Abstract
This paper discusses the concept of good governance
and its relations with the electoral politics in Indian context. It highlights the
various strategies employed by the government and related agencies for the growth
and development of the country. Major reforms pertaining to the country’s infrastructure,
IT, administration, economy and public services are a few areas that have been explored
in this paper.
Introduction
Good governance refers to the method of handling
society’s resources, exercising of political authority, and having control over
the society for societal and economic development. It includes the characteristics
of a state’s institutional and structural arrangements as well as its decision-making
procedures. It also encompasses formulating policies, implementing capacity, information
flows, and an effective, visionary leadership, and the nature of the relationship
between the government and its citizens. Governance, therefore, is concerned not
with just the integrity, efficiency, and economy of the government but also the
effectiveness of its government organisations and activities in meeting the needs
of the people.
Good governance helps to foster economic development,
social cohesion, and brings political stability. It is not limited to the public
sector but also applies to private organisations and civil society. Many international
organisations and governments promote the principles of good governance as a means
to achieve sustainable development and ensure the well-being of their populations.
Good governance refers to the principles and practices that ensure the effective,
transparent, accountable, and responsive management of public affairs by governments
and institutions. It is a concept that emphasizes fairness, equity, rule of law,
participation, and inclusiveness in the decision-making process. The goal of good
governance is to promote the well-being of citizens and create an environment conducive
to sustainable development. Each individual and organization, including the government,
is bound by the law and accountable for their actions. The legal system must be
open, just, and uniformly enforced.
In good governance, information should be accessible,
and decisions made by public officials should be open and easily understandable.
This helps to build trust among people and ensures accountability. Public officials
and institutions must be accountable for their actions. There should be mechanisms
in place to hold them responsible for their decisions and performance. Citizens
must be given opportunities to take part in the decision-making processes that impact
their daily lives. Participation that is inclusive guarantees that a variety of
viewpoints are taken into account. Moreover, decisions and policies
should be fair and just, and resources should be distributed equitably. This helps
in preventing discrimination and social injustice. Institutions should be effective
in delivering public services and efficient in using resources for common good.
This ensures that government functions are carried out with the best use of available
resources. Therefore, good governance involves having a long-term vision and planning
for the future which helps in guiding policies and decisions to achieve sustainable
development.
In the recent past, the issue of good governance
has taken center stage in discussions about development. India has recognised the
urgent need for administrative reforms to strengthen the ability and proficiency
of the administrative systems in accomplishing objectives for social and economic
growth in order to promote good governance.
It has been pointed out that one of the major barriers
to the successful implementation of development goals and priorities is the shortcomings
in the administrative capacity and apparatus. The growing complexity of modern life
in an age of globalization, rapid technological, social, and economic changes has
increased the role of the government, particularly in the provision of service delivery
for the poor and vulnerable sections of the society. During the last decade, a number
of initiatives have been taken to strengthen the institutional capacity and also
reduce corruption. Therefore, to promote good governance, there has been an emphasis
on ethics and morality. A number of mechanisms have been put in place to ensure
that public servants discharge their services in an ethical manner.
Good Governance Election
Milan Vaishnav in his paper published in 2015, argues
that 2014 polls were widely heralded as India’s “good governance” election. Prime
Minister Modi campaigned explicitly on this theme, delivering repeated assaults
on the mis governance and malfeasance of the incumbent UPA government, while continually
touting the “Gujarat model” of development. The stewardship of the economy and the
administration of the nation’s affairs were clearly key drivers of the Modi wave.
His campaign tag line was “Achey Din Aayenge”
For starters, Indian voters might value leaders who
are honest, upstanding, and effective, but at the end of the day they are selecting
local candidates who will be charged with looking after their interests. Given the
realities of state weakness and the real and perceived distance between the state
or national capital and the places where most Indians actually reside, within their
own constituencies voters might be inclined to put their faith in someone who is
willing to use whatever means are at his disposal to get things done. Secondly,
voters are not rewarding politicians with criminal reputations because they have
an interest in rewarding mis governance; rather, they are doing so precisely because
they perceive, rightly or wrongly, that such candidates can actually use their no-holds-barred
reputations and skills to provide the very governance that has been absent. Until
the quality of the state improves or “clean” politicians can convincingly demonstrate
that they can deliver, even well-informed voters might have good reasons to seek
the assistance of candidates who try to pass off their criminal records as signs
of their competence.1
In promoting good governance Prime Minister
Modi has given the mantra of ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance’ to create
such a system where administration and good governance are run without unnecessary
interference. During the last decade India has taken a number of initiatives to
promote good governance both at the policy level as well as the operational level.
In an exclusive interview with Aaj Tak, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi said that the country still doesn't know the real meaning
of minimum government and maximum governance. PM Modi said that the sad thing about
this country is that we don't research about these things. Explaining the concept
of minimum government and maximum governance, Prime Minister Narendra PM Modi said,
"Earlier my Cabinet note would take six months to reach the entire Cabinet.
But now it takes only 15 days. This is what minimum government and maximum governance
is. Same number of people but the result is more. Earlier, we had to travel abroad
to sign an MOU. I said nothing doing, just do a video conference and we'll only
go once it's finalised." "Till now, I have cleared projects worth around
Rs 12 lakh crore in just an hour. These projects were pending for over 30-40 years.
This is what minimum government is. I maintain that it's not government's responsibility
to run a hotel, you might have seen that we are doing disinvestment slowly,"
Prime Minister Modi added.2
Strategies for New India @75
According to an article published by Niti Aayog in
September 2021, the 'Strategy for New India @ 75' had three key messages from the
Prime Minister for New India. First, development must become a mass movement, in
which every Indian recognizes his/her role and also experiences the tangible benefits
accruing to him/her in the form of better ease of living. Second, development strategy
should help achieve broad-based economic growth to ensure balanced development across
all regions and States and across sectors. Third, the strategy when implemented
will bridge the gap between public and private sector performance. The strategy
is an attempt to bring innovation, technology, enterprise and efficient management
together, at the core of policy formulation and implementation.3
Policy paralyses were one of the major criticisms
during the UPA regime which led to serious consequences on decision making and resulted
in mal administration. Therefore, we must first understand what a policy is. A policy
basically refers to a framework or strategy that guides the conception, execution,
and evaluation of all the actions taken to achieve a goal. Consequently, goals related
to the general welfare of the public fall under the scope of public policy. Policy
making values critical thinking, systematic action, and objective assessment. A
policy goes through five major stages. These include; identifying a problem, formulating
a policy, adopting the policy, implementing the policy and monitoring and evaluating
the policy outcome. The focus of the NDA government was to strengthen the policy
making arena by setting up NITI Ayog as a think tank. This resulted in formulating
and implementing a large number of people centric polices in various sectors.
Goal of Development Policy
The main goal of development policy is to raise each
citizen’s standard of living by creating sustainable improvements. One of the many
development objectives pertain to raising the per capita income of all citizens.
Raising living standards is the general goal, but it also includes a number of
more focused objectives, such as improving people's health and educational prospects
and enabling everyone to engage in public life. For sustainable
development, institutions of good governance that are transparent, participatory,
and encompass partnerships with the government and other elements of civil society
are a prerequisite. The last seven decades have been marked by a mix of pessimism
and optimism about prospects for development. India has a large bureaucracy to effectively
implement plans. However, it was not able to show the desired results because a
well-run civil service and an efficient judiciary are prerequisites for efficient
government action. It is in this context that Mission Karamyogi has to be seen.
It’s an effort to change the civil service from being rule-based to becoming role-based,
dedicated, innovative and citizen-friendly.
Focus on Infrastructure Development
Over the past ten years, India has
experienced significant progress in a number of areas. Due to the
tremendous efforts of the current government, India’s GDP has skyrocketed to 7.4
per cent, making
it the fastest growing among large economies in the world. One of the major sectors
that contributes to the overall development of the country is infrastructure, which
until recently, was lacking to a large extent due to rampant corruption in developmental
projects under the UPA government. Therefore, NDA government aimed to revolutionise the
country's infrastructure landscape, which would help in economic growth, enhancement
of connectivity, and improvement in the quality of life.
For this, the government has launched various initiatives,
which focused on modernising transportation networks, upgrading urban amenities,
and expanding digital infrastructure. Atal Tunnel—the world's longest highway tunnel,
and the Chenab Bridge—the world's highest railway bridge, are a few significant milestones by
the government as part of the infrastructural development. India
has also set records by building iconic landmarks such as the Statue of Unity – the
world’s tallest statue and has planned to create Asia’s longest tunnel, the Zojila
tunnel for all-weather connectivity in Ladakh.
The progress of national highways in India has been
remarkable in the last 10 years, reflecting a significant increase in budget allocation
and construction pace. Since 2014, there has been a 500 per cent increase in the
road transport and highway budget allocation, leading to a substantial enhancement
in infrastructure development. The speed of highway construction reached an impressive
37 km/day in 2020-21, marking a record for the fastest highway construction in India.
Moreover, the National Highway (NH) network has expanded by 60 per cent from 91,287 km
in 2014 to 1,46,145 km by the year 2023. The length of 4-laned NH has increased
by 2.5 times, from 18,387 km in 2014 to 46,179 km, as of November 2023. The average
pace of NH construction has also seen a remarkable increase, rising by 143 per cent to 28.3 km/day
from the baseline 12.1 km/day in 2014. With a comprehensive network spanning 1,46,145
km, national highways play a crucial role in connecting regions and spurring economic
growth across the country, complementing the extensive state highways spanning 1,79,535
km and other road infrastructure spanning 65,45,403 km.4
The Bharatmala Pariyojana was launched with the primary focus
on optimising the efficiency of the movement of goods and people across the country.
The key components of the Pariyojana are Economic corridor development, Inter-corridor
and feeder routes development, National Corridors Efficiency Improvement, Border,
and International Connectivity Roads, Coastal and Port Connectivity Roads and Expressways.
25 Greenfield high-speed corridors have been envisaged for development under Bharatmala
Pariyojana. Out of which, 20 are completed or under various stages of implementation.5
34,800 km of National Highway length
was planned for development under Phase-I of Bharatmala Pariyojana. As of Dec-2023,
26,418 km (i.e., 76% of 34,800 km) have been awarded for construction with completion
of about 15,549 km.6
The Vande Bharat trains represent a significant advancement in
India's railway infrastructure, boasting enhanced safety features, faster acceleration,
and improved passenger amenities. Equipped with Automatic Plug Doors, Reclining
Ergonomic Seats, and Mobile charging sockets for every seat, these trains offer
a comfortable and convenient travel experience. As of January 31, 2024, more than
100 Vande Bharat train services are operational across the Indian Railways7,
with an impressive overall occupancy rate of 96.62 per cent during 2022-23.8
Further, on March 12, 2024, Prime Minister flagged off 10 new
Vande Bharat trains. During his address, he informed that that not only most of
the states have got Vande Bharat trains but the century of Vande Bharat Trains has
also been hit.9
The expansion of India's Metro Rail system has revolutionised
urban commuting, with the network set to increase from 248 km in 2014 to an impressive
945 km by 2024. This significant growth reflects the vital role of Metro Rail in
providing ease of transportation to urban populations, with approximately 1 crore
passengers benefiting from the system daily. From just 5 cities in 2014, the Metro
Rail network has expanded to serve 21 cities across the country, with 919 km of
lines under construction in 26 additional cities. 10
The PM GatiShakti — National Master Plan, with an estimated investment
of INR100 lakh crore and bringing 16 Ministries together, is truly a transformative
moment for India. Seamless coordination between different government departments
is expected to bring in significant efficiencies in delivering projects. For the
telecoms sector in India, the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan will be instrumental
in boosting the digital infrastructure rollout. The GatiShakti Sanchar Portal has
brought together all central ministries and states/union territories under one platform.
It is one of the best examples of a coordinated approach to improve efficiencies
and quicken decision making. There is a significant decline witnessed in the average
number of days to dispose of RoW applications. Disposals are keeping pace with the
increase in applications received.
Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is the mission started by the Government
of India on 13th May 2020, towards making India Self-reliant. The Hon'ble Prime
Minister, Shri Narendra Modi announced an economic package of INR 20 lakh crore
as aid to support the country in the times of pandemic. It is focused on 5 components
– Economy, Infrastructure, Systems, Vibrant Demography and Demand.11
Digital Economy
The International Trade Administration, in January 2024, published
an article on their official Website highlighting that “India aims to grow the Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) sector to $1 trillion by 2025, or 20 percent
of predicted GDP. According to the National Association of Software and Services
Companies (NASSCOM), India’s technology industry is expected to cross $245 billion
in 2023 based on an 8.4 per cent annual growth rate. All subsectors of the technology
industry, including IT and business process management, IT-enabled services, engineering
research and development, hardware, software products, and e-commerce recorded double
digit growth in 2022.
The Indian telecommunications sector is the second largest in
the world by subscribers, with 1.2 billion wireless and fixed-line subscribers.
India’s mobile economy has been driven by widespread adoption, with wireless subscriptions
representing 98 per cent of telephone use. According to Deloitte, India is expected
to reach 1 billion smart phones by 2026, from 770 million currently. India has also
emerged as the second largest manufacturer of mobile handsets in the world. India
also has 856 million broadband subscribers. India scored 51.19/100 in the Portulans
Institute’s Network Readiness Index, improving its ranking from 67 in 2021 to 61
in 2022 out of 131 countries surveyed.
To advance India’s 5G telecom infrastructure, in July 2022, the
Department of Telecommunications auctioned 51,236 MHz out of 72,098 MHz spectrum
across 10 different bands (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz,
2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz). In October 2022, the Indian Prime Minister
launched 5G services in India to enhance digital connectivity and improve network
infrastructure and access to high-speed internet. The rollout of 5G in India has
been the fastest in the world.12
Public Service Reforms
Delivery of public services has been a major problem in India
leading to not only harassment of the citizens but also resulting in corruption.
The intended beneficiaries never received the benefits which were cornered by the
middlemen. With the changing role of the State, the public services have been under
tremendous pressure, which calls for the very restructuring of the public services
itself, because building a more responsive state requires working on mechanisms
that increase openness, provide a large number of incentives for participation in
public affairs and where appropriate lessen the distance between government and
the citizens. Now with the use of information technology and a number of process
reforms, the delivery of services is being done in an efficient and cost effective
manner. DBT is a novel method to reach the unreached.
To enhance the capacity and capability, the role of the government
and its functions has been redefined. The real focus is to serve the public effectively
and ensure efficient and cost effective administration. Governments have to demonstrate
a clear vision of the future, based on values that are widely shared in society
and leadership qualities. Setting priorities and attainable, realistic goals, creating
a team to manage change in government operations, and maintaining political commitment
have all changed to a large extent. Reforms, to be effectively implemented require
a holistic approach, integrating the multiple human resources, financial, technical
and structural factors involved within a demanding environment.
Policy formulation and institutional mechanism building
for a capable public sector is essential to enhance State effectiveness. Poor systems
can be very difficult to remove once they are established. Even though the status
quo is inefficient and unjust, strong interests grow in preserving it. Good policies
by themselves can improve results, but the benefits are magnified where institutional
capability is also higher — where policies and programmes are implemented more efficiently
and where the citizens have greater trust about government’s future actions. Therefore,
the focus has been to strengthen the institutional frameworks for the policies to
function efficiently. PM GatiShakti will
ensure coordination between different government departments and is expected to
bring in significant efficiencies in delivering projects.
Like in any democracy in India also politicians play
a major role in development by setting goals and broad strategic directions. But
sound institutional arrangements can determine whether the vision of political leaders
get translated into effective policy priorities or not. In order to prevent political
influences from impairing decision-making and producing unfavorable results, the
rules established in the policy-making process should be carefully designed. In
our system the politicians also have major say in implementation of the policies
leading to various kinds of undesirable influences.
The problem is that if adequate care is not taken,
the best-designed policy can achieve very little if it is not implemented properly.
Poor quality, high cost, waste, fraud, and corruption will affect the delivery of
services. This problem can be traced back to the belief that the government ought
to be the dominant, if not the sole provider, of services. But today, with liberalization
and globalization of the economy, this concept has undergone a change; the state
to a large extent plays the lead role of the facilitator instead of the provider.
These reforms also entail actively intervening within
the bureaucracy to bring about modifications, energize and redesign authority and
functional relationships between individuals as well as the bureaucratic structure.
It underscores the fact that there are problems or bottlenecks in the administrative
system, which impedes the performance of the Government. In the given context, the concept of administrative
reform or civil service reform includes both the structural and behavioural changes as well
as institutional and attitudinal changes. This is one of the stated objectives of
Mission Karamyogi. Changes in the administrative apparatus generally rest on the
assumption that there is always a better alternative to the status quo. Therefore,
in the process of implementing deliberate and planned social actions, the established
administrative system is transformed to achieve maximum efficiency, organisational
effectiveness, and responsiveness in the delivery of services to the people as well
as attainment of development goals.
Service Excellence: Measuring Quality of Services
India of 2024 is very different. It is aspirational
India; the citizens of today are more aware, demanding, and informed as compared
to earlier times. Hence, service provision has become critical. Government is promoting
service excellence in all sectors, which, if adopted by organisations, would help
them become more productive and competitive. Officials should be motivated and competitive
and improve their attitude to provide happiness, comfort and a memorable experience
to the citizens. Today, the economy is customer-centric, and it is essential to
foster a positive environment where every individual feels needed and important.
In the realm of service delivery, we are still aiming for a ‘satisfied customer’
whereas worldwide organisations are moving towards a ‘delighted customer.’
Rapidly Advancing Technology
Today’s public administrators can analyse data and
trends more efficiently due to the increased capabilities of today’s software and
hardware. They can learn about best practices from colleagues around the globe,
and develop policies and procedures to streamline operations and provide more transparency
to stakeholders. One of the many benefits of technology is that it has helped to
decrease the costs to do business for both organisations and their customers. With
compact and energy-efficient computing systems, there is less demand for tangible
resources such as paper and file storage facilities have decreased. Effective application
of e office has resulted in a more responsive administration. However, the advancement
of technology also calls for the need to protect sensitive information. Public Administrators
need to be alert and aware of any applications intended to breach computer serves
to steal confidential or personal data. To guarantee information security and public
confidence, they need to use the most recent systems.
Digital Governance: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
In the past couple of years, India has experienced
a major technological revolution, thanks to the efforts of the current government.
Smart phones and tablets are some examples of emerging technologies that are making
a significant impact on how governments and organisations connect with their stakeholders.
This not only helps to find and share information, connect with each other, but
also helps in finding real-time solutions to problems, anytime and anywhere.
With this increase in digitisation, it has become
extremely important for government agencies to focus on prioritising diversity,
equity, and inclusion. To ensure this, various organisations are now concentrating
more on the underlying causes of systemic inequalities and examining how their policies
are produced, implemented and reviewed. The
Government of India plans for re-engineering of governance by using IT to simplify
the government processes, and to ensure efficient and effective delivery of public
services from various ministries/departments. The e-governance caters to all stakeholders
in the society namely:
·
Government to Government (G2G)
·
Government to Citizen (G2C)
·
Government to Business (G2B)
·
Government to Employees (G2E)
With this, the importance of e-governance has also
come to the fore. India’s focus on e-governance has helped them leverage information
technology and consequently, enhance efficiency, transparency, and accessibility
of government services with regards to the general public. Following the passage
of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, all the government, institutions,
and organizations must adhere to the new data protection regulations.
Electoral Politics and its Impact on Development
Elections to a large extent impact both governance
as well as the development. In a democracy elected representatives are the real
power centres both at the centre and the states. They must be committed to integrity
and honesty and also be innovative, dynamic and forward looking. India’s constitution provides for parliamentary
form of government and our parliamentary model is predominantly based on the British
system. The concept of universal franchise was extended in India from the very beginning
in 1947. We are a democracy in which each citizen has the right to choose their
own representative, who is subsequently in charge of governing the country. Therefore
it is important that citizens who want to enter politics must have a strong reputation
in addition to ethical values.
To conduct free and fair elections, we have the Election
Commission headed by the Chief Election Commissioner. Even though various attempts
to reform the electoral process have been attempted by the highest levels of the
judiciary, criminal elements have not been kept out of the system. This kind of
electoral politics still remains a major cause of concern for our democracy.
Criminalization of politics, money and muscle power
to obtain votes and perform unethical activities, siphoning off development funds
by elected representatives, rampant corruption, strong connection of political parties
with bureaucracies and criminals that have great influence, are some of the examples
of how this nexus can prove to be extremely dangerous for the nation’s growth and
progress. This promotes vote bank politics based on caste, region, religion and
community. Such elected politicians use public resources to only strengthen their
vote bank.
It is a well-known fact that politicians having ties
with corrupt or criminal activity often hold political office. The percentage of
criminal candidates in the Indian Parliament is significant and still raising, even
in the face of free elections.
One must note that money power plays a significant
role in elections. Financial superiority translates into electoral advantage. In
India, booth capturing, employing goons and inciting fear in voters are not new
practices. Threats are often used to coerce voters into voting for a particular
candidate. Furthermore, the India’s allocation of various governmental resources
is highly politicized.
Undoubtedly, the Election Commission tries to keep
vigil through its expense monitoring mechanisms against efforts at mobilizing votes
for money. However, this is not sufficient. The public is of the opinion that the
expenditure incurred by candidates during elections far-exceeds the officially set
spending ceiling. Statutory laws about their violation should be made stricter and
deterrent and these ceilings must be reviewed and amended to make them more realistic
and consistent with ground realities. The political parties themselves too must
establish criteria for clean candidature policies.
As per the 244th Report on Electoral Disqualifications
of the Law Commission of India; “disqualification upon conviction had proved ineffective
in preventing the criminalization of politics. Disqualification at the stage of
framing of charges, accompanied by other legal safeguards could be an effective
means to curb such criminalization. It also recommended that the punishment for
filing of false affidavits be enhanced to minimum 2 years imprisonment and such
an offence must also be made a ground for disqualification. Accordingly, in all
such cases trials must be conducted on a day-to-day basis so as to ensure the necessary
conviction that precedes disqualification.13
According to Association of Democratic Reforms, of
the 8,337 candidates in Lok Sabha Elections 2024 1,643 (20 per cent) have declared
criminal cases against themselves. Out of the 7,928 candidates in the Lok Sabha
Election in 2019, as many as 1,500 (19 per cent) had declared criminal cases against
themselves. Out of 8,205 candidates analysed during the Lok Sabha elections in 2014,
at least 1,404 (17 per cent) candidates had declared criminal cases against themselves.
Of the 7,810 candidates analysed during the Lok Sabha elections in 2009, 1,158 (15
per cent) candidates had declared criminal cases against themselves, according to
the ADR. The influence of muscle power in politics is growing, as seen in the rise
of candidates with criminal cases from 2009 to 2024. This trend shows how candidates
with tainted backgrounds have a strong chance of getting a ticket to Parliament
in the world’s biggest democracy. In 2009, about 15 per cent of candidates had criminal
cases against them. By 2024, this increased to 20 percent.14 In coming days efforts should be made to
reduce the influence of money and muscle power and ensure honest politicians are elected and have a vision for
the development of the nation. Politicians with criminal background will only cater
and patronize their vote bank to win elections.
Conclusion
During the last one decade India has made substantial
development in various sectors particularly infrastructure and also making the administration
more citizens friendly. This has been possible due to a stable government under
a visionary leadership promoting the principles of good governance and curbing corruption.
Administrative procedures and processes have been changed through institutional
reforms by the application of technology. There is need to focus on electoral reforms
and eliminate the influence of money and muscle power from our elections. Such elected
representatives use the public resources for their own benefit or the benefit of
their henchmen. The implementation of programmes and policies will be much better
if these criminal elements are eliminated from the system.
References
1.
Milan Vaishnav; Understanding
the Indian Voter; Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Publications Department
1779 Massachusetts Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20036 2015
2.
India
Today Web Desk New Delhi, updated: Apr 27,
2019
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https://www.ey.com/en_in/telecommunications/how-digital-infrastructure-rollout-will-transform-india
https://profound-information.com/when-was-atma-nirbhar-bharat-started/
https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/india-information-and-communication-technology
12.
Law Commission of India 244th
Report on Electoral Disqualifications (2014). Feb 24, 2014, India.
