Administrative Units and Local Government Institutions: 28 States and 8 UTs are organized into 785 districts, 7128 sub-districts and 7256 development blocks. India has 664574 villages including 769 forest villages. Rural local bodies are organized in 3-Tier formation with 665 districts panchayat, 6706 block panchayat and 255198 gram panchayat. The traditional local bodies include 14 Districts level councils, 228 intermediate level council and 13850 village level council. The Urban local bodies are organized 253 municipal corporation, 1904 municipalities and 2418 town panchayats. There are 59 cantonment boards. There are 543 Parliament constituencies and 4120 Assembly constituencies as on Ist January 2024.
The issue of good governance has in the recent times emerged at the forefront of the development debate. To promote good governance India has recognized the urgent need for administrative reforms to enhance the capacity and capability of the administrative systems in carrying out goals for economic and social development. It has been realized that the deficiencies in the administrative machinery constitute a major obstacle to the effective implementation of development plans and priorities The growing complexity of modern life in an age of rapid technological, social and economic changes has increased the role of the government, particularly in the provision of service delivery. Inspite of liberalization and privatization the government still continues to be the largest service provider with the largest resource base and catering to the largest section of the population. more...
Report on State wise Administrative Units & Panchayati Raj Institutions
A futuristic model of governance representing far reaching administrative reform in the Amrit Kaal Period.
An apt way of describing 21st century governance is “In god we trust, everybody brings data to the table.” As decision making becomes more complex and data driven, it is important to bring greater depth of data analytics and digital dashboards to governance models. The District Good Governance Index is one such initiative. The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) has stood at the forefront of analyzing and presenting assessments of Governance in States through the Good Governance Index 2019 and 2021 and the National E-Services Delivery Assessment Reports 2019 and 2021. The GGI framework covered 10 sectors and 58 indicators.
The Sectors of GGI 2021 were
The District Good Governance Index represents Next Generation Administrative Reform in Benchmarking Governance at District Level. This was prepared after extensive stakeholder consultations.
DGGI Gujarat is the first for any big state of India as the Index benchmarks governance in all the 33 districts of Gujarat on 65 indicators under 10 sectors. The ranking brings healthy competition amongst districts to address existing gaps, plan to bridge these gaps and aid decision making tools. 12 rounds of meetings were held between Government of Gujarat – DARPG and CGG Hyderabad in the conceptualization and formulation of the DGGI, Gujarat.
On Civil Services Day April 21 2023, Hon’ble Prime Minister said “when there is people centric governance, when there is development-oriented governance, it not only solves problems, but also gives better results. There is accountability towards the public in good governance, if one district performs well in the same state and the other does not, then the real reason behind this is the difference in good governance”.
DGGI UP is the largest state of India as the Index benchmarks governance in all the 75 districts of UP on 68 indicators under 10 sectors. The ranking brings healthy competition amongst districts to address existing gaps, plan to bridge these gaps and aid decision making tools. 16 rounds of meetings/webinars and interpersonal communication were held between Government of UP – DARPG and IIPA in the conceptualization and formulation of the DGGI, UP under the leadership of Chief Secretary.
DGGI Puducherry: Good Governance is very important factor in promoting a holistic development. District being a basic unit of field administration and governance, implementing various programmes and innovative projects for the well-being of citizens, measuring their performance becomes important for proper assessment and planning which will lead to the development of the Puducherry District and the region as a whole. The District Good Governance Index (DGGI) is aimed to assess the state of governance in Puducherry based on certain Sectors and selected Indicators. It will enable ranking of District and present a comparative picture. The ranking would bring about healthy competition amongst District in the quest to provide citizen centric administration and governance. This DGGI is expected to provide guidance to the UT & District Administration of Puducherry. U.T. and other stakeholders in their efforts to address existing gaps, plan to bridge these gaps and aid as decision making tool. DGGI is modeled on the Good Governance Index (GGI) 2022 with revision in the indicators to make it more region specific, assessing the ground reality and meeting the aspiration of the people. Extensive consultations in finalising the sectors and indicators were taken up ensuring participation of senior official Government of Puducherry. This Report and a brief outline is prepared by IIPA Puducherry Regional Branch
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” – Peter F. Drucker
India is on the way to become the fastest growing economy in the world. Development, transformation and embracing changes in both policy and economic outlook in India is happening rapidly. The World Economic League Table (2021) published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research has stated that India will emerge as the third-largest nation by 2030. The economic crisis sparked by COVID-19 has given an opportunity to gear up and reform governance practices that return the economy to a high-growth track and create gainful jobs for 90 million workers by 2030; letting go of this opportunity could risk a decade of economic stagnation. According to Junaid Ahmad, World Bank India office Director, India’s impressive economic progress over the past few years is mainly due to the focused top leadership at the Centre that has spurred persistent efforts made to drive the governance reforms agenda at the national level. However, to put growth on a sustainably faster track and meet the aspirations of its growing workforce, these efforts at national level need to devolve at the state and local level. The approach of ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’ needs to be implemented at all levels of the government especially at local level. The government at Centre is looking forward towards the state governments to lead India’s success story by giving them more autonomy in terms of financial independence and devolving more powers. For state governments to be successful, they need to gear up their governance mechanism at district level, measure and monitor the progress towards achieving targeted objectives and attain desired outputs and outcomes.
GOOD GOVERNANCE INDEX
The concept of governance has evolved over a period. In majority of democratic countries, all stakeholders of governance must equally engage together for fulfilling the needs and aspiration of its citizens and the sole authority for doing so does not rest with governments alone. ‘Good Governance’, popularly accepted as a utopian form of governance, upholds the core principles of participation, transparency, responsiveness, effectiveness, and accountability (UNDP, 1997). Good governance is defined by the degree of transparency, accountability, citizen participation and responsiveness of the government. In other words, Good governance can be referred to as an effective and efficient process of decisionmaking and the process by which decisions are made (or not made) for implementation keeping the amelioration of citizen as the top most priority. Resource allocation, creation of formal establishments with necessary sustenance and autonomy, setting up rules and regulations etc., are part of achieving this goal. Good Governance is the prerequisite for sustainable growth and transformation. Governments across the world are actively involved in evolving their strategies in and around good governance by involving citizens in co–creation of next generation public services. Good Governance Index (GGI) is a comprehensive and implementable framework to assess the State of Governance across different level of the government. It helps to assess the impact of various Governance interventions taken up by the State/ UTs.
Based on the recommendation of Sectoral Group of Secretaries (SGoS) – (9) on Governance, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), launched the Good Governance Index (GGI) Framework and published the first ranking for the States and Union Territories (UTs) in 2019. It was inaugurated on the occasion of Good Governance Day, i.e., 25 December 2019 by the Hon’ble Minister State Dr. Jitendra Singh, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Govt. of India. The ranking is done as a biannual exercise.
GGI is being developed to provide useful information for the States as well as Central Ministries/ Departments concerned, enabling them to formulate and implement suitable strategies for improving living standards of the citizen. It is envisaged that the results would lead to healthy and evidence-based policy discussions between different tiers of Governments. Such assessment provides a comparative picture among the States while developing a competitive spirit for improvement. In this context, the outputs and outcomes of various decisions, policy measures, initiatives, etc., become an important factor for assessment. GGI 2021 Framework covers ten sectors and 58 indicators. It has covered following sector and each sector has given with equal weightage while preparing the GGI.
Uttar Pradesh-Information About State - Click for UP DDGI Report 2023
The process of preparing the Uttar Pradesh- District Good Governance Index (UP-DGGI) began with identifying and freezing the sectors and their corresponding indicators. The index envisaged to include different administrative, economic, social, environmental, legal/judicial as well as some other relevant indicators contextual to the governance verticals of the state.
For this purpose, 10 broad sectors and their respective indicators (68) were identified. This was done after several rounds of consultations as well as recursive inputs from all concerned stakeholders- IIPA, DARPG and different line departments from the Government of Uttar Pradesh.
The next step involved determining and assigning weightages to each of these indicators and sectors. Since all of the 10 identified sectors are equally important for Good Governance, each of these sectors were given equal weightage, i.e., 1.
For each sector, the study team tried to use the similar weights for UP-DGGI as it was for GGI and DGGI of J&K. Weightages were further updated and revised after receiving inputs from the Uttar Pradesh Government to make it more relevant for the state. In addition to this, the overall impact that an indicator has on the sector as a whole was also taken into consideration at this point. Higher the impact, higher the weightage and similarly, lower the impact, lower the weightage. more...
Uttar Pradesh, the heart of India, is a land of epics, holy rivers, ancient cities and pilgrimage. In modern times, it is emerging as a driver of the nation's economy with its network of expressways, industrial corridors, international airports, centers of educational and medical excellence, and an exporter of indigenous products and One District One Product initiative.
Since the times of Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Gautam Buddha and Lord Mahavira, the state has been the center of cultural and intellectual brilliance.Today, with its robust infrastructure and a proactive leadership, the state offers the most investor friendly environment for a better future for its people and the entire country.
From population, political awareness, historical and cultural heritage and point of views, Uttar Pradesh is a very important state of the country. Nearly 17% of India's population lives in the state. Geographically, it acquires 5th position after Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh and covers 7.3% land area of India. Area wise, it covers 240.928 square Kilo meters. For administrative convenience, it has 18 divisions, 75 districts, 915 urban bodies, 8135 Nyaya Panchayats. 17 Municipal corporations, 200 municipal boards, 59163 gram sabhas, 822 development blocks, 97941 populated villages, 180000 post offices and 2885 telephone exchanges.
Uttar Pradesh sends 80 members to Lok Sabha, 31 members to Rajya Sabha and 403 members to its Legislative Assembly and 100 members to its Legislative council. more....
The Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted in 2000 for the creation of the state of Uttarakhand. As a result, on November 9, 2000, the state of Uttar Pradesh was bifurcated into two states namely ‘Uttar Pradesh’ and ‘Uttarakhand’ to ensurebetter governance and improved coordination in the region. Impact of Reorganisation on Divisions Till November 8, 2000, there were 19 divisions in Uttar Pradesh. However, after the reorganisation, the divisions of ‘Kumayun’ and ‘Pauri Garhwal’ got included in Uttarakhand whereas a new division of ‘Aligarh’ was created in Uttar Pradesh. As a result, after the reorganisation, Uttar Pradesh had 18 divisions.Therefore, for better governance and improved coordination, 18 divisions were constituted after the reorganisation.
Reorganisation on Districts
Till November 8, 2000, there were there were 57 districts in Uttar Pradesh. However, after the reorganisation, Uttar Pradesh now has 75 districts (Table 1.1). This reorganisation assures that the local government has come closer to its people and also helps to achieve linguistic and cultural unity in the state.
The Sectors of DGGI UP 2022 are
Divisions, Headquarters and Districts in the State of Uttar Pradesh
| S. No. | Divisions | Headquarters | Districts |
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1. |
Agra |
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2. |
Aligarh |
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3. |
Ayodhya |
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4. |
Azamgarh |
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5. |
Bareilly |
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6. |
Basti |
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7. |
Banda |
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8. |
Gonda |
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9. |
Gorakhpur |
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10. |
Jhansi |
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11. |
Kanpur |
Auraiya, Etawah, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar |
|
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12. |
Lucknow |
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13. |
Meerut |
Baghpat, Bulandshahar, Gautam Buddha Nagar,Ghaziabad, Meerut, Hapur |
|
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14. |
Mirzapur |
||
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15. |
Moradabad |
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16. |
Prayagraj |
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17. |
Saharanpur |
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18. |
Varanasi |
Reorganisation of Uttar Pradesh
The Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted in 2000 for the creation of the state of Uttarakhand. As a result, on November 9, 2000, the state of Uttar Pradesh was bifurcated into two states namely ‘Uttar Pradesh’ and ‘Uttarakhand’ to ensurebetter governance and improved coordination in the region. Impact of Reorganisation on Divisions Till November 8, 2000, there were 19 divisions in Uttar Pradesh. However, after the reorganisation, the divisions of ‘Kumayun’ and ‘Pauri Garhwal’ got included in Uttarakhand whereas a new division of ‘Aligarh’ was created in Uttar Pradesh. As a result, after the reorganisation, Uttar Pradesh had 18 divisions.Therefore, for better governance and improved coordination, 18 divisions were constituted after the reorganisation.
Reorganisation on Districts
Till November 8, 2000, there were there were 57 districts in Uttar Pradesh. However, after the reorganisation, Uttar Pradesh now has 75 districts (Table 1.1). This reorganisation assures that the local government has come closer to its people and also helps to achieve linguistic and cultural unity in the state.
The Sectors of DGGI UP 2022 are
Divisions, Headquarters and Districts in the State of Uttar Pradesh
| S. No. | Divisions | Headquarters | Districts |
|
1. |
Agra |
||
|
2. |
Aligarh |
||
|
3. |
Ayodhya |
||
|
4. |
Azamgarh |
||
|
5. |
Bareilly |
||
|
6. |
Basti |
||
|
7. |
Banda |
||
|
8. |
Gonda |
||
|
9. |
Gorakhpur |
||
|
10. |
Jhansi |
||
|
11. |
Kanpur |
Auraiya, Etawah, Farrukhabad, Kannauj, Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar |
|
|
12. |
Lucknow |
||
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13. |
Meerut |
Baghpat, Bulandshahar, Gautam Buddha Nagar,Ghaziabad, Meerut, Hapur |
|
|
14. |
Mirzapur |
||
|
15. |
Moradabad |
||
|
16. |
Prayagraj |
||
|
17. |
Saharanpur |
||
|
18. |
Varanasi |
India observes National Good Governance Day on 25th December, every year. The day marks the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Good Governance Day is an effort to create awareness of accountability in government among the Indians. It became a tradition since 2014 to honour the memory of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Good Governance is the prerequisite for the sustainable growth and transformation. Governments across the world are actively involved in evolving their strategies in and around good governance by involving citizens in co–creation of next generation public services. Good Governance Index (GGI) is a comprehensive and implementable framework to assess the State of Governance across different levels of the government. It helps to assess the impact of various Governance interventions taken up by the State/ UTs.
Local/District Good Governance Index (DGGI)
Districts being a basic unit of field administration performing various functions, inter alia, regulatory functions such as law and order, land revenue / reforms, excise, registration, treasury, civil supplies and social welfare; coordinating and monitoring District / Sub-district level offices of the line departments of the State Government and their agencies like irrigation, health, Public Works Department (PWD), industries; etc., and supervising the local bodies (Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and other authorities).
In addition, there is a fair degree of agreement on the importance of certain essential dimensions or features of good governance like transparency, accountability, public participation, absence of corruption, etc., prominent among them.
The Local/District Good Governance Index provides a new approach to the measurement, analysis and improvement of local/district governances. The DGGI is a tool that aims to help the Centre/State Government to collect, assess, and benchmark detailed information around at local/district level public sector performance and service delivery to citizens and businesses. It is also a methodology to uncover important local-level variation in governance and service provision.
DGGI aids policymakers, district authorities and development specialists in designing specific xxviii action plans, provides an initial benchmark from which to measure of progress, and empowers citizens’ and businesses’ voices to influence government efforts on improving quality and access of public service delivery.
By assessing the performance of public administration at the local level, the DGGI provides critical feedback to help government officials, political parties, civil society actors, the public and the international development community pinpoint specific geographical areas and substantive areas where policy reform is needed. The DGGI is based on the premise that local (district level) governance matters, and that the drivers that explain local level variation may differ from those that operate at higher levels.
District Good Governance Index (DGGI) for Uttar Pradesh
During the Regional Conference of Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), GOI in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (Nov 11-12, 2021), a need was advocated and felt to proactively pursue the design, development and implementation of the District Good Governance Index (DGGI) for the Indian States on the lines of national Good Governance Index (GGI).
It was proposed to replicate the learnings of the central government initiative undertaken for a good governance index by incorporating state-specific governance issues leading to improve governance at the local level.
The Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, being a policy research think tank and a Capacity Building Institute of GoI proposed to support DARPG and Government of Uttar Pradesh in designing, developing, and implementing DGGI in the state of Uttar Pradesh, by replicating learnings from GGI.
DGGI encompass administrative, economic, social, environmental, legal/ judicial and some contextual indicators related to the most relevant governance verticals of the state.
DGGI provide a comparative picture to the State Government about the outputs and outcomes of various decisions, policy measures, initiatives and much more.
It will also help in developing a competitive spirit for improvement among the districts by following the right benchmarks.
Uttar Pradesh State
Uttar Pradesh, the heart of India, is a land of epics, holy rivers, ancient cities and pilgrimage. Uttar Pradesh, situated in the north-central part of India, is the fourth largest state with a total land area of 240,928 square kilometres.
It is one of the most populous state of India, with a population of over 19.98 crores (Census, 2011) and 829 per sq. km. density of population. On January 26, 1950, the state was given its present name, Uttar Pradesh and its capital is Lucknow. Uttar Pradesh is known for its rich culture and tradition. It is also popular for beautiful historic locations such as Agra, Lucknow and Kannauj.
In modern times, it is emerging as a driver of the nation’s economy with a network of expressways, industrial corridors, international airports, centres of educational and medical excellence, and an exporter of indigenous products. Since the times of Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Gautam Buddha and Lord Mahavira, the state has been the centre of cultural and intellectual brilliance. Today, with its robust infrastructure and a proactive leadership, the state offers the most investor friendly environment for a better future for its people and the entire country.
The State has 18 divisions and 75 districts which are governed by 80 government departments.
Approach and Methodology
Given the sheer size of the state, a collaborative approach was used for preparation of District Good Governance Index (DGGI) for Uttar Pradesh.
There were several rounds of extensive consultations with Secretary and Joint Secretary, DARPG, Govt. of India; Chief Secretary UP, Principal Secretaries of Planning and Administrative Reforms; Director General of Uttar Pradesh Academy of Administration & Management; Director and senior officials at Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES), officials of various line departments of Government of UP as well as Director General and senior officials of Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi. These consultations contributed immensely to the finalisation of sectors, indicators, their respective data points and weightages to be included in the index.
The collaborative approach allowed to incorporate contrasting and complimentary perspectives which were seen as necessary to make the index more rooted to the concerns, realities and aspirations of the citizens of the state.
The UP DGGI framework also used learning from the lessons of previous Governance Indices such as the Good Governance Index prepared by DARPG, Govt. of India and District Good Governance Index UT of Jammu and Kashmir. This approach saves the project from reinventing the wheel and also saves effort and time.
For the selection of indicators the principle of “SMART” i.e. ‘Simple’, ‘Measureable’, ‘Available’, ‘Reliable’ and ‘tested over time’ was used.
The Sectors of DGGI UP 2022 are
Salient Features of District Good Governance Model of Uttar Pradesh
According to the good governance index report 2021, citizen centric governance is the core factor for good governance in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It contributes 17.3% to the overall scores of good governance followed by industry and commerce over the last two years. Uttar Pradesh has improved significantly in judiciary and public safety public safety along with public infrastructure and utilities which has given a boost to the investors' confidence in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The result of the same can be seen in the form of 0.68 delta point improvement from 2019 in industry and commerce sector score. Though State has done significant delta improvement (i.e. 0.568) in Human resource Development sector in 2021 but it must put more efforts to improve public health, human resource development and financial inclusion in the state as compare other states in India.
Like the findings of good governance index 2021 UP DGGI also reflected that Citizen Centric Governance is the essence of good governance in the state of Uttar Pradesh governance. In each district it has a contribution in double digit. Improved law and order situation indicated by higher values of judiciary, public safety sector with better public infrastructure and utilities have provided strength to industry and commerce in districts like Ghaziabad, GB Nagar and Lucknow. The contribution due by Industry and commerce sector is next highest contributor to the ranking of district of Ghaziabad, GB Nagar and Lucknow. Gorakhpur and Varanasi topped the ranking mainly due to significant efforts for citizen centric governance development of public infrastructure and utilities and improving economic governance with special efforts on financial inclusion.
UP Government has taken several initiatives in recent year to foster industry and commerce especially Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) in the state. It has not just effectively utilized Central schemes like PMEGP, MUDRA Loan for promotion of self- employment. Rather it has initiated scheme like Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Youth Self Employment Scheme to empower independent work possibilities for the state’s informed yet jobless youth. Similarly, to promote ease of doing business has developed its own export promotion, start up and IT policies for seamless on-line processing of required licenses. Impact of such ecosystem has shown by DGGI indicators like setting up of start-ups, Increasing number of MSMEs units under Udyog Aadhar registration, increased flow credit for self-employment under schemes like ODOP, PMEGP, MYSY. Districts like GB Nagar, Ghaziabad and Lucknow topped DGGI mainly due to these indicators.
Way Forward
The State Administration should design DGGI/based performance incentive system to reward the best practices and Chief Minister Award for Good Governance / Practice maybe introduced on the pattern of PM Awards being managed by DoARPG.
Based on the finding of UP DGGI, each Divisional Commissioner should design and develop a sectoral capacity-building programme for each district under its jurisdiction to achieve the nearest benchmark in its division. For example, the Divisional Commissioner of Meerut should promote the best practices of GB Nagar for the industry and commerce sector in Ghaziabad, Meerut, and Bulandshahar districts to improve their score further. Further, identify areas of capacity building for district administration in the districts of Baghpat and Bulandshahar based on indicator scores as these districts are lagging in the division.
The development of DGGI should be an annual exercise to ensure continuous improvement in governance practices. Since for the district good governance index 2022 most of the indicators are based on absolute values, this should become the baseline value for the coming years. From the next year onward performance of the districts should be evaluated and rewarded based on delta (percentage points) improvement.
Indicators/weightage given in this year should not be considered written in stone. The state administration should keep revising and upgrading these indicators in consultation with the expert group once most of the districts in the state have saturated the performance on the given indicator.
The dashboard for UP DGGI developed by the IIPA team can further be added with the features of inputting the data at the district level at regular intervals. State administration can use this dashboard to regularly update the data and use it as a regular monitoring tool for performance reviews of different sectors/indicators across districts.
Now based on the success of the UP DGGI, other state governments should also develop DGGI for their states to promote healthy competition among districts in each state. This can ultimately lead to the development of district/local level good governance of all districts in India. DARPG may consider developing a national portal for all 768 districts with help of IIPA
Protocols/codes used for the development of the dashboard for UPDGGI by IIPA team can be used for other states as well so that efforts should not be wasted on reinventing the wheel. Further, efforts should be made to gain api codes of the web portals developed for the monitoring of both central and state government schemes. This will help for direct inputting/transferring of data on a real-time basis which will reduce cost, time, and efforts to develop DGGI in the future.
UPDGGI is the first step towards evidence-based decision-making. The present index mainly includes sectors and Indicators exact or proxy to GGI at the national level. During the discussion with Team UP it was found that other than Central government priorities/schemes, the state government has several areas of priorities other than national priorities for which it has designed various programmes/schemes for improving governance in the state. Further, UP districts have already saturated some of the indicators included in the national ranking, for which the next level of indicators is needed. Considering the large size of the state, population, and diversities within the state, it is recommended that UP Government should take the next step to design and develop a district governance index which should cover state-specific aspirations to take evidence-based governance at the next level with IIPA support.
Considering the diversity of the country and sector-wise performance in UP, to measure the progress Central Government ministries like health and family welfare, Rural Development, Urban development, Environment, MSMEs should developed detailed performance Index of their local/district level governance performance for monitoring and evaluation.
The Sectors of DGGI UP 2022 are