Meghalaya continues to dip in rankings and this time in economic justice, political justice and social justice indicators.
This is as per the Public Affairs Index 2022 (PAI 2022) study of the Public Affairs Centre (PAC) which was released yesterday.
The study was taken up to commemorate 75 years of Indian Independence and the spirit of the Constitution.
PAI 2022 evaluates state governments’ commitment to realise the constitutional covenant that guides Indian democracy. The ranking was done in two categories – small states and large states.
Among the ten small states, Meghalaya was placed in the seventh rank. The top rank was bagged by Sikkim while the second spot was secured by Himachal Pradesh. Uttarakhand was placed in third rank by Uttarakhand.
Goa, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh are in fourth, fifth and sixth spots.
Manipur was in eight rank followed by Tripura. Nagaland was in the bottom tenth spot.
Among 18 large states, Haryana was in top rank. It was followed by Tamil Nadu and Kerala in second and third spots. Jharkhand was in the bottom 18th rank.
PAI 2022 undertakes a methodological shift from Principal Component Analysis (PCA) adopted in PAI 2021 to a Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) based approach.
The framework of analysis in the PAI 2022 also underwent a transition from the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) based model to a Constitutionally enshrined conception of Justice – Social, Economic and Political. This conceptual framework is operationalised through three Themes, five Subthemes and 22 indicators.
“A country’s economic progression can be understood and measured on two separate aspects – economic growth and economic development. Economic growth is generally understood as an improvement in the value of goods and services in the economy; whereas, economic development considers improvement in the quality of life and general economic well-being,” the report said.
The conceptualisation of ‘Economic Justice’ in PAI 2022, quantitatively measures both these aspects of a country’s economic progression through two Sub-themes – Revenues of State (ROS) and Social Security and Social Insurance (SSSI).
The Social Justice theme explores human development in terms of health and education through the Sub-theme ‘Securing Social Order for Promotion of Welfare’ (SSOPW). The second sub-theme ‘Control of Material Resources’ (COMR), explores the idea of commons and shared material resources that are assumed fundamental for leading a life of dignity. In the context of PAI 2022, material resources include water and sanitation, clean cooking fuel, power supply and logistics.
The conceptualisation of the Political Justice theme in PAI 2022 relies heavily on the fundamental principle of ‘Rule of Law’. The prominent themes explored under the theme include the efficient governance of the criminal justice system and the commitment of states in realising the federalist structure of democracy as identified by the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts.
The report said that the accolades and debacles in rankings apart, States across India stare at one common finishing line- the Directive Principles of State Policy. Although non-justiciable, the Directive Principles in Part IV are the mandatory ends of governance in India.
“They are the alpha and omega of our constitutional morality. In this regard, governments, institutions and society spanning the length and breadth of India have a long road ahead of them,” it said.
“While PAI 2022 weighs the statistical distance of state governments from realising their Constitutional mandates, the non-transactional realisation of the Constitution is the ultimate yardstick in a democracy. To this end, the Directive Principles are where our democratic sensibilities conclusively lie, forming the bedrock of ‘justice’ as we understand it,” PAC said in the report.
