. | Rajasthan |
| 13. | Punjab |
| 14. | Odisha |
| 15. | Bihar |
| 16. | Goa |
| 17. | Uttar Pradesh |
| 18. | Jharkhand |
