October 31 2020: The not-for-profit Public Affairs Centre (PAC) has announce the Public Affairs Index 2020 (PAI 2020), the annual ranking of the states of India on governance performance. PAI 2020 is the assessment of the adequacy and quality of Governance in the states of India for the year 2019-2020.
The results of PAI 2020 are:
1.Kerala emerged the Best Governed State in the Large States Category
2.Goa emerged the Best Governed State in the Small States Category
3.Chandigarh emerged the Best Governed Union Territory in the Union Territory Category
The states are ranked on Governance performance based on a Composite Index. The governance performance is analysed in the context of sustainable development defined by 3pillars –Equity, Growth and Sustainability; 5 Themes;13 SDGs and 50 indicators.
Apart from the pillar-wise rankings and analysis, PAI 2020 also features an analysis of states’ performance over time (the five-year period 2015-2020) and inter-state comparisons on performance.  PAI 2020 was launched on Friday, October 30, 2020 in a virtual event.
This is the 5thconsecutive annual edition of the ranking of the Governance performance of the states in India. The virtual launch began with G. Gurucharan, Director, Public Affairs Centre providing an overview of PAI 2020 that he summarised in the following words: “The states in India constitute the theatres of development praxis; and what the states do and how, or what they fail to do and why; are concerns that can scarcely be exaggerated. The Public Affairs Index (PAI), is an indispensable part of these concerns. This fifth annual edition of PAI reflects, through a scientifically rigorous and methodologically sound data analytics framework, on certain central development problems at the subnational level -growth, equity, and sustainability. PAI 2020 will have served its purpose if the state governments are able to draw actionable insights from it that enable them to do better in the years ahead, hastening the process of development convergence.”
Dr. K. Kasturirangan, Chairman Public Affairs Centre released PAI 2020. In his brief address he lauded the work done by Public Affairs Centre. Emphasising the importance of a scientific approach to sustainable development, Dr Rangan, the author of the New Education Policy emphasised: “Real obstacles stand in the path of a fuller understanding of persistent inter-generational deprivation and loss of opportunity challenges, that appear to reproduce themselves, especially in parts, of some states. To begin with, the influence of a ‘one size fits all’ approach on our development outlook has been pervasive; and the overwhelming majority of interventions, including centrally sponsored schemes, designed and implemented mechanically, sometimes unwittingly perhaps, running counter to the doctrine of objective pluralism. The evidence that PAI 2020 generates and the insights that it provides must compel us to reflect on the economic and social transition that is underway in India; and what its implications for future development praxis might be.”
Dr. A. Ravindra, Board Member, PAC announced the best performing states and Union Territories and congratulatedthem for their performance. He also added that:“PAI 2020 is a sincere effort to take a step forward in not just telling our audience where we are right now but also flashing light on where this may lead us and how we have progressed over time. It is an effort to recognise and highlight those states thatmay not be at the top but have been climbing up the ladder and hold up a mirror to the states who need to revamp development strategies to continue to grow. PAI 2020 is a conscious effort to present and analyse data in a manner that benefits not only policymakers and governments but also provides common citizens an unbiased perspective on the development trajectory of states. PAI 2020 is written with the objective of providing a practical and realistic narrative of the quality of governance in Indian states, to serve as a bridge between research and the real world.”
Delta Analysis
A new aspect in PAI 2020 is the chapter on Delta Analysis–the results on state performance and ranking measured as the Delta value over the last five years from 2015-16 when the first PAI was released, to 2019-20, covered by PAI 2020.In brief, the Delta Values show that:ï‚·In the large states’ category, in terms of Equity, Bihar followed by West Bengal, and Odisha who feature at the bottom of PAI 2020 are the top performers, while surprisingly Kerala, Punjab and Maharashtra feature at the bottom.
In the case of small states, Mizoram is the top performer, while Goa is placed at the bottom.
In the Growth pillar, Bihar, Assam and Odisha showed the highest improvement in the Delta value, while Kerala, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu feature at the bottom .
Among small states, Mizoram and Meghalaya have the highest growth with Manipur at the bottom. Himachal Pradesh ranks 2nd, but has the least improvement in the Delta value.
In terms of Sustainability, Odisha and Haryana, show the highest improvement in the Delta value. Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Assam find places at the bottom of the Delta rankings.
Among small states, Goa is the top performer followed by Delhi and Tripura. Meghalaya and Mizoram feature at the bottom. The section on State of the States measures inter-state disparities and shows that some of the states are not in a position to participate in competitive federalism, quite simply, because they are hobbled by resource constraints -of capital and human resources -rooted in endemic poverty and chronic backwardness. Some of the findings are that:
Female worker population ratio has a negative relationship with growth, indicating that economies are growing at the cost of widening gender disparities in high performing states.
Agriculture distress is still persistent in both high performing states as well as poor performing states
Rural indebtedness is increasing with a positive correlation between rural indebtedness and farmer suicides
The high, middle and poor performing states are on a path of convergence. Female labour force participation is a driving force in the case of high and middle performing states but not in the case of low performing states.
PAC is a not for profit Think Tank established in 1994 and headquartered in Bangalore,  with a mandate to improve the quality of governance in India.|
Link to more details and full rankings
Video of announcement