Opinion: How Tamil Nadu is numero uno in good governance

Good governance should have important characteristics like transparent administration, participatory approach, consensus orientation, prioritised fulfilment of people’s aspirations, responsive to the needs of people, decisions based on the rule of law, adherence to basic human rights like liberty, and equity and dignity.

There is an oft repeated saying that government is best that governs least. What is really meant is that the government of the day should be a facilitator, allowing people to pursue their avocation in a peaceful manner providing proper infrastructure for the larger public good. Governance in a democratic setup is a huge challenge as implementation of various projects is beset with multifarious issues which need to be addressed.

Progress and change is therefore a slow process while expectations are high demanding instant solution and a quick fix to the problems. This dichotomy made a former prime minister to lament in despair: “I wish Ihad a magic wand to usher in instant change!”

It is in this background that one has to look at the recent inter-state ranking on various issues of governance released by the Government of India. It is indeed gratifying that Tamil Nadu has secured the first spot in the composite Good Governance Index followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka.

As is the wont with the opposition parties, they came out with a criticism alleging bias in the ranking system without understanding the detailed exercise that precedes assessment based on empirical quantifiable data.

It was in the year 2014 that the Government of India announced that Good Governance Day will be observed every year on December 25th to commemorate the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Since then, Good Governance Day on December 25 is made meaningful by assessing the performance of all the States and Union Territories on various performance indicators in different sectors.

The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances has evolved the Good Governance Index, a uniform tool across the States to assess the status of governance and the impact of various interventions taken up by the State governments and Union Territories (UT).

The objective is to provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance in the States and UTs. This will enable the States to formulate strategies to improve governance and shift to result-oriented administration.

The sectors included for assessment are agriculture, commerce industry, human resource development, public health, infrastructure and utilities, economic governance, social welfare and development, judicial and public security, environment and citizen-centric governance, covering about fifty indicators.

Twenty-nine States have been grouped: eighteen as big States, eleven as small and seven Union Territories. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka are in the group of eighteen States. Sectoral indicators are further subdivided to cover all aspects of major economic indicators like agriculture, public health, commerce, security, etc. Individual assessment of empirical data is finally aggregated to arrive at the inter-state ranking.

The system is transparent, based on actual achievement on the ground with verifiable data. In overall aggregate ranking, Tamil Nadu has secured the first position with the prime position in judicial and public security and public infrastructure and utilities. Tamil Nadu also finds place among the top five in public health, environment, human resource development and economic governance.

Tamil Nadu is one of the first States to abolish plastics and also achieved significant increase in forest cover. The State is also a pioneer in organ transplantation and has recorded very low infant mortality and maternal mortality rates-two key health indicators. Higher education enrolment is 48% as against the national average of 24%. Police administration has always been of high order in Tamil Nadu, thanks to the systematic improvement in mobility, manpower and communication. Coupled with this, non-interference in day-to-day policing by powers that be has ensured higher level performance. The manner in which the police handled the recent protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) is indeed commendable.

The CAA, over which a nationwide agitation was launched by the Opposition, is not against minorities at all if only a careful reading is given, taking into account the historical context in which the Partition was effected in 1947 when colonial Britishrule ended.

This amendment is only intended to protect the minorities-the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Jains, the Christians, and the Sikhs-who fled the Islamic Republic countries of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan due to religious persecution and are living in India as on December 2014, reducing their residency requirement for permanent residentship as per the Foreigners Act from eleven years tofive years.

In fact, this Act will become irrelevant after this exercise. The amendment applies to homeless minorities from these three countries only and does not violate Articles 14 ,15 of the Constitution on equality.

Left liberals fret and fume over any action by the government to tighten the porous border with Pakistan in the west, bordering Jammu and Kashmir, and in the east with Bangladesh but as per Article 355 of the Constitution, it is the duty of the Central government to protect the States from external aggression and internal disturbance to ensure that the States carry on their duties as per provisions of the Constitution.

In fact, the Supreme Court in one of the issues agitated over infiltration of foreigners from across the border had reminded the government of its duty as per Article 355 of the Constitution and has commented that such illegal infiltration amounts to external aggression. On grounds of security, even a gated community goes through a checking protocol on visitors. While so, should not a country protect its borders?

Muslims and all other groups, including Hindus from all other countries, and other refugees entered India will go through the normal course of Indian citizenship law where residency requirement is eleven years. Through CAA, a historical wrong is being set right which is long overdue. But when vested interests twist the narratives for their own narrow political ends, it is the onerous task of the police to tackle the unruly crowd indulging in arson and violence and bear the criticism ofexcesses. Any police action is subjective depending on each situation but strong action always restores order.

Tamil Nadu has a history of divisive politics and a pan chauvinistic mindset fuelled by low level politicians of all hues pandering to base sentiments. The State of Tamil Nadu witnessed murderous attack on former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1977, the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, attempt on the life of former Deputy Prime Minister Advani, in Coimbatore in 1998. A political leader in the State has no compunction in publicly ridiculing Hindu religious practices in a Muslim gathering and recently, a professional public political speaker had the temerity to openly exhort Muslim brethren to do away with the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister which was greeted with sinister snigger by those gathered there.

Viewed in this context, the Tamil Nadu police took early preventive action with a strong no-nonsense approach which sent a clear signal that any violence will not be tolerated. The protests petered out when people realised the design of negative politics engineered by the Opposition.

The top spot among States in overall administration and security is a well-deserved achievement for Tamil Nadu, coming as it does in the dawn of the decade in 2020. Untiring efforts of the political leadership ably supported by the civil service and the excellent band of dedicated government servants whichmade this possible is highly commendable.