Kishtwar, Kupwara, Ramban low scoring districts
*Anantnag on top in reducing crime, ensuring higher conviction
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, May 29: Jammu district has emerged as the top performer in the fourth edition of the District Good Governance Index (DGGI) followed by Srinagar and Samba districts. However, Kishtwar, Kupwara and Ramban are the lowest scoring districts as per the composite score. As far as reducing the frequency of crimes against women and children and achieving a higher conviction rate are concerned, Anantnag, Jammu and Udhampur districts have secured top three positions.
Follow the Daily Excelsior channel on WhatsApp
The DGGI Report 4.0 measured the performance of the administration of all the 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir using 58 indicators spread across 10 sectors that play a significant role in the economy of the Union Territory. These are: Agriculture and Allied Sectors; Industries and Allied Sectors; Human Resource Development; Public Health; Public Infrastructure and Utilities; Financial Inclusion; Social Welfare and Development; Legal and Public Safety; Environment and Citizen Centric Governance.
District Jammu tops the composite ranking in DGGI 4.0 with an aggregate score of 6.9623 while district Ramban is ranked at the bottom with aggregate DGGI score of 4.9728. District Srinagar and district Samba secured 2nd and 3rd with an aggregate DGGI score of 6.5840 and 6.4812 respectively.
District Jammu consistently performed well in all sectors, except Agriculture & Allied and Environment Sectors, where it ranked 13th & 12th respectively. Despite this, it secured 1st rank overall. Notably, district Jammu was also the top performer in DGGI 1.0 and DGGI 3.0.
District Kishtwar is the best performer in Agriculture and Allied Sector primarily due to its strong performance in the indicators of food, horticulture and milk production. Meanwhile, district Srinagar emerged as top performer in Industries and Allied Sector followed by districts of Jammu and Ganderbal as the indicators like MSME units registered, establishment under GST, credit to handicrafts and credit to self-employment showed significant improvement in these districts.
Districts Kulgam, Ganderbal and Shopian secured the 1st, 2nd & 3rd ranks respectively under Human Resource Development Sector owing to noticeable improvements in indicators such as gender parity, retention rate, ST enrolment and availability of basic facilities in schools. District Jammu ranked 1st in Public Health Sector followed by districts Shopian and Anantnag. This ranking was driven by significant progress in indicators such as institutional deliveries, conversion of PHCs into Health and Wellness Centers, Immunization Coverage, FRUs and issuance of Golden cards.
Districts Samba, Srinagar and Shopian are the top performers in the Public Infrastructure and Utilities Sector securing 1st, 2nd & 3rd ranks respectively. This reflects that these districts successfully achieved targets related to PMAY, sanitation facilities, safe drinking water, household electrification and all weather roads under PMGSY.
District Kishtwar secured 1st rank under the Social Welfare and Development Sector followed by Jammu and Kathua districts. Strong performance in indicators such as Aadhar seeding of ration cards, off-take of food-grains, employment provided under MGNAREGA, Atal Pension Yojana and PMSBY helped these districts achieve top ranks in DGGI 4.0.
Districts Pulwama, Samba and Reasi ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in Financial Inclusion Sector. An increase in key indicators such as Jan Dhan Yojna and Mudra loan scheme helped these districts to secure their positions in DGGI 4.0.
Similarly, districts Anantnag, Jammu and Udhampur ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the Legal & Public Safety sector. The DGGI 4.0 shows that these districts performed better in reducing frequency of crime against women and children besides achieving higher conviction rate. Districts Ganderbal, Shopian, Srinagar and Kishtwar secured 1st rank in Environment Sector while districts Rajouri and Pulwama secured 2nd & 3rd places respectively. These rankings are based on performance of indicators such as forest cover and water bodies and wetlands.
District Reasi ranked 1st in the Citizen Centric Governance Sector while Rajouri and Pulwama districts secured 2nd and 3rd positions respectively. These districts demonstrated notable performance in grievance redressal and conversion of Government offices to e-office which contributed to their top rankings in this sector under DGGI 4.0.
“The DGGI 4.0 presents an insight of the district administration governance delivery mechanism and presents an avenue to gear up weaker areas and find innovative procedures and processes to bridge the gaps in targeted deliverables in a time bound manner”, an official of Planning Department said, adding “DGGI reports fosters healthy competition resulting in refinement of processes, innovation and finding avenues of hand holding which is ultimately beneficial to the society at large in establishing a vibrant and growing economy”.
To make DGGI more inclusive and comprehensive, additional indicators are being considered depending on the availability and suitability of indicators across the districts.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
