States which are not performing must be shamed in public: Amitabh Kant

New Delhi, Nov 2 (KNN) Stressing that ranking, naming and shaming states om performance is the only way to build a competitive spirit in the country, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said non-performing states must be shamed in public.

He wrote this on the micro-blogging site twitter on Monday after the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in partnership with the World Bank Group, released the results of the Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms 2015-16.

Commenting on the report and state rankings, Kant wrote, “Ranking & naming & shaming States on performance across sectors is d only way 2 build a competitive spirit &make India rapidly move forward”

He wrote, “Fascinating 2 see immense competition between States on #Ease of Doing Business. AP & Telangana dethrone Gujarat 4 top position.Gr8 job!

Karnataka must improve its performance on EODB index & become d easiest & simplest place 2 do business in. Performance impacts investment,” he added.

Reacting to his comment, Ratna Prabha,  Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka, used twitter to say, “Agreed but the ranking is not tallying with investments. Goes to prove again its personal interaction ie imp than procedures.”

Kant said, “Why be so soft? Put everything in public domain. States which are not performing must be shamed in public. People must know.”

Sharing her views on the report, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon, wrote, “Investment is happening because of ecosystem of talent not policies.”

“We can certainly boast of best ecosystem of talent but not best business policies. It's not easy I can assure u,” she added.

According to the report, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are the easiest states to do business in with scores more than 98 per cent while Maharashtra and Delhi stand at 10th and 19th ranks respectively.

Gujarat which was at first position last year slipped to third position this year scoring 98.21 per cent. Surprisingly, among southern states, Tamil Nadu stood at 18th position, Kerala at 20th and Karnataka at 13th.

Among Northern states, Haryana was at 6th, Jharkhand 7th, Punjab 12th, Uttar Pradesh 14th and Chandigarh was at 33rd position in terms of Ease of Doing Business. (KNN Bureau)