Morung Express News
Dimapur | November 7
Governance in Nagaland, which improved slightly between 2019 and 2020, remained stagnant in 2021, reflected a nationwide index by a leading Think Tank in India.
Nagaland was ranked 8th among 11 small states in India in the latest Public Affairs Index 2020 (PAI 2021), an annual ranking of the states and union territories (UTs) of India on governance performance launched by the Public Affairs Centre (PAC) last week.
This reflected the non-improvement the quality of governance as the State was ranked in the same position in 2020, after improving from 10 in 2019.
According to the PAC, the index is an amalgamation of 3 significant pillars that embody Governance – Growth, Equity, and Sustainability, 5 themes, 14 Sustainable Development Goals and 43 indicators.
In the overall ranking, Nagaland, with an index score of -0.317, was placed 8th among the 11 small States. Manipur led from the bottom, followed by Uttarrakand, Delhi and Nagaland. Nagaland’s score in 2020 was -0.117.
Among the large states, Kerala again topped the index with 1.618, followed by Tamil Nadu (0.897) and Telangana (0.891). The bottom three order was repeated in 2020 with Uttar Pradesh scoring lowest, followed by Bihar and Odisha.
Among the Union Territories, Puducherry was best governed while Andaman & Nicobar was at the bottom.
Pillar-Wise Performance
While Nagaland maintained the same position in terms on Equity Pillar, the Index score declined from 1.171 in 2020 to -0.004 in 2021.
According to PAC, the Equity Pillar analysed the “inclusiveness in terms of the welfare of a society that depends primarily on establishing that all people feel that they have a say in the governance and are not excluded from the mainstream policy framework.”
Sikkim topped the pillar, followed by Meghalaya and Mizoram respectively, while Arunachal Pradesh was at the bottom, followed by Delhi and Uttarrakand.
In the ‘Growth’ pillar, Nagaland’s ranking was worst with a score of -1.187, beaten to the bottom by Meghalaya. The State held the same position last year.
Goa repeated its good performance in the pillar, while Delhi and Himachal Pradesh followed next.
According to PAC, Growth in its” multidimensional form encompasses the essence of access to and the availability and optimal utilisation of resources.”
The resources included human resources, infrastructure and the budgetary allocations, which among others could result into better health care, improved educational outcomes, increased capital accumulation and lower unemployment levels.
Meanwhile, in Sustainability as an organising principle, Nagaland improved from 6th in 2020 to 5th in 2021 with a score of 0.242.
The Pillar analysed the “access to and usage of resources that has an impact on environment, economy and humankind,” the PAC noted.
Mizoram topped the Sustainability Pillar followed by Arunachal Pradesh and Goa among the small states. Delhi was at the bottom, followed by Uttarakhand.
‘Scheme of Things’
Meanwhile, analysis developmental activities undertaken by State Governments in the form of schemes to complement the Governance Model informed that Nagaland performed exceptionally well in some while faltering in others.
In Integrated Child Development Services (Icds), among the 90:10 division States, the top three performers were Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.
However, in the Mid- Day Meal Scheme (MDMS), Jammu & Kashmir, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh were the bottom three performers.
Among the poor performers, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh also had high dropout rates; 35.5% and 34.9% respectively and the former has low GER at elementary level.
In Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SMSA) schemes, Nagaland again featured in the bottom three with Jammu & Kashmir among the 90:10 States.
In Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Nagaland was among top three performers. Nagaland ranked third overall and was a consistent member of the top three performers in the themes of Access (3rd), Coverage (1st) and Availability (2nd), the PAI highlighted.
In the ranking measured as the ‘Delta value’ over the last five to 10 years of data available for 12 Key Development Indicators (KDI), Nagaland topped the overall category followed by Mizoram and Tripura. These KDIs are the outcome indicators crucial to assess Human Development. Odisha and Nagaland have shown the best year-on-year improvement under 12 KDI, it added.
