Gujarat removes red tape and curbs corruption

Gujarat best example of effective governance: US Congressional report
Press Trust of India, Updated: September 14, 2011 16:56 IST
Washington: Identifying Gujarat as, perhaps, the best example of effective governance and impressive development in India, a Congressional report showered praise on Chief Minister Narendra Modi and said that the state under him has become a key driver of national economic growth.

Gujarat is followed by Bihar and its Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for his governance and administrative skills, the latest report of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) on India said.

"Perhaps India's best example of effective governance and impressive development is found in Gujarat, where controversial Chief Minister Narendra Modi has streamlined economic processes, removing red tape and curtailing corruption in ways that have made the state a key driver of national economic growth," said the CRS report.

An independent and bipartisan wing of the US Congress, the CRS prepares periodic reports on issues of interest to the US lawmakers.

The 94-page report was released by the CRS for US lawmakers on September 1, a copy of which made public by the Federation of American Scientists.

"Seeking to overcome the taint of his alleged complicity in 2002 riots, Modi has overseen heavy investment in modern roads and power infrastructure, and annual growth of more than 11 per cent in recent years," the CRS said.

Gujarat, the CRS said, has attracted major international investors such as General Motors and Mitsubishi and with only five per cent of the country's population, the state now accounts for more than one-fifth of India's exports, it said. The CRS mentions Bihar after Gujarat in good governance.

"Another positive example in 2011 has been Bihar, one of India's poorest states, where Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has won national attention through his considerable success in emphasising good governance over caste-based politics.

"He is credited with restoring law and order across much of the state, as well as overseeing infrastructure and educational improvements of direct benefit to common citizens projects," the report said.

"Kumar's Janata Dal (United) party, in alliance with the main national opposition BJP, won an overwhelming reelection majority in November 2010 state elections," the report said.

Reacting to the report, Mr Modi - emboldened by the Supreme Court's decision to not monitor the case against him in connection with the riots at Gulbarg Society in 2002 - tweeted, "Another recognition for 6 crore Gujaratis. US report hails Guj's effective governance. Jay Jay Garvi Guj."

The examples set in by Chief Ministers Modi and Kumar may have inspired the popular leader of India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh.

"Chief Minister Mayawati, who is widely believed to maintain national political ambitions and was at the forefront of a nascent "Third Front" in 2009, has shifted her own focus much more toward infrastructure projects such as road-building and improving the state's poor energy grid," the report said.

The CRS also refers to the ongoing Telangana movement in Andhra Pradesh, and the new Trinamool-Congress rule in West Bengal.

As West Bengal's new Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee is faced with repairing one of India's poorest states.
Read more at: Gujarat best example of effective governance