New Delhi, Jan 22 (PTI) The Good Governance Index 2021 has indicated that Jammu and Kashmir has performed strongly in commerce, industry, agriculture and allied sectors in the last three years.

Significant improvements were reported in ease of doing business, tax collection, skill trainings imparted, connectivity to rural habitations, economic empowerment of women, health insurance coverage and housing for all.

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These were reflected at the first “District Good Governance Index”, virtually released by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday.

The Good Governance Index 2021 has indicated that Jammu and Kashmir registered an increase of 3.7 per cent in good governance indicators over the 2019 to 2021 period, an official statement said.

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Strong performances were witnessed in commerce and industry, agriculture and allied sectors, public infrastructure and utilities, judiciary and public safety sectors, it said.

There were improvements in conviction rates, disposal of court cases and proportion of women police personnel while citizen-centric governance sector witnessed a strong performance.

In this backdrop of strong governance performance at the national level, the Jammu and Kashmir administration's initiative of benchmarking governance at district level assumes considerable significance, the statement said.

The district good governance index has helped identify the impact of various governance interventions at the district level and provides a futuristic roadmap for improving district level governance with targeted interventions.

Stakeholders consultations necessitated 10 rounds of meetings at the central government level, including meetings with the chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, district collectors, Directorate of Economics and Statistics, consultations with academia and sector specialists from other states, the statement said.

Some of the key highlights of the results of the index are: In the agriculture and allied sector, universal coverage has been achieved in Kisan Credit Card scheme, Soil Health Card scheme and animal vaccination.

Most districts of Jammu and Kashmir witnessed growth in the production of food grain, horticulture, milk and meat, poultry, and agriculture credit.

The commerce and industry sector has seen improvement in GST registration, MSME units registered online and giving credit to handicrafts and credit for self-employment.

There is a 109 per cent increase in credit to handicrafts in the 2019-2021 period.

In the human resources development sector, the percentage of schools with drinking water, separate toilets and electricity facilities have shown an increase as also the percentage of schools with access to computers and number of children served mid-day meals. In 10 districts, 100 per cent skill training has been imparted to registered students.

In the public health sector, full immunisation represents a significant success story, percentage of PHC and sub-centres converted to health and wellness centres, proportion of Anganwadis with own buildings have shown improvements.

In the public infrastructure and utilities sector, housing for all scheme indicates more than 50 per cent of sanctioned houses being grounded in 12 districts, Ganderbal and Srinagar achieving 100 per cent access to safe drinking water, 18 districts achieving 100 per cent access to sanitation facilities, improvements in households electrified and construction of all-weather roads.

In the social welfare and development sector, 80 per cent Aadhar seeding of ration cards represents a major milestone.

In the financial inclusion sector, financial inclusion under the Jan Dhan Yojana has achieved universal coverage, financial support under self-employment schemes has also registered double digit growth.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)