J&K: Shah to release dist based governance index

New Delhi, Jan 21: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will release the District Good Governance Index for 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, the first of its kind index for a union territory, PTI reported.

Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir will also address the event to be organised jointly by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) and Jammu and Kashmir Institute of Management, Public Administration and Rural Development in association with the Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad.

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said in a statement that Union Home Minister Shah will release the District Good Governance Index for 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.

The District Good Governance Index of Jammu and Kashmir was prepared by DARPG in collaboration with the Government of Jammu and Kashmir in pursuance of the announcements made in the "Behtar e-Hukumat - Kashmir Aelamia" resolution adopted on July 2, 2021 in the Regional Conference on Replication of Good Governance Practices in Srinagar, it said.

The exercise on formulation of District Good Governance Index was set in motion in July, 2021 which has now been completed, and Jammu and Kashmir will become the first union territory in the country to have Good Governance Index, it said.

The District Good Governance Index of Jammu and Kashmir represents a major administrative reform in benchmarking good governance at district level and a significant step for timely collation and publication of statistics at state/district level, according to the statement.

The index is a milestone and it is expected that it will provide a robust framework for evidence-based assessment of the performance of all the districts in Jammu and Kashmir, it said.

During the occasion, a presentation on formulation of District Good Governance Index will be made by the Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad, the statement said, adding that it will be followed by district presentations by selected 12 District Development Commissioners, who will be showcasing achievements of various sectors.

Thereafter a panel discussion will be held on District Good Governance Index - A Way Forward for futuristic 2.0 version of DGGI for measuring and benchmarking performance and improvement of districts in future as well.

(PTI)