GOOD GOVERNANCE INDEX: Capt hits back, says data used in report relates to SAD-BJP regime

Referring to the GGI report released by the Government of India on December 25, Amarinder said the data used to prepare the index dated back to financial years 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17, when the state was under the regime of the Akalis and the BJP

Chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday accused Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal of deceiving the people with his blatant misinformation on the recently released good governance index (GGI), which was actually a reflection of the poor governance under the erstwhile SAD-BJP regime.

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Referring to the GGI report released by the Government of India on December 25, Amarinder said the data used to prepare the index dated back to financial years 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17, when the state was under the regime of the Akalis and the BJP. In the GGI rankings prepared by the department of administrative reforms and public grievances, Punjab was stood 13th among 18 major states, leading to criticism of the government by the SAD and other opposition parties.

Amarinder said anyone involved in serious and responsible governance would know that indices of progress are developed over a time and any development process translates into visible outcomes only in subsequent reports. “But Sukhbir would not know that, considering that he never knew the meaning of responsible and good governance,” he said.

On the growth of industry and ease of doing business in the state, the CM said the report was based on the data from 2014-15. The ease of doing business was also observed in 2017 when transformations of the sector under the newly elected government were still in process. “In his tearing haste to condemn the current government, Sukhbir had clearly not bothered to check out even the basic facts before coming out with his statement,” he said.

Pointing to the economic governance indicator data used in the report, the CM said it related to 2016-17, thus reflecting the progress in the sector under the previous government. Even the data under social welfare and development, sex ratio at birth, health insurance coverage and empowerment of minorities dated back to the previous government’s time, he further said. As far as agriculture and allied sector was concerned, the data for all indicators other than one with a low weightage of 0.1, has been taken from 2015-16 and 2016-17 – when the Congress government was not in power, he said.

Under public health, where Punjab could have done better, the data on maternal mortality ratio, Infant mortality ratio and Immunisation achievement are all from the period between 2014 and 2017, the CM said.