Nagaland’s performance in the SKOCH State of Governance 2024 reflects both its promise and the challenges it must overcome to compete with stronger governance performers. Ranked #24 nationally, the state remains in the lower tier of the governance index. To break into the top 10, the state will need a strategic push in project proliferation, district-level engagement, and a higher volume of high-impact projects.
On the SKOCH State of Governance Index, Nagaland’s rank is largely constrained by its small governance footprint—only a handful of departments submitted projects. Nonetheless, its performance in the Forest sector, where it ranked #2 nationally, and District Governance (#13) shows where its comparative strengths lie. These areas reflect Nagaland’s deep reliance on community-managed natural resources and decentralised administration. The SKOCH report suggests that most high-performing states achieve success through diversified project submissions across urban, rural, and digital governance domains, an area where Nagaland has considerable ground to cover.
In terms of the SKOCH State of Financial Prudence Index, Nagaland’s position remains weak. The state’s fiscal indicators reveal structural constraints: low own-tax and non-tax revenue mobilisation, dependence on central transfers, and limited capital expenditure capacity. This heavy reliance on devolution from the Centre limits fiscal autonomy, creating fragility in public service delivery. Compared to small and hilly state peers like Sikkim, Mizoram, and Meghalaya—many of whom score higher on the fiscal index—Nagaland has fewer revenue-generating strategies and lower debt sustainability buffers.
On the SKOCH State of e-Government Infrastructure Index, Nagaland ranks among the bottom five states. Despite some digital initiatives, the state faces foundational challenges such as poor internet penetration, limited service digitisation, and infrastructure bottlenecks in remote districts. States like Meghalaya and Tripura, despite similar terrain and demographic hurdles, have advanced further in e-governance through mission-mode digitisation and sectoral service delivery improvements. Nagaland will need to expand its digital backbone, incentivise local-level tech adoption, and integrate citizen service platforms more comprehensively to make meaningful progress.
In the SKOCH State of Government Transformation Index, Nagaland is relatively underrepresented. The state has yet to adopt systemic reforms that enhance bureaucratic efficiency, cross-departmental coordination, or real-time service monitoring. States such as Uttarakhand and Assam—despite sharing size or capacity constraints—have implemented model reforms like grievance redressal platforms, social audit systems, and financial automation that have yielded tangible results. Nagaland’s future success on this index hinges on institutionalising such transformative interventions beyond pilot or flagship projects.
The SKOCH State of Government Efficiency Index, which combines governance and fiscal performance, highlights Nagaland’s structural limitations. The state lags due to limited project scale, fiscal dependence, and institutional delivery gaps. While its efficient use of forest and tribal resources provides a foundation for natural capital-based growth, it must now link these to measurable governance outputs. Without substantial improvement in municipal performance, service delivery digitisation, and public finance management, Nagaland is likely to remain in the bottom quartile of this index.
Finally, the SKOCH State of Development Index, the cumulative score derived from performance across all five indices, places Nagaland well below the national median. Compared to similarly sized states—Goa, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh—Nagaland’s lower scores reflect a lack of scale, integration, and fiscal innovation. Yet, the recognition in Forest governance and community-based environmental models offer a promising pathway.
Nagaland’s journey in the SKOCH 2024 framework is one of cautious optimism. The potential is visible in its few but high-impact projects. The task now is to expand, replicate, and institutionalise these innovations across departments and districts while fixing foundational issues in finance and infrastructure. A structured focus on building local governance capacity, boosting own revenue sources, and harnessing its ecological strengths can help Nagaland climb meaningfully in national governance rankings.
