Viksit Bharat

Viksit Bharat: Vision and Reality 

India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States-reads the Article 1 of Constitution of India adopted by “We the People.” The states and union territories in India boast of a very distinct hierarchy of roles and responsibilities, well-structured web of institutions and diverse funding sources. This surely augments Indian state machinery to excel in executing specific, mission mode, and time-bound projects. The state governments in India play a pivotal role in governance, encompassing functions essential for public service delivery, law enforcement, and socio-economic development and many more. If one uses AI toolkit then it’s the state who develops A-area and I-individual, using all resources at their command. To do so, states in India boast of very distinct hierarchy of roles and responsibilities, well structured web of institutions and diverse sources of funding based on principle of subsidiarity. Incidentally, states have done much better when it comes to mission-mode projects and its implementation, be it election where 970mn registered voters cast their votes and 652mn votes are counted on one day, using EVM, the envy of super power and technology dominant countries. All this including events like Kumbh Mela, Rath Yatra, Amarnath Yatra and Snake Boat Race, etc all happens without fail and regrets with the whole of state approach. 

Paradoxically, states perform inadequately in managing routine public service delivery in critical governance sectors including education, healthcare, public safety, judicial processes (Muralidharan, 2024). The problem lies not in the scarcity of resources, but in ineffective resource utilization, inadequate competencies, corruption and political interference resulting in underperforming state institutions. The line departments particularly talk about understaffing, particularly of technology skilled employees. To add fuel to the fire, rigid hierarchies stifle creativity and a risk-averse bureaucratic mindset ignore participatory approach to governance. As a vicious repercussion, complete disregard for digital technologies and data-driven decision-making gets exacerbated. Such unresolved past issues can cast long shadows over our nation’s unpredictable journey into the future.   

Editor: SN Tripathi