Kerala best performing state in 2021: Think-tank

Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana were adjudged as the best performing states during 2021 by the think-tank Public Affairs Centre (PAC) which released the Public Affairs Index 2021 on Friday.

G Gurucharan, Director of Public Affairs Centre, said the 6th edition of the Public Affairs Index was important because it analysed the key indicators of the state in the year 2021, which has brought into focus the crucial nature of sub-national governance.

"Sub national governance came under focus like never before in the aftermath of the country-wide pandemic that disrupted the economy and society in unprecedented ways," he said.
He said the states bore the brunt as they struggled to address the human, economic, social as well as political challenges. "Critical appraisal of their effort is necessary because in the medium to long term, it is likely that much of the current development will centre on some states while others face less than optimal prospects," he said.

He said decentralised national governance must be built in states to navigate the context specific, technical and economic bottlenecks. The operations, however, should remain transparent and socially accountable, he added.

A Ravindra, Chairman of PAC, announced the winners. He said Kerala was the winner among the large states while Sikkim was the best performer in the small states category while Puducherry was best performing Union Territory.

Smridhi Pande, Programme Officer, said the 43 indicators included special development goals, five centrally-sponsored schemes, ranking of the states based on performance during the pandemic.

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