Shahin Bepari Lambe
Panaji: Panchayats in Goa have been ranked in the middle and lower categories of the Panchayat Advancement Index (PAI) 2.0 report, revealing a significant performance gap compared to the national leaders.
Released by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, the index evaluates local bodies across nine themes of health, infrastructure, governance, poverty, child welfare, water, environment, social justice and women’s empowerment.
While 188 of Goa’s 191 panchayats participated in the data-driven assessment, none achieved the ‘Front Runner’ status – a category reached by 3,635 panchayats nationwide, scoring between 75 and below 90 marks.
The state’s performance was largely concentrated in the lower tiers: 80 panchayats were classified as ‘Performers’ (scoring 60-75), while the majority, 107 in total, fell into the ‘Aspirant’ category (scoring 40-60). One Goa panchayat was ranked as a ‘Beginner’ with a score below 40. These results suggest that while most of the state’s local bodies function at a moderate level, they are yet to meet the higher standards set by several other states and Union territories. Despite the lagging scores, Goa demonstrated strong engagement with the initiative, recording high participation alongside the national rate of 97.30%.
The PAI 2.0 serves as a developmental report card intended to strengthen grassroots governance, but for Goa, the findings highlight a clear need for advancement to bridge the gap with the country’s top-performing rural bodies.
