Delhi, Goa, Chattisgarh, TN, Kerala best e-governed states: Survey

Mumbai, Mar 24 (UNI) The recent Dataquest-IDC e-Governance Survey has identified Delhi, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala as the five best e-governed states of 2007.

The next five positions were bagged by Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Punjab.

However, last year's champions Karnataka and Gujarat plummeted to number 9 (from No 2) and 19 (from No 4) respectively.

The survey was conducted across 20 states by CyberMedia group's flagship publication, ''Dataquest'', in association with the top technology intelligence and research firm IDC India.

While Delhi rose from third position last year to top the list, Goa -- last year's winner -- dropped a position to take the second spot.

Chhattisgarh jumped up from number 14 to number 3 to record the highest jump.

Three other states, besides Chhattisgarh, showed impressive gains in ranking as interaction with the governments became easier.

Himachal Pradesh jumped up nine positions to rank 7, Punjab gained eight positions to be at number 10 and Rajasthan moved up eight notches to end at number 11.

The worst e-governed state of 2007 was Jharkhand followed by Gujarat and Haryana. Gujarat had the most drastic fall ending at number 19 from number 4 last year.

The overall e-governance scores of Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Haryana also fell as compared to last year as citizens and businesses reported low satisfaction levels with government services.

UNI JM MAZ BJR KN2042