Welcome the good governance agenda of the new Government
Hindustan
Times, in an article dated 20 May 2009 reported that Prime Minister Dr.
Manmohan Singh at the first Congress Parliamentary Party meeting held
on 19th May 2009 promised to improve governance, give top most priority
to internal security, better implementation of welfare schemes, in maintaining
communal harmony, reviving economic growth and creating new employment
opportunities. Dr. Manmohan Singh also stated that the new Government
would be a catalyst of change. Chairperson of UPA Mrs. Sonia Gandhi while
addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting also stated that performance
of delivery would be the buzzwords to meet the onerous responsibilities
associated with the mandate.
Such bold statements if seriously implemented would do well to the future
of this country. The Indian electorate has demonstrated a maturity in
giving mandate to a national party for a stable government, discarding
the idea of a hotchpotch combination of smaller parties, and so it is
now turn for the Congress to respond favourably.
Another report dated May 21, 2009 in May 22nd edition of Hindustan Times
states that in the battle for cornering maximum number of ministerial
berths by DMK and its Supremo Mr. Karunanidhi, the Congress Party is inclined
to insist on keeping Mr. T.R. Ballu and Mr. A. Raja out of new Cabinet
on account of the fact that both faced adverse reports in their ministerial
responsibilities in the report submitted by the Central Vigilance Commission
(CVC). The CVC report submitted to the government commented adversely
on the allotment of licenses and spectrum and questioned the manner in
which the then IT & Communication Minister Mr. Raja had issued new telecom
licenses and spectrum at throw away prices. The CVC similarly alleged
corruption charges against the Department of Shipping under Mr. T.R. Ballu
in the working of Sethu Samudram Bridge Construction Corporation and interference
by Mr. Ballu in the working of National Highway Authority of India, leading
to delays in several projects on account of corruption. To what extent
the government can keep its eye on integrity is yet to be seen.
The new governmentⳠagenda on ㇯od Governance䠳hould be a matter of
huge welcome by ordinary citizens of this country. We would like to highlight
the fact that this NGO has good governance and business reforms (keeping
in mind the international benchmark) as its main agenda for pushing India
into the league of advanced countries.
We would like to mention that in World Bank Policy Research Paper (Governance
Matters VI: Aggregate and Individual Governance Indiactors 1996-2000,
by Daniel Kaufmann and Massimo Mastruzzi, July 2007), India scores poorly
and negative in four out of six dimensions as follows:-
(a) Political stability .....................(-0.84)
(b) Governments effectiveness ......(-0.04)
(c) Regulatory quality ...................(-0.15)
(d) Control of corruption ...............(-0.21)
(e) Voice and accountability ..........(0.35)
(f) Rule of law .............................(0.17)
Overall score of India by average is (-0.12) way behind developed countries
like Australia (1.62), Singapore (1.57), Germany (1.46), USA (1.23) and
Japan (1.22).
Similarly, India scores poorly in each of other international reports
on business, competitiveness and corruption. It ranks 104th out of 161
countries in economic freedom index, 120th out of 178 countries in the
World Bank report of doing business in 2008 and ranks 74th out of 163
countries in the report by Transparency International. On the other hand,
IndiaⳠrank in global hunger index is 94 against PakistanⳠ88, ChinaⳠ
44.
In view of our poor governance, the economic growth is directly affected
since funds earmarked for development are pocketed by the middlemen and
does not reach the actual beneficiaries. There are also delays in projects
implementation and a general apathy towards the governing institutions
in the mind of the people.
What is ᇯod governance⠡fter all? It implies a host of things, including
good performance of the basic and fundamental institutions of governance;
namely the political institution, bureaucratic institution and finally
the judicial institution. It is not a secret that all the three institutions
are at sub-par, which is an opportunity for reforming them radically and
in an innovative manner to bring them at the worldⳠbest. It calls for
a major revamp. Benchmark for reform should be international. There is
no time for reinventing the wheel as the best models and best practices
are available at the global stage. India as the latecomer has the advantage
of choosing the best and rather improving on those existing models. As
the saying goes in management, the second comers have the advantage, as
they do not have to clear the land which the first comer had to trudge.
Good governance may mean among other things the following:
| Some of the paradigms of Good
Governance |
Political
• To work for the benefit of the largest number
of people and avoid benefiting a coterie of people
• To provide a clean and honest administration
• ‘Customer-first’ philosophy in policy making and
implementation
• Provide basic necessities of life-food, shelter, education
and health to all |
Bureaucratic
• Maintain law and order
• Treat citizens equally without discrimination
• Provide a clean, honest, transparent and accountable administration
• Expedite implementation of all the schemes undertaken
• Provide a grievance-redressal machinery
|
Judicial
• Set up fast track courts
• Liquidate all pendencies in a time bound manner
• Organise Criminal justice system for the cases to be investigated
and decided finally by courts of law within a 3-year time frame
• Provide a clean, efficient and effective system of redressal
of disputes
|
Business Systems
• Review and reform the outdated laws, rules,
regulations and systems
• Set the stage for an entrepreneurial society for wealth creation
• Deterrent action against tax evaders and manipulators
• Making the entire system internationally competitive
|
The Time Magazine in an article dated August 13, 2007 projected the total
GDP of India at 30 trillion dollars by 2050, just behind USA at $ 35 trillion
and China at US$ 45 trillion. Let us hope that the honest commitment of
the new Government led by Dr. Manmohan Singh would make it possible to
realize the great ambitions of our country, which was always in the forefront
of global economic power in the last two millenia.
The people of this country have done their exercise wisely by opting for
a stable government and placing a huge faith on the oldest political party
namely the Congress Party of the country. We only look forward to the
realization of the promises made by the Prime Minister and Chairman of
the UPA.
Some
disturbing trends of 2009 Elections
While there are a number of positive results emerging from the final verdict
of 2009 general elections, there are a few disturbing trends appearing
as well. It is for the present and future generation to make a conscious
effort to bring about improvements in those disturbing outcomes. Some
of them are listed here.
Increase in
the number of MPs with criminal records
A newspaper report suggests that between 2004 and 2009, number of MPs
with criminal records has jumped from 128 to 153 (from 23.57% of the total
strength to 28.60%). The number of MPs with serious criminals charges
like the murder and abduction has also risen from 55 (10.1% of the total
strength) to 74 (13.83% of the total strength. The party wise position
of MPs are - Congress 12, BJP -19, SP-8, BSP-6, JD (U)-3, BJD-1 and CPI
(M)-1.
Such rising trend of the tainted elements occupying the August house of
Parliament is indeed a serious matter and some serious must be taken to
arrest the trend. Setting up ᆡst Track Courts⠷ould be a good beginning,
where serious crimes should be tried on a day-to-day basis. Those convicted
must lose their membership of the house, till the higher court exonerates
them. For this purpose, necessary changes in the relevant laws must be
introduced at the earliest.
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