BANGALORE, INDIA: Delhi emerged as the best e-governed state in 2007, followed by Goa and Chhattisgarh, even as Karnataka and Gujarat plummeted in e-governance initiatives, a Dataquest-IDC e-Gov survey says.

"Delhi was voted the best e-governed state by its denizens for meeting nine out of 14 parameters set for the survey," Dataquest's chief editor Prasanto K. Roy said in a statement here Friday evening.

"The nation's capital state rose to the top from third position in 2006, while Chhattisgarh jumped to third position from 14, with an impressive record of e-governance performance," said Roy.

Other three best e-governed states are Goa, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab follow them.

"Karnataka, which was the second best e-governed state in 2006, plunged to ninth position last year, indicating that political stability is crucial to the success of e-governance projects in a state," Roy said.

Similarly, the survey found Gujarat slipping to 19th position from fourth in 2006 and Jharkhand as the worst e-governed state, followed by Haryana and West Bengal.

The findings were based on a citizen survey conducted across 20 states by CyberMedia group's leading publication Dataquest in association with technology research firm IDC India.

Last year's topper Goa slipped to the second spot.

Among the southern state, Andhra Pradesh slipped to eighth position from fifth in 2006, while Tamil Nadu rose to fourth from eighth and Kerala to fifth from 11th rank.

Citizens gave maximum marks to e-initiatives in education, income tax and transport services, while they expressed dissatisfaction with those in employment exchange, police and security and judiciary.

The maximum score achieved on any parameter was Chhattisgarh for its education department. Delhi topped the list in police and security category, while Gujarat's low scores on both police and judiciary indicate the negative legacy of the 2002 riots, the survey noted.

"We are seeing the impact of political and law and order issues on citizen's satisfaction-whether it is Gujarat's massive fall, or Karnataka's or West Bengal's muted slides," Roy asserted.

In north, Himachal Pradesh jumped to seven from 16 and Punjab to 10 from 16, with impressive gains in ranking, as interaction with governments becoming easier, while Haryana declined to 18 from 10.

In e-governance services for businesses, Tamil Nadu topped the list with Chhattisgarh close behind followed by Delhi, Maharashtra and Kerala. Interestingly, Tamil Nadu was at 10 in 2006, while businesses ranked Chhattisgarh at 16.

"The survey found businesses in most of the respondent states more satisfied than citizens with e-governance projects, as the former benefitted from e-applications for supplies and provisions, government tenders and contracts and power utility," Roy affirmed.

The overall e-governance scores of Karnataka, Uttarakhand and Haryana also fell as compared to 2006, as citizens and businesses reported low satisfaction levels with government services.

In business-government interface, Karnataka, which was topper in 2006, fell to 11 and Gujarat slipped to 16 from three in the previous year.

The survey found Goa was the most e-ready state followed by Delhi and Uttarakhand. E-readiness measures the success of new e-governance projects in each of the 20 participating states.

"The findings show constant and diligent effort is required to keep individuals and businesses satisfied with the progress of e-governance initiatives. High-performing states in previous years have not stayed at the top, which shows continuous retention of service quality and ease of interaction is key to e-governance," Roy added.

With assembly elections due in some states followed by general elections in 2009 across the country, a high chance of disruption of e-governance services in several states cannot be ruled out.