Progressing J&K
The Good Governance Index (GGI)-2021 indicated that Jammu and Kashmir has registered an increase of 3.7 percent in Good Governance Indicators over the 2019 to 2021 period. Over past 2 years, the DARPG has successfully collaborated with Government of Jammu & Kashmir in adoption of e-Office, capacity building programs for JKAS officers, as well as integration of JK-IGRAMS with District Portals. DARPG also conducted three regional conferences on replication of good governance practices in Jammu and Kashmir. District Good Governance Index of Jammu & Kashmir was released virtually by the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah in presence of Union Minister Jitendra Singh and the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Manoj Sinha. The index represents a significant milestone in realizing this vision of Prime Minister for next Generation Administrative Reforms. 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 to identify impact of various governance interventions at district level and provide a futuristic roadmap for improving district level governance with targeted interventions. According to the report, Jammu topped the J&K’s first-ever District Good Governance Index (DGGI). Doda district came second on the list, followed by Samba, Pulwama and Srinagar. The DGGI is a framework document comprising of performance under ten governance sectors having 58 indicators with 116 data points. The criteria were adopted after following a rigorous and robust process of data collection, screening, and validation by each of the Districts. The governance sectors, performance of which was weighed under this index, includes Agriculture and allied sector (11 indicators), Commerce & Industry (5), Human Resource Development (9), Public Health (9), Public Infrastructure & Utilities (6), Social Welfare & Development (6), Financial Inclusion (3), Judiciary & Public Safety (4), Environment (2) and Citizen-Centric Governance (3).
