Kerala ranked best governed state for fourth time

Kerala, under leadership of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has been ranked as the best-governed state in India. According to the annual report of the Public Affairs Index-2020 released by Public Affairs Centre in Bengaluru, Kerala is followed by Tamil Nadu. The annual report of the not-for-profit organization which is headed by former ISRO Chairman K Kasturirangan ranks states based on their governance performance and sustainable development. This is the fourth consecutive year in which Kerala has been awarded this. Amongst those who shared the good news on social media was Vijayan himself.

“Kerala tops the Public Affairs Index-2020 of Public Affairs Centre (@pacindia). The State has been ranked as the best-governed state based on a composite index with a focus on sustainable development goals. The people of the State deserve the credit for this achievement”, tweeted the chief minister’s office.

Kerala and Tamil Nadu is followed by Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha are in the bottom of the list. In small states category, Goa has been ranked as the topmost followed by Meghalaya and Himachal Pradesh. Manipur, Delhi and Uttarakhand are worst performers. Chandigarh is the best governed union territory (UT) followed by Puducherry and Lakshwadeep. Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Andaman, Jammu and Kashmir and Nicobar were the least performers.

Though Kerala had received international praise for flattening Covid curve in May, the state is now one of the largest contributors of Covid. There are over 4 lakh cases and more than 1500 deaths have been reported.

Reactions on social media

Many prominent people took to their social media to congratulate state government on the win.

“Once again, Kerala shows the way. Congratulations to the people of Kerala and the LDF state government for being adjudged the best governed large state in the country”, tweeted communist leader Sitaram Yechury.

“Public Affairs Centre headed by former ISRO chief K Kasturirangan ranks Kerala to be the best governed state in the country on a performance based composite index in the context of sustainable development, tweeted state finance minister Thomas Issac.

“#Karnataka adjudged fourth best governed large State in the Public Affairs Index 2020 released by the Public Affairs Centre on Friday, while #Kerala topped the index, as the best-governed state in the country”, tweeted journalist Darshan Devaiah BP.