Minimum Government & Maximum Governance - Know Your Ministry

Formation of Government for NDA-1.0(2014) and NDA-2.0(2019) has never been a challenging tasks with the given absolute majority of numbers in Parliament without having any coalition pressures unlike the previous governments.  With that sole advantage on hand the slogan of “Minimum Government & Maximum Governance” took off with the election and formation of Government constituting the following Ministries and Departments. This introductory paper briefly explores the overall understanding of the Executive framework in the Governance and envisages a generalized outlook of the structure and legal framework that is desired under the constitutional concepts and mandatory information /data required for every citizen. This preview will be followed by a series of synopsis wherein every Ministry/Department will be studied for its performance and transparency in Governance.

GENERAL OUTLOOK

Governance and Reforms are the two sides of the same coin and the Elected be at the State or at the Centre imposes a constitutional responsibility towards the Governed to percolate the efficiency and efficacy of performance to reach the grass root levels in our democracy. With this background, a reference is often drawn to recall the much hyped propaganda that culminated to the formation of new Government at the Centre in 2014. Good and efficient governance is an ideal expectation and is difficult to achieve in its totality as very few countries and societies have come close to achieving good governance in its totality.

With the given mandate the elected Governments in power always strive hard to fulfil its election manifesto despite three main challenges viz Corruption, Poverty and Unemployment (CPU) that perennially haunts the performance and reach the expectations of the citizens to ensure sustainable human development. It is measured only in terms of collective performance of Government of India Ministries/Departments tabled above and hence it needs to be individually reviewed in terms of the following eight parameters for measure of Good Governance of every Ministry under the Government:

1. Rule of Law - To measure the level of confidence in and abide by the rules of society, and in quality of Regulatory compliance, enforcement of rights, security of citizens, policing and courts to establish a society of highest order.
2. Participation- Measure of participation by Citizens is the cornerstone of good governance. It could be either direct or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives. In a representative democracy it augments that the problems of the most vulnerable in society would always be taken into consideration in decision making. Hence participation of citizens or their representatives need to be informed and organized through exercise of fundamental rights.
3. Transparency- Transparency means that decisions taken and their enforcement are done in a manner in compliance of the laws on the land along with their respective Rules and Regulations. It facilitates information being freely available and directly accessible to those who will be affected by such decisions and their enforcement. Measure of Transparency implies that the information provided is easily understandable forms and contents published in public domain.
4. Responsiveness- Good governance requires that all institutions like Courts, CBI, ED, CAG, EC, etc ensure that their independent machinery processes ensure to serve all the stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe.
5. Consensus oriented- Level of different interests in society to reach a broad consensus in society based on a broad and long-term perspective for a sustainable human development to achieve the goals of development. It is envisaged from an understanding of the historical, cultural and social contexts of a given society or community in the secular framework.
6. Equity and Inclusiveness- A welfare society ensures that every single citizen should feel that he a stake and social responsibility and should not feel excluded from the mainstream of society. Good Governance should address to needs of all, particularly the most vulnerable and generate opportunities to improve or maintain their wellbeing through a decent livelihood.
7. Effectiveness and Efficiency- To evaluate the quality of public services, the quality of the civil service and the degree of its independence from political pressures, the quality of policy formulation and implementation, and the credibility of the government's commitment to such policies.
8. Voice Accountability- To evaluate the extent to which citizens’ freedom of expression, freedom of association, and a free media is ensured without interference or dominance. Team Composition in terms of level of Knowledge, expertise and experience of civil servants in the bureaucracy and the Minister.
9. Level of Criticism and Public Image enjoyed by the Minister heading the portfolio.
10. Control of Corruption – To measure and check misuse and abuse of power where public power is exercised for private gain, including both petty and large forms of corruption.

The Information and Secondary Data available takes reference to the respective official websites of the Ministries /Departments from the links shared above to measure the status of dynamic updation, notifications, reports under MIS, non-availability of critical information relevant for citizens, etc.

Way forward Towards Improved & Efficient Governance:

Good governance is the most ideal setup needed for the peaceful coexistence of citizens in any democratic country which is difficult to achieve in its totality. Governance typically involves well-intentioned people who bring their ideas, innovations, farsighted collective vision, experience, preferences and brings all the strengths of human resources and shortcomings to the policy-making table. It can be achieved only through an on-going process that attempts to capture all of the considerations involved in assurance of the public interests are addressed at large in totality and are duly reflected in policy initiatives of the Elected.