Global and Indian history is replete with example of how good governance has improved the lives of the people and bad governance has destroyed races and nations. In Indian mythology, the emphasis on governance and sustainable development can be traced back to time immemorial. The Bhagvad Gita provides numerous cues for good governance, leadership, dutifulness and self-realization which are continuously re-interpreted in the modern context. Even in Kautilya’s Arthshastra (2nd – 3rd century BC), welfare of people was considered paramount in the role of the King. Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation also emphasized “su-raj” which essentially means good governance. In a more recent context, the importance of governance is clearly inscribed in the Indian Constitution which is built on the premise of a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular and Democratic Republic committing itself to democracy, the rule of law and welfare of the people.

Eight pillars of good governance:

• The United Nations has defined eight pillars of good governance as:
  1. Consensus oriented
  2. Accountable
  3. Transparent
  4. Responsible
  5. Equitable and inclusive
  6. Effective and efficient
  7. Follows the rule of law
  8. Participatory

Also under the Sustainable Development goals, Goal 16 can be considered to be directly linked as it is dedicated towards improvement in governance, inclusion, participation, rights and security.

Development Agenda India@75:

• NITI Aayog has brought out a comprehensive document viz. “Strategy for New India @75” spelling out the broad roadmap for the 75th year of India’s Independence.
• This comprehensive document, comprising 41 Chapters covering almost all sectors, spells out current status, binding constraints and strategies to not only enable India to become at 4 trillion dollar economy by 2022 but also lay a solid foundation for clean, inclusive, sustained and sustainable growth for the next three decades.
• Of these, as many as 7 chapters focus on governance, covering subjects such as balanced regional development, legal, judicial and police reforms, transforming aspirational districts, civil service reforms, city governance, optimizing use of land resources, and data led governance.
• In the remaining chapters also, especially those relating to social sectors, good governance remains the key for better service delivery and more effective outcomes.

Aspirational Districts Programme:

• The Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) was launched in January 2018 to transform the lives of people in the under-developed areas of the county in a time bound manner.
• Anchored in NITI Aayog, the programme is aimed at transforming 115 most backward districts with focused interventions in the field of health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water management, financial inclusion and skill development.
• The ADP is a landmark initiative that aims to address governance issues by using a combination of approaches: lifting levels of aspirations through a vision and district plan, adequate institutional arrangements, convergence in all stakeholders’ efforts and above all, ranking-based public competition among the districts by setting up a real-time monitoring mechanism.

Direct Benefits Transfer:

• Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) aims to develop a governance regime which ensures a simple and user-friendly Government to People (G2P) interface and directly delivers entitlements to eligible individuals and households in a fair, transparent, efficient and reliable manner.
• It helps in achieving multiple benefits.
  • It cuts down the multiple layers for delivery of any benefit.
  • It reduces the delay in payments.
  • It helps in accurate targeting of the beneficiaries
  • It facilitates curbing pilferage and duplication of beneficiaries.

Civil Service, Legal, Judicial and Police Reforms:

• A major area of governance reforms is the reorientation of the administrative set up, legal/ judicial system and maintaining law and order.
• With change in the socio-economic fabric, emergence of new mechanism of service delivery and over 2.7 crore cases pending in various courts, this is an area enquiring urgent attention. NITI Aayog, in its document on New India @75, has made a number of suggestions in the areas of civil service, legal/judicial and police reforms.
• These include the following:
• Improve the teeth to tail ratio and promote an officer-oriented culture.
• Reduce the number of current 60 plus separate civil services at the central and state level through rationalization and harmonization of services.
• Encourage lateral entry by inducting specialists especially at higher levels.
• Bring down entry age in civil services.
• Strengthen municipal cadres and outsource service delivery in possible areas.
• Develop an inclusive citizen centric framework in terms of service delivery, grievance Redressal and public access to information with enhanced use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
• Ensure probity in governance by strengthening institutional mechanisms for prevention and detection of corruption, while at the same time protect honest civil servants.

Legal Reforms:

• Create a repository of all existing central and state laws, rules and regulations.
• Repeal redundant laws and remove restrictive clauses in existing laws
• Reform criminal justice and procedural laws with focus on pre-institution mediation
• Reduce the criminalization of violations, and move towards compounding of minor offences
• Prioritize court process automation and ICT enablement for electronic court and case management
• Introduce an administrative cadre in the judicial system

Police Reforms:

• Modernizing police forces and implementing the Model Police Act of 2015.
• States to ensure greater representation of women in the police force
• Introduction of remodeled training modules, refresher courses and continuing education for police personnel.
• Reform of the First Information Report (FIR) lodging mechanism, including introducing filing e-FIRs for minor offences.
• Launch a common nation-wide emergency number to attend to emergency security needs of citizens.
• Instituting a separate cadre for cybercrimes, cyber threats and fraud.

E-Governance:

• To ensure a New India by 2022, some fundamental principles may need to be prioritized. These include making services available to the public in a faceless, paperless and cashless mode; providing connectivity and digital identity to all; targeting benefits through Aadhaar enabled DBT; simplifying forms and processes and providing e-platforms.
• Every Ministry/Department needs to have a closer look at the schemes, its implementation, monitoring and evaluation framework with trust on outcomes, not mere outputs or expenditure incurred.
• Wherever possible, ICT and in due course Artificial Intelligence should be used for better outcomes.
• Civil society, corporates, markets and citizens at large need to be involved in holistic development.
• Artificial Intelligence can, in due course, play a major role in better implementation.
• At the same time, portals such as Centralized Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMs) the Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG) and the MyGov need to be make more effective in information exchange, seeking feedback and addressing the grievances of citizens.

To summarize, good governance needs to continue being the cornerstone of various initiatives. Once implemented in letter and  spirit, the goals set for not only New India 2022, but also Sustainable Development Goals 2030 will be in the greater realm of achievement, more sooner than later.

TID-BITS:

• Swachh Shakti 2019, a convention of Women Sarpanches was organized in Kurukshetra recently.
• Swachh Shakti-2019 is a national event which aims to bring in to focus the leadership role played by rural women in Swachh Bharat Mission.
• Best practices from grass root level in the rural areas for Swachh Bharat were shared by them.
• The event also showcased the Swachh Sunder Shauchalay, unique and first of its kind in the world campaign.
• Swachh Skakti is an example of how at the grass root level, rural women champion are acting as change agents to mobilize the community and lead from the front.