Assam has been ranked 15th in terms of growth, while Kerala has emerged the best-governed state in the large states category, according to the Public Affairs  Index  2020  (PAI 2020) report released by the Public Affairs Centre (PAC).

KEY POINTS:

=> Overall  Assam has been ranked  13th,  an improvement of one notch over last year’s ranking of 14. The three parameters used to categorise the State include equity,  growth and sustainability based on which the overall rankings are evaluated.

=> The bottom rankings of growth are similar to 2019, with the states of Assam, Odisha, Bihar and Ut- tar Pradesh forming the bottom of the list, albeit with a shuffle in the positions as compared to the previous year, the report.

=> In the growth column, Bihar,  Assam and  Odisha showed the highest improvement, while Kerala, Karnataka,  Uttar  Pradesh and Tamil Nadu feature at the bottom. Among small states, Mizoram and Meghalaya have the highest growth with Manipur at the bottom.

=> Assam has slipped in the equity column to 10th position from sixth in 2019. The pillar of equity examines the political economy of exclusion from the perspective of the States. It includes the voice of the people and accountability, governance and efficiency, rules of law, and control of corruption.

=> In sustainability, Assam which was ranked 12th in 2019, has been ranked eighth.  In this column, Andhra  Pradesh ranks first among the large States, closely followed by Kerala.

What is PAI?

PAI  2020  is the annual ranking of the states on the assessment of adequacy and quality of governance for the year 2019-20. The states are ranked on governance performance based on a composite index.

This is the fifth consecutive annual edition of the ranking on gov- ernance performance of the States in India.