Gross domestic behaviour survey: Here are India's 2 most well-behaved states

India Today has unveiled its first-ever ‘Gross Domestic Behaviour’, evaluating states on various parameters such as civic behaviour, public safety, gender attitudes and diversity.

The recent survey, evaluating 21 Indian states and one Union Territory, positions Kerala at the forefront, followed by Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.

The survey was conducted in collaboration with analytics firm How India Lives ranks states on the civic and social attitudes of its residents.

Civic Behaviour

The civic behaviour domain assessed adherence to public rules.

This metric threw up interesting statistics. While 85 per cent of those surveyed gave a thumbs down to evading transport fares, government data has revealed that the Railways alone detected 3.6 crore cases of ticketless travel in 2023-24. It resulted in fines of Rs 2,231.74 crore.

The data underlines enforcement failure and the challenge of ensuring accountability by the government.

However, the survey has shone light on some bright spots as well.

Coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Digital India push, the survey found that 76% of the respondents prefer online payments to cash - a trend that got a leg up after the contentious demonetisation move. Delhi leads the chart, with 96% preferring digital transactions.

Rankings show that in terms of civic behaviour, Tamil Nadu topped the list with Punjab at the bottom.

Public Safety

Public safety is another factor that makes a state prosperous, with Kerala again leading the chart, followed by Himachal Pradesh and Odisha, as per the survey. The survey shows that Tamil Nadu was the ‘best-behaved’ state, with Karnataka being the worst.

Gender Attitudes

The survey on ‘gender attitudes’ showcases a nation caught between progress and patriarchy. Rankings show Kerala again aced the gender parity test, topping the list, with Uttar Pradesh at the bottom.

Diversity and Discrimination

While India prides itself on religious and caste diversity, biases remain across states. In this metric too, Kerala topped the rankings, with Madhya Pradesh at the bottom of the list.

Conversely, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab are at the lower end of the spectrum, indicating areas needing significant improvement in social welfare indicators.

The survey seeks to highlight that the path to development lies not only through GDP numbers and infrastructure projects, but also through revolutions in social metrics like diversity and gender equality.