The Narendra Modi government has asked a major think tank to develop the country’s own democracy rating index to help counter the country’s dwindling standing in the ranking issued by international groups, Al Jazeera reported.
“The Observer Research Foundation (ORF), which works closely with the Indian government on multiple initiatives, is preparing the ratings framework, according to two people closely involved in the discussions on the project. The index is expected to hew more closely to New Delhi’s narrative than Western-based rankings that Modi’s team has criticised,” the report said.
Quoting a top government official, the report stated: “A review meeting was held by NITI Aayog in January, and it was decided that ORF will be releasing Democracy Rankings in a few weeks.”
The new rankings system could be released soon, the official added. However, it it unclear if the index will be released before the country’s general elections, which are slated in a few weeks.
“The Democracy Index being prepared by ORF went through a peer review process and expert analysis on the methodology a few weeks ago … it is likely to be released soon,” another source told Al Jazeera.
The Observer Research Foundation (ORF), known for co-hosting major geopolitical conferences like the Raisina Dialogue, did not respond to queries from Al Jazeera regarding the Democracy Index. The Raisina Dialogue took place this year from February 21 to February 23.
The NITI Aayog, India’s public policy think tank, stated it was not preparing the index but did not confirm nor deny its involvement in assisting an external think tank in its preparation. According to a spokesperson, NITI Aayog monitors global indices to drive reforms and growth in India.
Emails and meeting minutes from government agencies over the past three years, obtained by the Qatar-based media network, indicate a growing urgency within the Modi administration to address setbacks to India’s democracy credentials, including through a report prepared by India.
Following India’s downgrade from a free democracy to a “partially free democracy” by international indices like the US-based Freedom House in 2021, the country initiated the exercise to come up with own rankings.
The V-Dem Institute in Sweden labeled India as an “electoral autocracy”, while The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked it 53rd in its 2020 Democracy Index, categorizing it as a “flawed democracy”. Factors such as the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), National Register of Citizens (NRC), and the revocation of special status in Indian-administered Kashmir were cited as contributing to this classification.
“India’s ranking in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Democracy Index had fallen sharply between 2016 and 2020, though it has improved marginally since then: up to 41 (tied with Poland) in 2023, from 46 in 2022. However, it remains classified as a “flawed democracy”,” the report said.
