The Union Minister of Home and Cooperation Shri Amit Shah will virtually release India’s First “District Good Governance Index”, prepared by DARPG in collaboration with Government of Jammu & Kashmir in the august presence of Minister of State for PMO, Personnel, PG and Pensions Dr. Jitendra Singh and the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir Shri Manoj Sinha at Convention Centre Jammu today. 

The collaboration received from Chief Secretary Government of Jammu & Kashmir, Shri Arun Kumar Mehta, enabled the conceptualization and formulation of an index that measures the diversity of governance model in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It provides a roadmap for similar benchmarking of Governance at District level for all States and Union Territories of India.

The Union Minister of Home and Cooperation Shri Amit Shah had released the National Good Governance Index on December 25, 2021. The Good Governance Index 2021 indicated that Jammu and Kashmir had registered an increase of 3.7 percent in Good Governance Indicators over the 2019 to 2021 period. Strong performances were witnessed in Commerce and Industry, Agriculture and Allied Sectors, Public Infrastructure & Utilities, Judiciary and Public Safety Sectors. Significant improvements were reported in Ease of Doing Business, Tax collection, Skill trainings imparted, Connectivity to rural habitations, Economic empowerment of women, Health insurance coverage and Housing for all. There were improvements in conviction rates, disposal of court cases and proportion of women police personnel. Citizen Centric Governance sector witnessed a strong performance.

 In this backdrop of strong governance performance at National level, the Government of Jammu & Kashmir’s initiative of benchmarking governance at District level assumes considerable significance. The District Good Governance Index has helped identify the impact of various governance interventions at district level and provide a futuristic roadmap for improving district level governance with targeted interventions. The stakeholder consultations necessitated 10 rounds of meetings at Government of India level including meetings with Chief Secretary J&K, District Collectors, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, consultations with Academia and Sector Specialists from other States all of which were coordinated by DG IMPARD.

Some of the key highlights of the results the DGGI has presented are

1. 1. In Agriculture and Allied Sector – Universal coverage has been achieved in Kisan Credit Card scheme, Soil Health Card Scheme and Animal Vaccination. Most Districts of Jammu & Kashmir witnessed growth of Food Grain Production, Horticulture produce, Milk and Meat production, poultry production, agriculture credit.
   2. Commerce and Industry Sector – improvement is seen in GST registration, MSME units registered online, Credit to Handicrafts and Credit for Self-Employment. There is a 109 percent increase in credit to handicrafts in 2019-2021 period.
   3. Human Resources Development Sector – The percentage of Schools with Drinking Water, Separate Toilets and Electricity Facilities have shown an increase as also the percentage of schools with access to computers and number of children served mid-day meals. In 10 districts 100 percent skill trainings have been imparted to registered students.
   4. Public Health Sector – Full Immunization represents a significant success story, percentage of PHC/ Sub-Centers converted to Health & Wellness Centers, proportion of Anganwadis with own buildings have shown improvements.
   5. Public Infrastructure and Utilities Sector – Housing for all scheme indicates more than 50 percent of sanctioned houses being grounded in 12 districts, Ganderbal and Srinagar achieving 100 percent access to safe drinking water, 18 districts achieving 100 percent access to sanitation facilities, improvements in households electrified and construction of all-weather roads.
   6. Social Welfare and Development Sector – 80 percent Aadhar seeding of ration cards represents a major milestone.
   7. Financial Inclusion Sector – Financial inclusion under Jan Dhan Yojana has achieved universal coverage, financial support under self-employment schemes has also registered double digit growth.
   8. Judicial and Public Safety Sector – disposal of court cases has gone up significantly.
   1. Citizen Centric Governance Sector – tremendous momentum in government offices converted to e-Office, almost 100 percent progress in grievance redressal and significant increases in government services provided online.

The Prime Minister has said “In the Amrit period of Independence, we are marching ahead rapidly to create a transparent system, efficient process and smooth governance to make development all-round and all-inclusive. The Government is committed to strengthening good governance that is pro-people and proactive governance. Guided by the ‘citizen-first’ approach, we remain untiring in our efforts to further deepen the outreach of our service delivery mechanisms and make them more effective.”

Over the past 2 years, the DARPG has under the leadership of Dr. Jitendra Singh successfully collaborated with Government of Jammu & Kashmir in adoption of e-Office, capacity building programs for J&KAS, JK-IGRAMS integration with District Portals, conduct 3 regional conferences on replication of good governance practices.  The District Good Governance Index of Jammu & Kashmir represents a significant milestone in realizing this vision of Prime Minister for Next Generation Administrative Reforms during the Amrit Kaal period. 

On this occasion, DARPG thanks each of the officials who have enabled scripting this document and taking the Nation’s Governance model of “Maximum Governance – Minimum Government” forward.

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SNC/RR