Good Governance Day
Syllabus: GS 2: Governance (Source: Indian Express, 25^th Dec 2024)

Context:
Good Governance Day is celebrated on December 25th, every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In 2024, holds special significance as it marks the 100th birth anniversary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Date and History:
In 2014, the newly elected BJP announced that former PM of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary will be commemorated as Good Governance Day.

 Good Governance Definition:
Governance’ is the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). According to the World Bank, Good Governance is defined as “the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development”. In the context of India Good Governance is the key component of the economic transformation and with the present government’s focus on ‘minimum government and maximum governance’.

 Characteristics of Good Governance:
As per UN there are eight significant characteristics

 Initiatives for Good Governance in India:
Right to Information
E-Governance
Legal Reforms
Ease of Doing Business
Decentralization
Police Reforms
Good Governance Index

Challenges to Good Governance in India: 
Criminalization of Politics
Corruption
Gender Disparity
Regional Disparities
Growing incidence of violence
Delay in Justice
Centralisation of Administrative System
Marginalization of Socially and Economically Backward People 

Initiatives for Good Governance in India:

1. Right to Information
2. E-Governance
3. Legal Reforms
4. Ease of Doing Business
5. Decentralization
6. Police Reforms
7. Good Governance Index

Challenges to Good Governance in India:

1. Criminalization of Politics
2. Corruption
3. Gender Disparity
4. Regional Disparities
5. Growing incidence of violence
6. Delay in Justice
7. Centralisation of Administrative System
8. Marginalization of Socially and Economically Backward People

Theme and Significance:
The significance of the day is to educate the people about the government’s duties and activities. Its goal is to bridge the gap between the public and the government by encouraging active participation from both. The Good Governance Week (Sushasan Saptah) festivities is from 19 Dec to 25 Dec 2024. In 2024 theme is “India’s Path to a Viksit Bharat: Empowering Citizens through Good Governance and Digitalisation”.

Good Governance Index:
Good Governance Index (GGI) is a comprehensive and implementable framework to assess the State of Governance across the States and UTs which enables ranking of States/Districts.
Objective:
(a)To create a tool which can be used uniformly across the States to assess impact of various interventions taken up by the Central and State Governments including UTs.
(b) To provides a comparative picture among the States while developing competitive spirit for improvement.
Frequency of GGI ranking:
The Department of Administration Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India launched the Good Governance Index (GGI). First ranking released in 25th Dec 2019. The ranking is done as a biannual exercise.
Ranking parameters:
GGI 2021 Framework covers ten sectors and 58 indicators.
Sectors covered
1)     Agriculture and Allied Sectors
2)     Commerce & Industries
3)     Human Resource Development
4)     Public Health
5)     Public Infrastructure & Utilities
6)     Economic Governance and Financial Inclusion
7)     Social Welfare & Development
8)     Judicial & Public Security
9)     Environment
10)  Citizen-Centric Governance.

The GGI 2020-21 categorises States and UTs into four categories
1)     Other States – Group A
2)     Other States – Group B
3)     North-East and Hill States
4)     Union Territories

Top ranking States in the Sectors as well as in Composite Ranks in 2021 is as follows