Karnataka has been ranked third in the country in the quality of governance, according to a study conducted by the Public Affairs Centre (PAC). Kerala has been ranked 1 and Tamil Nadu 2 in the ranking of 30 states undertaken by PAC.

A report of the study was released on Saturday by former Chief Justice of India M N Venkatachalaiah. The study is known as the Public Affairs Index (PAI).

States have been categorised into large and small.

The report ranked the states after examining a complex set of 68 variables covering 25 focus subjects and 10 themes and employing secondary data available in the public domain. Among the smaller states, Mizoram stands at the top, with Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Sikkim following. A website on the subject, http://pai.pacindia.org/ was launched by Mohan Das Pai, chairman of the Manipal Global Education.

PAI is an attempt to bring states which are culturally, economically and socially diverse into a common data-driven framework, to facilitate an inter-state comparison.

A well-framed methodology backed by statistical data from government sources has been included in the study to provide insights into the subject. PAI is an attempt to measure governance in an objective manner using data available in the public domain - it has relied dominantly on government data in carrying out this study. It is also an effort to assign scores and ranks to states based on the aggregation of data in key areas of governance.

The project is led by Dr C K Mathew, Senior Fellow, PAC and former chief secretary to the government of Rajasthan. He has been assisted by researchers Athreya Mukunthan and Vivek Devakar.

Justice Venkatachaiah said there is need for greater internal freedom, more economic liberty and better delivery of justice. The country cannot lag behind in justice while focusing on economic growth, he said. Mohandas Pai said that now that the problems have been shown and the quality of governance ranked, it was time to craft a roadmap of solutions to address the problems and help States improve their ranking.

Karnataka tops in providing adequate and effective social protection.

While it ranks 2 in transparency and public accountability and environment, it seems to lag behind in delivery of justice with a rank of 13.

The State performs above average in women and children, crime, law and order. In education and health, said to be the pillars of development, the state has performed well with second rank.