Meghalaya is the third lowest-performing State in urban governance, after Nagaland and Manipur.
This was revealed in the Urban Governance Index 2024 jointly released by Praja Foundation and National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) on September 26.
The report studied 43 cities across 28 states and three union territories, based on their performance and highlighting the lacunas in civic governance.
The report showed that Shillong is lagging behind on several key indicators of urban governance.
It was also revealed that Shillong falls short in several key areas, including empowered city representatives, administration, citizens, and fiscal empowerment.
The four key dimensions of the Urban Governance Index are: empowered city elected representatives and legislative structures; empowered city administration; engaged citizens; and fiscal empowerment.
For every one of these categories, 13 sub-themes are released to encompass a total of 42 indicators.
The report ranks cities and states according to their performance in urban governance while identifying critical gaps in civic administration.
Kerala emerged as the top-performing state in urban governance, followed very closely by Odisha, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh.
However, Nagaland, Manipur, and Meghalaya were the lowest performers according to the rankings.
Praja Foundation and National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) conducted extensive fieldwork, engaging with 2,213 key stakeholders, including elected representatives, administrators, academics, members of civil society, among others in the 43 cities across 28 states and three union territories.
It may be noted that Shillong was previously ranked as a low-performing city in the implementation of smart city projects.
