Get inspired — Why did Pranab Mukherjee feel bureaucracy was both relevant and a hurdle for India?

What is the importance of civil services in India’s development?

According to Pranab Mukherjee, civil services play a vital role in reinforcing our democratic values. Some other important functions, according to Mukherjee, are as follows-

1) It functions as an instrument of economic growth and social change.

2) It assists the government in formulating and implementing policies for national development.

3) The tasks and challenges of nation-building require close interaction and cooperation between the civil servants and the people.

4) It underlines the need for civil services to be foremost in their commitment towards the people.

Why is good governance needed?

“The success of development programs depends on the quality of public administration.” President Mukherjee believed that people want transparent and professional administration to take care of their needs efficiently. “They want immediate disposal of their grievances.”

According to Pranab Mukherjee-

— Citizens expect the benefits of welfare measures to reach the poorest of the poor in the most efficient manner.

— This calls for improving service delivery by adopting good governance practices. Governance is crucial for economic development, equity and social participation of various sections of society.

— An impartial and apolitical bureaucracy strengthens governance and contributes towards economic development and social transformation.

— A professionally managed public service is the edifice for good governance and responsive public service delivery.

What does Arthashastra tell about good governance?

Pranab Mukherjee reminded us that the term, Good Governance, appeared in the development dictionary and became common in use only about two decades back. But the concept has been in vogue since ancient times.

Kautiliya in the ancient treatise “Arthashastra” writes: “The happiness of the people is the happiness of the king; Their good alone is his, his personal good is not his true good; the only true good being that of his people: Therefore let the King be active in working for the prosperity and welfare of his people”

Mukherjee pointed out that the values of good governance formed the basis of Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Purna Swaraj.

What necessitates a ‘reorientation in the outlook of the civil services’?

Pranab Mukherjee believed that the objectives of good governance demand a reorientation in the outlook of the civil services. Good Governance is an inseparable link to social welfare and inclusive development. According to Mukherjee, “absence of good governance has been identified as the root cause of many of the deficiencies in society. It robs the citizenry of their social and economic rights.”

The basic parameters of good governance are –

— Rule of law

— Participatory decision-making structure

— Transparency and accountability

— Responsiveness, equity and inclusiveness.

He argued that the country’s public administration has to run on these principles.

What are the two basic elements of good governance?

President Mukherjee believed that ‘transparency’ and ‘accountability’ are two basic elements of good governance.

He defined transparency as:

— The availability of information to the general public and clarity about the functioning of governmental institutions.

— Transparency enhances predictability as it helps government organizations to function more objectively.

— It also enables and encourages the common man to effectively participate in the governance process.

What are some best examples which display the efficiency in governance?

Pranab Mukherjee cited the following successful examples of good governance-

1. The Right to Information Act– “It has made the administrative machinery more responsive and efficient in meeting the needs of the masses”.

2. Citizens have been provided security for food, education and job by empowering them through entitlements backed by legal guarantees. “Implementing these novel initiatives call for robust delivery mechanisms.”

3. The Direct Benefits Transfer Scheme– provides the Aadhaar system to as a tool for greater transparency and “improve targeting, eliminating wastage and enhancing efficiency”.

4. The Right of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011 envisages the citizens to receive time-bound services. This would help create a more responsive administration to improve service delivery.

5. “E-governance has helped to change the outlook of the masses towards administration. Automation of government services has facilitated information dissemination. It has been successful in areas like land records management, law and order administration, pension disbursement and public information systems, especially relating to health and railways. The greater usage of internet has helped to integrate all areas of our country into the mainstream“, said Mukherjee.

What have been biggest challenge in governances and bureaucracy despite success?

According to Pranab Mukherjee, corruption is “one of the biggest factors that hinder efficient performance of the economy.” In order to tackle the issue of corruption, Mukerjee suggested, “There is need to eliminate interface in the delivery of services. It is also necessary to adopt non-discretionary approach towards decision-making and initiate two-way communication with the users.”

— Pranab Mukherjee urged that improving the governance standards requires proactive measures.

— According to him- “Governance and administrative reforms have been an evolving process needing a continuous dialogue with the final recipients of services.”

— India stands at the threshold of global leadership in terms of political and economic evolution. This also means that the expectations of the nation have grown immensely. Economic success can be one of the reason.

— “Integration with the global trends and opening up of the economy has resulted in diversified challenges for the civil services.”

— Delivering the concluding part of his lecture series as a guest faculty for the “Public Policy for Inclusive Development of India” course at IIM-Ahmedabad, the former President said, “Bureaucracy is the biggest hurdle of our development, and we must rectify it. I do not mean that bureaucracy has not made its contribution but at the same time it has to keep in mind that the world is changing very fast and we shall have to keep abreast of this change; adjust ourselves, adapt ourselves, make it flexible so that we can formulate and articulate our policy. No system in the world can function without the appropriate institutional mechanism.”

— Pranab Mukherjee referred to the civil services as the one that find ways on how to put obstructions, how to find out excuses and not to move.

— Mukherjee believed that a problematic aspect of our governance is “isolationism” and the bureaucratic system has adopted a system of thinking in silos

What kind of public administration should be developed for India?

Pranab Mukherjee said that if we want to see our country develop faster we need to take decisions but we should not be slow in taking them. But he cautioned-

“I am not saying that decisions have to be taken in a haste. But to prolong or avoid taking decisions is not acceptable. Informed decisions based on facts, figures and realistic assessment to the best of one’s ability are sine qua non for good governance.”

There is a lot to be done by public services ” towards a globally competitive governance model for India.” There is a need to develop public administration into a bureaucracy that is dynamic and result oriented in nature.

How did Pranab Mukherjee connect governance with justice?

According to Pranab Mukherjee, governance is a “holistic approach”. It involves all the pillars of the State. Also, it includes provision of justice. He stressed on following three aspects needed for better governance through judiciary –

1) The need for judicial reforms.

2) Initiation of measures like greater use of information technology to clear pending court cases is essential.

3) Simplification of laws is needed for better governance.

What according to Pranab Mukherjee was the most essential ingredient for better governance?

Speaking of how UPSC has rendered service to the nation’s foundations of public administration, Pranab Mukherjee highlighted the most important ingredient for better governance.

“The need to inculcate the spirit of public service in the civil services would be the most essential ingredient for better governance and growth of the nation”, said Mukherjee.

Mukherjee felt that challenges before civil services have grown manifolds and have multi-dimensional dimensional over the years. Also, people’s expectations from civil servants are also high.

He believed that there is always scope for systematic and continuous improvement in service delivery to meet the heightened needs and expectations of the people.

Key takeaways

— An impartial and apolitical bureaucracy strengthens governance and contributes towards economic development and social transformation.

— A professionally managed public service is the edifice for good governance and responsive public service delivery.

— Good Governance is an inseparable link to social welfare and inclusive development.

— Governance and administrative reforms have been an evolving process needing a continuous dialogue with the final recipients of services

— Pranab Mukherjee referred to the civil services as the one that find ways on how to put obstructions, how to find out excuses and not to move.

— If we want to see our country develop faster we need to take decisions but we should not be slow in taking them.

Point to ponder: Governance and administrative reforms have been an evolving process needing a continuous dialogue with the final recipients of services. Discuss.

MCQ:

Consider the following statement and select the correct option

1. The first Public Service Commission was set up in 1926 under the chairmanship of Sir Ross Barker.

2. After India attained Independence, the Union Public Service Commission was set-up under Article 315 of the Constitution of India.

a) 1 is correct and 2 is incorrect b) 2 is correct and 1 is incorrect

c) both 1 and 2 are correct          d) both 1 and 2 are incorrect

(source: pranabmukherjee.nic.in)