Himachal Pradesh 2020 has maintained steady performance in the SKOCH State of Governance ranking on the back of good show in District Administration, Rural Development, Health and Power & Energy. The state improved its ranking in six categories while in the overall state ranking it slipped one spot to move down to the 16th place in the SKOCH State of Governance Rankings 2020. In 2019 it was placed at the 15th position.
Himachal Pradesh registered significant gains in six sectoral rankings. In the District Administration category in which the maximum number of innovations came from across the country, Himachal Pradesh acquired the 11th position. In contrast, no noteworthy project was selected from Himachal Pradesh in category in 2019. Similarly, in the Health category Himachal Pradesh moved up from the 10th position in 2019 to the seventh position in 2020. Himachal Pradesh also registered good show in Transport, Rural Development, Power & Energy and Municipal Governance categories. No project was selected from Himachal Pradesh in these categories during 2019.
| Top Gainers | ||
| 2020 | 2019 | |
| District Administration | 11 | 0 |
| Health (Non-COVID) | 7 | 10 |
| Municipal Governance | 8 | 0 |
| Power & Energy | 6 | 0 |
| Rural Development | 2 | 0 |
| Transport | 8 | 0 |
With six projects, Himachal Pradesh acquired the 11th position in the District Administration sectoral ranking. One of the selected projects from Himachal Pradesh in the District Administration category was in the impactful category while another one was in highly impactful category.
District Administration Mandi has deployed low cost landslide monitoring system in the land slide prone areas. The new system has been developed in association with IIT Mandi. The deployment of the new system has helped save precious life. For example, several lives were saved at Kotropi with quick response from the sensors placed at the affected areas. In order to provide early warnings, the new system alerts people by SMS and hooters. While concerned authorities are notified through SMS, the hooters give warnings to the common people. In doing so, the system warns people and gives them time to take preventive measures.
Health & Family Welfare Department, District Administration Chamba, has introduced tele health services programme in order to address the issues related to the availability of emergency healthcare services to communities located in the remote parts of Chamba district. The programme has thus far been successful in reducing the unnecessary travel for availing specialty and emergency healthcare and has been contributing towards the reduction of disease burden by providing timely care. It has also led to significant reduction in the out-of-pocket expenditure for availing quality health care. Patients receieve services free of cost. In addition, the programme has been reaching out to the communities through outreach activities to sensitise them about their health condition through preventive health care services. With the inclusion and availability of diagnostic services the programme has since been delivering comprehensive health care services in the region.
District Administration Kullu has introduced Aanganwadi Adoption Programme for health and nutrition of children. The programme encourages various organisations and individuals of society to adopt Aanganwadi centres and help in ensuring better health for children. 82 Anganwadis have so far been adopted by various individuals and organisations including, shopkeepers, hotels, social workers etc. They provide milk and fruits to Anganwadi children.
District Administration Kinnaur took several measures to deal with Covid-19 pandemic. Firstly, the administration ran a public awareness campaign regarding social distancing, wearing of masks, washing hands, use of sanitisers, etc. Additionally, measures like no mask no ration/vegetables and Panchayat level surveillance helped in effectively controlling the spread of Covid-19.
Himachal Pradesh acquired the second position in the Rural Development sectoral ranking on the back of three selected projects. One of the projects selected from Himachal Pradesh in this category was in impactful category. Himachal Pradesh does comparatively well in this niche when measured against Andhra Pradesh, the state with the top spot in this sector. In fact, the two have the same number of projects in the sector.vHowever, from Andhra Pradesh one project was in highly impactful category.
Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Government of Himachal Pradesh, has implemented Gram Kaushal Yojana for the purpose of rejuvenating traditional art and crafts of Himachal Pradesh. It covers the art and crafts of Himachal such as Chamba Rumaal, Kullu Shawl, weaving, embroidery, metal/ wooden /stone carving etc. Traditional craftsman and artisan who are not eligible under any skill development scheme are also given training under this scheme on a priority basis.
Himachal Pradesh produces several arts and crafts products. Indeed, the state is known for carpets, leather works, shawls, metalware, woodwork and paintings. Pashmina shawl is the product, which is highly in demand not only in Himachal but all over the country. But the artisans who are involved in making all these stuff were left out due to marketing and domestic reasons. The Gram Kaushal Yojana has undoubtedly played an important role in protecting and promoting the traditional arts and crafts of Himachal Pradesh.
Department of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Government of Himachal Pradesh, has taken several measures to promote Dona Pattals made of tree leaves. The Dona Pattal project seeks to provide environment friendly and biodegradable options instead of plastic products in the market. These products are cheap and free of toxins because Dona Pattals are made of leaves like Malsan and Sagwan. These leaves are easily available in the forests of Himachal Pradesh.
Another innovative project in the rural development sector in Himachal Pradesh came in the form of MGNREGA park developed in Gohar block of Mandi district. MGNREGA scheme fund has been used innovatively to construct a park for permanent livelihood of local people. Moreover, it is working to highlighting rural hidden tourist places along with decreasing pressure on main tourism destinations like Shimla and Manali. The park has been outfitted with different assets such as rain shelters, ponds, pucca road and ground.
Three projects were studied from Himachal Pradesh in health category. This helped Himachal Pradesh acquire the seventh position in Health sectoral ranking.
Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of Himachal Pradesh, has put in place a comprehensive plan to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. The department devised contingency plan in collaboration with the district officials. It involves testing, reporting, surveillance, quarantine as well as treatment and the follow-up. It also involved mapping the containment zones, initiation and starting of Virology Lab in the Hospital for testing and reporting of covid samples.
Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, has taken innovative measures to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The institute conducted a survey in order to establish a baseline of the current knowledge, attitudes and behaviour of population in Shimla city in relation to water, sanitation, hygiene, solid waste management and other health-related practices. The goal was to identify specific areas where intervention is necessary to increase knowledge or lead to specific behavioural changes for better health. As a result, project runners gained better understanding of the progress towards the SDG-6 targets. This greater knowledge base is intended to further facilitate a more informed policy development process, with the ultimate goal of ensuring the right to health security for all the communities globally.
Dr YSP Government Medical College, Nahan, Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh, has taken innovative measures for managing indoor and outdoor services and emergency healthcare services amidst Corona pandemic.
With one impactful project Himachal Pradesh acquired the eighth position in the Municipal Governance sectoral ranking SKOCH State of Governance. Maharashtra tops this sectoral ranking with 18 projects that were studied.
Municipal Corporation Shimla has adopted an innovative solution to manage stray dog problems. The Corporation has designed a new solution under the name of ‘Street Dog Adoption and Management Programme’. This mandate directs that no dog will be left unattended on the streets. Dog lovers must personally adopt the dogs and/or the residents of a locality can plan ‘community adoptions’.
Any dog lover who come forward and adopt a street dog are given waiver in domestic garbage bill and also a free parking in his/her ward as per availability. This acts as a huge encouragement for the people to come forward for adoption of street dogs. The dogs that have not been adopted under personal adoption are then adopted by the local community. As per the programme there will be no open feeding and littering. The Municipal Corporation has taken the responsibility to vaccinate, sterilise and register these dogs free of cost.
India has largest population of street dogs and largest cases of rabies in the world. However, there is no national policy for management of street dogs. In view of this reality, this initiative of Municipal Corporation Shimla is proving very helpful in managing the problems related to street dogs.
One project was assessed from Himachal Pradesh in Power & Energy category. Himachal Pradesh Energy Development Agency (HIMURJA) has taken initiatives for mitigation of electricity problems of BPL families living in the remote and tribal areas of the state. HIMURJA uses Off Grid Solar Photovoltaic Systems to accomplish this goal. To this end, the system is using 250 Watt Off Grid Solar Photovoltaic Systems to power 5 LED Lights of 9 Watt each, mobile charging point and to operate LED Television for 6 hours. This has been very helpful in mitigation of electricity problems in Pangi valley. Due to snow fall and very less discharge in the winter months these areas do not have conventional electricity. And so, these SPV Systems help meet their energy requirements.
SKOCH assessed one project from Himachal Pradesh in Transport category. This helped Himachal Pradesh acquire the eighth position in the Transport sectoral ranking. Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) played a proactive role in helping people in the time of Covid-19 crisis. HPTDC extended helping hands to the Himachalis returning home as well as those stuck outside the state. The Corporation also offered its properties for use as institutional and paid quarantine centers. And so, 33 properties of HPTDC were used as quarantine centers. Medical and paramedical staff also used HPTDC properties while providing their valuable services during the Covid-19 crisis.
While in some sectors Himachal Pradesh improved its performance, in several other sectors it could not match to its own performance set in the previous year. Due to this Himachal Pradesh’s overall performance in the SKOCH State of Governance ranking declined to the 16th position in 2020 from the 15th position in 2019. Himachal Pradesh’s performance in five sectors did not meet the standard set by performance in 2019. The state did well in Education, e-Governance and Governance (General Administration) where Himachal Pradesh in 2019, but did not submit any project for assessment in 2020. In Police & Safety and Skill Development categories the position of Himachal Pradesh was not up to the level of 2019.
| Medium Performers | ||
| 2020 | 2019 | |
| State Rank | 16 | 15 |
| Education | 0 | 3 |
| e-Governance | 0 | 9 |
| Governance (General Administration) | 0 | 8 |
| Police & Safety | 9 | 7 |
| Skill Development | 7 | 3 |
In Skill Development category one project was studied from Himachal Pradesh. This helped Himachal Pradesh acquire the seventh position in the Skill Development sectoral ranking. Himachal Pradesh did comparatively better In 2019, with the third position in the Skill Development sectoral ranking.
Himachal Pradesh Kaushal Vikas Nigam has launched initiatives for reforming and modernising its Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions and programmes in the hope that it will boost the employability of Himachal Pradesh’s youth and improve their employment prospects. The project funded by the Asian Development Bank aims to support the State Government in addressing the “second-generation” challenge of providing relevant and good quality TVET opportunities to its youth to prepare them for the changing labour market.
The project has adopted a holistic approach for facilitating the overall development of skill ecosystem in the State with interventions that range from implementation of industry oriented short-term, medium-term and long-term vocational skill trainings, creation of apt infrastructure to improve access to skill trainings, development of women polytechnic catering to development of model career centers to provide counselling support to youth and upgradation of government ITIs in the state.
Himachal Pradesh ranks at the nineth position in the Police & Safety sectoral ranking and has three projects up for review. The state ranked seventh in 2019 and third in 2018.
As an initiative of excellence in response to Covid, Baddi District Police took measures such as Geo-tagging of Covid Positive patients and predictive analysis of hotspots. The Geo-tagging of Covid patients and their home isolation status has immensely helped the police and health authorities in predicting the hotspots in the industrial area BBN (Solan, HP) and also see the live number of Covid cases depicted on the Google Maps. It also helps in analysing whether the patients are coming more from the containment zones, have any linkage in the industry, etc and also helps in analysing whether the patients are more from direct primary contacts, travel history, ILI symptoms, pregnancy, etc and helps in calculating the Community Spread deciding ‘R’ factor dynamically.
Hamirpur District Police and Una District Police also took innovative measures to effectively control and manage Covid-19 crisis.
No project was submitted for assessment from Himachal Pradesh in a number of sectors. This negatively affected the state’s ranking in the SKOCH State of Governance 2020. Top ranking states have performed very well in these sectors. Himachal Pradesh sectors that did not submit any projects for evaluation include Agriculture, Disaster Management, Ease of Doing Business, Finance & Revenue, Food & Civil Supplies, Infrastructure, Irrigation, Labour, Municipal Sanitation as well as Social Justice & Social Security. This list also includes Tourism & Culture, Urban Development, Water and Women & Child Development.
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