The Yogi Adityanath government is in news not for good reasons it seems. With less than six months to go for the assembly elections, Uttar Pradesh has been ranked the state with the worst governance.
According to the latest Public Affairs Index prepared by the Bengaluru-based think-tank Public Affairs Centre, Uttar Pradesh has been ranked 18 (the last rank) for the quality of its governance.
The index, which is a measure of states’ governance, is a composite score for three broad factors — growth, equity and sustainability — which are based on 43 indicators.
Kerala has ranked as the state once again with the best governance, a position it has held ever since PAC started publishing the index five years ago.
Uttar Pradesh has not always featured at the bottom of the governance table. In 2016, when the PAC launched the first edition of the rankings, Uttar Pradesh ranked 12 and its scores were better than Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar.
The state’s ranking slipped to the 14th position in 2017, which it retained in 2018. But it slipped again in 2019, when the state ranked 17, just ahead of Odisha. Since 2020, UP has been stuck at the bottom.
The ranking comes even as the ruling BJP has been attempting to portray that Uttar Pradesh has transformed under the Yogi Adityanath government.
The PAC has changed its methodology of ranking the states since it launched its first ever report. In 2016, the report was based on 10 themes derived from 68 indicators, which have come down to three ‘factors’ based on 43 indicators.
In 2016, Uttar Pradesh had been ranked number 1 in fiscal management, which was based on how a state spent (per capita) on development and how it managed its financial performance, such as keeping the financial deficits in check.
The state also ranked among the top 10 in having essential infrastructure, social protection, delivery of justice, transparency and accountability, and economic freedom.
Since 2019, when the index started focusing on three broad parameters — growth, equity and sustainability, Uttar Pradesh has ranked last among all the big states in equity and sustainability. The rankings are based on data that the state and central government publish at regular intervals.
Overall Performance
Kerala was ranked first among the large states while Uttar Pradesh was ranked the last. Among the small states, Sikkim performed the best while Manipur’s performance was the worst.
Equity
The equity pillar analyses inclusiveness in policymaking and is based on whether people have a say in governance. Gujarat was ranked the first among the large states followed by Kerala, while Odisha and Karnataka were the last. Similarly, among the small states, Sikkim ranked the best while the worst performing states were Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi and Uttarakhand.
Growth
This pillar ranks a state based on the availability and optimal use of resources such as infrastructure, which in turn plays a crucial role in how a state performs in healthcare, education, employment etc. Telangana scored the highest while Madhya Pradesh ranked the lowest.
Sustainability
This ranks states based on access to and use of resources and has an impact on the environment, economy and humankind. Kerala is the best performing state in this category among the big states while Mizoram is the state with the highest rank among the smaller states.
