Govt Cancels Release Of Good Governance Index 2023, Next Edition To Come Out In 2025

The Centre has decided against releasing the Good Governance Index (GGI) 2023, a biennial ranking of states and Union Territories (UTs) that was initially scheduled for release during Good Governance Week, observed from December 19 to December 25. Instead, the government now plans to publish the next edition in 2025, according to a report by The Indian Express.

The index, launched on December 25, 2019, to mark the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee—celebrated as Good Governance Day—evaluates over 50 indicators across sectors such as agriculture, economic governance, public health, and citizen-centric governance. Tamil Nadu and Gujarat secured the top positions among large states in the rankings for 2019 and 2021, respectively.

As recently as December 7, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions, had indicated plans to release the 2023 index. In a press release announcing the national campaign for grievance redressal, ‘Prashasan Gaon Ki Ore’, scheduled from December 19 to December 24, DARPG stated, “The Assessment Report on Special Campaign 4.0, Good Governance Index 2023 and Annual Report of CPGRAMS will be released” during the week.

Earlier, in its annual report for 2023-2024, published in November, the Ministry noted, “The first GGI was released in 2019, the second GGI was released in 2021 and the third GGI 2023 has been prepared and shall be released soon.” Sources revealed that the release of GGI 2023 was planned for December 23. However, the government ultimately decided against it, citing concerns over the data’s relevance. Since the data collected pertains to 2023, releasing it at the end of 2024 would render it outdated. Consequently, the GGI exercise will be conducted afresh with new data.

Commenting on the development, V. Srinivas, Secretary, DARPG, said, “The GGI is a biennial publication of an assessment of States/UTs, and the next edition will be published in December 2025. The GGI 2021 and 2019 have been released by DARPG. The DARPG has published District Good Governance Indices for Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Arunachal Pradesh, in the period 2021-2024.”

The 2021 index, released on December 25, 2021, by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, evaluated 58 indicators across 10 sectors. Gujarat led the composite rankings that year, while 20 states recorded improvements in their composite scores compared to 2019.