Kerala Leads India in the Urban Governance Index

Kerala has achieved the highest ranking in the Praja Foundation's Urban Governance Index (UGI) due to its proficiency in municipal planning and financial management. Kerala can, however, improve in a number of areas, particularly city management, according to the research.

Watchman Up: Urban Governance Index (UGI) 101

• UGI evaluates urban governance across cities in India with Kerala at an overall score of 59.31 out of a possible 100 marks
• Financial health of Kerala is reflected in a score 23.22 out of total capacity of 30, which helped it to pip Maharashtra with its score at 21.15
• Nonetheless high on overall ranking Kerala comes 20th in city administration empowerment.
• Local level governance practices – mandatory participation of a city councilor in every deliberative committee;
• Kerala using new technology for service delivery, city management_primary

Challenges Faced by Kerala

• Too many empty local government jobs, and too much unnecessary duplication of agency functions;
• Weak Mayor system and deferred Civic Election
• Kerala municipal elections ahead are ideal model