Washington: Identifying Gujarat as perhaps
the best example of effective governance and impressive development in India, a Congressional report showered praise on the 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.
/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.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 08:48