GOVERNANCE:

ISSUES $
CHALLENGES

Rakesh Jakhar
(@paralegalstudy)
 UNIT 1 GLOBALISATION: ROLE OF
STATE, MARKET AND CIVIL SOCIETY*

Introduction :
It refers to the spread of the flow of financial products, goods,
technology, information, and jobs across national borders
and cultures.
Helleiner refer the term ‘global village’ and decisions taken in one
part of the world impacting other parts of the world e.g now
Russia and Ukraine war impact the food and energy supply chain
which result into the inflation in many part of the world.
The European Commission (EC) defined globalisation in terms of
processes that increased interdependency between markets and
production in different countries e.g- China supply major product
to other countries.

Origin of Globalisation :
Robertson presented five phases:
1) 1400-1750: The ‘germinal’ phase - end of Christendom and the
advent of nationalism in Europe.
2) 1750-1875: The ‘beginning’ phase - the creation of nation-state
and the beginnings of universalism in Europe.
3) 1875-1925: The ‘take off’ phase when the world as one global
community, global calendar, World War I, mass worldwide
migration.
4) 1925-1969: The ‘struggle for hegemony’ phase typical of Cold
War, formation of the League of Nations and the United Nations,
and emergence of the Third World.
5) 1969-1992: The ‘uncertainty’ phase described by space
exploration, space technology, and acknowledgment of global
environmental problems and global mass media.
Additionally, certain economic and political developments in the
late 1980s and early 1990s which included the collapse of USSR
and State socialism, and triumph of western economic liberalism
idea leads to the globalization.
The Human Development Report (1999) recorded post
globalisation, characterised by the growth of new markets, new
regional blocks, WTO, NGO, revolution in internet etc.

PERSPECTIVES/UNDERSTANDING/VIEW ON GLOBALISATION :
a) Economic Perspective: globalization decreases the cost of
manufacturing. This means that companies can offer goods
at a lower price to consumers. The average cost of goods is a
key aspect that contributes to increases in the standard of
living. Consumers also have access to a wider variety of
goods.
b) Socio-cultural Perspective: Giddens pointed out that
globalisation as the product of modernity which “lifted out”
social relations from local contexts where local happenings
were shaped by events many miles away.
Waters pointed out that globalisation as a social process
which increasing awareness among people related to
different culture and idea.

GLOBALISATION AND THE STATE

Globalisation is as much a political fact as it is an economic fact. It
is influenced by complicated negotiations among sovereign
governments, private corporations, international institutions like
United Nations agencies, World Bank, International Monetary
Fund, WTO etc.. Now Welfare State became Competition State as
well that favours privatisation, irrespective of the local political
and administration culture.
The State lays down regulations ranging from Constitutional and
legal framework for market operations, legislation on property
rights to public investment in social and economic infrastructure.
Where markets fail, State steps in for providing public goods such
as education, health, and the transportation network. State try to
seek/ find friendly nature for more investment and make proper
strategy for it. Markets are influenced by the internal
circumstances and also by the forces in the State. Globalisation
favours limited government role.

GLOBALISATION AND THE MARKET :

The market is organised on the basis of principles of demand and
supply, competition, and self-regulation.
Globalisation has resulted in –
Greater freedom of choice for individuals to buy, sell, invest from
the market economy.
Opportunities to diversify risks and invest resources where
returns are the highest.
Higher income to those employed in jobs producing goods and
services for international market.
Inward transfer of technology.

GLOBALISATION AND THE CIVIL SOCIETY:

The reality of globalisation is that it touches every aspect of our
lives be it economic, political, cultural or environmental.
According to the World Bank: “Civil society ... refers to a wide
array of organizations: community groups, non-governmental
organizations [NGOs], labour unions, indigenous groups,
charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional
associations, and foundations.”
• Its strength can have a positive influence on the state and
the market.
• Whether it is protection of environment or human rights,
support for education or promotion of women, ethnic or
religious, globalisation provides cause for growth of
GCS(Global Civil Society).
• According to Falk - the GCS fighting for “globalisation from
below” via counter “globalisation from above”. It termed as
“grassroots globalisation” which aimed to remove
inequalities created by globalisation.

,
 UNIT 2
GOVERNANCE: CONCEPTUAL DIMENSIONS*

Introduction: Over the past three decades, the impact of

globalisation, rise of market forces, increase in
expectations of citizens etc leads to major transformation
in the role of the State. The Welfare State has been
transformed to a Corporatist State.

Meaning of Governance ??
Governance has been defined to refer to structures and
processes that are designed to ensure accountability,
transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity
and inclusiveness, empowerment, and broad-based
participation. In a broad sense, governance is about the
culture and institutional environment in which citizens
and stakeholders interact among themselves and
participate in public affairs. It is more than the organs of
the government.
International agencies such as UNDP, the World Bank, the
OECD(The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development), Development Assistance Committee (DAC)
and others define governance as the exercise of authority
or power in order to manage a country’s economic,
political and administrative affairs.
In simplest terms, governance relates to the effective
management of the affairs of a country at all levels,
guaranteeing its territorial integrity, and securing the
safety and overall welfare of the people. It means
management of social and economic resources for the
development of the country.

The concept of governance is used in several contexts:

Rhodes (1997) has highlighted the following-
a) Governance as the Minimal State where government
whose intervention in the economy is just
sufficient to sustain organized economic activity.
b) Governance as Corporate Governance where the role
of governance is not only concerned with running the
business of the company but also with giving overall
directions to the enterprise, with overseeing and
controlling the executive actions of management and
ensuring adequate accountability and regulatory
framework.
c) Governance as New Public Management (NPM) which
refers to adoption of new values of governance to
establish greater efficiency, legitimacy and
credibility of the system. The emphasis has thus
been placed on ‘enabling’(make something
easier) rather than ‘providing’.
d) Governance as ‘Good Governance’ which include i)
Voice and accountability which includes civil liberties
and political stability; ii) Effectiveness of the
government, which includes the quality of policy
making and public service delivery; iii) The quality of
the regulatory framework; iv) The rule of law which
includes protection of property rights; v)
 Independence of judiciary; and vi) Curbs on
corruption.

Good governance means bringing about goodness in

all the three sectors: government, civil society and
corporate world. Good governance is based on trust,a
commitment of the people, for the people, a social
contract for the greatest good.The basic features of
good governance as conceptualised by policy makers,
researchers and international agencies can be
summarised in the word “SMART”, which stands for
simple, moral, accountable, responsive and
transparent.
e) Governance as a Socio-cybernetic System can be
refer as a result of the interactions among
government, social, political and economic actors.
f) Governance as Self-organising Networks: This model
is driven by networks and collaborative government
rather than hierarchies. It lays stress on horizontal
linkages among the three actors i.e., the State, market
and civil society.

FORMS OF GOVERNANCE:
1) Political :
Due to the global political and economic shifts, the
role of government has been limited or also known
as ‘hollowing out’ of the State. This has resulted in
shifting of the power outwards to international
financial markets, to global companies to be able to
 move capital and other resources from one site of
investment to another, and to supra-national
entities such as the World Bank etc . As a result of
these changes, a series of reforms have taken place
resulting in reduction in the size of the machinery
of government.
2) Economic:
Economic governance requires removal of market
distortions, setting appropriate service standards,
ensuring fair competition amongst the players and
a level playing field, protecting the interests of all
concerned key stakeholders.
3) Social:
Governance in this context stands for developing,
strengthening and sustaining collaborative and
participative processes, bringing about networking
and coordination and building human capacities.
 UNIT 3
GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK IN INDIA

Intro:
The term ‘governance’ means all actors, both State and
non-state tends to engage, educate, and empower people
in a peaceful way for a various missions, such as, economic
welfare, child wellbeing, mainstreaming gender,
environmental protection, and cultural promotion. To
illustrate, in the year 2015-16, citizen volunteers in
Mumbai gathered every weekend to remove tonnes of
garbage from Versova beach. With active citizen
participation, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation
(BMC) provided clean-up tools, garbage trucks etc., and in
due course several individuals across the city supported
the beach clean-up initiatives.

OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK OF GOVERNANCE: ROLE OF

STATE ACTORS :
a) Constitutional Supremacy:
In India, the constitutional supremacy was
explicitly(clearly) reiterated(emphasis/clarity) in the
Minerva Mills case whereby the Supreme Court held
that “government, legislature, executive and judiciary
is all bound by the Constitution, and nobody, is above
or beyond the Constitution.” Every law made by the
parliament is subject to interpretation by supreme
court in the light of ideals and objectives of the
 constitution and if they go beyond or above that, they
can be held null and void.
b) Parliamentary System:
Ever since independence, our Parliament has evolved
as a multi-faceted institution in terms of legislations,
bills, debates, question hours, live proceedings of the
business conduct etc., and hence occupy a key
position in our representative democracy. Our
Parliament comprises the President, Lok Sabha
(House of People) and Rajya Sabha (Council of States).
A Bill passed in the Parliament cannot become an Act
unless it receives the President’s assent. Also, the
Constitution prescribes that the reports of Auditor-
General, Finance Commission, Union Public Service
Commission (UPSC) are submitted to the President
who later puts forth before the Houses. The Council of
Ministers (CoM) headed by the Prime Minister (PM)
aid and advice the President in the execution of
his/her functions. The Executive, that is, the ministers
are collectively responsible to the Parliament in
general and Lok Sabha (LS) in particular as it
represents the elected representatives of the country.
This implies that by passing the no-confidence motion
on the floor, the LS can remove the Council of
Ministers from office.
Somnath Chatterjee pointed out that Parliament is the
institution through which you bring changes; it is not
just making laws, you discuss people’s issues as well.
c) Role of Political Executive:
 The Executive function is one of the crucial functions
in India as it deals with the implementation of
policies, laws, rules and regulations. It includes the
PM, the Cabinet and other Ministers. As per the
Constitution, PM is the real executive of the
government and head of the Council of Ministers
(CoM). The PM has been vested with powers, such as,
portfolio allocation of the Ministers,
recommendations of persons for appointment as
Ministers/ Attorney General of India/Comptroller and
Auditor-General of India, Chairpersons of UPSC,
Election Commission (EC), Finance Commission etc.
The role of PM is to act as a chief communication
channel between the CoM and the President. In a way,
the Union Executive occupies a central role in its
interface with the Parliament, state and local entities
in its everyday affairs. Usually, laws are made by the
Parliament, however, there are provisions wherein
the Cabinet – comprising PM and Cabinet Ministers
can pass resolutions for the efficient implementation
of various programmes. The term associated with
cabinet decision is technically called as Cabinet
Resolution. For example- On January 1, 2015, a
Cabinet Resolution was passed to replace Planning
Commission with National Institution for
Transforming India (NITI) Aayog to suit the current
requirements.
d) Role of Administrative Executive:
The civil service, field agencies and authorities, armed
forces, etc., constitute the administrative executive.
While the political executive is elected every five
years, the administrative executive is the permanent
structure of the nation who is selected through
various examinations. Unlike political executives, the
administrative executive is not accountable to the
legislature rather directly answerable to their
respective political heads. For example, in the
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
(MoEFCC), the Secretary (administrative executive)
will be directly accountable to the minister (political
executive). In this regard, both the political and
administrative executives work towards the welfare
of the country by formulating various policies and
programmes.

Let us understand the interface between politics and

administration through accountability tools given
below:

• Freedom of Information – through RTI ( Right to

Information ). This created a new accountability
enabling mechanism which plays a crucial role in
disclosing information within 30 days of RTI
application.
• Citizen’s Charter - The citizen’s charter which
was implement in 2002, it is a document that
outlines the service commitment of
organizations or service providers towards
providing quality, high-standard services,
including mechanisms for grievance redressal.
 • Public Hearings - A public hearing is a
participatory process that involves detailed
interaction between the general public (people
who are likely to get affected by the project) and
the concerned stakeholders of the project vis-à-
vis mining, industrial, infrastructure, thermal
power, nuclear power, and hydropower projects.
As per the provisions of Environment Impact
Assessment (EIA), 2006, conduct of public
hearing is mandatory for obtaining
environmental clearance of any project.
• Social Audit - A social audit is a way of
measuring, reporting and improving an
organisation’s performance holding it socially
accountable. Social audit helps to increase
efficiency and effectiveness of an organisation. It
not only increase accountability and
transparency but lead to good governance. The
government has also been proactive in engaging
citizens in development process. For example, an
online citizen platform was launched in the year
2014, to “discuss” and “do” governance issues
through mygov portal.
e) State and Local Governance:
• Governance at the State Level - The Governor
presides over the state as the nominal executive.
As per Article 355, the Governor oversees the
formation of state government, maintains unity
of command between the Centre and state, gives
assent to the bills passed in the assembly, and
 appoints important heads of the state based on
the recommendation of Chief Minister (CM) etc.
The Chief Minister being the real head of the
government at the state level serves as an
important communication channel between
Governor, State Legislative Assembly, Prime
Minister, and citizen.
• Governance at the Local Level - With the
intention to address the challenges of
governance at local level, the creation of
municipalities and panchayats came into effect
with the passage of 73rd and 74th Constitutional
Amendment Acts. Case Example On June 1st,
2014, Gariphema village (Nagaland) was
declared as India’s first tobacco-free village. It
was a joint initiative of the stakeholders
comprising the Gariphema village Council,
Village Vision Cell and Village Students’ Union.
Through this example we can understand the
power of grassroots democracy.
f) Role of Judiciary –
The judiciary as an institution is vastly respected and
is vested with the power to protect the rights and
freedom of people. In Kesavananda Bharti Vs State of
Kerala Case (1973), the Supreme Court invented the
theory of ‘Basic Structure of the Constitution’ which
clearly indicates the commitment of Indian judiciary
in upholding the constitutional principles as
envisioned by the founding fathers.
 OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORK OF GOVERNANCE: ROLE
OF NON-STATE ACTORS:
a) Role of Market - The introduction of economic
reforms in 1991 led to a new shift in Indian context.
After LPG ( Liberalisation, Privatisation and
Globalisation) reform ,we realise that State need
huge financial and technical resources for
development project. It came into terms with
collaborating projects with the private sector in key
sectors like infrastructure and transport through
Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).

b) Role of Civil Society - Civil society comprises

organizations that are not associated with
government—including schools and universities,
advocacy groups, professional associations, churches,
and cultural institutions (business sometimes is
covered by the term civil society and sometimes not).
Civil society organizations play multiple roles. They
are an important source of information for both
citizens and government. They monitor government
policies and actions and hold government
accountable. They engage in advocacy and offer
alternative policies for government, the private
sector, and other institutions. They deliver services,
especially to the poor and underserved. They defend
citizen rights and work to change and uphold social
norms and behaviours.
GOVERNANCE INDICATORS:

The indicators referred to as Worldwide Governance

Indicators (WGI) have been used to measure
governance across six dimensions, namely, Voice and
Accountability, Political Stability and Absence of
Violence, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory
Quality, Rule of Law, and Control of Corruption.
• Voice and Accountability - ability of the citizens
to exercise their freedoms and to monitor the
official records, quality of work, and to
determine whether the allocated resources has
been utilised effectively at the village level via
social audit.
• Political Stability and Absence of Violence -
Political stability represents strong political
institutions and d its ability to tackle mob
violence.
• Government Effectiveness - efficiency in resource
mobilisation, access to clean drinking water,
affordable health care and education, good
infrastructure, food security etc
• Regulatory Quality - This is associated with
monetary policies and regulatory framework
that promote business enterprises (micro and
macro), simplified tax laws etc. Government of
India established independent regulatory bodies
by an Act of Parliament, such as, Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in 1992 and
 Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in
1997.
• Rule of Law - Rule of Law is the vital indicator
which intends to maintain harmony in an open
society where private sector and civil society
jointly work with the government to resolve
complex social problems.
• Control of Corruption - It refers to the capacity of
the government in handling and preventing
corrupt practices. For example, the Unified
Mobile Application for New-age Governance
(UMANG) launched by the Government of India
is a single platform intended to access a wide
range of citizen-centric services across service
providers without any manipulation.
 UNIT 4
STAKEHOLDERS IN GOVERNANCE

Meaning of Stakeholders:
“A stakeholder in an organisation is any group or
individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement
of the organisation’s objectives”. For example, when the
government or local bodies take up a project to add lanes
to a highway, motorists, local residents and highway users
are stakeholders who positively or negatively get affected
due to the implementation of the project. Among all, the
residents of the area who live near the highway may get
affected during the implementation of the project because
of the construction, noise, dust pollution and increased
traffic.

STAKEHOLDER THEORY:
Stakeholder theory is a conceptual framework of business
ethics and organisational management which addresses
moral and ethical values in the management of
organisation. It was originally detailed by Ian Mitroff in his
book ‘Stakeholders of the Organisational Mind’ published
in 1983. The theory points out that it is not just the people
who own the stock in a business who gain on account of
decisions made in the organisation. Each business
decision, potentially affects the well –being of many more
people than just stakeholders. So every business has the
obligation to all those involved directly or indirectly that
includes stockholders, employees, suppliers, customers,
local community and so on. If an organisation takes certain
decisions which affects certain sections of the population,
the stakeholder theory proposes to bring all affected
population into decision making process for ensuring
justice to everyone.

STAKEHOLDERS IN GOVERNANCE PROCESS:

The socio- economic challenges and the governance issues
of the 21st century need to be addressed with the
participation of all stakeholders. a stakeholder model of
governance provides necessary benefits to the large
sections of the population by ensuring their active
participation in the process of governance. It also has
capacity to increase the visibility of participants in the
organisation. Here the term Organisation means it is a
social arrangement which pursues collective goals,
controls its own performance, and has a boundary
separating it from its environment. There are various
types of organisations which include government,
corporate organisations, non-governmental organisations,
media, international organisations such as United Nations,
World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and so
on. The important contribution is being made by
community based organisations (CBOs) at the local level to
the governance process.
‘what is governance’? It is the process of coordination
among the various actors in an organisation and to steer
the structure towards achieving certain goals. For
example, government is a structure. There are various
actors in the government. It needs to be coordinated
amongst all of them for the successful implementation of
its policies and programmes with people as major
stakeholders. The existing research provides evidence that
there is direct relationship between socio-economic
benefits and active participation of stakeholders. If the
stakeholders’ participation is limited, the effectiveness of
the programme is also limited. Another important aspect
here is communication. In the stakeholder’s governance,
communication is a vital tool. Communication determines
the success and viability of the stakeholder’s governance.
NOTE- We all know how media as a stakeholder
discharges this role in generating opinions and creating an
aware and informed citizenry.
The role of government is to execute public laws. Public
agencies i.e government departments engage themselves
in executing laws and implementing programmes and
policies. The activities of the government range from
legislative to quasi legislative and judiciary to quasi
judiciary. Quasi legislative processes in the new
governance include deliberative democracy, e-democracy,
public conversations, participatory budgeting,
collaborative policy making, and other forms of
deliberation and dialogue among stakeholders and
citizens. Quasi Judicial processes include alternative
dispute resolution such as mediation, facilitation,
arbitration and so on.
SIGNIFICANCE OF STAKEHOLDERS IN THE GOVERNANCE
PROCESS:
The stakeholder governance model is emphasised in the
horizontal organisational structure. They are committed
to find solutions for the complex socio- economic
problems collectively. The relevance of stakeholder
participation is more in the areas of environmental
sustainability, disaster risk management, land usage,
community based planning, and so on.

STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT IN GOVERNANCE:

The involvement of stakeholders takes various forms. This
includes:
• Communication: Through information sharing to all
those involved/affected.
• Consultation: Gather information and experiences from
stakeholders for final outcome.
• Participation: Involving them in policy/project.
• Representation: Including them to help in determining
choices.
• Collaboration and Partnerships.
• Co-decision and Co-production: Balanced sharing of
power among the stakeholders who are involved.
NOTE- Participatory forms of democracy are part of
stakeholder governance. The active citizen participation
strengthens democracy which results in better policies.
73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts in the year
1992, RTI Act of 2005, citizens’ charters, ombudsman(a
government official who deals with complaints made by
ordinary people against public organizations), appellate
tribunal, performance and local funds audit have been
employed to improve governance. This reflects active
participation of people working with the government at
grassroots level and addressing their issues and problems
through collective action, a direction towards bottom up
approach.

STAKEHOLDERS IN GOVERNANCE: EXAMPLES

a) The introduction of National Forest Policy in the year
1988 and the subsequent introduction of joint forest
management in the year 1990 are the important
milestones in the stakeholder participation in the
programme. It is implemented with the objective of
reducing deforestation with the active participation
of local communities along with forest department.
b) The operationalisation of Right to Information (RTI)
as a powerful tool to the citizens to get necessary
information from the government is the result of
success of Jan Sunwai in the state of Rajasthan, and
mobilisation of masses by Kisan Mazdoor Shakti
Sanghatan.
c) . The 73rd and 74th Amendment Acts provided
Constitutional guarantee to the villagers and urban
dwellers to utilise available local resources for the
implementation of development programmes. Thus,
 panchayats and municipalities are considered as
development institutions at the grassroots level.
d) The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is an
example of collaborative venture between central
government and Delhi government. It has apart from
these two other stakeholders, the external funding
agency Japanese International Cooperation Agency
(JICA), consultants, contractors and other agencies.

There are challenges too in ensuring effective stakeholder

governance. This includes:
• Lack of clarity on ensuring inclusivity and equity in
governance through identification of stakeholders who are
directly and indirectly affected.
• Inadequate institutional arrangements.
• Absence of political will and leadership.
• Lack of clarity on roles and responsibilities of
stakeholders and expected outcome.
• Resistance to change which means unwillingness to
adapt to new circumstances or ways of doing things.
• Inadequate monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to
assess the efficacy of stakeholder governance
 UNIT 5 CHANGING
DIMENSIONS OF DEVELOPMENT

DEVELOPMENT: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Development is a multidimensional and a multisectoral
process. It is about using the available resources to
improve the quality of life of the target population. Usually
the development of a country is measured by its economic
growth and the employment opportunities it offers.
Jawaharlal Nehru said a dam was a “modern temple”. He
also told the people, who were displaced due to the
construction of the Hirakud Dam in 1948 that, “if you are
to suffer, you should suffer in the interest of the country”.
Gradually the notion of development underwent change.
When we talk about development, it relates to the
improvement in the life of the humans, the betterment or
improvement in society that brings good change.
There are two kinds of development. The first one is the
State-led development. The former Soviet Union and India
followed this model and the latter till 1991. On the other
hand, the United States and western European Countries
followed market-led development, where the State’s
interference in the economy is limited.

CONCEPT OF DEVELOPMENT: CHANGING DIMENSIONS

In the nineteenth century, development meant remedies
for the shortcomings and progress to the development.
In the twenty-first century, two dominant development
strategies prevail. One is neo-liberalism, where the State
was to play a minimum role and the market forces take
control of the development. In the neo-liberal strategy,
economic development can be achieved thorough de-
regulation, decontrol, structural reforms, liberalisation
and privatisation. And there are some approaches such as
local development, people’s participation, community
development and Gandhian development model.
In present day economy, the concept of development is
associated mostly with economic growth. Along with
economic growth, political modernisation and social
development also takes place.

THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT:
1. Modernisation Theory- The modernisation theory
emerged during the period 1945 to 1960 in America
and Europe. The main proponents of this theory have
been W.W. Rostow, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber.
The modernisation theory equated development with
modernity. According to this theory, all societies go
through similar stages of development for progress.
Rostow (1960) gave five stages of development to
become modern -
• Society can be seen as ‘traditional’ in the first
step. During this period, society would be
dominated by poverty and they may use
primitive methods for production and cherish
traditional values.
 • The second stage is called ‘pre-conditions for
takeoff’. In this stage, countries take outside help
for development.
• The third stage is the ‘take off’. Here the country
gives emphasis on investment and high economic
growth.
• The fourth step is called ‘drive to maturity’. In
this stage, prosperity can be witnessed among all
the people.
• The fifth and final stage is ‘high mass
consumption’.
2. Dependency Theory - It was proposed by Andre
Frank in 1960s and 70s by rejecting modernisation
theory. According to him, underdeveloped countries
were not primitive, but they were exploited by the
developed countries. Developed countries generally
would provide obsolete(no longer useful) technology
to these countries. It is difficult for developing
countries to survive with outdated technology. The
developed countries would make poorer nations
depend on them for technology and resources. The
developed nations have a tendency of usurping
natural resources, cheap labour and take advantage of
market conditions prevalent in under developed
countries.
3. World-Systems Theory - It insisted on exploitation-
free world. It emphasises on areas, such as economics,
culture, history, sociology, politics and development
studies. According to this theory, two types of
systems prevail in the world. One is world empire,
 like the British empire, with a single political centre.
Another one is world economy, that is, capitalism
with multiple centres and multiple cultures.
4. Stand-Point Theory - According to this theory, each
one in this world would take a position to view the
world. Each social group in a society has a perception.
The perception of one group affects other individuals
or groups. It further added that the ruling groups
dominate subordinate groups. The opinions of
subordinate groups hardly have an impact on
governance. Hence, the marginalised are generally
not a part of the process of development.

APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT:
a)Neo-liberalism:
The current neo-liberal policies emerged from capitalism,
which was conceived 200 years ago. It was proposed by
Adam Smith. The neo-liberal thinking started gaining
prominence in 1980s and continued till 1990s. It is
reflected in the policies of international organisations such
as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund
(IMF). The main purpose of these institutions is to expand
neo-liberal economy and stabilise currency in the world.
Neo-liberals favour market forces for people’s benefit
instead of the State’s intervention. The market could
enforce law, stabilise currency and uphold contracts
between different stakeholders. The competition between
various players in the market brings efficient production
and the distribution of services. Also creation of more
wealth through market activities gives benefits to
everyone.
NOTE- The existing research studies point out that wealth
never reaches the marginalised. Market economy has
produced huge income inequalities. The Oxfam Report
(2018) conveys that one per cent of India’s richest hold 58
per cent of the total wealth of the country.
b)Structuralism:
According to structuralism, Apart from market, there are
various structures like class, caste and gender in the
society. It is important to consider them as well, apart
from economic growth for development. It is the
responsibility of the government and international
agencies to ensure meaningful and fair distribution of
wealth. It is also their function to regulate market
activities for ensuring social justice. According to the
global wage report 2018-19 of International Labour
Organisation, gender based wage discrimination exists in
India. On an average, women are paid 34 per cent less than
men. This gap in wages, known as the gender wage gap, is
the highest among 73 countries studied in the report.
c) Interventionism:
It is a synthesis of structuralism and neo-liberalism.
According to interventionists, both the market and the
State are important. They need to work together to create
a conducive environment for development. Development
should also address inequality, redistribution of wealth
and sustainable environment. Some of the social
protection schemes and programmes such as old age
pension, free education for all, mid-day meal scheme,
scholarships to the disadvantaged sections of the
community, etc., are in this direction. Some important
scheme are - Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), National Rural Housing
Scheme (Indira Awas Yojana), National Food Security Act
2013 etc. The shift in government policies towards rights
based approach was realised in the 11th five year plan and
it resulted in formulation of policies like right to
education, right to work and right to livelihoods. Some
recent schemes include Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima
Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Bima Suraksha Yojana
(PMBSY), Atal Pension Yojana and so on.
d) People-centered Approach:
The people-centred approach criticises all existing
economic approaches. It focuses on redistribution of
wealth and education for all.This approach is more
concerned about the implementation of the principles of
good governance. Good governance proposes to
concentrate on ensuring human rights, proper functioning
of the rule of law, strengthening democracy, promoting
transparency and accountability in the system. Here,
participation would be ensured by bringing change in the
existing structures. In India, the 73rd Constitutional
Amendment Act and the subsequent State Acts created the
‘gram sabha’. All eligible voters of the particular gram
panchayat are members of the gram sabha. Apart from
gram sabha meetings, non-governmental organisations
enable people to conduct social audit to bring
transparency in the governance process.
e) Sustainable Development:
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has
defined sustainable development as it proposes to work
for ecological balance, conservation through participation
of stakeholders, achievement of social justice and equality
and recognising cultural diversity. It attempts at
maintaining a balance between economy, ecology and
society.
f) Human Development Approach:
Human development approach puts people first. A healthy
economy, good education, job opportunities, access to
good health facilities, physical safety and a democratic
government are proposed in the human development
approach. This approach is profoundly inspired by
Amartya Sen’s pioneering(excellent) work in welfare
economics, social choice, poverty and famine and
development economics. United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) publishes global national and regional
human development reports every year to assess the
quality of life of people.
g) Millennium Development Goals:
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are
recognised as guiding principles for countries seeking to
eradicate poverty and improve the welfare of people. The
eight specific goals include: 1) Eradicating poverty and
hunger 2) Achieving universal primary education 3)
Promoting gender equality and empowering women 4)
Reducing child mortality 5) Improving maternal health 6)
Combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases 7)
Ensuring environmental sustainability; and 8)
Establishing global partnership for development.
h) Sustainable Development Goals:
On, 25 September 2015, 193 Countries of the United
Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Development
Agenda. It identified 17 specific sustainable development
goals. All stakeholders agreed to work towards
sustainable development. The nations have been urged to
work towards attainment of these goals. • End poverty
everywhere. • End hunger, achieve food security and
improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture. •
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all
ages. • Ensure quality education • Achieve gender equality
and empower all women and girls. • Ensure availability
and sustainable management of water and sanitation for
all. • Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and
modern energy for all. • Promote sustainable economic
growth, full and productive employment and decent work
for all. • Build resilient infrastructure, industrialisation
and foster innovation. • Reduce inequality within and
among countries. • Make cities and human settlements
inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable. • Ensure
sustainable consumption and production patterns. • Take
urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. •
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine
resources for sustainable development. • Protect, restore,
and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,
sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and
land degradation • Promote peaceful societies for
sustainable development, provide access to justice for all.
• Strengthen the global partnership for sustainable
development.

WOMEN AND MARGINALISED AS CONSTITUENTS OF

DEVELOPMENT:
Serious debates, discussions going on all over the world
that empowerment of women lead to growth of
development at very high rate. India has also ratified
various international conventions and human rights
instruments to secure equal rights for women. The
National Commission for Women was set up by an Act of
Parliament in 1990 with the key objective of safeguarding
the rights and legal entitlements of women. The National
Policy on Women Empowerment was passed in 2001.
Similarly, the socially marginalised are being empowered
socially, economically and politically through many
strategies by central and state governments. These include
schemes such as National Rural Health Mission, Ujjwala
scheme, reservation of seats in educational institutions,
panchayati raj institutions, and so on
 UNIT 6 STRENGTHENING
DEMOCRACY THROUGH GOVERNANCE*

India is progressing steadily (move constantly) in every field

either be economic, literacy, infrastructure, health sector, defence
sector, science and technology, food grain etc.. The Indian
economy has undergone a large structural shift in the last eight
years and is currently the 5th largest economy in the world after
overtaking the United Kingdom.

DEMOCRACY: DEFINITION AND FEATURES:

Democracy is a system of government under which people either
directly or through their representatives govern the country. The
representatives of the people of various institutions such as
parliament, state assemblies and local self governments get
elected at periodic intervals in a democratic State. Democracy
considers ‘will of the people’ as supreme. Apart from exercising
their political power, all citizens are considered as equals and
they have freedom to exercise their choice to participate in
development activities.
According to J.S. Mill, ‘‘democracy is next to impossible in multi-
ethnic societies and completely ‘impossible in linguistically
divided countries”.
Robert Dahl opined that “the widespread poverty and illiteracy
are anaethemaअभिशाप to ‘stable democracy’”.
India has challenged such contentions and is able to demonstrate
that it can survive, withstand troubles, sustain and survive.

CONSTITUTION OF INDIA AND ITS CONTRIBUTION TO

STRENGTHEN DEMOCRACY THROUGH GOVERNANCE:
The famous quote of Abraham Lincoln ‘of the people, by the
people and for the people’. And Gandhiji idea of self-governance
at the village and the panch, shows the importance of good
governance in the democracy.
The framers of the Constitution have addressed the country’s
geographical, socio-economic and cultural diversities and added
aspirations of every section of the population in the Constitution.
The Indian Constitution, which came into force on 26th January,
1950 has given a framework for governance and has assigned
clear cut roles for executive, judiciary and legislature.
The aim of the Constitution which is clearly stated in the
preamble gives direction for strengthening democracy. India on
adopting the Constitution has become a sovereign, Socialist,
Secular, Democratic, Republic State. It has also given to all the
citizens of India, social, economic and political justice; liberty of
thought and expression, belief, faith and worship; equality of
status and of opportunity and to promote among all fraternity;
assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity of the nation.

GOVERNANCE: CONCEPT AND OPERATIONALISATION:

India and many developing countries have faced governance and
the balance of payment crisis in 1980s. It has necessitated India to
introduce new set of economic and political reforms. The
emergence of the concept of good governance as postulated by
the World Bank brought new development discourse. The
indicators for good governance include transparency,
accountability, and rule of law, administrative efficiency, and also
being pro-women, pro-poor, pro-environment. ( pro means in
favour )
STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY THROUGH GOVERNANCE:
MEASURES
The Government of India has taken a series of steps towards
strengthening of democracy and make citizens participate in the
democratic and development processes.
• Community Development Programme (CDP) launched in
1952 with the aim of bringing about overall development of
rural areas through people’s participation.
• During the First Five Year plan itself the National Extension
Service (NES) Programme was introduced in 1953 to
address the needs of marginalised, and poor in rural areas.
• The erstwhile Planning Commission in 1957, appointed a
committee headed by Balwantrai Mehta who recommended
three-tier Panchayati Raj System in the country with Zila
Parishad at the district level, Panchayat Samiti at the
block/tehsil/taluka level and Gram Panchayat at the village
level. Thus the three tier system of panchayati raj came into
existence.
• The Sixth Five-Year plan is watershed for deepening
development activities to all.
• The Seventh Five-year Plan too adopted multi pronged
strategy. The plan assessed the success of the Integrated
Rural Development Programme (IRDP)
• The Ninth Five-Year plan introduction of the concept Self
Help Groups (SHGs).The SHGs have developed linkages with
various institutions and structures in the society and they
were able to foster democratic participation.
• The Tenth Five Year Plan set monitorable targets like
reducing poverty and increasing literacy, ensuring that all
villages must have sustained access to potable drinking
water.
• The 12th Five Year Plan gave emphasis to inclusive growth
and bringing different stakeholders together to achieve
growth and development.
• The 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts (CAAs)
enacted in 1992 have created permanent constitutional
structures at the rural and urban areas such as panchayats
and municipalities to make people participate in the process
of governance to deepen democracy.
• Part XI of the Constitution that deals with panchayats has
been specially extended to the tribal areas through an Act of
Parliament called Panchayats Extension to Scheduled V
Areas Act (PESA) 1996.
• In continuation of SSA (Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan) programme
of 2000, the 86th Amendment Act of the Constitution in the
year 2002 inserted Article 21 A in the Constitution of India
to provide free and compulsory education for all children
between the age of six and fourteen years. This is a
fundamental right. Based on the 86th Amendment Act, the
State has enacted the Right of Children to Free and
Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.
• One significant programme related to affirmative action is
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Scheme/Programme (MGNREGS). It is a rights-based
national level rural employment guarantee programme. It
was enacted by legislation on 25 August 2005 and
implemented in February 2006.
• The Government of India has changed its strategy after 12th
Five Year Plan and established the National Institution for
Transforming India (NITI Aayog) by replacing the erst white
planning commission through a resolution of the Union
Cabinet on January 1, 2015. It is the premier policy ‘Think
Tank’ of the Government of India that provides the
necessary policy inputs and technical advice to the central
and state governments.
• National Education Policy 2020 was approved by the Union
Cabinet of India on July 29th 2020. It outlines the vision of a
new education system for India.
 UNIT 7 GOVERNANCE CHALLENGES AND
CHANGING ROLE OF BUREAUCRACY

Governance has been defined to refer to structures and processes

that are designed to ensure accountability, transparency,
responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity and inclusiveness,
empowerment, and broad-based participation.

CONCEPT OF GOVERNANCE: GENESIS/Origin

The concept of governance is not new to India. Early discussions
go back to at least 400B.C. to the Arthashastra, a beautiful work
related to governance attributed to Kautilya. Kautilya presented
key pillars of the ‘art of governance’, emphasising justice and the
duty of the king to protect the wealth of the State and its subjects.
The government as an instrument of the State has always been
the sole provider of goods and services. For example, Indian
Airlines used to be the only agency for domestic air travel in India.
Similar is the case in many areas such as telecommunications,
power and so on. But since 1980s, we find the emergence and
active part being played by the private sector in service delivery.
In the mid-1970s, one of the themes in Cleveland’s particularly
thoughtful and provocative speeches, papers, and books was:
“What the people want is less government and more governance”.
The term ‘governance’ had gained by the international donor
agencies such as the World Bank, the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) etc. These institutions drew
attention to certain deficiencies in the governance system of the
developing countries. And focus on the concept of governance
emerged to ensure effective and accountable management of the
affairs of a country at all levels.
Gradually the concept of ‘good governance’ was popularised by
the World Bank.

GOVERNANCE: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK:

The government as an instrument of the State through the plans,
policies and programmes attempts to deliver essential services to
the citizens. Governance would refer to the modes and manner of
governing from government. Governance refers to opening up of
the arena of government to multiple actors, mobilising the
collective efforts of the government, private sector and the
community. It focuses on ensuring accountability, people’s
participation, and transparency, rule of law, effectiveness and
efficiency. It fosters networking amongst several stakeholders
and involves multiple actors and institutions.
Rhodes (1996) puts forward six separate uses of governance as:
a) the minimal state b) corporate governance c) good governance
d) a socio-cybernetic system e) self-organizing networks. f) the
new public management.
There are varied interpretations of governance put forth by
scholars implying : • Shift from the bureaucratic State to the
hollow State • Market based approaches to government •
Development of social capital, civil society, and high levels of
citizen participation • Interjurisdictional cooperation and
network management.

QUALITY OF GOVERNANCE:
The use of the term “good governance” was initially articulated in
a 1989 World Bank publication. Therein, the concept of good
governance was identified as a structural necessity for market
reform.
The term ‘good governance’ should means increased public
accountability and transparency; respect for and strengthening of
the rule of law and anti-corruption measures; democratisation,
decentralisation and local government reform; increased civil
society participation; and respect for human rights and the
environment.
Good governance has certain qualities to it. It promotes equity,
participation, pluralism, transparency, accountability and the rule
of law. And it is efficient, effective, responsive and sustainable
over the long run. Governance must be rooted in these principles
for greater human development through poverty eradication,
environmental protection and regeneration, gender equality and
sustainable livelihoods.

CHALLENGES OF GOVERNANCE:
The environment of public administration in developing
democracies has changed dramatically in the last few decades.
The contemporary challenges of governance in India are:
problems with bureaucracy, rigidity and inefficiencies in
government operations, widespread corruption, lack of
accountability, lack of representativeness in public service.
Key Challenges of Governance  Information gap: characterised
by information asymmetries between levels of government when
designing, implementing and delivering public policy.  Capacity
gap: arises when there is a lack of human, knowledge (skill-based
and “knowhow”) or infrastructural resources available to carry
out tasks, regardless of the level of government.  Fiscal gap:
reflects the difference between sub-central revenues and the
expenditures needed to meet their responsibilities. It indicates a
direct dependence on higher levels of government for funding in
order to meet obligations.  Administrative gap: arises when
administrative borders do not correspond to functional economic
areas at the sub-central level.  Policy gap: results when line
ministries take purely vertical approaches to cross-sectoral policy
(e.g. energy, water or youth).

CHANGING ROLE OF BUREAUCRACY:

Effective and efficient institutions form the backbone of a
successful governance system. The bureaucracy plays a central
role in socio-economic development and nation building. In the
recent times, the role of bureaucracy has undergone a massive
change due to a number of factors. The changing role of the State
in the contemporary context has brought about significant
changes in the profile of bureaucracy. The growing impact of
liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation, increased
complexity in administrative problems, influx of information
technology and socio-cultural upheavals are bringing in a lot of
changes in the complexion of Indian bureaucracy.
In nutshell/conclude, the shift or change in the role of
bureaucracy in light of the emerging governance challenges can
be understood under the following factors: • Fast pace of
globalisation • Rapid advancement of communication technology
and problems relating to cybercrime and threats due to social
media • Advances in technology and mass-scale digitisation of
government operations • New tools of governance • Inclusive
policies with a more sense of accountability and responsibility
towards the excluded sections of society • Participatory and
engaged governance i.e., engaging the civil society for better
governance since citizens are the most important assets in
governance • Building new skills and capacities • Internal and
external security threats.

Role of Bureaucracy ??
The bureaucracy‘s role is multifaceted being the: • Articulator and
integrator of interests of stakeholders • Conciliator, mediator and
adjudicator • Contributor of expertise, skills and resources •
Network and strategic manager • Responsive, accessible and
promoter of multidimensional accountability
Thus, in the light of the changing governance scenario, the
bureaucracy must reform itself. New Public Service and New
Governance must be needed for sustainable development goal.
 UNIT 8 INFORMATION AND
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AND GOVERNANCE

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become an

indispensable part in present times. ICT promotes good
governance by increasing transparency in provision of
information, and ensuring accountability, by facilitating decision-
making, public participation and by enhancing the efficient
delivery of public goods and services. Many government agencies
use ICT facilities to reach out to the public with their
accomplishments, achievements and programmes.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY:

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
ICT is the use of technology in information processing and
communication. The information revolution promises to change
the world like never before. The developing world cannot remain
isolated from the changes. Currently new terminologies
‘governance’ ‘IT & administration’, ‘e-government’, ‘e-governance’
and ‘e-citizen’ etc., have gained prominence. The application of
ICT to the processes of government to ensure good governance is
e-governance. It aims at involvement of multi-stakeholders in
decision-making and making governments open and accountable.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY:

EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE
With the invention of the World Wide Web (www) in 1989 by
British scientist Tim Berners-Lee and its introduction in 1991 that
the internet became an easily accessible network. And it is
characterised by the shift from traditional industry to an economy
based on information digitisation.
5 stages of ICT for Global Development - The stages are:
1) Development/Modernization; 2) New World Economic and
Information Orders; 3) Structural Adjustment and Re-
subordination, 4) Global Integration, and; 5) Smart/Sustainable
Mobile and Data-Driven Development.
1) Development/Modernization
“Development” and “modernization” characterized the post-
World War II prescription for economic development around the
world, and especially in newly decolonized nation-states.
Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) consisted
primarily of the “five communication revolutions” (print, film,
radio, television, and later satellite) that were utilized to spread
information about modern development techniques in
agriculture, health, education, and national governance.
Telegraphy and telephones were strangely absent from much of
the discussion but were important for government activities as
well as large-scale plantations, mining operations, and
transportation, and shipping. Because of their large capital
requirements and geographic expanse, countries uniformly
developed state-controlled Post, Telephone, and Telegraph
(PTTs) entities.
Wilbur Schramm’s book Mass Media and National Development
(1964) made crucial links between media and national
development. Published by Stanford University Press and
UNESCO, it examined the role of newspapers, radio, and
television.
2) New World Economic and Information Orders
Rising frustrations and concerns about neo-colonialism resulted
in a collective call by developing countries for various
conceptions of a “New World Economic and Communication
Order.” The issue was primarily news flow and the imbalanced
flow of information from North to South.
The transition from telegraph and telex machines to computers
also resulted in concerns about data transcending national
boundaries. The Intergovernmental Bureau for Informatics (IBI)
that had been set up as the International Computation Centre
(ICC) in 1951 to help countries get access to major computers,
began to study national computerization policy issues in the mid-
1970s.
3) Structural Adjustment and Re-subordination
A new era of “structural adjustment” enforced by the
International Monetary Fund emerged that targeted national post,
telephone, and telegraph (PTT) agencies and other aspects of
government administration and ownership. Communications
markets were liberalized to allow international competition for
sales of digital switches and fiber optic networks.
4) Global ICT Integration
Formed in 1995, the WTO had two meetings in 1996 and 1997
that created a new era of global communications development.
Members party to the new multilateral arrangement met quickly
in Singapore in 1996 to reduce tariffs on the international sales of
a wide variety of information technologies. The next year the
WTO met in Geneva and established rules for the continued
privatization of national telecommunications operations. Sixty-
nine nations party to the WTO, including the U.S., signed the
Agreement on Basic Telecommunications Services in 1997 that
codified new rules for telecommunications deregulation. The
resultant liberalization of data and mobile services around the
world made possible a new stage in global development.
5) Smart/Sustainable Mobile and Data-Centric Development
The aggressive trade negotiations and agreements in the 1990s
significantly reduced the costs of ICT devices and communication
exchanges throughout the world, making possible a wide variety
of new commercial and development activities based on web
capabilities. Blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies, the
Internet of Things (IoT), and the proliferation of web
platforms are some of the current conceptions of how reduced
costs for communications.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

INITIATIVES IN INDIA:
There were many measures taken to support the growth of ICT in
India.
• In 1970, the Government of India (GoI) has established
Department of Electronics
• Subsequently in 1977, GoI has taken the first major step
towards implementation of e-governance by establishment
of National Informatics Centre (NIC).
• The GoI has taken a remarkable step for fostering e-
governance by launching the national satellite based
network (NICNET) in 1987 followed by District Information
System of the National Informatics Centre (DISNIC). NICNET
was the first government informatics network across the
world equipped with advanced database services.
• India’s e-governance transformation initiatives started in
the 1990s. And later, the Government of India approved the
National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) on May 18, 2006 which
seeks to improve delivery of government services to citizens
and private sector with the vision of making all government
services accessible to the citizen in his/her locality, through
common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency,
 transparency and reliability of such services at affordable
costs.
• The National Policy on Information Technology formulated
in 2012 focuses on application of technology-enabled
approaches to overcome developmental challenges in
education, health, skill development, financial inclusion etc.
The policy outlines strategies to achieve the following aims:
• Creating an ecosystem for a globally competitive IT
industry • Human Resource Development • Promotion of
innovation and Research and Development in IT sector •
Enhancing productivity and competitiveness in key sectors
through ICT • Enabling service delivery through e-
governance • Development of language technologies • GIS
based IT services • Security of cyber space.

Recent ICT Initiatives:

a) Digital India Initiative - The Digital India Programme
(DIP) launched by the government in 2014, a bold
initiative which aims to transform India into a digitally-
enabled and empowered information-driven society and
knowledge based economy. The vision of Digital India is
centred around the following three key areas: (1)
Infrastructure as a utility to every citizen; (2) Governance
and services on demand; and (3) Digital empowerment of
citizens.
• The vision area of infrastructure as a utility initiative
aims at high speed internet, easy access to common
service centres, safe and secure cyber space and so
on.
• The vision area of governance and services on
demand centres around the integration across all
departments, availability of citizens’ documents on
the cloud, making financial transactions electronic
and cashless, providing Geographical Information
 System for decision support systems and
development. E.g Pay online.
• The digital empowerment of citizens centres on
universal digital literacy, accessible digital
resources, availability of digital resources/services
in Indian languages etc. e.g Digi locker.
b) Smart Cities - A smart city refers to a city that uses ICT to
enhance the quality and performance of urban services
such as energy, transportation and utilities in order to
reduce consumption of resources, wastage and overall
costs. The features of smart city include availability of
adequate water supply, assured electricity supply,
sanitation including solid waste management, robust IT
connectivity and digitalisation and citizen participation.
The model includes concepts such as Smart lighting,
Smart traffic management, Smart building, Smart health,
Smart parking, Wi-Fi Internet access and city surveillance,
solid waste management, Smart metering, water quality,
water clogging management in cities, etc. The Smart Cities
Mission was launched on June 25, 2015 by the
Government of India. It is the urban renewal programme
initiated with the view to developing 100 cities across the
country making them citizen friendly and sustainable.
c) Internet of Things (IoT) – the digital space is the Internet
of Things (IoT). It can also be defined as interplay for
software, telecom and electronic hardware industry. IoT
is the network of physical objects — devices, vehicles,
buildings and other items embedded with electronics,
software, sensors and network connectivity — that
enable these objects to collect and exchange data.

Internet of Things involves three distinct stages:

• The sensors which collect data (including
identification and addressing the sensor/ device);
 • An application which collects and analyses this Data
for further consolidation; and
• Decision making and the transmission of data to the
decision-making server.
IoT is useful in India in many ways across industries such as
utilities, manufacturing, automotive, transportation and logistics.
Smart surveillance, automated transportation, smarter energy
management systems, water distribution, urban security and
environmental monitoring, sensor-driven networked
technologies are examples of IoT applications.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ENABLED

GOVERNANCE:
It leads to transformation in work processes and service delivery,
lowers transaction costs with better transparency and
accountability. Integrated user group interface through ICT
platforms help provide minimal public interface for time bound
delivery of services with reduction in delay and corruption,
improved transparency. The examples of best practices are the
Passenger Reservation System (PRS) and the Freight Operation
Information System (FOIS) of the Indian Railways.
Phases in the ICT Enabled Governance:
• Phase-I: Web Presence: The first phase is marked by web
presence of public institutions. This has been facilitated by
the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI) and this has been
developed as a basic feature of all public services where
type of service and service provider details are made
available in a proactive manner. The web presence can
range from basic and static information to access to
databases, documents, policies etc., with the aid of help
features and site map.
 • Phase-II: Interactive Presence: The next stage is marked by
an interactive interface with stakeholders with pro-active
solutions to problem solving and electronic requests for
services and financial transactions. Applications related to
property tax, land registration, property titles and
programmes like ‘Bhoomi’ are now being replicated at the
national level.
• Phase-III: Transactional Presence: This relates to
completion of transactions on the internet and access to
internet. There is electronic communication between the
platform and citizen and the transaction is completed
online.
• Phase- IV: Networked Presence and E-Participation: The
fourth stage is marked by a Government to Citizen (G2C)
framework based on an integrated network of public
agencies, process certification and participation in basic
process design and political processes. Web comment
forms, upcoming events, on line polling mechanism,
discussion forums and online consultation facilities are part
of this stage.

INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN

GOVERNANCE: KEY CHALLENGES
Some factors that affect ICT based Programmes
implementation:
1. Infrastructure: The lack of necessary infrastructure such as
broadband connectivity, continuous electricity supply,
mobile coverage to support the ICT based projects has made
governance elusive rather than making them inclusive. Often
faced with issues such as poor connectivity it has resulted in
people struggling in accessing the modes of governance.
2. Digital illiteracy: Illiteracy rate in India is more than 25-
30% and digital literacy is almost non-existent among more
than 90% of India’s population. The lack of digital literacy
has resulted in an increase in the number of intermediaries
who lure the people for financial gains in the name of
assisting them. As a result, ICT based projects rather than
reforming governance has added another intermediary for
the common man.
3. Language Barrier: The ICT based platforms are often
driven by English. Due to the efforts of central government
Hindi has started to make some inroads in ICT. But other
regional languages are still out of the ambit of ICT platforms.
Even where they are present they are full of technical
jargons which are non-comprehensive. This has made
governance more alien.
4. Cost of Data: Government banking of JAM (Jan Dhan,
Aadhaar, Mobile) is promoting governance through mobiles.
But the cost of data in relative terms is high in India. This
financial burden has made people shying away from using
the ICT platforms.
5. Lack of technical proficiency: The government officials
implementing such projects needs to be skilled enough to
handle the technical challenges that may arise. Proficiency in
the technology is a must. For example, government
authorities overseeing E-passport seva must know how to
solve problems faced by users.
6. Non-inclusive nature of technology used: The ICT
technologies are difficult for certain sections of society to
understand. This need simplification of the process and
make it easy to handle. For example, problems faced by
senior citizens, differently-abled, illiterate persons due to
complex design of ICT based solutions.
 7. Poor internet connectivity: Rural India suffers from poor
internet penetration due to lack of electricity and poor
network quality. This has led to difficulties in Aadhaar
Enabled Payment Services (AEPS) and last mile delivery of
services.
8. Geographical and weather related problems: Population
residing in difficult terrains like North Eastern hilly region,
islands of Andaman and Nicobar and Lakshadweep are
difficult to reach. Extreme weather events like cyclones,
tsunamis, etc. can hamper key communication and mobile
internet services.
Government efforts to address these factors:
1. Digital literacy: Programmes like PMGDISHA aimed at
educating people with low digital literacy must be taken up.
2. Connectivity: Projects like BharatNet aimed at connecting
all gram panchayats with broadband must be taken up with
faster pace.
3. Digitisation of services: The government has been
spearheading radical digitisation to induce economic
inclusiveness and social transformation, through initiatives
like, ‘Digital India’, ‘Make in India’ and Skill India.
Measures for Effective Implementation
1. Creating suitable infrastructure: Suitable infrastructure
must be created for ICT projects. Increasing the number of
Common Services Centres and addressing the connectivity
issues should be the first priority.
2. Increasing investment in human capital formation: The
government must explore providing free internet packages
to enable people to access ICT platforms. The government
must develop model like basic Facebook wherein people
would be able to access the government portals without
 internet charges. The government could offset the costs
through Universal Service Obligation Funds.
3. Changes in design and structure: Government websites
should be made user friendly so that they can be used by
differently abled and senior citizens.
4. Digital literacy: Mandating digital literacy in school
curriculum and co-curricular activities is important. By
educating the children to access these platforms, they can
serve as agents of change to adopt ICT platforms. One such
example is IT Club ‘e-Kidz’ formed by students of the
Government Upper Primary School at Koothattukulam in
Kerala.
5. Involving Private sector organizations: Corporates can be
asked to spend their CSR funds in digital training and
providing technological solutions for societal needs.
6. Integrating Local Languages: The government must
integrate local languages into ICT platforms to ensure the
ease of use by population across the country.
7. Plugging digital divide: The ICT programmes must not
become ends in themselves rather they must be the tools of
good governance. Due consideration must be given to
address the issues of availability, affordability and
accessibility while developing the ICT governance platforms.
 UNIT 9 ROLE OF
MEDIA

Media plays an important role in ensuring good governance. And

media is considered as the fourth pillar of democracy. In today’s
world, media becomes an essential part of our daily life. It may
not have a direct role in the governance of the country. But it
shapes the public opinion; gives voice to the citizens, provides
information to the public institutions, market and civil society.
Today media has immense responsibility in creating and shaping
public opinion and strengthening the society.

MEDIA: MEANING AND CHARACTERISTICS:

In simpler terms, the word ‘media’ denotes the means of
communication with a large number of people through written or
printed words or sound and voice or visual images or a
combination of these. Television, radio, newspapers, magazines,
audios and videos as well as movies are examples of media.
The main characteristics of media are:
• It can reach millions of people in short time; even
instantaneously.
• Audio media is very useful for illiterate and visually
challenged.
• Visual media can be effective in a multilingual society with
illiteracy to a large extent.
• It is cost-effective and user-friendly.
• Generally, media provides one way communication to the
recipients.
TYPES OF MEDIA:
There are three main types of news media: print media, broadcast
media, and the internet.
a) Print Media - This is the oldest media form. Newspapers,
magazines, journals, brochures, newsletters, books, leaflets
and pamphlets and other publications are collectively
known as the print media. The regular readers of print
media tend to be more likely to be aware and active about
several issues.
b) Broadcast Media - This mass media includes television and
radio as well as electronic media like movies, CDs and DVDs,
as well as the new gadgets. Prior to the advent of television
in the 1950s, reliance for news was on radio broadcasts. In
India, radio is still a very important medium of
communication. Especially in rural areas we see that in
disaster situations, in giving warnings about weather, this
medium is very useful. Similarly television too has impact
due to the presentation and catchy visuals.
c) Internet - With the advent of new technologies such as the
internet, we are now enjoying the benefits of high-
technology mass media, which is faster and has a
widespread range. The internet has the advantage of audio
as well as visual components. Mobile phones, computers and
the internet are often referred to as the new-age media. The
internet has opened up several new opportunities for mass
communication, including e-mail and web blogs.

MEDIA AND GOVERNANCE:

Media’s role in promotion of good governance can be understood
with the help of its contribution in protecting human rights,
curbing corruption, promoting rule of law, bringing change and
ensuring people’s participation in decision making. In
contemporary times media has an important role in governance
as it • Creates a platform for freedom of expression • Focuses on
responsiveness of State to citizens and improve State-citizen
relations • Fosters debates and dialogues by making available
balanced and reliable information.
a) Media and Democracy - Democracy is the primary
requirement for any good governance. And it is rightly said
that democracy without media is like a vehicle without
wheels. According to Norris (2006), media has three key
roles in contributing to democratisation and good
governance. The very first function of media is to act as a
watch dog over the powerful, promoting accountability,
transparency and public scrutiny. The second important role
of media is to function as a civic forum for political debates,
facilitating informed electoral choice and actions; and the
third function is to act as an agenda setter for policy makers,
strengthening government responsiveness for instance to
social problems.
Media also acts as a channel of communication by which
masses raise their voice, concerns and grievances. Many a
time, it has been seen that it is the pressure created by the
public opinion which has made governments of the day to
take any particular decision or change their decisions. For
example in India, the movement of Anna Hazare for Lokpal
Bill was given wide coverage in media. It resulted in
mobilisation of entire nation against the corruption and
government was pressurised to bring Lokpal Bill in
parliament. Recently when Goods and Services Tax (GST)
was imposed on sanitary napkins, women’s organisations
particularly and women in general registered their
opposition through media particularly social media.
Media has an educative role by not just giving the news but
through debates, comments provide political education and
strengthen democratic culture. This is the reason political
 scientist, Karl Deutsch, has called that the system of
communication proves a “nerve of the polity”. Educating the
ignorant masses on a large scale is a tough task. Only media
can achieve this goal.

b) Media and People’s Participation - Media increases people’s

involvement in the governance. It provides them with the
information and skills needed to participate in political
system. It makes citizens feel that they have the right, the
opportunity and a mechanism through which they can make
their voices heard.
c) Media and Public Opinion - Public opinion is citizens’
cumulative views on politics, government actions, social
issues, and so on. It is very important for any governance or
democratic system to understand and accept public opinion
because citizens’ political actions are driven by their
opinions. It helps political and administrative system to
understand citizens’ expectations. Public opinion sheds light
on the reasons for specific policy outcomes. Media also helps
in raising awareness of the people through disseminating
legislative debates, speeches of eminent personalities, public
grievances and current issues. Such news and views help
people to augment their political and social awareness
which in turn, helps in the formation of public opinion.
d) Media and Accountability - Media acts as watchdog against
the misuse of administrative authority. Its continuous watch
on government policies and actions ensures accountability
of government to the citizens that helps in improving service
delivery and governance.
e) Media and Change - Media has an influencing role in
changing the mind-set of people and moulds their
perception. It raises various social issues and influences the
public opinion. It makes people aware of their rights as well
as duties. We have several examples where media has
 played a crucial role in creating awareness on various social
evils and bringing the desired change. For example we are
aware of the success stories of pulse polio campaign. “Do
Boond Zindagi Ki” this tagline was displayed again and again
on TV and radio. It was due to this awareness created by
media that India has achieved the rank of a polio-free
country. In the case of information dissemination on
HIV/AIDS also, media played a key role. From time to time
media covers women’s issues and raises voice against the
cases of domestic violence, dowry, sexual harassment.
f) Media and Human Rights - Media has a very important role
in securing, protecting and promoting human rights. It can
create awareness about the concept of human rights. Certain
human rights which are basic to human development like
right to equality, freedom of speech, right to peace, right to a
dignified life, should be the common agenda of media and
given topmost priority in coverage.
g) Media and Rule of Law - By the term rule of law, we simply
mean that everyone is equal before the law and same rule
applies equally to everyone. Media plays a crucial role by
promoting vigilance over maintenance of upholding rule of
law. Media promotes vigilance towards the rule of law,
especially through fostering investigative journalism,
ensures the openness of court, legislative and administrative
proceedings and access to official and public documents. For
rule of law, freedom of speech and independent media are
very important. Whenever government violates the letter
and spirit of law, people must be free to and be able to
criticise the actions of government. In this way, media plays
an essential role in upholding the rule of law.

CHALLENGES FOR MEDIA:

Media acts as a catalyst for good governance by promoting
its key indicators. It creates the environment for good
governance, nurtures, protects and promotes it. But to
achieve this task, media needs to be honest, impartial and
independent. But if media is biased, corrupt and favours
only a particular party or few individuals, it can prove to be
very dangerous for the smooth functioning of democracy.
In present scenario, media is facing many challenges –
• The nexus between political parties, media and
corporate house is harmful for the good governance.
• Media’s power should have some reasonable
restrictions also then only it can serve as a true vehicle
of good governance. Otherwise we have seen the large
scale misuse of media’s power.
• Media needs to be sensitive to explain those issue
which bring about development.
• Use of ICT and responsible social media also plays an
important role in developing informed citizens.
• Building professionalism, ethical standards of media
through independence, building capacity, enhancing
their accountability, free from intervention by the state
and the media owners and democratising media access.
 UNIT 10
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE*

Effective corporate governance is essential for the growth,

profitability, and stability of the business vis-à-vis economy and
for welfare of the society at large. Good corporate governance
promotes economic development, strong financial systems and
the sustainability of the business.

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE: MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE:

There are three key players in the corporate governance sector,
i.e., (i) Shareholders – who have invested their money in the
corporation; (ii) Executive Management – who runs the business
and is responsible to the board of directors; and (iii) Board of
Directors – who is elected by the shareholders and is accountable
to them.
Thus, corporate governance is about the way the business is
directed, monitored and controlled to attain its goals and
objectives. It is guided by a set of principles, ethics, values, morals,
laws, rules and regulations. The major objective of the corporate
governance is to maximise the shareholder value in a company
and also to ensure the transparency and earn the trust and
confidence of the investors, customers, employers, the
government and the people. This is possible when there is
transparency, openness, boldness, fairness and justice.
In the Indian context, corporate governance is defined in the
following ways: According to Securities Exchange Board of India
(SEBI)
“corporate governance is all about recognition by management
about their role as corporate trustees and immutable(which can
not change) rights of shareholders as they are the real owners of
the company. It is all about dedication to carry out good business
performance through proper ethics and values by differentiating
corporate and personal resources in the process of company
management”.
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI, 2003) defines
corporate governance as “a blend of rules, regulations, laws and
voluntary practices that enable companies to attract financial and
human capital, perform efficiently and thereby maximise long
term value for the shareholders besides respecting the
aspirations of multiple stakeholders including that of the society”.

Significance of Corporate Governance:

The Committee on Corporate Governance that was constituted in
India in 2003 under the chairmanship of Narayana Murthy in its
report states that “if management is about running businesses,
governance is about ensuring that it is run properly.”
Corporate governance is necessary to: • Bring clarity to the
respective responsibilities of directors, company managers,
shareholders and auditors and enhance the accountability so as to
strengthen trust in the corporate system vis-a-vis capital market.
• Attract investors – both local and foreign – and assure them that
their investments will be secure and efficiently managed, and in a
transparent and accountable process (i.e. strengthening capital
market). • Prevent fraud and malpractices or unethical behaviour
by companies. • Create competitive and efficient companies and
business enterprises • Enhance the performance of those
entrusted to manage corporations. • Promote efficient and
effective use of limited resources. • Ensure long-term value
creation, performance, and sustainability of the company which
will be in the interests of large stakeholders. • Build public
confidence in the corporation.
PRINCIPLES OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE:
The following are the major principles of corporate governance,
put forward by the OECD( The Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development) Report:
1) Ensuring the Basis for an Effective Corporate Governance
Framework : The corporate governance framework should
promote transparent and efficient markets, be consistent
with the rule of law and clearly articulate the division of
responsibilities among different supervisory, regulatory and
enforcement authorities.
2)The Rights of Shareholders and Key Ownership Functions
:The corporate governance framework should protect and
facilitate the exercise of shareholders’ rights. The basic rights
of the shareholders are secure methods of ownership
registration; transfer shares; obtain relevant and material
information on the corporation on timely and regular basis;
participate and vote in general shareholders’ meetings; elect
and remove members of the board; and share in the profits of
the corporation.
3) The Equitable Treatment of Shareholders : The framework
should ensure equitable treatment of all shareholders,
including minority and foreign shareholders. All shareholders
should have the opportunity to obtain effective redress for
violation of their rights.
4) The Role of Stakeholders in Corporate Governance : The
framework should recognise the rights of stakeholders
established by law or through mutual agreements and
encourage active cooperation between corporations and
stakeholders in creating wealth, jobs and the sustainability of
financially sound enterprises.
5) Disclosure and Transparency : The framework should
ensure that timely and accurate disclosure is made on all
material matters regarding the corporation, including the
financial situation, performance, ownership, and governance of
the company.
6) The Responsibilities of the Board : The framework should
ensure the strategic guidance of the company, the effective
monitoring of management by the board, and the board’s
accountability to the company and the shareholders.
Note - The aim and objectives of these principles are to
standardise and professionalise the management of enterprise,
so as to promote inclusion of independent directors; enhance
the board performance; and ensure transparency and
accountability to the shareholders.

MODELS OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE:

1) Anglo Saxon Model (The Anglo US Model) - It described as
the outside shareholders or ‘outsiders’ control model. This
model is prevalent in UK and USA. The key players in this
model are management, board of directors and
shareholders. Here the capital is raised through equity
financing. It can be noticed that the New York Stock
Exchange and the London Stock Exchange are placed in top
positions across the world. In this model, the shareholders
get powers to appoint and dismiss the directors, but they do
not exercise direct control on the management of the
enterprise. The boards of directors carry out the corporate
activities with the help of various committees and the chief
executive officer.
2) Japanese Model - The Japanese model consists of a network
of suppliers and buyer companies . The Japanese model of
corporate governance is concerned with the code and
conduct of the board of directors who are selected on behalf
of the investors. Here the boards of directors of the
 corporations consist of fully insiders. They are the heads of
the central administrative body. The board of directors is
responsible for monitoring and controlling the activities of
organisation so as to enable its effective management and
protect the rights of investors. The Japanese model basically
represents the interests of companies and employees rather
than shareholders. The Japanese boards are larger than the
boards of UK, USA and Germany. The approximate number
of members of the board is fifty.
3) Continental Model (Franco German Model) The German
model is different from the UK, USA and Japan models.
However, some of the factors are similar to the model of
Japan. For instance, in Germany, the long-term stakes of the
corporations are held by the bank, which is similar to the
Japanese model too, where the bank officials represent the
stakes of Japanese corporations. Similarly, both the models
have a two-tier system in managing their functioning. In
Japan, the model consists of the general committee and the
board of directors, whereas in Germany, the corporation
consists of the management board and the supervisory
board. As far as financial transactions are concerned, the
German corporations prefer bank transaction instead of
equity financing. Another significant feature of the
continental model is that, a major role is given to the
auditors’ committee which represents the stockholders and
the labour.

Irrespective of the changes that are there in various models

of corporate governance, there are some set of features that
are followed in almost all models with minor
variations. Some of the key components, as highlighted by
Medury (2003) include the following: • Shareholders elect
directors who represent them; • Directors vote on key
matters and adopt the majority decisions; • Decisions are
made in a transparent manner so that shareholders and
others can hold directors accountable; • The company
adopts accounting standards to generate the information
necessary for directors, investors and other stakeholders to
make decisions; • The company’s policies and practices
adhere to applicable national, state and local laws.

A TRAJECTORY OF THE GROWTH OF CORPORATE

GOVERNANCE: INTERNATIONAL AND NATIONAL
SCENARIO

International Scenario - The Cadbury Report of 1992 had

thus contributed to the development and adoption of
corporate governance. The report was also instrumental for
the adoption of corporate governance framework, best
practices in corporate governance, or even the codes that
were adopted across different parts of the world including
India.

Indian Scenario - The Government appointed a Committee

under the chairmanship of H.C. Bhaba in the year 1950 to
revise the Indian Companies Act of 1913. Based on the
recommendations of this Committee and the provisions of
the English Companies Acts, the landmark Companies Act
1956 was introduced in the parliament. The Companies Act
1956 came into force on 1st April 1956. It is the principal
legal instrument which contains provisions regarding the
role and functioning of the board of directors and the
governance of the companies. However, after deregulation,
privatisation, marketisation, and globalisation in 1991, India
has renewed its interest and realised the need for corporate
governance in the country’s corporate sector. Over the years,
government has come up with elaborate governance
reforms for Indian Companies based on the
 recommendations of series of committees - the Kumara
Mangalam Birla Committee (1999), the Naresh Chandra
Committee (2002), the Narayana Murthy Committee (2003),
and the Adi Godrej Committee (2012), the Uday Kotak
committee ( 2017 ). The Ministry of Corporate Affairs,
Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), the Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Associated Chambers of
Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM), Chartered
Accountants, of India and Institute of Company Secretaries
of India are the few organisations which are continuously
playing a vital role in the development and implementation
of corporate governance in India.
Note - The efforts towards ensuring better corporate
governance aim at promoting independence of the board, its
accountability to stakeholders, transparency in its activities
that lends credibility to the enterprise.

CHALLENGES OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE:

Ensuring effective corporate governance is not an easy task.
Despite having corporate governance codes, there are
certain challenges –
• An effective enforcement mechanism to ensure that the
codes of governance are adhered to and governance
standards are maintained. • The conflict of interest of any
board member that could influence the decisions taken by
the company. • Balanced composition of the board to ensure
proper mix of skills and perspectives in board room
decisions. • Ensuring accountability to all the stakeholders. •
Monitoring of the functioning of the company especially of
the board of directors and management by the shareholders.
• Effectiveness of audit committee and independent director.

What Is Keiretsu?
Keiretsu is a Japanese term referring to a business network made
up of different companies, including manufacturers, supply chain
partners, distributors, and occasionally financiers.
• Keiretsus work together, have close relationships, and
sometimes take small equity stakes in each other, all the
while remaining operationally independent.
• Keiretsus rose to prominence after World War II and the
destruction of the Japanese zaibatsu.
• A horizontal keiretsu is an alliance of different companies,
led by a bank that provides them with finance.
• A vertical keiretsu refers to manufacturers, suppliers, and
distributors partnering up to cut costs and become more
efficient.
 UNIT 11
SUSTAINABLE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to transform

our world. They are a call to action to end poverty and inequality,
protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy health, justice
and prosperity.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Prior to the concept of ‘sustainable development’, environmental
concerns were viewed in terms of ‘limits to growth’ at the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in
Stockholm in 1972.
The shift from ‘limits to growth’ to ‘sustainable development’
came after a period of 20 years at the United Nations Conference
on Environment and Development (UNCED) or the Earth Summit
hosted in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in 1992.
However, the World Commission on Environment and
Development (WCED) had already presented their definition of
sustainable development in their report, Our Common Future, in
1987. Also known as the Brundtland Report, it spelt out
sustainable development as development which meets the needs
of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs.
Furthermore, the Brundtland Report proposed eight objectives of
sustainable development: reviving growth; changing the quality
of growth; meeting essential needs for jobs, food, energy, water,
and sanitation; ensuring a sustainable level of population;
conserving and enhancing resource base; reorienting technology
and managing risk; merging environment and economics in
decision making; and reorienting international economic
relations.
The SDGs laid down by United Nations General Assembly in 2016
considered as global goals, are a universal call for action to end
poverty, protect the planet and ensure that people enjoy peace
and prosperity. ( 17 goals – see unit 5 pdf )

UNDERSTANDING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT:

In the first Human Development Report, published in 1990 by
UNDP (The United Nations Development Programme) , the
Human Development approach was introduced which
emphasised on enrichment of human life instead of enrichment of
economy. Its basic premise was “People are wealth of a nation”.
In other words, this approach promotes people-centric rather
than growth-centric ideas along with the creation of an
environment of equitable opportunities and choices for everyone
“to develop to their full potential and to have a reasonable chance
of leading productive and creative lives.
The concept of human development was pioneered by
intellectuals, such as Mahbub Ul Haq and Amartya Sen. According
to this, human development is considered as development of the
richness of human life and not the wealth of the economy. Human
development is considered as a process of expanding the real
freedom that people enjoy. It aims at providing better
opportunities to people with a view to achieving long and healthy
life, access to knowledge and acceptable living standards. It
encompasses political, economic and social freedom, creativity,
respect for human rights, etc.

SUSTAINABLE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: AN OVERVIEW

The Human Development Report 1994 concluded SHD to be “pro-
people, pro-job, pro-nature which gives the highest priority to
poverty reduction, productive employment, social integration and
environmental regeneration”. Later the goal of Sustainable
Human Development (SHD) emerged decisively at the 1995
World Summit .Also known as the Copenhagen Declaration, it
promised to make development people-centric. It aimed at
equitable distribution rather than economic growth only,
regeneration of the environment, and promoting empowerment
and participation of people especially prioritising the poor. It gave
importance to people’s welfare and security instead of income,
consumption or productivity only, so that people were both the
‘means’ and ‘ends’ of development. The attainment of the
objectives of SHD rested upon sound governance, equity, sincere
North-South partnerships, and active involvement and
empowerment of the downtrodden.
 UNIT 12
TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY*

Concepts such as accountability, transparency and participation

started gaining ground in the governance. The main idea behind
such reforms was providing better quality goods and services to
the citizens.

TRANSPARENCY: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Transparency refers to openness in government policies and
decisions. It means that the decisions taken and their
enforcement are done in a manner that follows rules and
regulations. And the information is freely available and directly
accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and
their enforcement.
It refers to a situation in which the business and activities of the
government are done in an open manner without any secrecy so
that people can trust that their elected representatives are fair
and honest.

MEANING OF ACCOUNTABILITY:
Accountability is also defined as answerability for performance or
the obligation to report to others. It involves making politicians,
administrators, governmental, non-governmental and private
sector organisations, accountable for their activities. It is a
necessity for ensuring public officials’ answerability to citizens
through political executives.

NEED FOR TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY:

Transparency and accountability in governance is required
because of the following reasons:
• Expansion of government’s role and activities: The new policies
included the areas of human concern such as development of
women, children and physically challenged, marginalised sections
and so on. All this led to expansion of government departments
with overlapping boundaries for work. In such a scenario, the
need for accountability and transparency was felt so that one
could keep a check on the functioning of various departments.
• The concept of delegated legislation : As the States’ functions
and areas of operation expanded, This led to increase in the
powers of the executive. Thus, to keep a check on the powers and
functions of the executive, accountability and transparency
became necessary.
• Politics-bureaucracy nexus : In a democratic country like India
which is committed to welfarism, we see a close collaboration and
cooperation between the politicians and the bureaucrats.
Sometimes the bureaucrats instead of being committed to the
policies get committed to ruling party’s agenda. In such a
situation, the bureaucracy becomes highly politicised and
neutrality takes a back seat. This calls for suitable checks.
• Check corruption and corrupt practices : There are many
instances of government indulging in corrupt practices, be it
misuse of governmental machinery during elections, favouring
their near and dear ones in appointments and promotions,
disregarding constitutional norms, rules and procedures to serve
their own interests etc. The quantum of black money, politics of
opportunism, various scams and scandals are a proof that we
need a mechanism to check corrupt practices.
• Apathetic nature of the citizens : In a democracy, people’s
participation should not only be limited to electing their
representatives. They need to play a larger role. But in a country
plagued with so many social evils, illiteracy, poverty,
unemployment, people are not active participants. As a result, the
benefits and fruits of development do not reach the needy.

MECHANISMS OF TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY:

There are various mechanisms of ensuring accountability and
transparency. These encompass parliamentary control over
expenditure through questions, cut motions in parliament,
parliamentary committees, auditing, public interest litigation,
judicial decisions and so on.
• Central Vigilance Commission - The Central Vigilance
Commission, set up in 1964, as a follow-up of the
recommendations of the Santhanam Committee, is an
institution which makes the public officials and
administration accountable for their acts. It is a non-
statutory body which falls within the jurisdiction of the
Ministry of Personnel. It is conceived as the apex vigilance
institution which is free from any executive authority,
monitoring all vigilance activities.

• Comptroller and Auditor General - The Comptroller and

Auditor General (CAG), a Constitutional authority, is another
accountability mechanism in India. It is the guardian of the
public purse and it is the duty of CAG to see that only
authorised expenditure in made out of the Consolidated
Fund of India. The office of CAG carries out its duties in an
autonomous manner and is independent of any kind of
executive control. The CAG presents its report to the
Parliament through the Public Accounts Committee. It
ensures that the money shown in accounts is utilised for the
prescribed purpose and the expenditure conforms to the
authority which governs it. Some of the major scams in India
 such as Bofors,2G3Gspectrum, Coalgate and Commonwealth
Games, have been exposed by the CAG.

• Lokpal and Lokayukta - The first Administrative Reforms

Commission (ARC), constituted in 1966, gave priority to the
problem of redressal of citizens’ grievances and
recommended the creation of Ombudsman type institution
in order to remove the sense of injustice from the minds of
adversely affected citizens.The ARC recommended the
establishment of two special authorities designated as
Lokpal and Lokayukta to deal with the complaints against
administrative acts of Ministers and Secretaries at the
central and state levels respectively.

• Citizen’s Charter - The citizen’s charter is a document that

outlines the service commitment of organizations or service
providers towards providing quality, high-standard services,
including mechanisms for grievance redressal. Principles of
Citizen’s Charter
• Quality – Improving service quality.
• Choice – Wherever possible.
• Standards – Specifically mention what to expect and how to
go about if standards are not met.
• Value – For taxpayers’ money.
• Accountability – At the level of the individual and the
organization.
• Transparency – Transparency in
rules/schemes/procedures/grievances.

• Social Audit - Social audit is an innovative mechanism for

ensuring transparency and accountability. It came into
prominence in the wake of 73rd Constitutional Amendment
Act, which gave Constitutional status to Panchayati Raj
Institutions. Social audit is a very effective tool for
 strengthening grassroots democracy. It provides an
opportunity to the citizens to scrutinise the development
initiatives which ultimately benefit the citizens. It is a
continuous process which ensures that all the decisions and
their rationale are made public as soon as they are made.

• Right to Information - The basic object of the Right to

Information Act is to empower the citizens, promote
transparency and accountability in the working of the
Government, Contain corruption, and make our democracy
work for the people in real sense. Right to Information opens
up government’s records to public scrutiny.

OPERATONALISATION OF TRANSPARENCY AND

ACCOUNTABILITY:
1. Right to Information (RTI) is a very potent weapon and
its positive role has been witnessed especially at the
grassroots levels in the Mahatma Gandhi National
Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
2. The emergence and use of e-governance or digital
governance, in the governance process has further
ensured transparency and accountability. The main
idea behind e-governance is to bring government
services to the beneficiaries in a transparent, speedy,
easy and efficient way.

NOTE : There are challenges in the operationalisation

process. There is need for strong political will,
bureaucratic commitment, and awareness on part of
citizens that can bring the desired change.
 UNIT 13
DECENTRALISATION AND LOCAL GOVERNANCE

Decentralisation refers to the transfer of powers and

responsibilities from the central government level to elected
authorities at the subnational level . It is an ideological
principle associated with objectives of self-reliance, democratic
decision making, popular participation in government, and
accountability of public officials to citizens. It is a prime
mechanism through which democracy becomes truly
representative and responsive. In the words of Rajni Kothari
(1988) “decentralisation is an alternative system of governance
based on a people-centred approach to sorting out local level
problems.

IMPORTANCE OF DECENTRALISATION:
• Firstly, it has been prompted by the need to deliver the basic
public goods such as food, housing and water from local
units of administration.
• Secondly, most people in the developing countries live in
rural areas, which are away from the national capital located
in distant urban areas. Administration has to understand the
rural areas and link these up with the nation as a whole.
• Thirdly, Administration needs to be decentralised in
response to regional diversities.
• Fourthly, regional and local resources can be utilised for the
area development purposes, only if administration would
move out to the regions and localities.
• Fifthly, decentralisation has its own value in political and
administrative terms. Politically, local participation in
development activities. From the administrative point of
 view, local capability to govern local areas increases through
sustained participation in local decision making.
• Finally, it is needed to institutionalise participation of
citizens in development planning by creating alternative
means of decision making.

DIMENSIONS OF DECENTRALISATION AND LOCAL

GOVERNANCE:
• Political Decentralisation- Political decentralisation refers
to transfer of political powers and functions from the central
levels of government to the lower levels of governments
which are elected by the local citizens and which have some
degree of local autonomy. In India, the process of political
decentralisation which started in 1959, On the
recommendations of Balwant Rai Mehta Committee, finally
got implemented in 1993, by way of 73rd and 74th
Constitutional Amendment Acts. As a result, now there are
governments at five levels viz., central, state, district, block
and village, making the governance process more
representative with locally elected representatives.
• Administrative Decentralisation - Administrative
decentralisation refers to the transferring of authority,
resources and responsibilities to the lower officials in the
administrative hierarchy of organisations. It may also mean
decentralising powers or functions to the subordinate units.
It aims at providing better facilities and services to the
people through the local authorities.
• Functional Decentralisation - Functional decentralisation
refers to transferring subject specific functions to local tiers
in order to enable them to discharge their responsibilities in
an effective and efficient manner.
• Financial Decentralisation - It involves devolving powers
with regard to taxation, funds and expenditure upon local
 bodies in order to first improve the financial position and
then giving them the financial autonomy for planning and
implementation as per the local needs. Initially local bodies
had to depend on the devolutions and the grants-in-aid from
the state governments. After the passing of 73rd and 74th
Constitutional Amendment Acts, it empower the local bodies
to levy and collect the taxes.

DECENTRALISATION PATTERN IN INDIA: HISTORICAL

BACKGROUND
1. Decentralisation and local governance has been a major
concern in India since long. It goes back to Lord Mayo’s
Resolution of 1870, which advocated decentralisation. Lord
Ripon’s Resolution of 1882 too strongly advocated the cause
of decentralisation of administration through the
establishment of local self-governing institutions which also
known as the Magna Carta of local government.The
Decentralisation Commission Report, 1909 and the
Government of India Acts 1919 and 1935 also favoured local
governance.
2. The second phase of the debate in post-Independence India
was staged on the floor of the Constituent Assembly.
Panchayati Raj was an important component of Mahatma
Gandhi’s vision of future India in which economic and
political powers would be decentralised and each village
would be self-reliant economically.
3. In India, after independence, the first attempt in the
direction of rural local governance was the inauguration of
Community Development Programme in 1952, followed by
National Extension Scheme in 1953. Both these programmes
could not deliver goods. As a result, the Balwant Rai Mehta
Committee was constituted to enquire into the questions of
economy and efficiency and suggest other measures for the
 re-organisation of Community Development Programme.
The Committee came out with the suggestion of a three tier
system of rural local government. This pattern was Zila
Parishad at the district level, Panchayat Samiti at the
Block/tehsil/taluka level and Gram Panchayat at the village
level. By the end of 1963, most of the states had enacted
legislation to introduce Panchayati Raj within their
jurisdiction but it had some loopholes. In 1977, another
Committee, popularly known as the Asoka Mehta Committee
was appointed by the then Janata Government to inquiring
into the functioning of Panchayati Raj Institution. Some of
the Committees set up by the Central Government are
Committee on Administrative Arrangements for Rural
Development (CAARD) 1985, L.M. Singhvi Committee for the
Concept Paper on Panchayati Raj Institutions, 1986, Sarkaria
Commission 1988, P.K. Thungon Committee 1988, etc. On
December 22, 1992, the Bills were passed by the Parliament
and are now known as the Constitution (73rdand
74thAmendment) Acts 1992. By April 23, 1994, all the states
had completed the process of enacting fresh legislation on
strengthening the PRIs and municipalities.

FEATURES OF 73rdAND 74th CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

ACTS, 1992
Some of the features of the Acts are as follows:
• It has made mandatory for all the states to set up three tier
(in smaller states having less than 20 lakh population – two
tier) bodies both in the rural and the urban areas.
• Periodic elections to all the tiers at regular interval of five
years and, if dissolved earlier, fresh elections to be held
within six months.
 • Reservation of seats for SCs and STs in all the panchayats
and municipalties at all the levels in proportion to their
population.
• One third reservation of seats for woman in panchayats and
municipalities.
• All posts at all levels (with two exceptions) to be filled by
direct elections.
• Indirect elections to the post of chairman at the
intermediate and apex tiers.
• Creation of a State Election Commission to conduct
elections to PRIs and municipal bodies.
• A State Finance Commission to be set up in each state every
five years in order to review the financial position of the
PRIs and municipal bodies.
• Devolution of powers to the panchayat bodies to perform 29
functions and to the municipal bodies to perform 18
functions as suggested in the Eleventh and Twelfth
Schedules respectively.
• Organisation of gram sabhas and ward committees.
• The 74thConstitutional Amendment provides for
constitution of District Planning Committee (DPC) and
Metropolitan Planning Committee (MPC) to prepare a
development plan.

FUNCTIONING OF PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTONS: AN

APPRAISALमूल्‍यां कन
• Gram Sabha is the basic unit of Indian democracy. According
to Article 243A of the Indian Constitution “ A Gram Sabha
may exercise such powers and perform such functions at the
village level as the legislature of a state may by law provide.”
The elected representatives are made accountable to the
electorate through the Gram Sabhas. Hence they have to be
 vigilant and sensitive to their own problems and only then
the PRIs can be successful. At the same time, it has to meet
periodically with maximum participation of the people.
Initially, this was not happening and the benefits did not
reach the needy.
• In the state of Kerala, where the first Gram Sabha was
organised way back in 1996, more than two million persons
participated in it. In general, the gram sabhas were a huge
success.In Madhya Pradesh, the gram sabhas got a new
status through a state law to ensure holistic development of
villages. In West Bengal absolute power has been given to
the Gram Sansad/Gram Sabha in respect of selection of
beneficiaries under the poverty alleviation programmes.
• The Eleventh Schedule, which assigns 29 subjects to the
PRI’s have been added in the body of the Constitution. It was
expected that, the State Legislature, by law, would endow
such powers and authority to panchayats so that they could
function as institutions of self-government. But the powers
and functions were not actually transferred to the PRIs in
the true sense.
• The functioning of the PRIs with regard to the mandatory
provision for reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes
(SCs), the Scheduled Tribes (STs) and one third reservation
for women (including women from the SCs and the STs)
reveals that in spite of the reservation for the above
category, the problem has not been completely solved.
Because initially by and large, only those individuals were
elected from reserved constituencies, who had the
patronage of the dominant sections of the society and who
functioned like the mouth piece of the affluent sections in
the formal meetings of the PRIs. Women members acted on
behalf of the male members of their family.
• But if we analysis the current scenario , Women members
have performed well in states like Kerala, West Bengal,
 Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh. They have taken up many
serious issues, relating to the development of their areas.
They have fought against odds and taken up issues, which
cater to the vital needs like children’s education, safe
drinking water, primary health care facilities for women,
nutrition, etc. For example, a woman Sarpanch of
Chandsamand Gram Panchayat in Karnal district of Haryana
has developed a three pond system under MGNREGA with
the purpose to treat the grey water and further use the same
for gardening, kitchen gardening and irrigation purposes.
Similarly, another Woman Gram Pradhan of Namkhana
Gram Panchayat in West Bengal has ensured functional
standing committees on women and children. She has
emphasised on self-help group formation .joyful learning
and nutritious food for the children.
• According to Pattanaik (2010), “it is clear that women’s
leadership in panchayats is transforming India. These
elected women – now role models to the other women in
their communities.
• Another important issue in the functioning of panchayats is
the finance. Though many provisions have been made in the
Act with regard to improving the financial status of the
panchayats, still the financial autonomy of the PRIs is
restricted.
• The Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) recommended
substantial increase in the quantum of resources allocated to
the rural and urban local bodies.

There are measures being taken to improve the functioning of

PRIs. These include –
• Evolving a participatory culture and strengthening
coordination between PRIs and other bodies functioning at
grass root lecvel
 • Innovative measures to improve the functioning of PRIS.
Many states are experimenting with innovative measures
towards improving PRIs. To maintain transparency in the
implementation of rural development schemes in the state,
the Assam government has ordered the constitution of
vigilance and monitoring committees in each block.
• Strengthening the Financial Base of PRIs - The devolution of
financial resources is another area that is getting attention.
The FFC has provided for a substantial increase in the
quantum of resources to PRIs. Also funds are directly been
given to gram panchayats to deliver the basic services.
• Capacity Building -The State Institutes of Rural Development
in many states are entrusted with the task of conducting
suitable training programmes to enhance their leadership
skills. In addition NGOs are also providing extensive training
to PRI functionaries.
• Coordination between PRIs and other Institutions at
Grassroots Level - There are efforts being made for
networking between PRIs and other NGOs, self-help groups,
voluntary organisations for effective local governance.

ASSESSMENT OF THE FUNCTIONING OF THE URBAN LOCAL

BODIES
• So far as the functioning of urban local bodies is concerned,
it presents a similar picture as that of the rural local bodies.
There is lack of uniformity with regard to the functioning of
the urban local bodies (ULBs).
• The 18 subjects, as mentioned in the twelfth schedule, on
which the urban local bodies are to make laws have not been
devolved uniformly. States like Himachal Pradesh, Haryana,
Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh on an average have devolved
sixteen functions to ULBs out of 18 but some key functions
such as roads, regulation of slaughterhouses, water supply
 and sewerage and urban planning including town planning
are yet to be devolved to ULBs.
• It is also worth noting that though the sixteen functions are
devolved to ULBs but little of this is actually in the hands of
municipalities, as the core decision making power rests with
the state government or district administration.
• The ULBs still have to depend on grants from state and
central governments. The municipalities on their own are
not able to raise sufficient resources to be able to cover their
costs, and are therefore increasingly dependent on state
transfers for financial sustenance.
• Another problem area of ULB’s is the participation of
SCs/STs, OBCs and women in these bodies.
 UNIT 14 INCLUSIVE
AND PARTICIPATIVE GOVERNANCE

In 2011, the former President of India Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam in his
lecture delivered at Harvard University, envisioned for a “clean
environment without pollution, prosperity without poverty, peace
without fear of war and a happy place to live for all citizens of the
world. What is needed is the participation of multiple nations,
multiple institutions and people from across the globe towards
common objectives”.

CONTEXT OF CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN INDIA

• The case of Bhopal Gas Tragedy. In December 1984, a highly
toxic leak of methyl isocyanate gas from the pesticide plant
UCIL (Union Carbide India Ltd) in Bhopal claimed the lives of
over 5000 and injuries to 5 lakh individuals. Such industrial
disaster is a wake-up call for ongoing and upcoming
corporate projects to comply with the environment
standards.
• In 1994, people’s involvement became mandatory with the
promulgation of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA)
notification. It states that environmental clearance is
possible only after public consultation in projects related to
mining, thermal power plants, river valley, infrastructure
(road, highway, ports, harbours and airports) and industries.
• The nature of citizen participation has evolved in India
through ‘inclusive’ and ‘participative’ contexts; firstly,
‘inclusive’ context includes empowerment of marginalised
sections, restoration of human dignity, and sustainable
livelihood etc.; secondly, ‘participative’ context includes
citizens’ ability to develop alternatives, time and cost
effectiveness, and stakeholder responsiveness etc.
INCLUSIVE GOVERNANCE
• It includes providing equality of opportunity,
empowering people through education and skill
development. It also encompasses a growth process that is
environment friendly growth, aims for good governance
and helps in creation of a gender sensitive society.
• In 2013, the Ministry of Women and Child Development
formally guided the state governments to adopt gender-
responsive budgeting in all departments and local bodies. To
expedite the process, the Ministry informed the states to
establish a Task Force on Gender Budgeting. The concept of
gender responsive budgeting was adopted to tackle gender
inequality in policy making at all levels of government.

Constitutional Framework for Inclusive Society

• The fundamental rights from Article 14-16 of the Indian
Constitution indicate that every person who lives within the
country are equal before law and no one will be
discriminated to realise their rights, based on religion, race,
caste, gender, and place of birth. Case Example: India’s First
Transgender Police In 2017, Prithika Yashini from Tamil
Nadu became India’s first transgender Sub-Inspector of
police. Despite possessing eligibility conditions for the post,
the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board
(TNUSRB) disqualified her candidature based on gender.
However, she filed her grievance in Madras High Court and
subsequently the Board had to notify transgender as the
third category. Currently, Prithika along with 21
transgenders is part of the police cadre. Prithika’s campaign
for transgender employment in public services was lauded
by the Court and wider society. This incident can be cited as
 a classic example of the F.R Article 16 which indicates that
no citizen shall be discriminated or considered ineligible by
the State based on religion, race, caste, gender, descent, and
place of birth or any of them.

Institutional Framework for Inclusive Society:

• Dimensions of Triple Bottom Line (TBL) which refers
to reporting that puts equal weights on social equity and
environmental responsibility, as well as financial
performance. The development dimensions of TBL include
3Ps: People, Planet, and Profit.
• Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)- The purpose of
corporate social responsibility is to give back to the
community, take part in philanthropic causes, and
provide positive social value. The skill development
courses have been certified by Associated Chambers of
Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and National
Skill Development Corporation (NSDC).
• Proactive Approach to Counter Exclusion - In order to bridge
these inequalities, governments look for development
alternatives so as to create equal opportunities for all.
• Social Enterprise Framework – through which the
community of people who seek to build sustainable local
economy. It intends to reduce inequalities and social stigma
attached with exclusion. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has
made access to easier credit for small and medium
enterprises, marginal farmers etc.

PARTICIPATIVE GOVERNANCE
With the Constitutional commitment to provide equality and
equity to all, India has time and again taken steps to ensure
citizen participation in governance, such as, Public Interest
Litigation (PIL), Citizen’s Charter, Right to Information (RTI),
social audit mechanism etc.
• Participatory Structures in India - Participatory
institutions have been formed with the intention to move
forward the political, social, and economic development
agenda of the Constitution, via following ideas like –
a)Rural Governance -With the view to devolving 3Fs – funds,
functions, and functionaries, the central government enacted
the 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) in 1992.
b)Gram Panchayat Gram Sabha is seen as an empowerment
platform for discussing and passing resolutions to encounter
social problems like lack of community health, education etc.
c) Urban Governance - With the intention to addressing the
challenges of urbanisation, the central government enacted the
74th Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) in 1992.It
configured a structural framework for electing governments at
the local level and for their effective functioning.
• Participatory Tools - Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)
is a powerful tool to map village level resources, such as,
water bodies, sanitation, schools, primary health centres
etc., which facilitates planning and evaluation of rural
projects.
a) Social Mapping - Social mapping is one of the most
popular methods in PRA that focuses on mapping
habitation patterns, individual households, social
infrastructure like roads, drainage systems, presence of
libraries, playgrounds, drinking water facilities, etc
b) ‘Community Score Card’ is a social accountability tool
which is used to assess the quality of health services in
terms of ‘improvement in availability and quality of
essential drugs, increase in facility-based delivery,
reduced clinic and hospital waiting times, increased
 immunization coverage, new incentive systems for
doctors to visit remote areas, better sanitation, new
infrastructure, such as, maternity wards, improved
relations between staff and patients’.
c) Citizen Led Environmental Impact Assessment Toolkit
(CLEIA) It is an innovative toolkit that encourages
community-based dialogue with the stakeholders at
key stages of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).
d) Social media technologies include Facebook, Twitter,
WhatsApp, Youtube, and such allied technology
applications that are capable of connecting the users
with the global community even when there is a
collapse of communication network.

INCLUSIVE AND PARTICIPATIVE GOVERNANCE: KEY ISSUES AND

CHALLENGES:
• Gender Imbalance - With 50% reservation in local bodies,
yet, women are not able to realise their political
empowerment. The constitutional arrangement enables
all women irrespective of caste, class, education, and
income to participate, however, the patriarchal attitude,
lack of political and administrative understanding restrict
them from performing development functions.
• Lack of Citizen Awareness - There have been a whole lot
of participative and inclusive structures in the country for
women and marginalised sections, however, lack of
awareness on government schemes inhibits their
economic and social participation. To illustrate, majority
of untied funds meant for village development go under
utilised at the end of the financial year. Another aspect is
in relation to access to loans and subsidies, the
government has initiated various schemes and
programmes exclusively for small, and medium
 enterprises including the establishment of National Bank
for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD),
nevertheless, people are still unaware about their
financial prospects. In 2016, with the objective to create
financial awareness in a village in Tamil Nadu, NABARD
conducted Financial Literacy Awareness (FLA)
programme for the self-help groups and marginal
farmers. This was primarily organised to enable the poor
and vulnerable sections to make use of social security
schemes of the government.
• Lack of Adequate Capacity Building Training - People at
the local level are still inadequate in terms of capacity
building. For example, to develop an integrated plan for
the district, a joined up dialogue and involvement are yet
to scale up in several districts of India. Training
programmes on micro planning, disaster resilience,
gender sensitisation and budgeting, girl child safety,
mental health status etc. are yet to get reflected in the
plan process.
• Other Issues and Challenges Some of the other challenges
are: • Geo-spatial mapping of resources at village level; •
Scientific collection of citizen feedback on public services
at a large scale; • Involvement of multiple stakeholders
with the community; • Documentation of governance
innovations by local people; and • Security and privacy of
sharing of ward level data.
UNIT 15 PUBLIC SERVICE GUARANTEE ACT, CITIZEN’S
CHARTER, RIGHT TO INFORMATION, CORPORATE SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY

PUBLIC SERVICE: MEANING

A public service is associated with the government and it is
offered by the administrative bodies to the citizens living within
its area of jurisdiction. It provides a medium of common interface
between people and the government. These services are to be
provided within a stipulated time frame under the Public Service
Guarantee Act/ Right to Services Act in India. Some of the
common public services which are to be provided as per the Act
are the issuing of birth, caste, marriage and domicile certificates,
electric connections, voters identity card , ration card, copies of
land records and so on.

FACTORS PROMOTING EFFECTIVE PUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERY

IN INDIA
Since independence, many efforts have been made in this area,
but desired results could not be achieved for some reason or the
other. Corruption in public distribution system and fair price
shops has been very alarming. According to a data, an estimated
58 per cent of the subsidised food grains issued from the central
pool do not reach the target groups i.e., the below poverty line
families, and around 36 per cent is siphoned off in the supply
chain (Planning Commission, 2009)
During the nineties, with the reform era in place, efforts to make
public service delivery gathered momentum. Since then a number
a measures were adopted to enhance and promote the public
service delivery in India. Some of these factors are discussed
below:
 1. Decentralisation - the transfer of authority and
responsibility for public functions from the central
government to intermediate and local governments
2. Citizen’s Awareness and Demand for Better Public Services -
The contemporary times is witnessing information upsurge
and people demanding better public services.
3. Community Mobilisation - This is one of the key factors
impacting effective public service delivery. People
mobilising in form of self-help groups.
4. Technology - E-governance and digitalisation is changing the
way governments are addressing the problems of the
citizens and delivering them. Digitalisation will go a long
way in making the system accountable and transparent and
also ensure better and efficient delivery of public services.

PUBLIC SERVICE GUARANTEE ACT:

• The public services law in India owes its origin from the
Citizen’s Charter of UK, which was promulgated in 1991. It is
not a legal document in the strict sense of law. It is an
agreement of contract entered into between the citizens and
the public servants, which provides for competent and time
bound delivery of services. The public service guarantee act
is also known as Right to Public Services Act in some states.
It provides for legislation and statutory laws that guarantee
time bound delivery of services by the government to the
citizen.
• The Right to Service Act contains statutory laws and
provisions to ensure time-bound delivery of public
services to citizens of India.
Currently, there are almost 20 states that implement this Act and
represent the duty of their state towards their citizens by
providing them standard, quality, transparency and timely
delivery of public services, in addition to an
enforceable Grievance Redressal Mechanism.
Madhya Pradesh was the first state to enact the Right to Service
Act on 18th August 2010 and Bihar became the second to
implement it on 25th July 2011.
The Right to Service Act is considered to be one of the most
effective ways to reduce corruption in India, enhance
transparency in public sector operations and provide public
accountability.

CITIZEN’S CHARTER:
The idea behind the Charter is tapping citizen’s responses to the
actual working of government organisations and to build
efficiency and effectiveness of public services. The concept was
first initiated in Great Britain when a white paper was issued in
the form of Citizen’s Charter in 1991. The concept of Citizens'
Charter enshrines the trust between the service provider and its
users. Six principles of the Citizens Charter movement as
originally framed, were:
▪ Quality - improving the quality of services
▪ Choice - for the users wherever possible
▪ Standards - specifying what to expect within a time frame
▪ Value - for the taxpayers’ money
▪ Accountability - of the service provider (individual as well
as Organization)
▪ Transparency - in rules, procedures, schemes and
grievance redressal
▪ Participative- Consult and involve.
What is Sevottam Mode ???
Sevottam is a generic framework for achieving excellence in
public service delivery and was proposed by the 2nd
Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC). It has been
developed with the overarching objective of improving the quality
of public service delivery in the country.
The model was introduced by overcoming the drawbacks with the
Citizen Charters (CC) and provides a framework to assess and
improve the quality of service delivery to citizens.
• Sevottam is a generic framework for achieving excellence in
public service delivery. It comprises of 3 modules namely:
o Citizen’s Charter
o Grievance Redressal Mechanism
o Capability Building for Service Delivery
▪ The first component of the model requires effective charter
implementation thereby opening up a channel for
receiving citizens’ inputs into the way in which
organizations determine service delivery requirements.
▪ The second component of the model, ‘Public Grievance
Redress’ requires a good grievance redress system
operating in a manner that leaves the citizen more satisfied
with how the organization responds to
complaints/grievances, irrespective of the final decision.
▪ The third component ‘Excellence in Service
Delivery’, postulates that an organization can have an
excellent performance in service delivery only if it is
managing the key ingredients for good service delivery well
and building its own capacity to continuously improve
delivery.
RTI Act,2005:
The Right to Information Act was enacted by the government in
2005. Right to Information opens up government’s records to
public scrutiny, thereby arming citizens with a vital tool to inform
them about what the government does and how effectively;
thereby making the government more accountable. The RTI Act is
a torch-bearer that can lead to more open, accountable,
responsive and people-friendly governance. In November 2007,
the Rajasthan government collaborated with the Rozgar Evam
Soochna Ka Adhikar Abhiyaan, to develop a decentralised
worksite management system. The purpose of this Abhiyaan has
been to create a pool of trained worksite managers that take daily
measurements of worksites and determine daily output.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY:

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a governance-centric
approach to citizen’s welfare, is an obligation on the part of the
corporates to act in a manner which will serve the best interests
of the society. It makes corporates integrate social and
environmental concerns into their business operations and
involve stakeholders in their activities. It also stresses on
accountability, transparency and social and environmental
investment as the key aspects of corporate social responsibility.
CSR covers three aspects which are as follows:
i) Traditional corporate philanthropy, i.e., charity for socio-
cultural and religious purposes.
ii) Corporate social responsibility, with a focus on
sustainable development and attending to stakeholders’
priorities.
iii) Ethical business based on social values and the
stakeholders’ long-term interests.
CSR is not a new concept and Over the years, several business
houses in India have shown their concern for social responsibility
through their contribution in the field of education, health and
rural development programmes. There have been attempts by
Tatas, Birlas, Bajajs and others since independence in the fields of
education, health and so on. We have examples of Wipro, Infosys,
Mahindras and several companies working in areas of gender
equality, women’s empowerment, environmental sustainability,
health, education and so on.
NOTE- During freedom struggle, Gandhiji’s theory of trusteeship
influenced the activities of corporates towards social
development.
The new guidelines on CSR has made it mandatory on all
companies to invest at least 2 per cent of average net profits of
the company made during the three immediately preceding
financial year, in pursuance of the company’s CSR policy.