ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS OF GOOD GOVERNANCE

[Mr. M. GOVINDARAJAN]

Governance

There is no definition for the term ‘Governance’ in any law including corporate laws.  Governance is a concept prevailing for the past years.  Now-a-days this term has been widely used especially in the corporate world.  This term can be interpreted considering the intention and objectives behind the event.  Governance is ‘the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented)’.

United Nations refer the term ‘governance’ to the activities of all political and administrative authorities to govern their country.  For International Monetary Fund, governance is a concept in which a country is managed, including economic, policy, and legal aspects.  In general, governance has the meaning - the decision-making process and the process of determining which policies will be implemented and not implemented.  Governance is clearly inscribed in Indian Constitution which is built on-premise of Sovereign, Socialist, Secular and Democratic Republic committing itself to democracy, rule of law and welfare of people.

Good Governance

Wikipedia defines the expression ‘Good Governance’ as a process of measuring how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources and guarantee the realization of human rights in a manner essentially free of abuse and corruption and with due regard for the rule of law.   The concept of ‘good governance’ thus emerges as a model to compare ineffective economies or political bodies with viable economies and political bodies.

Good Governance requires-

• fair legal frameworks that are enforced impartially;
• full protection of human rights, particularly those of minorities.

Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and an impartial and incorruptible police force.

Bhagavad Gita provides numerous cues for good governance, leadership, dutifulness and self-realization which are re-interpreted in the modern context. In Kautilya’s Arthashastra (2^{nd -} 3^rd century BC), the welfare of people was considered paramount in the role of King.  Mahatma Gandhi emphasized ‘su-raj’ which essentially means good governance.

World Bank

World Bank is the first international organization adopting the concept of ‘good governance’ in the year 1990 into lending arrangements for developing countries and introduced the idea to the general public.  In its 1992 report entitled ‘Governance and Development’, the notion of good governance was written as the way in which power is used to regulate the economic and social resources of a country for development.

Now-a-days the concept of ‘good governance’ has often been used by national and international organizations.  This concept aims to minimize corruption, take into account the opinions of minorities, listen to the voices of the oppressed people in the decision-making process, and respond actively to the needs of the community now and in the future.

Ingredients for Good Governance

For the implementation of good governance United Nations has earmarked the following ingredients-

• Participation;
• Rule of law;
• Transparency;
• Consensus oriented;
• Accountability;
• Effectiveness and efficiency;
• Equity and inclusiveness;
• Responsiveness.

Participation - People should be able to voice their own opinions through legitimate immediate organizations or representatives.  This includes men and women, vulnerable sections of society, backward classes, minorities, etc.  Participation also implies freedom of association and expression.

Rule of law - Legal framework should be enforced impartially, especially on human rights laws. Without rule of law, politics will follow the principle of matsya nyaya which means the strong will prevail over the weak.

Transparency - Information should be accessible to the public and should be understandable and monitored. It also means free media and access of information to them. 

Consensus oriented - Institutions and processes should serve all stakeholders in a reasonable period of time.

Accountability - Good governance aims towards betterment of people, and this cannot take place without the government being accountable to the people.  Governmental institutions, private sectors, and civil society organizations should be held accountable to the public and institutional stakeholders.

Effectiveness and Efficiency - Processes and institutions should be able to produce results that meet the needs of their community. Resources of the community should be used effectively for the maximum output.

Equity and inclusiveness - Good governance assures an equitable society. People should have opportunities to improve or maintain their well-being.

Responsiveness - Institutions and processes should serve all stakeholders in a reasonable period of time.

Need for good governance

The good governance is very much needed in the development in the following-

• Economic Development-

• A state's economic progress will be unstable if it lacks strong administration
• All aspects of economic development encounter challenges, including production, distribution, investment, and even consumption.
• Such barriers will be removed if excellent governance is achieved, and a fair distribution of state resources will be achievable.

• Social Development-

• In a civilization, people of various religions, castes, and social strata coexist. Now, if income is not distributed fairly among all of these people, societal unrest will rise.
• Again, equitable wealth distribution is insufficient. We need to make accommodations for minorities to be able to walk without fear.
• Similarly, several reform measures must be established in order to close the gender gap in society.

• Political Development-

• It has a significant association with political growth.
• Its success is primarily dependent on the political leadership's honesty and adherence to the political establishment's rules and regulations.
• The design of policies for the welfare of the people, as well as constructive cooperation between political institutions and political parties, play a significant role in developing good competition and good governance among themselves.

Initiatives for ‘good governance’ in India

The following initiatives have been taken by the Government of India for ‘good governance’-

Right to Information

• 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.
• The right to information promotes openness, transparency and accountability in administration by making the government more open to public scrutiny.

E-Governance

• The National e-Governance Plan envisions to make all government services accessible to the common man in his locality, through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency, transparency & reliability of such services at affordable costs.
• E-Governance 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.
• E-Governance has a direct impact on its citizens who derive benefits through direct transactions with the services offered by the government.
   
  • Programs launched under e-Governance: Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI), Digital India Program, MCA21 (to improve the speed and certainty in the delivery of the services of Ministry of Company Affairs), Passport Seva Kendra (PSK), online Income tax return, etc.
• Focus on 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’.

Legal Reforms

• The Central Government has scrapped nearly 1,500 obsolete rules and laws with an aim to bring about transparency and improve efficiency.
• Reform criminal justice and procedural laws with focus on pre-institution mediation.

Ease of Doing Business

• Steps were taken by the government 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).
• Government has launched the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Decentralization

• Centralised Planning Commission was abolished, replacing it with the think tank called the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog), which would usher in an era of ‘cooperative federalism’.
• 14^th Finance Commission increased the tax devolution of the divisible pool to states from 32% to 42% for years 2015 to 2020. It provides more freedom to states to initiate schemes based on local factors.

Police Reforms

• Modernizing police forces and implementing the Model Police Act of 2015.
• Reform of the First Information Report 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.

Aspirational Districts Programme

• The Aspirational Districts Programme 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.

Good Governance Index

Good Governance is the key component of the economic transformation and with the present government’s focus on ‘minimum government and maximum governance’ the Index assumes more significance.  The Government of India constituted a Group of Secretaries on Governance who recommended developing of an Index to gauge the performance of the States.

Good Governance Index (‘CGI’ for short) includes all the States as well as Union Territories for assessment and ranking purposes.  The Good Governance Index for the year 2020-21, prepared by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (‘DARPG’ for short) was released by Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Corporation on 25.12.2019.  The Good Governance Index is a uniform tool across States to assess the Status of Governance and impact of various interventions taken up by the State Government and Union Territories.  The objectives of Good Governance Index are to provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance in all states and Union Territories, enable states and Union Territories to formulate and implement suitable strategies for improving governance and shift to result oriented approaches and administration.    This index covered 10 sectors and 58 indicators.  The ten sectors are as below-

• Agriculture and Allied Sectors;
• Commerce & Industries;
•  Human Resource Development;
•  Public Health;
• Public Infrastructure & Utilities;
•  Economic Governance;
• Social Welfare & Development;
•  Judicial & Public Security;
• Environment; and
• Citizen-Centric Governance.

This index categorizes the States into four categories such as Other Category – Group A; Other States – Group B; North East and Hill States and Union Territories.

Top ranking States in the Sectors as well as in Composite Ranks

The following table will show the top ranking States in the Sectors and in Composite Ranks-

Sectors	Group A	Group B	NE & Hill States	Union Territories
Agriculture & Allied Sector	Andhra Pradesh	Madhya Pradesh	Mizoram	D& N Haveli
Commerce and Industry	Telangana	Uttar Pradesh	Jammu & Kashmir	Daman and Diu
Human Resource Development	Punjab	Odisha	Himachal Pradesh	Chandigarh
Public Health	Kerala	West Bengal	Mizoram	A&N Island
Public Infrastructure and Utilities	Goa	Bihar	Himachal Pradesh	A&N Island
Economic Governance	Gujarat	Odisha	Tripura	Delhi
Social Welfare and Development	Telangana	Chhattisgarh	Sikkim	D&N Haveli
Judiciary and Public Safety	Tamil Nadu	Rajasthan	Nagaland	Chandigarh
Environment	Kerala	Rajasthan	Manipur	Daman & Diu
Citizen Centric Governance	Haryana	Rajasthan	Uttharakhand	Delhi
Composite	Gujarat	Madhya Pradesh	Himachal Pradesh	Delhi

Source: Good Governance Index 2021 launched on Good Governance Day, December 25, 2021 by Union Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah

The CGI index said that-

• 20 States have improved their composite GGI scores in 2021.
• Gujarat tops the composite ranking in the 58 indicator index followed by Maharashtra and Goa.
• Uttar Pradesh registers 8.9 percent improvement in GGI indicators in the period 2019 to 2021.
• Jammu and Kashmir registers 3.7 percent improvement in GGI indicators in the period 2019 to 2021.
• Delhi tops the Union Territories category composite ranking.

Challenges

The following are the challenges-

• Criminalization of politics-

• According to the Association of Democratic Reforms, 43 percent of Lok Sabha 2019 members are facing criminal accusations. It is a 26 percent increase over 2014.
• The criminalization of the political process, as well as the alliance of politicians, civil officials, and economic interests, is having a negative impact on public policy formation and governance.
• As a result, Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act 1951 must be amended to disqualify anyone who is facing criminal accusations for grave and heinous offenses or corruption.

• Corruption-

• Corruption is a key challenge to strengthening governance quality.
• While people's greed is clearly a cause of corruption, it is the institutional incentives and a lack of a strong enforcement system to penalize the corrupt that have led to India's increasing graph curve.
• According to Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index - 2019, India's ranking has dropped from 78 to 80.

• Gender Inequality-

• It is inequitable that women are underrepresented in government institutions and other linked industries
• As a result, ensuring women's empowerment is critical to ensuring good government.

• Delayed justice-

A citizen has the right to speedy justice, yet due to a variety of conditions, the average person does not receive timely justice.

• Administrative System Centralization

Lower-level governments can only function efficiently if they are given the authority. This is especially important for Panchayati Raj Institutions, which now face insufficient devolution of funds and officials to carry out the constitutionally mandated functions.

Conclusion

It can be concluded that good governance is an ideal concept to achieve its goals. Yet, of course, implementing good governance is not as easy as it appears on paper. There are only a few countries that have proven successful in implementing this concept in their governance. Swift and responsible action from various parties will undoubtedly be very helpful in implementing good governance. Meanwhile, at the local level, UCLG ASPAC believes that vertical integration of national policies with local level implementation is key to enable greater impact in building a sustainable and resilient city. Again, this is important as we are aware of the challenges that cities and local governments face in terms of technical, institutional, and financial capacity, which can be tackled when they are given a good enabling environment.

Reference

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^{UNIT 26 OF STUDY MATERIAL – IGNOU https://egyankosh.ac.in/.}

^{https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1785140.}

^{https://darpg.gov.in/sites/default/files/GGI_Report_22.12.2021.pdf}

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