Chapter 4

Governance

UNDP, the World Bank, the OECD define governance as the exercise of authority or
power in order to manage a country’s economic, political and administrative
affairs.

The 2009 Global Monitoring Report sees governance as ‘power relationships,’

‘formal and informal processes of formulating policies and allocating resources,’
‘processes of decision-making’ and ‘mechanisms for holding governments
accountable.’

The word “governance” came from the Latin verb “gubernare,” or more originally
from the Greek word “kubernaein,” which means “to steer.” Basing on its etymology,
governance refers to the manner of steering or governing, or of directing and
controlling, a group of people or a state.

Governance is commonly defined as the exercise of power or authority by political

leaders for the well-being of their country’s citizens or subjects.

Governance can also be defined as set and norms, strategic vision and direction and
formulating high-level goals and policies.

It refers to overseeing management and organizational performance to ensure that

the organization is working in the best interests of the public, and more specifically
the stakeholders who are served by the organization’s mission

It is about directing and overseeing the management to ensure that the organization
is achieving the desired outcomes and to ensure that the organization is acting
prudently, ethically and legally.

Transparency International Index: India features at No. 70 with a rating of 3.3. This
is a very low ranking in the international scenario and shows that corruption is a
serious problem in India

ASPECTS of Good Governance

Source: 2nd ARC

Four Pillars of Governance (Citizen Centric)

1. Ethos (of service to the citizen)
2. Ethics (honesty, integrity and transparency)
3. Equity (empathy for weaker sections)
4. Efficiency (speedy and effective, use of ICT and no harassment)

Governance must provide for Citizen Centric Administration. This is a type of

governance in which focus is citizen’s convenience, cost and comfort and not that of
the public servants.
Some Institutions such as the National Human Rights Commission, National
Women’s Commission, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, and
Lokayuktas etc. have been set up for delivering citizen centric governance.

Source: 2nd ARC

Important features of effective governance
a. Accountability
a. Accountability also means answerability i.e.
questions asked of public officials have to be
answered by them.
b. There are two types of questions that can be
asked.
c. (1) Under RTI Act: One type as under the RTI
Act merely seeks information/data and involves one
way transmission of information. It promotes
transparency and to a much lesser degree
accountability in Government.
d. (2) Why?: The second type of question
enquires not just as to what was done but why; and
therefore involves a consultative two-way flow of
information with the citizens usually providing a
feedback in respect of the working of government
departments and service delivery of public
agencies.
i. Suc
h mechanisms include citizens’
charters, Service Delivery Surveys,
social audits, citizens’ report card and
outcome surveys.
b. Transparency
a. Transparency in decision-making, disclosure of
standards of delivery and openness in the every
day functioning of the administration are the
hallmarks of a citizen centric approach.
b. As this is a reasonably new concept, which has
gained acceptance after the enactment of the Right
to Information Act, a change in approach is required
 at all levels of the government.
c. Aspects of Regulation
a. Only where necessary
b. Should be effective and not symbolic
c. Self regulation is best form of regulation
d. Regulatory procedures should be transparent,
and citizen friendly.
e. Involve citizen groups and professional
organizations in regulation
d. Single Window System for Delivery of Services
a. One of the ways in which governments across
the world have approached efficient and effective
service delivery to citizens (and businesses) is by
adopting a ‘single window system’.
b. The driving force behind this approach is the
belief that citizens need not run around different
government offices for getting various services.
c. This is achieved through a number of ways.
One approach allows a service providing
organization to re-engineer its processes in such a
way that all the services provided by it get delivered
to citizens through a single outlet/unit.
d. Another approach is to establish an
organization, which would create an infrastructure
through which different government organizations
are able to provide services to citizens at a single
point of delivery. Some governments have adopted
an approach where no separate organization is
created – all the organizations work in tandem to
establish a common service delivery infrastructure.
Eg: Germany
 e. Bottlenecks

Source: 2nd ARC

e-Gov

Governance in India owes its origins to the in-house development of applications

during the 1970s and 1980s in defence, economic planning, census, tax
administration and elections.

Subsequently, massive efforts were made during the 1980s by the National
Informatics Centre (NIC) to connect all the district headquarters in the country
through a VSAT network.

However, all these efforts were mainly government centric with the primary
objective of exploiting information and communication technologies (ICTs) for
automating internal government functions.

Citizen centricity with a focus on improving delivery of services to the citizens was not
the primary goal during this period.

1. Citizen centric services spread with the coming of the internet in the
late 1990s and for most of the last 1 decade.
2. NeGP was conceptualized to spread these technologies for delivery of
services to citizens and also address challenges of a fragmented eGov
practiced by various states in the country.
3. “The SMART way forward"
a. A "Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and
Transparent" (SMART) governance
b. Government is responsible for providing certain services to
the citizens, just like an organisation is responsible for managing
a value chain that leads to output.
i. Business corporations
have discovered over the last few decades that
information technology can make the value chain more
efficient and lead to quality improvements and cost
 savings.
ii. Similarly, Governments
have discovered that information technology can make
the provision of services to the citizen more efficient
and transparent, can save costs and lead to a higher
level of efficiency.
iii. Analogous to e-
commerce, which allows business to transact with each
other more efficiently (B2B) and brings customers
closer to businesses (B2C), e-government aims to make
the interaction between government and citizens
(G2C), government and business enterprises (G2B), and
inter-agency relationships (G2G) more friendly,
convenient, transparent, and inexpensive.

Key principles of e-Kranti (NeGP 2.0)

1. Transformation and not Translation.
2. Integrated Services and not Individual Services.
3. Government Process Reengineering (GPR) to be mandatory in every
MMP.
4. ICT Infrastructure on Demand.
5. Cloud by Default.
6. Mobile First.
7. Fast Tracking Approvals.
8. Mandating Standards and Protocols.
9. Language Localization.
10. National GIS (Geo-Spatial Information System).
11. Security and Electronic Data Preservation.
Source: 2nd ARC
e-Gov Programs
1. e-Kranti (NeGP 2.0)
a. Aims to enhance the portfolio of citizen-centric services and
ensure optimum usage of core information and communication
technology (ICT)
b. The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) is the most
significant initiative taken in India during the last decade to
mainstream ICT in governance at both central and state levels.
c. It lays emphasis on creating the right governance and
institutional framework within the country, establish the core IT
infrastructure, and implement a number of Mission Mode
Projects at the central, state and integrated levels.
d. The objectives of 'e-Kranti’ are:
i. Citizen Centric Service
Delivery
ii. Optimum usage of ICT
iii. With ICT infrastructure on
demand, the programme also seeks to ensure cloud by
default, mobile first, language localisation and security
and electronic data preservation.
iv. E-Kranti is an important
pillar of the Digital India programme.
v. The mission of e-Kranti is
to ensure a government wide transformation by
delivering all government services electronically to
citizens through integrated and interoperable systems
via multiple modes, while ensuring efficiency,
transparency and reliability of such services at
affordable costs
vi. The programme
management structure approved for Digital India
programme would be used for monitoring
 implementation of e-Kranti and also for providing a
forum to ascertain views of all stakeholders,
overseeing implementation, resolving inter-Ministerial
issues and ensuring speedy sanction of projects.
vii. The thrust areas of the e-
Kranti - electronic delivery of services under the
Digital India programme are:
1. Technology for Education (e-Education)
2. Health (e-Healthcare)
3. Farmers
4. Financial Inclusion
5. Planning
6. Justice
7. Security
8. Cyber Security

Digital India
-- overarching umbrella over everything

Government is implementing the Digital India programme as an umbrella

programme to prepare India for a knowledge based transformation into a digitally
empowered Society and knowledge economy.

Digital India aims to provide the much needed thrust to the nine pillars of growth
areas, namely:
a. Broadband Highways
b. Universal Access to Mobile Connectivity
c. Public Internet Access Programme
d. e-Governance: Reforming Government through Technology
e. e-Kranti - Electronic Delivery of Services
f. Information for All
 g. Electronics Manufacturing
h. IT for Jobs
i. Early Harvest Programmes.

Examples:

G2C
· E-courts
· Mobile One by Karnataka Government

G2B
· E-Biz
· Taxation filings
· E-Procurement

G2G
· E-Courts
· District level portals for administration use
· Land Records Modernization

C2G
· MyGov
· Centralized Public Grievances Redress and Monitoring System
(CPGRAMS)
· Citizen Grievance Redressal:
o CVC
o State Lokayuktas
o NHRC
o SHRC
o National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission

Mobile One by Karnataka Government

 · An anganwadi worker in rural Karnataka can register her
attendance through a service called Mobile One, which a software
professional in Bengaluru can also use to pay electricity and water
bills or book tickets.

Jaankari:
· Bihar’s unique attempt to accept Right to Information (RTI)
applications through phone calls (‘Jaankari’ project) has been selected for
the first prize for ‘outstanding performance in citizen centric service
delivery’ at the National Awards for e-Governance (2008-09).

e-Shakti [SHGs]
· Has resulted in increase of SHG deposits in banks from 9000 crore to
17000 from 2013 to 2014, almost an 88% increase
· e-Shakti has been implemented to improve the quality of interface
between SHG members and banks for efficient and hassle-free delivery of
banking services
· A bank manager will be able to track the activities of SHGs sitting in a
room, including particulars like how much savings an SHG has or how
regularly it meets and the profile of its members. This will not only help
the banker but also change the risk perception of SHGs

Samanvay
· Web portal to track the implementation of the Sansad Adarsh Gram
Yojana (SAGY).
· Problems in e-Gov
o Funding
o Interoperability
o Use of Local Language
o Capacity Development
o Resistance
o Digital Divide
o Security and Privacy
Consumer Protection
a. The welfare role of the State is of considerable importance
and therefore various measures to ensure the welfare - safety,
security and well-being - of its citizens are essential.
b. However, citizens rely on the open market for most of their
purchases – particularly, goods and also increasingly, of services
and the asymmetry between the consumers of goods and
services and the producers of these goods and services in terms
of knowledge, bargaining power etc. necessitates State
intervention.
c. This has resulted in setting up of consumer protection
mechanisms.
d. The Consumer Protection Act was passed in 1986 to protect
the interests of the consumers.
a. The objective of this law is to provide a simple,
fast and inexpensive mechanism to the citizens to
redress their grievances in specified cases.
b. The Act envisages a three-tier quasi-judicial
machinery at the National, State and District levels;
i. Nat
ional Consumer Disputes Redressal
Commission - known as “National
Commission”,
ii. Stat
e Consumer Disputes Redressal
Commission known as “State
Commission”
iii. Dist
rict Consumer Disputes Redressal
Forum - known as “District Forum”.
c. The Act also provides for establishment of
Consumer Protection Councils at the Union, State
 and District levels, whose main objectives are to
promote and protect the rights of consumers

Financial Inclusion

Financial inclusion or inclusive financing is the delivery of financial services at

affordable costs to sections of disadvantaged and low-income segments of society,
in contrast to financial exclusion where those services are not available or
affordable.

Nachiket Mor Committee on Financial Inclusion

1. Vidyalakshmi.co.in Developed by NSDL with Ministry of Finance

2. Opening of no-frills accounts: Banks have been advised to provide
small overdrafts in such accounts.
3. Relaxation on know-your-customer (KYC) norms: Use
of Aadhaar number.
4. Engaging business correspondents (BCs): The BC model allows banks
to provide doorstep delivery of services, especially cash in-cash out
transactions, thus addressing the last-mile problem.
a. In the grass-root level, the Business correspondents (BCs),
with the help of Village Panchayat (local governing body), has set
up an ecosystem of Common Service Centres (CSC). CSC is a rural
electronic hub with a computer connected to the internet that
provides e-governance or business services to rural citizens
5. Use of technology: Recognizing that technology has the potential to
address the issues of outreach and credit delivery in rural and remote
areas in a viable manner,banks have been advised to make effective use of
information and communications technology (ICT), to provide doorstep
banking services through the BC model where the accounts can be
operated by even illiterate customers by using biometrics, thus ensuring
the security of transactions and enhancing confidence in the banking
system.
6. Adoption of EBT: Banks have been advised to implement EBT by
leveraging ICT-based banking through BCs to transfer social benefits
electronically to the bank account of the beneficiary and deliver
government benefits to the doorstep of the beneficiary, thus reducing
dependence on cash and lowering transaction costs.
7. GCC: With a view to helping the poor and the disadvantaged with
access to easy credit, banks have been asked to consider introduction of a
general purpose credit card facility up to `25,000 at their rural and semi-
urban branches. The objective of the scheme is to provide hassle-free
credit to banks’ customers based on the assessment of cash flow without
insistence on security, purpose or end use of the credit. This is in the
nature of revolving credit entitling the holder to withdraw up to the limit
sanctioned.
8. Opening of branches in unbanked rural centres: To further step up the
opening of branches in rural areas so as to improve banking penetration
and financial inclusion rapidly, the need for the opening of more bricks and
mortar branches, besides the use of BCs, was felt. Accordingly, banks have
been mandated in the April monetary policy statement to allocate at least
 25% of the total number of branches to be opened during a year to
unbanked rural centres.

Citizen’s Charter

Example: Income Tax Department, Delhi Transport Corporation

Recommendations:

1. One size does not fit all.

2. Citizens’ Charter should be prepared for each independent unit under
the overall umbrella of the organisations’ charter.
3. Wide consultation which include Civil Society in the process
4. Internal processes and structure should be reformed to meet the
commitments given in the Charter.
5. Periodic evaluation of Citizens’ Charters.
6. Benchmark using end-user feedback.
7. Redressal mechanism in case of default
8. Hold officers accountable for results

Sevottam Model
--Monitoring and Implementation of Citizen Charters

Sevottam is a Service Delivery Excellence Model which provides an assessment

improvement framework to bring about excellence in public service delivery.
The need for a tool like Sevottam arose from the fact that Citizens’ Charters by
themselves could not achieve the desired results in improving quality of public
services.

Besides, the absence of a credible grievances redressal mechanism within

organizations was also becoming a major impediment in improving service delivery
standards. Thus, it was felt that unless there is a mechanism to assess the outcomes
of various measures, the reform initiatives would not yield the desired results. The
Sevottam model works as an evaluation mechanism to assess the quality of internal
processes and their impact on the quality of service delivery
Components:
a. Service Delivery Review
b. Grievance Redressal Review
c. Standards and Quality inspections
Citizen Participation

Example:

a. Citizen Giving Suggestions (BATF)

a. To illustrate, the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) was set
up in 1999 with the goal of transforming Bangalore into a world
class city with the participation of its leading citizens including
the heads of its major IT companies, as well as prominent
members of the Bangalore civic community.
b. Citizens holding service providers accountable:
a. Example: Citizen Report Cards (CRCs) — three citizens’ report
cards (CRC) on city services in Bangalore conducted by the Public
Aff airs Centre (PAC) – in 1994, 1999 and 2003 – showed a signifi
cant improvement in the quality of services provided by city
agencies
b. Mandatory for all government organizations to develop a
suitable mechanism for receipt of suggestions from citizens,
which could range from the simple ‘Suggestion Box’ to periodic
consultations with citizens’ groups.