Kishanganj tops state’s governance ranking, CM’s home district 36th

Districts like West Champaran, Sheohar, Gopalganj, Banka, Katihar, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, East Champaran, Jamui, Nawada and Bhojpur are among the good performers.

Kishanganj has emerged as the best governed district in Bihar, followed by Siwan, in an internal assessment carried out by the office of chief secretary based on district authorities’ response to public petitions and their resolutions, according to internal survey report prepared by the office of chief secretary which has been seen by HT.

Capital Patna has been placed on the 30th rank. (HT Photo)

Jehanabad district has been ranked the lowest.

Capital Patna has been placed on the 30th rank while chief minister Nitish Kumar’s home district of Nalanda has been rated 36th among the total 38 districts in the state.

“Outstanding officials would be rewarded, while those failing to live up to the expectations will have it recorded in their service book,” said a senior official, adding that the mechanism for reward and punishment would be worked out later.

Districts like West Champaran, Sheohar, Gopalganj, Banka, Katihar, Sitamarhi, Darbhanga, East Champaran, Jamui, Nawada and Bhojpur are among the good performers.

Officials said governance ranking was part of the state government’s drive to make the governance reach to the masses. “Earlier, the government had mandated regular field visits by all officers, from the district to the state level, twice a week to carry out inspections of projects going on in their respective jurisdictions. The exercise was aimed at reducing the load of public petitions coming to the higher authorities,” said the official.

He said chief minister Nitish Kumar was perturbed at the increasing number petitioners approaching his office and other senior officers. “It appeared that public grievance redressal mechanism at the district level is not working properly. The flaws need to be detected and rectified,” he said, adding that CM’s seven resolve programmes are the focus of assessment made by the state government.