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Summary
Governance Class 03

REVISION OF THE PREVIOUS CLASS (05:00 PM)

CONTINUATION OF THE PREVIOUS CLASS TOPIC OF CORRUPTION (05:10 PM)

  • Corruption is derived from the word corruptus which means to bend.
  • World Bank defined corruption as the use of public offices for private gains.
  • Second Administrative Reforms Commission defined corruption with the help of a formula.
  • Corruption=Monopoly+ Discretion+secrecy-Accountability
  • Wherever there is the absolute monopoly of the state, high levels of secrecy in administration, the huge amount of discretionary powers in the hands of decision-makers along with the complete absence of accountability mechanisms would automatically result in corruption.
  • Corruption in India is said to be both systemic and systematic in nature.
  • It is systemic because it is related to the functioning of the systems that is functioning of political, economic, administrative, social and cultural systems.
  • It is systematic because it takes place in a highly organised manner.
  • It is not a one-time activity but a continuous phenomenon that takes place irrespective of individuals.
  • Factors responsible for corruption:
  • Political factors:
  • Political parties and candidates contesting elections spend huge amounts of money.
  • This money is generated through corporate donations.
  • These corporates expect the political parties to frame policies that would favour them after they come to positions of power, resulting in systematic corruption.
  • India has only representative democracy wherein the political party that comes to power after the elections has absolute discretion to allocate resources.
  • It has been found that successive political parties have used this power to indulge in systematic corruption.
  • Economic factors:
  • Before 1991, corruption in India was due to crony socialism, license quota, permit Raj along with  public sector Enterprises were responsible for corruption a
  • After India had adopted LPG reforms, the corruption was due to crony capitalism.
  • In true capitalism, people become rich because of their innovation, creativity, and hard work.
  • On the other hand, in crony capitalism, they become rich because of their proximity to those who are in positions of power.
  • It is about an unholy nexus between politicians, bureaucrats, and businessmen.
  • Social and cultural factors:
  • With the advent of LPG, the country has witnessed the emergence of materialistic societies.
  • A materialistic society is one wherein people believe that they can find real happiness only in the possession of materialistic comforts.
  • Ends become more important than means.
  • Illegal, unethical, and immoral means are justified in the name of profit maximisation.
  • Corruption is tolerated by societies as they believe that it is an inevitable activity in the functioning of any society.
  • Administrative factors:
  • India has inherited colonial administrative structures.
  • Britishers have created these structures only with the objective of maximising their exploitation of native Indians as rightly pointed by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, 21st-century India is still governed by 19th-century rules and regulations.
  • Corruption becomes a low-risk and high-gain activity due to these administrative structures.

MEASURES TO CURB CORRUPTION? (5:39 PM)

  • Since corruption is systematic in nature, multi-dimensional reforms should be implemented simultaneously:
  • Political Reforms;
  • Parliamentary reforms;
  • Electoral Reforms;
  • Economic Reforms;
  • Governance Reforms;
  • Civil services reforms;
  • Police reforms;
  • Judicial reforms;
  • Legal reforms;
  • Reforms in the functioning of regulatory authorities;
  • Educational reforms;
  • Behavioural reforms;
  • Attitudinal reforms.

GOVERNANCE REFORMS (05:49 PM)

  • Dimension of good governance (GG):
  • It emphasises on creating awareness among ordinary citizens so that they are aware of their rights and are willing to make the governments accountable for their performance.
  • It means the country is moving towards a political culture based on cognitions.
  • At present political culture is dominated by emotions and sentiments.
  • People are voting in elections in the name of emotional factors like religion, caste, region, language and so on.
  • The ultimate objective of political reforms is to transform our representative democracy into participatory governance.
  • Administrative dimensions of good governance:
  • Colonial administrative structures must be replaced with democratic structures where in the functioning of bureaucracy should be characterised by decentralisation, participation, transparency, accountability, efficiency, and equity.
  • Social dimension of Good governance:
  • Indian society is characterized by many inequalities in the name of gender, caste, language, religion, race, and so on.
  • The establishment of an egalitarian society is possible only with proactive policies aimed at removing these inequalities.

SECRETARIAT REFORMS (06:00 PM)

  • In a Parliamentary democracy, the political executive is responsible for policy formulation and bureaucracy for its implementation.
  • Since the political executive consists of professional politicians, they do not have any technical knowledge about Governance.
  • The civil servants are expected to provide unbiased, rational, meritorious, and impartial suggestions to the political executive in policy formulation.
  • Secretariat administration in India had its origins during British rule.
  • It functioned on the basis of two important principles:
  • 1. Split system;
  • 2. Tenure system.
  • 1. Spilt system:
  • In this system, the work of the government is divided into policy formulation and implementation.
  • Policy formulation is the responsibility of staff organisations.
  • Examples of staff organisations include central secretariate, cabinet secretariate, Prime Minister Office, and NITI Aayog.
  • They are headed by generalist civil servants (IAS officers).
  • Their power is advisory in nature that is they are expected to give suggestions to the ministers in policy formulation.
  • Ultimately the final decision is taken by the ministers only.
  • Line Agencies:
  • Line agencies are responsible for policy implementation.
  • They are located at the field level.
  • Examples of line agencies include departments and directorates.
  • They are headed by the specialist.
  • For example, the health department in the district is headed by the chief medical officer.
  • The irrigation department is headed by the chief engineer.
  • 2. Tenure system:
  • This system was also introduced by the Britishers in our secretariat administration.
  • All India Service officers are allocated state cadres.
  • They are expected to work within the state for the rest of their tenure.
  • At the same time, they are expected to come and work in Central Secretariate organisations for a fixed tenure of 4-5 years.
  • It helps in better policy formulation at the central level as these officers have gained vast experience in policy implementation at the ground level.
  • Once their tenure is over, they are expected to go back to their home states and use the experience they have gained at the centre to improve the efficiency of their state administration.

The topic to be discussed in the next class- Continuation of the topic of secretariate reforms