Focus: GS II: Polity and Governance
Why in News?
Good Governance Day (25th December) is being celebrated on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
About Good Governance
- Decision-making and decision-implementation processes are referred to as governance.
- The term “governance” can be employed in a variety of situations, including corporate, national, international, and municipal government.
- The method in which authority is exercised in the administration of a country’s economic and social resources for development is the definition of good governance.
- Chanakya lived in an era when good administration was a concept. In Arthashastra, he had elaborated on the subject.
- Good governance is based on administration that is centred on the needs of the citizenry.
8 Principles of Good Governance:
- Participation
- Rule of Law
- Consensus Oriented
- Equity and Inclusiveness
- Effectiveness and Efficiency
- Accountability
- Transparency
- Responsiveness
Challenges to Good Governance in India
- In the government and other related industries, women are underrepresented.
- Many people believe that India’s high level of corruption makes it difficult to increase the effectiveness of government.
- A citizen has the right to prompt justice, yet there are many reasons why the average person doesn’t receive it. Lack of staff and logistics at the court’s disposal is one such reason.
- Only when given the necessary authority can lower level governments run effectively. This is especially important for the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), who are now struggling with a lack of resources and staff to carry out the duties that the constitution has given them.
- Public policy development and governance are being negatively impacted by the criminalization of politics and the unholy alliance between government officials, commercial interests, and elected officials.
- Other problems such as problems of globalisation, liberalisation, and the market economy, as well as environmental security and sustainable development.
Steps taken to promote Good Governance in India
- As a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), India is under an international obligation to effectively guarantee citizens the Right to Information as per Article 19 of the ICCPR. RTI Act, 2005 marks a significant shift in Indian democracy. It gives greater access of the citizen to the information which in turn improves the responsiveness of the government to community needs.
- Various steps taken towards e-Governance such as Digital India Initiative, MyGov, PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation), Common Services Centres 2.0 (CSC 2.0), e-Courts etc., effectively delivers better programming and services in the era of newly emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs), which herald new opportunities for rapid social and economic transformation worldwide.
- The think tank called the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) was established replacing the Centralised Planning Commission to promote “cooperative federalism”.
- 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.
- Government has launched the ‘Make in India’ initiative and took various steps to improve business conditions including legislation meant to improve the country’s business environment and policy ecosystems (such as the Bankruptcy Code, the Goods and Services Tax or GST, and the anti-money-laundering law).
