GS-2

INDIAN
GOVERNANCE

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GS 2 GOVERNANCE MATERIAL
Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-
governance applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential;
citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and
other measures.

Table of Contents
GS 2 GOVERNANCE MATERIAL ................................................................................... 1
UPSC Mains 2021 GS Paper 2 – Detailed Solutions ................................................ 4
Good governance initiatives in India: ........................................................................... 41
CITIZENS CHARTER: ....................................................................................................... 41
SHORTCOMINGS OF CITIZEN CHARTER:...................................................... 45
The Sevottam Model: .............................................................................................................. 48
2. Social Audit: ............................................................................................................................ 50
“Minimum Government - Maximum Governance: ............................................... 58
GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MECHANISM: ............................................................. 59
Right to Information act: ....................................................................................................... 66
ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTATION OF RTI ............. 68
15 Years of RTI ........................................................................................................................ 72
Suggestions ........................................................................................................................... 73
PYQ on this topic ................................................................................................................... 75
Consumer protection act, 2019............................................................................................ 75
E governance: ............................................................................................................................... 79
Benefits of e-Governance:................................................................................................. 81
e-Governance : Initiatives in India .............................................................................. 82
Lessons:........................................................................................................................................ 83
Lessons:........................................................................................................................................ 84
Gyandoot (Madhya Pradesh): ......................................................................................... 85
Lokvani Project in Uttar Pradesh: ................................................................................ 86
Project FRIENDS in Kerala .............................................................................................. 87
3. Digital India Land Record Modernization Program.............................................. 87
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About DILRMP....................................................................................................................... 87
Components of DILRMP .................................................................................................. 88
Government to Business Initiatives............................................................................ 88
MCA 21 ........................................................................................................................................ 88
Objective ................................................................................................................................. 88
Benefits .................................................................................................................................... 89
Services offered .................................................................................................................. 89
Recent Initiatives ................................................................................................................... 90
M-governance .......................................................................................................................... 93
e-Kranti – Electronic delivery of service................................................................... 95
Objectives............................................................................................................................... 95
Key principles of e-Kranti ............................................................................................ 95
The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) ................................................... 96
DIGITAL INDIA INITIATIVES .................................................................................. 97
Challenges in e-governance ........................................................................................... 100
The Representation of the People Act, 1950 ............................................................. 104
The Representation of the People Act (RPA),1951 ........................................... 107
Judgements regarding RPA: .......................................................................................... 112
Challenges: .............................................................................................................................. 113
Role of civil services in democracy: .............................................................................. 114
Role of Civil Services in Governance: ..................................................................... 114
Issues with Civil Services in India: ........................................................................... 116
Skilled Bureaucracy : ............................................................................................................. 117
Recommendation by different committees: ......................................................... 119
Performance Appraisal: .................................................................................................... 121
Recommendations of ARC II- ...................................................................................... 121
Civil Services Board (CSB):............................................................................................ 122
What is the Civil Services Board (CSB)? ................................................................ 122
Way forward: .......................................................................................................................... 127
Mission Karmayogi- National Programme for Civil Services Capacity
Building (NPCSCB):........................................................................................................... 129

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iGOT- Karmayogi platform ........................................................................................... 132

Bureaucracy vs Democracy: ............................................................................................... 134
Relationship between Bureaucracy and Democracy: ...................................... 134
Complementary: ................................................................................................................... 134
Paradoxical: ............................................................................................................................. 135
Differences between Bureaucracy and Democracy: ........................................ 135
PYQS: .......................................................................................................................................... 136
Health: ............................................................................................................................................ 137
Problems pertaining to Healthcare sector in India: ......................................... 138
National Health Mission: ................................................................................................ 140
Support to States & Union Territories (UT): ........................................................ 140
Achievements of NHM................................................................................................. 141
Concept of AYUSH Gram: .............................................................................................. 146
Poverty: .......................................................................................................................................... 152
Causes of Poverty in India ............................................................................................. 154
Poverty alleviation programs in India:.................................................................... 158
Employment programmes and skill-building ................................................ 158
Education:..................................................................................................................................... 159
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) related to Education ..................... 159
Current Status of Education in India: Data from Census 2011.................. 160
Challenges: .............................................................................................................................. 161
Indian Education System: The Present Pyramidal Structure ..................... 162
Provisions in the Indian Constitution related to Education ....................... 162
RTE Act 2009 ........................................................................................................................... 163
Provisions of the RTE Act ........................................................................................... 163
Criticisms of the RTE Act................................................................................................ 164
National Education Policy 2020: .............................................................................. 165
Issues Related to NEP 2020 ........................................................................................ 167
Annual State of Education Report (ASER) survey : ..................................... 168
Teacher Education ............................................................................................................... 170

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UPSC Mains 2021 GS Paper 2 – Detailed Solutions

Q1. „Constitutional Morality‟ is rooted in the Constitution itself and is founded on its
essential facets. Explain the doctrine of „Constitutional Morality‟ with the help of relevant
judicial decisions. (Answer in 150 words)

• Constitutional morality means the adherence to the norms of

the Constitution in a democracy. It includes a commitment to
an inclusive and democratic political process in which both
individual and collective interests of the society are satisfied. It
requires values like sovereignty, social justice and equality.
• the term ‗Constitutional Morality‘ is not found in Indian
Constitution, nevertheless it is rooted in various facets of the
constitution.
1. Preamble
2. Fundamental Rights
3. Directive Principles
4. Fundamental Duties
5. Check and Balances

Constitutional Morality as per various Supreme Court Judgements:

1) Navtej Singh Johar & Ors. Vs. Union of India – Supreme Court
opined that Section 377 violates the right of members of the LQBT
Community
2) Naz Foundation case, Supreme Court opined that only Constitutional
Morality and not Public Morality should prevail
3)Justice K.S. Puttaswamy & Anr. Vs. Union of India & Ors. – SC
upheld the constitutional validity of Aadhaar subject to certain
limitations. Constitutional Morality ensures courts must neutralize the
excesses of power by the executive and strike down any legislation or
even executive action if it is unconstitutional.
4)Indian Young Lawyer‟s Association v. State of Kerala
[Sabrimala Case]– SC opined that constitutional morality which
includes values like justice, liberty, equality and fraternity ought to be
preferred over customary values, traditions and beliefs.

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2)Discuss the desirability of greater representation to women in the

higher judiciary to ensure diversity, equity and inclusiveness.
(Answer in 150 words)
Recently, CJI has called for 50% representation of women in the
judiciary. He has also supported the demand to increase gender
diversity in legal education.
• Status of representation of Women in Higher Judiciary
1. There has never been a women Chief Justice of India.
2. Of the 256 Supreme Court judges appointed in the past 71 years,
only 11 (or 4.2%) have been women. The representation of women
is more in lower judiciary due to recruitment through an open
entrance examination.
Desirability of greater representation to women in the higher
judiciary
1. It will ensure diversity of perspectives is fairly considered. For
example – more balanced and empathetic approach in cases
involving sexual violence. It will instill greater public trust in the
judiciary.
2. Improvements in women‘s representation in the judiciary remain
intrinsic to constitutional ideals of gender equality and social
justice.
Women‘s greater participation in higher judiciary will provide
impetus to fighting gender stereotypes and can pave the way for
women‘s greater representation
Suggestions to increase women‟s participation in the higher judiciary
1. lack of infrastructure in courts, gender stereotypes and societal
attitudes that have created hurdles for women to enter the legal
profession. For example – a survey noted that out of nearly 6,000
trial courts, 22% have no toilets for women. This needs to change.

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2. Making the process of Judicial appointment more transparent,

inclusive and involve representation from government and
opposition rather than the current scenario of ‗judges appointing
judges‘ (Collegium system).
3. Adopt better practices from countries like Britain where the
government created an Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity to
investigate the barriers to women.

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3)How have the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission of

India enabled the states to improve their fiscal position? (150words)
• Article 280 of the Constitution, mainly to give its
recommendations on the distribution of tax revenues between the
Union and the States and amongst the States themselves.
• Recommendations of 14th Finance Commission, enabling fiscal
position of states
• Increased devolution to states from the divisible pool of taxes from
32% to 42% [drastic Increase]
• States would receive a larger volume of untied funds relative to
tied funds. This will enhance the states‘ autonomy in deciding
their expenditure priorities.
• Asked Centre to reduce conditional grant-in –aids to states;
• Recommend eight centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) to be
delinked from support from the Centre, thus, states sharing a
higher fiscal responsibility and autonomy to implement
development initiatives.
• States got much autonomy in deciding their expenditure priority;
this is in the spirit of ―balancing wheel of fiscal federalism‖

4)To what extent, in your view, the Parliament is able to ensure

accountability of the executive in India? (Answer in 150 words)
• Mechanisms of Parliamentary control over the Executive:
• 1. Question-hour, zero-hour, half-an-hour discussion, short
duration discussion, calling attention motion, adjournment
motion, no-confidence motion, censure motion, and other
discussions.
2. General Discussion, Voting on policy/law; censure motion; no-
confidence motion.
3. Budgetary control – appropriation of grants and post-budgetary
control through financial committees like Public Accounts
Committee, etc.

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• Parliament unable to ensure accountability of the executive:

• 1. Tendencies to evade route of debates/discussions/checks
through instruments –
1. Money bill route [Aadhar bill];
2. Use of voice vote mechanism [Farm bills];
• frequent ordinances
• Sidelining parliamentary institutions –
1. lesser bills referred to parliamentary committees;
2. low productivity of question-hour.
3. During the pandemic – a complete session [Winter session] was
missed.
5.“Pressure groups play a vital role in influencing public policy
making in India.” Explain how the business associations contribute to
public policies. (Answer in 150 words)

A pressure group is a group of people who are organised actively for

promoting and defending their common interest. They influence the
policy-making and policy implementation in the government through
legal and legitimate methods like lobbying, correspondence, publicity,
propagandizing etc. It acts as a liaison between the government and its
members.
Role & Importance of Pressure Groups:
• Representation of multiple voices
• Source of information and advice to the governments:
• Policy Implementation: Example: SEWA, Just peace
• Promote education: Brings awareness among public.
• Vital role in the legislative process: They lobby with the
legislators for securing desired laws or amendments in laws and
policies of the government.

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• The different types of pressure groups found in India are business

groups, trade unions, peasant groups, student groups, caste and
religious associations, women's associations, etc.

Role of Business Associations:

• The important business groups include the Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of
Commerce and lndustry (FICCI) and Associated Chamber of
Commerce
• They exert varied kinds of pressures, they try to influence
planning, licensing bodies and economic ministries.
• During pre-budget meetings the Finance Ministry interacts with
the groups, to secure suitable inputs which helps in budget
formulation.
• Communicate the grievances and demands of various sectors and
industries to the government.
• Provide useful and credible research on existing and newer
developments in areas such as industrial operations, infrastructure
and technology.
• Despite having many effective advantages, pressure groups have
few shortcomings Narrow selfish interests, Misuse of power,
Instability and extremist attitudes.

Q6. “Besides being a moral imperative of Welfare State, primary

health structure is a necessary pre-condition for sustainable
development.” Analyze. (Answer in 150 words)

As per WHO, primary health care is a whole-of-society approach to

health and well-being centered on the needs and preferences of
individuals, families and communities.

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Emphasizing on the importance of primary health structure, India, being

a welfare state has taken steps in this direction by prioritizing it in our
DPSP.
Article 47: To raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living of
people and to improve public health.
It is a moral imperative of Welfare State because:

• Primary health interventions help detect diseases early, well before

complications set in.
• It reduces the need for expensive secondary and tertiary
healthcare.
• Of the total current expenditure on health classified by healthcare
functions, preventive care accounts for 6.7 per cent, while
spending on curing people account for 51% of the total
expenditure on health.
• To exercise the right to livelihood and dignity as emphasized
under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for free
development of her personality.
• Historical marginalization of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes,
women in society create moral imperative on state to provide
corrective action for improvement of their health and wellbeing.

primary health structure is a necessary pre-condition for sustainable

development:
SDG 3 aspires to ensure health and well-being for all.
• PHC is rooted in a commitment to social justice, equity, solidarity
and participation. It is based on the recognition that the enjoyment
of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the
fundamental rights of every human being without distinction.

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• PHC is also critical to make health systems more resilient to

situations of crisis, more proactive in detecting early signs of
epidemics.
• It is the first contact between the population and the health-care
system, primary care is essential for integrated personal health
care
• Due to climate change, range of tropical and vector-borne
diseases is expected to expand, making more people vulnerable to
health issues.
• India suffers from many institutional, physical and economic
infrastructure. To attain SDG3 Government must increase
budgetary allocations to healthcare to at least 3-4% of GDP so that
public expenditure on healthcare is at least 70% of total health
expenditure.

Q7. “„Earn while you learn‟ scheme needs to be strengthened to make

vocational education and skill training meaningful.” Comment.
(Answer in 150 words)

The Ministry of Tourism has launched a Scheme titled ‗Earn While You
Learn‘ with a view to inculcate appropriate tourism travel traits and
knowledge amongst trainees to enable them to work as ‗student
volunteers‘ for College-going students pursuing graduation courses or
graduates in the age group of 18 to 25 years will be eligible for the
training programme.

Benefits:

• The scheme will facilitate part-time employment in government

departments, local self-government institutions, public and private
enterprises, and other organisations.

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• It goes a along way in supporting those hailing from economically

backward sections.
• Exposes the students to the world of work before actual
employment.
• Helps inculcate in the students values of hard work and dignity
of labour.
• Students draw insight into the world of work, know career
prospects, acquire job skills, develop interpersonal relations, and
cultivate social skills
Strengthening of the scheme to make vocational education and skill
training meaningful:
• there need to design career-oriented supplementary courses and
recognise work experience as part of academic assessment
• foster industry-university linkages

• academic efforts to improve the competency in the work as well.

Students have to be enabled to practice in human relations, skills,
self-reliance, self-confidence, and responsibility.

Q8. Can the vicious cycle of gender inequality, poverty and

malnutrition be broken through microfinancing of women SHGs?
Explain with examples. (Answer in 150 words)
SHGs are self governed, peer controlled information group of people
with similar socio-economic background and having a desire to
collectively perform common purpose. They act as a vehicle of change
for the poor and marginalized who are plagued with numerous
problems related to poverty, illiteracy, lack of skills, lack of formal credit
etc.
Role of microfinancing of women SHGs in curbing gender inequality,
poverty and malnutrition :

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• It helps to overcome the existing constraints grappling the formal

credit institutions.
• Females are in general more restricted than men from taking part
in the formal economy and are therefore not as likely to receive a
wage. Thus, micro credit, is a way to overcome this gender gap
concerning their exclusion from the market.
• A study has been conducted to map out the impacts and workings
of self-help-groups in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa and
Rajasthan for representation of self-help-group members in local
politics. Among the group members elected to the Panchayat
about 48 percent had been self-help group leaders, while 62
percent were ordinary group members.
• SHGs had addressed issues such as drunken violence, bigamy,
dowry deaths, assisting in the marriage of an orphan girl,
remarriage of a separated woman, prevention of child marriage
and dealing with sexual harassment, to mention a few examples
• Microfinancing of the women SHGs is linked to better
nutritional outcomes for the whole family. It is important
in breaking inter-generational poverty. For example, Self
Employed Women‘s Association, works towards nutrition
security amongst women.
• Microfinancing of women SHGs, help break the barriers of
social conventions and gender ideology, with enhanced
community engagement. For example, Kudumbshree, initiative
in Kerala started as a SHG.
Issues:
• Onset of saturation in south Indian states
• Slow progress in SHG formation in other states
• Adoption of better reporting standards by banks, such as
counting only operative accounts.

9. “If the last few decades were of Asia‟s growth story, the next few are
expected to be of Africa‟s.” In the light of this statement, examine
India‟s influence in Africa in recent years. (Answer in 150 words)

Introduction

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Recent AFCTA , FTA agreement with 54 countries opens up new

potential of Africa growth story ,strength of common market , resources

India's influence in the region

1. Political - High level summit with head of states , Diaspora of
India in High position
2. Economic - Government led - ONGC VIDESH , Grants to different
countries ,,, Private Investments - Telecom , BaNking , Insurance ,
Payment bank,,, Resource rich - mining , energy security
3. Social - Education - Student exchange programme , e - vidyanjali ,
MOOCs,, Health - Covid Vaccine maitri , PPE kits , Malaria
medicines , Pharma of world ,,, Cultural - Cows provided to
Rwanda , Bollywood music , cinema
4. Technology and maritime - anti piracy efforts , High end
technology cooperation (CCUS )
5. Cooperation , Multilateral Institutions - Part of BASIC , IBSA ,IOC
,NAM, ,Japan - India -AAGC
Issues prevailing
1. Influence of china - DEbt trap policy
2. Grants limited given
3. Delays in project completion
4. Prejudice , biases prevalent

India Panchsheel with strong people to people contact can

counterbalance china influence and strengthen democratic influences to
tap Africa‘s potential

Qn10. “The USA is facing an existential threat in the form of a China,

that is much more challenging than the erstwhile Soviet Union.”
Explain. (Answer in 150 words)

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China developed as new pole in multipolar world due to drastic

development , Manufacturing and BRI initiative
WHY China existential threat different from USSR
USSR and USA were ideological different but are at par with one
another in most parameters but china USA has
1. Huge trade deficit - Trade wars
2. Interlinkage supply chains with China as manufacturing hub
3. Rising military power with high end technology ex : Hypersonic
missile
4. Secrecy and unprovoked aggressions in various regions ex : SOuth
china sea
5. Hard Power Diplomacy - DEbt trap Ex : Italy part of BRI
6. Soft power diplomacy - SPorts , culture Ex : Buddhism tradition
7. Alternative institution building Ex : NDB ,AIIB

Not existential threat

1. Economical gap still huge
2. Perception and political power of USA is huge , ,may sway many
decisions
3. Military strength - traditional , non traditional huge gap Ex :SIPRI
report on Nuclear heads
4. New proven networking to counter china Ex : AUKUS , Bluedot
etc

Way Forward
1. Collaborating than competing
2. IR - not a zero sum game
3. Strengthen multipolar institutions to stop aggressions

Multipolar world is a reality and all countries should balance interests

with UNO playing big role in establishing peace and security

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Q11. The jurisdiction of the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI)

regarding lodging an FIR and conducting probe within a particular
state is being questioned by various States. However, the power of
States to withhold consent to the CBI is not absolute. Explain with
special reference to the federal character of India. (Answer in 250
words)
• CBI is India‘s premier central investigation agency which looks
into matters of corruption or major criminal matter. The CBI draws
its power from the DSPE Act, 1946 which deals with the extension
of the power of CBI over states with the consent of the respective
government.
CBI and Federalism:
1. The Police are under List II, i.e., it is exclusively a state subject. So
only the state can make law regarding the same.
2. Although, CBI is required to have ―general consent‖ from the state
government before beginning an investigation in the state. But
these consents only lead to Red-tapism thereby delaying justice
delivery.
3. 3. The jurisdiction of CBI often comes into direct confrontation
with state police which causes federal issues recurrently.
4. 4. The confrontation between state and center over CBI is often
more prominent when there exist different political parties at the
state and center level.
5. 5.The Supreme court and the high court can order CBI to
investigate any crime anywhere in the country without the consent
of the state.
6. 6.Moreover, under article 131, states can drag center in case if they
feel CBI violates their right. Thus, further complicating the
confrontation.
7. However, a weak central authority could be injurious to national
unity. Thus, it is imperative to have some agencies that have
jurisdiction over the entire country.

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Q12. Though the Human Rights Commissions have contributed

immensely to the protection of human rights in India, yet they have
failed to assert themselves against the mighty and powerful.
Analyzing their structural and practical limitations, suggest remedial
measures. (Answer in 250 words)
• The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and various
State Human Rights Commissions (SHRCs) have been constituted
under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.
These commissions are the watchdog of human rights in the
country, that is, the rights relating to life, liberty, equality, and
dignity of the individual guaranteed by the Constitution or
embodied in the international covenants and enforceable by courts
in India.
It also takes up the cause of prison inmates, patients at mental health
asylums, bonded labourers, people with disabilities, women and
children and the economically and socially marginalized sections of the
country
HRCs unable to assert their mandate and power:
1. The NHRC has been labeled as a toothless tiger because of few
resources to address them.
2. Its recommendations are non-binding on the government and thus
ignored.
3. Limited jurisdiction into Human rights violation by armed forces
and private parties.
4. The inability of NHRC to initiate cases beyond 1 year.
Remedial measure:
1. More powers: Its decisions should be made enforceable by the
government.
2. Armed forces: The definition should be restricted to only army,
navy, and air force. Further, even in these cases, the Commission
should be allowed to independently investigate cases of violation
of rights.

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3. Commission‘s membership: Members of NHRCs should include

civil society, human rights activists, etc. rather than ex-
bureaucrats.
4. Amending law: Misuse of laws by law enforcement agencies is
often the root cause of human rights violations. So, the weakness
of laws should be removed and those laws should be amended or
repealed if they run contrary to human rights.
5. Independent Staff: NHRC should have its independent
investigating staff recruited by itself, rather than the present
practice of deputation.
Q13. Analyze the distinguishing features of the notion of Equality in
the Constitutions of the USA and India. (Answer in 250 words)
• While both India and the USA are culturally pluralistic societies
which have a democratic form of government and similar
judicial systems, they have different interpretation of the notion of
Right to Equality.

Q14. Explain the constitutional provisions under which Legislative

Councils are established. Review the working and current status of
Legislative Councils with suitable illustrations.

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• The Parliament, under Article 169, can abolish or create a

legislative council by a simple majority, that is, a majority of the
members of each House present and voting, if the legislative
assembly of the concerned state, by a special majority, passes a
resolution to that effect. Article 171 provides for the Composition
of council.
• Utility of State legislative councils
1. Bringing diverse opinion on policy making ; Functional
representation of various groups [e.g., teachers,
graduates, local representatives]
2. Check hasty legislations by Legislative assemblies
3. Nominated members who are apolitical background bring extra
wisdom and provides forum for intellectuals and academicians
who are not suited for electoral politics.
4. Brings pressure on Legislative assembly for policy making.
Concerns with Legislative Councils:
1. They can be created and abolished by Union parliament by a
simple majority.
2. Their recommendations are not binding on assembly + became
back door for failed politicians
3. Burden on public exchequer.
4. Representing graduates in the house has outlived its utility
5. Politicization in selecting nominated members
6. Can create delay in policy making.

Q15. Do Department -related Parliamentary Standing Committees

keep the administration on its toes and inspire reverence for
parliamentary control? Evaluate the working of such committees with
suitable examples. (Answer in 250 words)

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The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee have been

formed to cover all the Ministries/ Departments of the Government of
India. Each of these Committees consists of 31 Members – 21 from Lok
Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha to be nominated by the Speaker, Lok
Sabha and the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, respectively. The term of Office
of these Committees does not exceed one year.
Functions of Department-related Parliamentary Standing
Committee: \
1. To consider the Demands for Grants of the related
Ministries/Departments and report thereon. The report shall not
suggest anything of the nature of cut motions;
2. To examine Bills, pertaining to the related
Ministries/Departments.
3. To consider the annual reports of the Ministries/Departments.
4. To consider national basic long term policy documents presented
to the Houses.
Significance of Department-related Parliamentary Standing
Committees :
1. Emphasis on long-term plans, policies guiding the working of the
Executive, these Committees are providing necessary direction,
guidance and inputs for broad policy formulations.
2. It is easier to examine a topic in depth by a committee of 30 than
by an assembly of 700.
3. They enable input from experts.
4. Being outside direct public glare allows members to discuss issues
and reach consensus without worrying about constituency or
party pressures.
5. Secure more accountability of the executive towards the
legislature.
Issues/Challenges of Standing committees:

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1. Meetings happen behind closed doors of which the minutes are

never published creating the issue of transparency.
2. The committee‘s recommendations are not binding in nature.
3. Lack of standing research support.
4. All the bills are not referred to the departmental standing
committees.
5. One year tenure leads very little time for specialization
6. Attendance of MPs at the committee meetings is weak. Also, one
committee had to deal with too many ministries.

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Q16. Has digital illiteracy, particularly in rural areas, couple with lack
of Information and Communication Technology(ICT) accessibility
hindered socio-economic development? Examine with justification.
(Answer in 250 words)
• ―Digital Literacy is the ability of individuals and communities to
understand and use digital technologies for meaningful actions
within life situations‖. It would bring the benefits of ICT to daily
lives of rural population especially in the areas of Healthcare,
Livelihood generation and Education.
• Issues of internet connectivity in rural areas and lack of access to
Information and Communications Technology coupled with
frequent internet/electricity outages and high cost of internet.
[only 15% in rural India have access to internet] furthered the
rural-urban digital divide in India.
• Acts as an impediment to access to tele-medicine. This becomes a
challenge especially given the poor brick and mortar health
infrastructure in rural areas.
• Prevents rural youth from capitalizing on myriad of employment
and income generation opportunities available through effective
use of internet. E.g., e-commerce.
• Digital illiteracy prevents effective e-governance and service
delivery of government schemes to beneficiaries.
• Digital illiteracy especially among women and girl-child has
increased the gender imbalance in the rural areas.
• Emphasis on digitization and computerization, while ignoring
digital literacy has led the elderly population especially
vulnerable to inaccessibility of government benefits.
• It should be noted that digital divide is more than just an access
issue and cannot be alleviated merely by providing the necessary
equipment. There are at least three factors at play: information
accessibility, information utilization and information
receptiveness.

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Q17. “Though women in post-Independent India have excelled in

various fields, the social attitude towards women and feminist
movement has been patriarchal.” Apart from women education and
women empowerment schemes, what interventions can help change
this milieu? (Answer in 250 words)
• Women , post independence in India have broken different glass
ceilings ranging from Kalpana chawla (s&t), Indira Gandhi
(politics). But the parameters such as Labour force participation ,
Crimes ,sex ratio are poor due to societial norms of patriarchy.
• Manifestation of patriarchy towards women and the feminist
movement
1. Son meta Preference (Economic survey (2018))
2. Wage differentials and high unpaid work done by women (IMF
report)
3. Property inheritance differences
4. Stereotypes and biases legitimized by religion
5. Emancipation movements headed by men.
Interventions needed apart from women education and women
empowerment
1. Addressing objectification and commodification of women in
media
2. Improving safety at workplace and commutation (Ex : Delhi pink
tickets in metro,buses for women (free of cost)(Implement
Vishakha guidelines)
3. Inclusive and Women friendly workplaces with sensitisation of co
workers
4. Address unpaid care work using legislative or policy changes
5. Political representation improvement at different levels
6. Value neutral employment roles (Ex: Normalizing men cooking
(life skill))

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Long Term changes

1. Socialization changes at school , family
2. Civil society ,Ngo - awareness campaigns
Continuous efforts with a holistic outcome needed to achieve SDG5
by 2030

Q18. Can Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organizations present

an alternative model of public service delivery to benefit the common
citizen. Discuss the challenges of this alternative model. (Answer
in 250 words)
• Define Public service delivery as a basis for the welfare state.
• Linking statement
• Present model of service delivery is burdened with corruption,
delays and poor quality of service which provided impetus to find
alternative models.
• Basic Structure of alternative model
1. Decentralized , grassroot level delivery
2. Based on peoples demand
3. Rights based approach
4. People's participation at all levels
5. Accountability in hands of people
Civil Society and Non-Governmental Organizations-
Capacity/experience to provide such a model
1. Grassroot level presence to understand problem (Ex : NGO Search
, Tribal health assembly in Gadchiroli )
2. Trust among due to their service orientation (Ex : Akshayapatra -
provide high quality meals)
3. Policy inputs/ changes based on demands of people (Ex : NGO
Pratham - ASER report - National mission on literacy , Numeracy)

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4. Leadership roles for community ( Ex :SEWA - Women

empowerment)
5. Social Auditing process and input suppor
Challenges for Ngo to provide such a model
1. Lack Of transparency and accountability (Ex : CBI report only
10%NGO filed annual reports )
2. Conflict of interest ( Undemocratic structure with in NGOs)
3. Threat to Sovereignty and security of nation ( IB report - 2% of
GDP being undermined)
4. Lack of Financial capacity to provide Scale and scope of Services
To address the issue Government and civil society should cooperate
and collaborate leveraging each others capacity with a vision to
achieve SDG goals.

Q19. Critically examine the aims and objectives of SCO. What

importance does it hold for India? (Answer in 250 words) 15
SCO - Eurasian organization , composition of members, objectives of
peace, security and stability
Positive impact of SCO
1. Build good neighborhood relations EX : Central Asian Dialogue on
Afghanistan
2. Establishing Permanent institution to fight terrorism and
Organised crime Ex :RATS
3. Share best practices and models in Socio economic development
(multi lateral cooperation ) Ex : Vaccine support
4. Ensuring Peace , safety and security in region

Criticism of SCO
1. Scope or diversification in fields of cooperation is limited , mostly
security

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2. China and Russia domination on SCO ( EX : Official language -

russian / mandarin)
3. Bilateral issues highlighted prevent cooperation (Ex : India -
Pakistan)
4. Justified state led human right violation (Ex : Uiyghur muslims )
5. Perceived as anti West establishment.

Impacts on India
1. Trade - Improve connective to central asia , better access to
resources (Ex : Lithium , Rare earth metals )
2. Security - RATS framework , Drug trafficking controlling
3. Energy - Securing by widening resource bse , TAPI pipeline
success
4. Stability of Afghan
Issues Present
1. Different perception on BRI
2. Western perception may hurt India's bilateral relation / interest

Cultural values of India can aid in diversifying SCO objectives and act as
a balancing agent.

Q20. The newly tri-nation partnership AUKUS is aimed at countering

China‟s ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region. Is it going to supersede
the existing partnerships in the region? Discuss the strength and
impact of AUKUS in the present scenario. (Answer in 250 words)

AUKUS - Structure and ideology , sharing technology (Nuclear , AI ,

Quantum ) for security of region

Linking statement

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Indo Pacific - New theater of Geo politics and cooperations present

(QUAD ,SCRI,Blue dot )

Yes superseeds QUAD

1. Political weight behind initiative
2. Clear objective and outlook
3. UK active participant in geopolitics post brexit

Does Not superseeds QUAD

1. Scope of QUAd wide ( Vaccine diplomacy)
2. Success of QUAd , rise of new cooperation
3. Objectives of overall development with sustainable outlook
AUKUS and QUAD will be complementary to each other

Strength of AUKUS
1. Political - Permanent members - UK & USA _ Veto power , Sway
in UNO , Democratic strength.
2. Economic strength hugely present
3. Social strength - UK due to commonwealth nation - network
connection
4. Technological - R&D support , Sharing for success of initiative

Positive Impact
1. Balancing force to china attract ASEAN in South china sea
2. Access of modern technology , support new industrial revolutions
3. Establish safety and security in region
Negative impacts
1. Nuclear proliferation in region
2. Fear of ASEAN countries , may lead to proxy war , cold war 2.0
situation may arise
3. Military alliances may lead to new World war like scenarios.
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AUKUS strength and success depends on capability in upholding

democratic values of Tolerance , Peace in region
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in its 1997
policy paper, defined governance as ―the exercise of economic, political
and administrative authority to manage a country‘s affairs at all levels. It
comprises the mechanisms, processes and institutions through which
citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights,
meet their obligations and mediate their differences‖
In simple words, governance is a process by which the citizens are
governed. It involves the process, institutions, policies, decisions and the
way authority is exercised in a country. It extends to all spheres of
society, be it corporate governance, international governance, local
governance etc
Stakeholders of Governance

Government is one of the key actors in governance. Other actors may

include political actors and institutions, interest groups, civil society,
media, non-governmental and transnational organizations. The other
actors involved in governance vary depending on the level of
government.

Typically, the stakeholders of governance at national level can be

categorised into three broad categories –

 State
 Market
 Civil Society.

1. The State includes the different organs of then government

(Legislature, Judiciary and Executive) and their instrumentalities,
independent accountability mechanisms etc. It also consists of different
segments of actors (elected representatives, political executive,
bureaucracy/civil servants at different levels etc.)

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2. The Market includes the private sector – organised as well as

unorganised – that includes business firms ranging from large corporate
houses to small scale industries/ establishments.

3. The Civil Society is the most diverse and typically includes all groups
not included in (a) or (b). It includes Non-Governmental Organizations
(NGOs), Voluntary Organizations (VOs), media organisations/
associations, trade unions, religious groups, pressure groups etc.

Difference between government and governance?

Government is an institution which enables and facilitates the process of
governance whereas governance is the process whereby various actors
work for the welfare of the people.
• The government is a body whose sole responsibility and authority
is to make binding decisions in a given geopolitical system (such as a
state) by establishing laws
• Governance is the way rules, norms and actions are structured,
sustained, regulated and held accountable.
Characteristics of good governance:

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 Participation:

o People should be able to voice their own opinions

through legitimate immediate organizations or
representatives.
o This includes men and women, vulnerable sections
of society, backward classes, minorities, etc.
o Participation also implies freedom of association
and expression.
o Informed participation
o E.g: MyGov- is an innovative platform launched to
ensure citizens' engagement in decision making by
the Government.

 Rule of Law:

o Legal framework should be enforced impartially,

especially on human rights laws.
o Without rule of law, politics will follow the principle
of matsya nyaya ie law of fish which means the
strong will prevail over the weak.
o Human rights should be protected
o Independent judiciary, impartial and fair police
forces

 Consensus Oriented:

o Consensus oriented decision-making ensures that

even if everyone does not achieve what they want to
the fullest, a common minimum can be achieved by
everyone which will not be detrimental to anyone.
o It mediates differing interests to meet the broad
consensus on the best interests of a community.

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o It is especially needed for a pluralistic country like

India

 Equity and Inclusiveness:

o Good governance assures an equitable society.

o People should have opportunities to improve or
maintain their well-being, especially poor and
vulnerable
o

 Effectiveness and Efficiency:

o Processes and institutions should be able to produce

results that meet the needs of their community.
o Resources of the community should be used
effectively for the maximum output using optimum
resources.
 Accountability:

o Accountability refers to the process as well as

norms that make decision makers answerable to
ones for whom decisions are taken
o Good governance aims towards betterment of
people, and this cannot take place without the
government being accountable to the people.
o Governmental institutions, private sectors, and civil
society organizations should be held accountable to
the public and institutional stakeholders.
o Eg citizen‘s charter
 Transparency:

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o Information should be accessible to the public and

should be understandable and monitored.
o It also means free media and access of information
to them.
o Eg RTI act
 Responsiveness:

o Institutions and processes should serve all

stakeholders in a reasonable period of time.

The 4 pillars on which the edifice of good governance rests, in essence

are:
• Ethos (of service to the citizen),
• Ethics (honesty, integrity and transparency),
• Equity (treating all citizens alike with empathy for the weaker
sections), and
• Efficiency (speedy and effective delivery of service without
harassment and using ICT increasingly)

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Barriers to Good Governance:

1. Attitudinal Problems of the Civil Servants: Attitudes such as

wooden, inflexible, self-perpetuating, inward looking, indifference
and insensitivity to the needs of citizens coupled with the
enormous asymmetry in the wielding of power at all levels, has
further aggravated the situation. The end result is that officers
perceive themselves as dispensing favours to citizens rather than
serving them and given the abject poverty, illiteracy, etc. a culture
of exaggerated deference to authority has become the norm.

2. Lack of Accountability: disciplinary proceedings initiated against

delinquent government servants and imposition of penalties;
disciplinary procedures are rare. Another reason for lack of
accountability is that performance evaluation systems within
government have not been effectively structured.

3. Red Tapism: Bureaucrats are expected to adhere to rules and

procedures which are, of course, important for good governance.
However, at times, these rules and procedures ill-conceived and
cumbersome and, therefore, do not serve their purpose

4. Low levels of Awareness of the Rights and Duties of Citizens

Inadequate awareness about their rights prevents citizens from
holding erring government servants to account. Similarly, low
levels of compliance of Rules by the citizens also acts as an
impediment to good governance;

Eg FRA act doesn‘t reach upto its potential due to lack of awareness of
rights

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 34

5. Ineffective Implementation of Laws and Rules - weak

implementation can cause a great deal of hardship to citizens and
even erode the faith of the citizenry in the government machinery.

6. Inadequate capacity building of personnel who are to implement

the laws also results in policies and laws not being implemented
properly. Limited digitalisation of government offices and
inadequate infrastructure has further been a stumbling block in
ensuring effective transparency and accountability measures.

7. centralization of Institutions: Eg PRIs are sometimes usurped by

higher institutions. This will create a mismatch between local
needs and actions to be done.

8. Continuing with archaic laws: The traditional outlook cannot

satisfy modern market-oriented citizens.

9. Lack of transparency: Eg: Fifteen years after the Right to

Information (RTI) Act came into force, more than 2.2 lakh cases are
pending at the Central and State Information Commissions, which
are the final courts of appeal under the transparency law.

Necessary Pre-conditions for Good Governance:

a. Sound legal framework.
b. Robust institutional mechanism for proper implementation of the
laws and their effective functioning.
c. Competent personnel staffing these institutions; and sound personnel
management policies.
d. Right policies for decentralization, delegation and accountability

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Source: DAPRG

Political Dimension:
political process that brings in the key governance values of
participation, accountability and transparency
components of political dimensions:

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 Exercise of franchise: This is the doorway to democratic

governance which establishes legitimacy and accountability of the
government by enabling participation by the citizens
 Profile and Conduct of Political Representatives, Political Parties
and the Political Executive: it is the quality (evident in terms of
conduct, attitudes and values) of the people‘s representatives,
which determines effectiveness of accountability and participation
in practice.
 Functioning of Legislature: The role of the legislature is critical to
the way governance takes shape in any particular State
 Political Decentralisation: It is an important indicator of
empowerment at the grassroots level.

Legal & Judicial Dimension of Governance:

the State should exercise its right to use force in an effective and
judicious manner without overriding the fundamental rights of the
citizens.
Another important responsibility of the state is to ensure that everybody
has access to speedy justice.
This dimension seeks to measure whether the state‘s exercise of power is
within its boundaries as also its ability to effectively maintain law and
order, safeguard human rights and enable access to & delivery of justice.
This dimension has been broken down into four basic components
a. Law & Order and Internal Security:
to ensure that law and order prevails and citizens live in an environment
wherein their lives and property are generally safe and secure.

b. Safeguarding of basic rights:

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This aspect relates to the ability of the state to protect the basic rights of
the citizen, particularly those of poor, women and weaker sections

c. Police Administration and Citizen‐friendliness of the Police:

This component takes a closer look at those factors that reflect the
quality of police administration viz. size of police force, functions
assigned, training & skill development, efficiency in operations, etc.

d. Access to Justice and Judicial Accountability:

a significant indicator of the quality of governance relates to the access
to and delivery of justice which is reflected in its capacity to provide
timely justice, judicial efficiency, judicial accountability and citizen
perception.

Administrative Dimension of Governance:

The administrative dimension is a critical aspect of governance because

it determines the ability of government to deliver basic services to
citizens by efficiently managing the human and financial resources. It
also includes performance of the State on vigilance and anti‐corruption,
responsiveness and transparency in administration.

This dimension has been broken down into four components:

a. Citizen Interface and Engagement:

This component indicates the citizen‐centricity of government
agencies in their day‐to‐day functioning viz. accessibility,
responsiveness, quality of grievance redressal /complaint handling,
compliance with RTI Act provisions, etc.

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 38

b. Managing Human, Financial and other resources:

This aspect looks at how human resources in government are
managed with particular focus on the profile of the staffing,
recruitment process, transparency in transfers and postings, training
and skill building, motivation levels among employees, performance
appraisal, etc. A key aspect of governance is effective financial
management.

c. Basic Service Delivery:

The cutting edge of administrative governance is the timely delivery
and the quality of basic services such as primary healthcare services,
primary schooling, drinking water, sanitation facilities, public
distribution system, electricity, roads and transportation

d. Corruption Perception, Vigilance & Enforcement:

this dimension also examines corruption (in terms of citizen
perception) and vigilance mechanisms and the willingness of the
State to punish the defaulters, particularly those at the higher
echelons of administration.
Economic Dimension of Governance
The economic dimension pertains to the ability of the state to ensure
macro‐economic stability and create conducive climate for economic
activity to take place across different sectors of the economy.
This dimension has been broken down into three components:
a. Fiscal Governance:
how the State has managed its finances over the short to medium
term in terms of revenue mobilization indicators as well as indicators
pertaining to expenditure management.

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 39

b. Business Environment:
Aspects of economic governance which affect the way businesses
operate within the State and includes general investment climate,
legal aspects, procedural issues, infrastructure and manpower,
regulatory systems, etc.

c. Support to the Primary Sector:

As the primary sector is the backbone of the economy with very high
dependence on it among poorer sections of the population, the
quality of governance is also reflected in the State of the primary
sector and how the State provides various services to support this
sector through extension, input supply and marketing linkages.

Social Dimension of Governance

 The social dimension pertains to the ability of the state to take care
of the vulnerable sections of the society. At the same time, given
the importance of the civil society and media in the governance
process, this dimension also seeks to assess governance by
examining the role and quality of the civil society and media.
 This dimension has been broken down into three basic
components:
a. Welfare of the Poor and Vulnerable: The test of governance in
that sense lies in the state of the poor and the vulnerable
segments such as the poor, women, children, minorities, etc.

b. Role of Civil Society and Media: the quality and capacity of

the civil society organizations to take up the role that they are
expected of them. The mass media, both print and audio‐visual,
wields a lot of influence in shaping public opinion

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c. Environmental Management: state as the custodian of natural

resources and its ability to regulate and manage natural
resources for sustainable development.

MAJOR ISSUES AND CHALLENGES:

1. Strengthening the institutions of governance. Parliament is

the supreme representative institution in India. The political
representative represents the electorate. Many a times
concerns are expressed on various fronts about the falling
standards in the quality of participation, conduct of
proceedings and so on. Hence there is need to develop good
practices and procedures of parliamentary functioning and
make Parliament a dynamic institution in tune with the
changing times.
2. Improving the functioning of civil service and bureaucracy.
Ultimately it is the permanent executive that is responsible
for policy implementation. It is necessary to develop a

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responsive civil service that is professional, energetic and

caters to people's needs.
3. Reassuring the citizens with establishing an independent
and accountable judiciary. The judiciary is to be seen as an
effective instrument of maintenance of rule of law and
upholding of social justice.
4. Making the private sector accountable through adopting
sound business practices, adhering to rules and regulations
and protecting the interests of consumers.
5. Educating the citizens about their rights and obligations,
and making them partners in all development activities
6. Criminalization of Politics: According to the Association of
Democratic Reforms, 43% of Members of Parliaments of Lok
Sabha 2019 are facing criminal charges. It is a 26% increase
as compared to 2014.

7. Corruption: According to the Corruption Perception Index -

2019 (released by Transparency International, India's
ranking has slipped from 78 to 80.

8. Gender Disparity

9. Centralisation of Administrative System: governments at

lower levels can only function efficiently if they are
empowered to do

Good governance initiatives in India:

CITIZENS CHARTER:
Th e Citizens‘ Charter is an instrument which seeks to make an
organization transparent, accountable and citizen friendly. The
Charter concept empowers the citizens in demanding committed
standards of service. Thus, the basic thrust of Citizens‘ Charter is to
make public services citizen centric by ensuring that these services

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 42

are demand driven rather than supply driven. The Citizens‘ Charter,
when introduced in the early 19 90‘s, represented a landmark shift in
the delivery of public services. Th e emphasis of the Citizens‘ Charter
is on citizens as customers of public services. Th e Citizens‘ Charter
scheme in its present form was first launched in 1991 in the UK.
A Citizens‘ Charter is a set of:
 commitments made by an organization regarding the standards of
service which it delivers.
 the Vision and Mission Statement of the organization.
 Details of Business transacted by the Organisation
 Statement of services including standards, quality, time frame etc.
provided to each Citizen/ Client group separately and how/
where to get the services
 the outcomes desired and the broad strategy to achieve these goals
and outcomes.
 It makes the users aware of the intent of their service provider and
helps in holding the organization accountable.
 It must state clearly what subjects it deals with and the service
areas it broadly covers. This helps the users to understand the type
of services they can expect from a particular service provider.
 the Citizens‘ Charter should also stipulate the responsibilities of
the citizens in the context of the charter.
 a suitable compensatory/remedial mechanism should be
provided.

Even though these promises are not enforceable in a court of law, each
organization should ensure that the promises made are kept

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the six principles of the Citizens‘ Charter as originally framed were:

i. Quality - improving the quality of services;

ii. Choice - for the users wherever possible;
iii. Standards - specifying what to expect within a time frame;

iv. Value - for the taxpayers‘ money;

v. Accountability - of the service provider (individual as well
as Organization); and
vi. Transparency - in rules, procedures, schemes and grievance
redressal

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 44

These were revised in 1998 as nine principles of service delivery in the

following manner:10
i. Set standards of service;
ii. Be open and provide full information;

iii. Consult and involve;

iv. Encourage access and promote choice;
v. Treat all fairly;
vi. Put things right when they go wrong; vii. Use resources
effectively;
vii. Innovate and improve; and ix. Work with other providers.

The Indian Experience of Citizens‘ Charter

The DARPG set out a series of guidelines to enable the service delivery
organisations to formulate precise and meaningful Charters to set the
service delivery parameters. These were as follows:
A. To be useful, the Charter must be simple;
B. It must be framed not only by senior experts, but by interaction
with the cutting edge staff who will finally implement it and with
the users (individual organizations);
C. Merely announcing the Charter will not change the way we
function. It is important to create conditions through interaction
and training for generating a responsive climate;
D. Begin with a statement of the service(s) being offered;
E. A mention is made against each service about the entitlement of
the user, service standards and remedies available to the user in
case of non-adherence to standards;

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 45

F. Procedures/costs/charges should be made available on

line/display boards/ booklets/inquiry counters etc at places
specified in the Charter;
G. Indicate clearly, that while these are not justiciable, the
commitments enshrined in the Charter are in the nature of a
promise to be fulfilled with oneself and with the user;
H. Frame a structure for obtaining feedback and performance audit
and fix a schedule for reviewing the Charter at least every six
months; and
I. Separate Charters can be framed for distinct services and for
organizations/ agencies/attached or subordinate to a
Ministry/Department.

SHORTCOMINGS OF CITIZEN CHARTER:

1. Lack of consultation process: Civil society organizations and end-
users are generally not consulted when Charters are being
formulated
2. Lack of capacity building: service providers were not familiar
with the philosophy, goals and main features of the Charter;
3. Lack of public awareness: Adequate publicity to the Charters had
not been given in any of the Departments evaluated.
4. Lack of funds: Funds have not been specifically earmarked for
awareness generation of Citizens‘ Charter or for orientation of the
staff on various components of the Charter.
5. Poor design and content: Most organizations do not have
adequate capability to draft meaningful and succinct Citizens‘
Charter.
6. Inadequate groundwork: Government agencies often formulate
Citizens‘ Charters without undertaking adequate groundwork in
terms of assessing and reforming its processes to deliver the
promises made in the Charter.

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 46

7. Charters are rarely updated: Only 6% of Charters make the

assurance that the document will be updated sometime after
release.
8. Lack of equitable access: The needs of senior citizens and the
disabled are not considered when drafting Charter
9. Resistance to change: The new practices demand significant
changes in the behaviour and attitude of the agency and its staff
towards citizen

10. Efficient and adequate grievance redressal mechanisms lacking an

aggrieved party generally not provided information in vernacular
language.

11.Citizen Charter has still not been adopted by all

Ministries/departments.

12.There is lack of precision on standards and commitments in

several cases
Some of the recommendations of 2nd ARC are:

A. Need for citizens and staff to be consulted at every stage of

formulation of the Charter
B. Orientation of staff about the salient features and goals/ objectives
of the Charter; vision and mission statement of the department;
and skills such as team building, problem solving, handling of
grievances and communication skills,
C. Need for creation of database on consumer grievances and redress
D. Need for wider publicity of the Charter through print media,
posters, banners, leaflets, handbills, brochures, local newspapers
etc. and also through electronic media,

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 47

E. Earmarking of specific budgets for awareness generation and

orientation of staff, and
F. Replication of best practices in this field.
G. One size does not fit all: This huge challenge becomes even more
complex as the capabilities and resources that governments and
departments need to implement Citizens‘ Charters vary
significantly across the country
H. Firm commitments to be made: Citizens‘ Charters must be precise
and make firm commitments of service delivery standards to the
citizens/consumers in quantifiable terms wherever possible.
I. Redressal mechanism in case of default: Citizens‘ Charter should
clearly lay down the relief which the organization is bound to
provide if it has defaulted on the promised standards of delivery
J. Hold officers accountable for results

Other Measures:
1. Legal backing to citizens charter in the form of Right to delivery of
services
2. Bill that guarantees efficient and effective delivery of services and
redressal of grievances
The Right of Citizens for Time-bound Delivery of Goods and Services
and Redressal of their Grievances Bill, 2011, was introduced in the Lok
Sabha in 2011 but it lapsed with the term of the last House
3. Making Citizen‘s charter mandatory in every department

PYQ on this topic Citizens‘ Charter is an ideal instrument of

organizational transparency and accountability, but. it has its own
limitations. Identify the limitations and suggest measures for greater
effectiveness or the Citizens Charter

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The Sevottam Model:

The word, Sevottam, is a combination of two Hindi words: ‗Seva‘
(service) and ‗Uttam‘ (excellence). Sevottam Model is now regarded as a
standard model for providing services in citizen centric governance.
 Sevottam model is a quality management framework applicable to
public service delivery organisations, in all its departments. Service
Delivery Excellence Model provides a framework for organisations to
assess and improve the quality-of-service delivery to citizens.
Objectives of Sevottam:
It aims to provide an assessment improvement framework to bring
excellence in public service delivery. The model works as an evaluation
mechanism to assess the quality of internal processes and their impact
on the quality-of-service delivery.
The Sevottam model has three modules:
The first component of the model requires effective Charter
implementation thereby opening up a channel for receiving citizens‘
inputs into the way in which organizations determine service delivery
requirements.

The second component of the model, „Public Grievance Redress‟

requires a good grievance redressal system operating in a manner that
leaves the citizen more satisfied with how the organization responds to
complaints/grievances, irrespective of the final decision.

The third component ‗Excellence in Service Delivery‟, postulates that

an organization can have an excellent performance in service delivery
only if it is efficiently managing well the key ingredients for good
service delivery and building its own capacity to continuously improve
service delivery.

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Steps involved in Service delivery:

 Define all services which a department provides and identify clients
 Set standards and norms for each service
 Develop capability to meet the set standards
 Perform to achieve the standard
 Monitor performance against the set standards
 Evaluate the impact through an independent mechanism
 Continuous improvement based on monitoring and evaluation results.
Seven Steps to Sevottam Compliant Grievance Redress System
 Well established system of receipt of grievances
 Convenient for all users and its wide publicity
 Timely acknowledgement
 Time norm for redress
 Communication of action taken on redress

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 Platform for Appeal

 Analysis of grievance prone areas for making systemic
improvements

2. Social Audit:

Social audit generally refers to engagement of the stakeholders in

measuring the achievement of objectives under any or all of the activities
of a government organization, especially those pertaining to
developmental goals.

Various participation techniques are used to involve all stakeholders in

measuring, understanding, reporting and improving the social
performance of an organization or activity. e whole process is intended
as a means for social engagement, transparency and communication of
information, leading to greater accountability of decisionmakers,
representatives, managers and officials

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Social auditing creates an impact upon governance. It values the

voice of stakeholders, including marginalized/poor groups whose
voices are rarely heard.

Objectives of social audit

1. Assessing the physical and financial gaps between needs and

resources available for local development.
2. Creating awareness among beneficiaries and providers of local
social and productive services.
3. Increasing efficacy and effectiveness of local development
programmes.
4. Scrutiny of various policy decisions, keeping in view stakeholder
interests and priorities, particularly of rural poor.
5. Estimation of the opportunity cost for stakeholders of not getting
timely access to public services.

Principles of Social Audit:

Eight specific key principles have been identified from Social Auditing
practices around the world:

 Multi-Perspective/Polyvocal: Reflect the views of all the

stakeholders.
 Comprehensive: Report on all aspects of the organisation‘s work
and performance.
 Participatory: Encourage participation of stakeholders and sharing
of their values.
 Multidirectional: Stakeholders share and give feedback on
multiple aspects.
 Regular: Produce social accounts on a regular basis so that the
concept and the practice become embedded in the culture of the
organisation covering all the activities.
 Comparative: Provide a means whereby the organisation can
compare its performance against benchmarks and other
organisations‘ performance.
 Verified: Social accounts are audited by a suitably experienced
person or agency with no vested interest in the organisation.
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Disclosed: Audited accounts are disclosed to stakeholders and the

wider community in the interests of accountability and
transparency

Advantages of social audit

(a) Trains the community on participatory local planning, Benefits

disadvantaged groups.
, Develops human resources and social capital
(b) Reduces corruption: SA uncovers irregularities and malpractices
in the public sector and maintains oversight on government
functioning, thus reducing leakages and corruption.
(c) Monitoring and feedback: It monitors social and ethical impact of
an organisation‘s performance and provides feedback on the work.
(d)Accountability and transparency: SA ensures accountability and
transparency in working of local government bodies and reduces
trust gap between people and local governments.
(e) Encourages local democracy
(f) Participatory governance: Encourages community participation
and Promotes collective decision making and sharing
responsibilities.
(g) Generates demand: Serves as the basis for framing the
management‘s policies by raising demands in a socially
responsible and accountable manner by highlighting the real
problems
(h) Enhances reputation: Social Auditing helps the legislature and
executive in identifying the problem areas and provides an
opportunity to take a proactive stance and create solutions.

While the process is evolving, the social audits of the MGNREGA have
shown what is possible. Social audit – a transparent, participatory and
active evaluation process – has the potential to encounter the corruption
that plagues anti-poverty programmes

Appropriate institutional level for social audit

The most appropriate institutional level for social audit is the Gram
Sabha, which has been given ‗watchdog‘ powers and responsibilities by
the Panchayati Raj Acts in most States to supervise and monitor the
functioning of panchayat elected representatives and government
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functionaries, and examine the annual statement of accounts and audit

reports. These are implied powers indirectly empowering Gram
Sabhas to carry out social audits in addition to other functions. Members
of the Gram Sabha and the village panchayat, intermediate panchayat and
district panchayat through their representatives, can raise issues of social
concern and public interest and demand an explanation.

Social Audit in India:

 In India, the initiative of conducting social audits was taken

by Tata Steel or Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO),
Jamshedpur in the year 1979.
 Social audit gained significance after the 73rd amendment. The
approach paper to the 9thFYP (2002-07) emphasised upon social
audit for effective functioning of Panchayat Raj institutions (PRIs)
and empowered gram sabhas to conduct SAs in addition to its
other functions.
 National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 provides for
regular ―Social Audits‖ so as to ensure transparency and
accountability in the scheme.
 The State Government shall identify or establish, under the
NREGS, an independent organisation, Social Audit Unit (SAU), at
the state level, to facilitate conduct of social audit by Gram Sabhas.

Case study of social audit in a village of Jharkhand:

The government schemes carrying out through Sodag Panchayat was

closely observed and issues regarding i) construction of Panchayat
building, ii) Murram Yojana (scheme to construct dirt roads), iii) absence
of register books, iv) inactive Pragya Kendra (Common Service Center
or CSC), v) furniture numbering missing in Panchayat office and
construction of vi) roads, vii) sewage system, viii) chabutara (sitting
platform, mainly for village meeting purposes), ix) handpumps were
raised and attended.

Also transfer of wages in the wrong bank accounts of workers under

MGNREGS were also addressed. Required measures were proposed
verbally and directed to complete those within scheduled time.
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Interaction with the villagers confirmed that part of the due works has
been done accordingly. Through this SA, villagers who used to take
these schemes as kind acts of the government, are now discussing
these as their due entitlements.

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In Telangana, the SAU has organised regular social audits on NREGA

since 2008. It has completed eight rounds, organising 9,125 rural public
hearings, and auditing over 21,827 panchayats. Though participatory
social audits are designed to expose problems and deter corruption, in
an exploratory study, conducted in partnership with the Society for
Social Audit Accountability and Transparency (SSAAT-Telangana), we
find that social audits are playing a significant role in redressing
individual worker grievances, though social audits are not viewed by
development practitioners as appropriate grievance redressal platforms
or effective deterrents to corruption. Such views, focusing on the
punitive impact of social audits, do not pay attention to the iterative and
dynamic process that defines the decade long experience in A.P. and
Telangana. While state-supported social audits are different from the
social movement-led jan sunwais that inspired them, the process in
Telangana is charting new grounds aligned with activists‘ demands for
transparency, participation and accountability.

Limitations of social audit:

 It can be highly complicated, and time taking

 It does not offer any sort of transparent methodology.
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 It tends to be subjective is another reason why the same is highly

discouraged.
 It lacks qualified trainers.
 Monitoring is informal and unprocessed.
 Lack of action on audit reports and findings.
 No legal backing
 The findings of social audit cannot be generalised over the entire
population.
 Several problems require a package of programme to be
implemented simultaneously. For example, rural health requires
convergence between water supply, education, sanitation,
nutrition etc. Social audit may therefore need a more holistic
approach.
 Lack of awareness: Lack of awareness among Gram Sabha
members and their rights on social audit
 Rules not followed: In many states Social Audit Units (SAUs)
don‘t seek record from Gram Panchayats regarding execution of
works and expenditure (CAG report), social audit reports are
either not prepared or not made available to gram sabha in local
languages.
 Lack of stringent penalty:Flouting of SA principles and norms
does not attract any penalty or legal proceeding which makes SA a
toothless exercise.
 No incentive to participate: Lack of interest in people about the
village activities due to their livelihood reasons.

Way forward:

1. Capacity building: at PRI, Block, and DRDA level, in terms of

information Storage and distribution mechanism
2. Awareness campaigns to empower and educate people at local level
3. Role of Media: Media should reach to the rural areas and spread the
awareness
4. Provide Legal backing to Social audit and make it mandatory where
ever feasible

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5. Civil society participation: People including students from different

universities should be encouraged to participate as Village Resource
Persons. Example, Jharkhand has instituted a formal mechanism by
inviting prominent civil society representatives to be part of the SA
panel.
6. Incentives: Recognise and Reward the members who have
contributed to the process of strengthening Demand System and
improved service delivery
7. Enact a model act on the line of Meghalay‘s social audit legislation:
The Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social
Audit Act, passed in April 2017, made Meghalaya the first state in the
country to enact a social audit law.
• Meghalaya's experiences with this law:
 The audits were designed to serve as a springboard for discussion.
 The audits were purposefully designed to raise public
consciousness about people's rights
 . o Identifying eligible beneficiaries
 . o People's testimonies are being registered, and
grievances are being filed. o Identifying the most
important inputs for preparation.
1. • Integration of social auditing for public awareness: In
Chhattisgarh, apart from MGNREGA, the social audit team
gathers complaints about other issues and passes them on to
the Gram Sabha's Sarpanch and Sachiv.
2. • Independent social audit units in states for example, In
Andhra Pradesh, the Society for Social Audit,
Accountability, and Transparency was founded as an
independent body free of government intervention.
3. • Strengthening the propriety auditing of CAG and
implementing guidelines of CAG on social auditing which
institutionalize the practice of social auditing

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―Minimum Government - Maximum Governance:

Minimum government means reduction of govt. role in many areas

making it an enabler rather than a provider
Maximum governance means to maximize service delivery for
betterment of the people

Examples:

Minimum Govt.
1. Easing of approval and clearances (like single window clearance)
2. Replacement of Planning commission with NITI Aayog having only
advisory and think-tank role
3. Encouragement to PPP by government (like in road construction and
public utilities)
4. Allowing self-certification in many compliances in manufacturing
industry and in environmental regulations
5. withdrawal from non-essential sectors(eg-
divestment),encouragement to FDI,and opening up of hitherto
goverment monopolies(eg-oil and gas exploration and production

Max governance:

6. Adoption of transparency, objectivity and accountability in service

delivery like through e-governance
7. Inclusion of citizen charter, grievance redressal and Sevottam model
in government functioning

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8. New health and education policies focusing on OUTCOMES based

approach
9. JAM-DBT trinity for subsidy, scholarship, pensions and schemes(eg-
ujwala yojana) to maximise benefits to the people
-new health and education policies focusing on OUTCOMES based
approach.(eg- learning outcomes under RTE,health as a fundamental
right for all under national health policy)
10. Linking the ration cards with Aadhar has resulted into more than 2
crore bogus ration cards
11.UMANG
Uniform User Friendly Interface across Government services having
162 services of 33 department/ applications and 4 States on Single
mobile app to access 1200+ services of various government services
from Centre, State and utility services and Supports 13 Indian
languages and caters to on-demand scalability
12.PRAGATI: a multi-purpose, multi-modal platform for Pro-Active
Governance And Timely Implementation PRAGATI is a unique
integrating and interactive platform. The platform is aimed at
addressing common man‘s grievances, and simultaneously
monitoring and reviewing important programmes and projects of the
Government of India as well as projects flagged by State
Governments

GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL MECHANISM:

 Public Grievance Redressal is said to be the corner stone of any

well governed democracy

 ‗grievance‘ as an expression of dissatisfaction made to an

organization related to its products, services and/or process(es),
where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected

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1. Institutional mechanisms: CVC, the Lokayuktas which have the

mandate to look into the complaints of corruption and abuse of office
by public servants.
National and State Human Rights Commissions, National and State
Women‘s Commissions, the National Commission for Scheduled
Castes, and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes also look
into the complaints from the public in their prescribed areas

2. Centralized Public Grievances Redress and Monitoring System

(CPGRAMS):
 An Internet based Centralised Public Grievances Redress and
Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) to facilitate all citizens to lodge
grievances for redressal. CPGRAMS is a platform based web
technology which aims to enable submission of grievances by the
citizens from anywhere, anytime.
 Tracking grievances is also facilitated on this portal through a
system generated unique registration number.
 Grievances lodged at any of these entities to be transferred to the
central and state ministries and departments in online through
CPGRMS.

3. Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances

(DARPG):
The DARPG is the policy making, monitoring and coordinating
department for public grievances. Grievances are required to be
redressed in a decentralized manner by concerned departments. A
Project Management Unit (PMU) has been set up in the DARPG for
monitoring the reforms being undertaken by these
Ministries/Departments.

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 The mission of DARPG is to foster excellence in governance and

pursuit of administrative reforms through improvements in
Government policies as well as processes, promoting citizen-
centric governance with emphasis on grievance redressal.
 The average response time to the grievances by the department
has been reduced, e.g. in Department of Revenue, it has reduced
from 108 days in 2014 to 25 days in 2017 and similarly in
Department of Telecom, it has reduced from 19 days in 2014 to 12
days in 2017.
 The DARPG has also launched Twitter Sewa, for facilitating
people to tweet on pending Grievances and also on other issues
relating to this Department.

4. Ombudsman: RBI ombudsman

Analysis of the Existing Public Grievance System in Government of

India:

1. There is considerable variation across organizations in respect of

the number of grievances received, disposed of and pending in
various organizations as also the extent of institutionalization of
the redress process.
2. In order to facilitate interface with the public, Ministries and
Departments have been advised to observe one day in the week as
a meetingless day. It was revealed that most organizations are not
even aware of this instruction.
3. Ministries and Departments have been advised to set up social
audit panels for examining areas of public interface. e study brings
out that such panels have not been constituted

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4. Public Grievance Cells often suffer from shortage of staff and

resources. Moreover, these cells have not been adequately
empowered
5. Several Ministries/Departments do not detect or note public
grievances appearing in newspapers for suo motu redressal
actions despite clear instructions on the subject.
6. No eff orts are made to hold satisfaction surveys to ascertain the
outcome of measures taken by the organization to redress
grievances.

Grievance Redressal Mechanism for Women:

 The government has gone a long way in bringing out many
initiatives to redress the grievances of women both at work and at
home.
 In alignment with Convention on Elimination of all forms of
Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Millennium
Development Goals (MDG), National policy for Empowerment of
Women, and Sustainable Devleopmental Goals (SDGs) for a
gender Inclusive Society, many schemes have been initiated by the
government resulting in a positive impact:  addressing gender
needs  improving Gender Equality  improving child sex ratio 
eradicating the evils of female infanticide  provides care and
protection for children, women, senior citizens and third gender
through various schemes.
 The constitution of India embraces the substantive equality
approach as provided under Article 15(1) and (3). While Article 14
lays down the overarching equality clause, it is through the
language of non-discrimination under Article 15 empowers State
to undertake affirmative action for women.
 Article 21 provides that every person has the right to life and
personal liberty. Right to live with ―dignity‖ is the most important
indicator for the fulfillment of the promise of Article 21 guarantee.
Domestic Violence: Grievance Redressal
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 Domestic violence is a violation of this basic right to live with

dignity. Article 21 demands not merely procedural safeguards but
―substantive due process‖ in the state action, in order to protect
and fulfill the right to life with dignity
 .  There is a need to define violence in this ―private‖ sphere in the
law and provide for preventive remedies.
 Government had created a exclusive fund, ―Nirbhaya Fund‖, to
oversee the implementation of special projects intended for
ensuring women safety.
 Handbook on the Social Legislations have been developed and
training is being imparted to all stakeholders working in various
departments.
 e. ‗One Stop Centre (SAKHI)‘, ‗Universalisation of Women
Helpline‘ and ‗Mahila Police Volunteer
 SAKHI aims at establishing Centres to facilitate women affected by
violence. It provides First aid, Medical aid, Police assistance, Legal
aid and counselling support. 186 OSCs are approved to be set up
in the country
 Helpline specifically for women with a common number across
the country will link the One Stop Centres being established. The
Department of Telecommunication has allocated the number 181
to all States/UTs for Women Helpline
 Mahila Police Volunteers (MPVs) will act as a link between police
and community and help women in distress. Haryana has become
the first state to start the Mahila Police Volunteer scheme.
Telangana- SHE teams.
Harassment at work place:
 SHe-Box Online Complaint Management System for working
women to lodge complaints of sexual harassment at workplace
 In order to ensure the effective implementation of the Sexual
Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act, 2013, the government has launched an online

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complaint management system titled Sexual Harassment

electronic –Box (SHe-Box) for registering complaints related to
sexual harassment at workplace of all women employees in the
country, including government and private employees. So far, 107
complaints have been received through portal 'SHe-box'.
 The portal 'SHe-box' is an effort of the government to provide a
single window access to every women, irrespective of her work
status, whether working in organised or unorganised, private or
public sector, to facilitate the registration of complaints related to
sexual harassment.
Way forward:

1. wide publicity through national, regional and local media as well

as through electronic media to create awareness regarding the
redressal mechanism among people is the need of the day
particularly for the weaker sections of the society, women and
those challenged with handicaps and also the people living in
remote areas.
2. grievance-handling system should be accessible, simple, quick,
fair, responsive and effective
3. the language and the content of various application/complaint
forms should be user-friendly, and should be widely available in
various outlets, like post offi ces, on websites for downloading etc
4. t time limits should be fixed for approval or rejection of
applications on the basis of well-publicized and uniformly applied
criteria. Also, redressal should be done within a reasonable time
period as prescribed for each stage of redressal without indulging
in lengthy technicalities of the procedure
5. internal grievance redressal methods available in various
Ministries/ Departments and the organisations should be
strengthened or restructured in a way like both the representative
of the organisation and the aggrieved party must be present before

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the designated authority and the grievance is settled then and

there
6. there is a need to bring about a total change in the
attitude/behaviour of public servants or in other words, the mind
set towards redressal of public grievances at all levels and to
pinpoint responsibility for action against grievances of the people
7. monitoring is one of the most important aspects of PGR system
and there must be a separate unit in each and every Ministry /
department which caters to the needs of the citizens or a
computerized system like PGRAMS should be used
8. the Public Grievance Redressal Mechanism should be envisaged in
a statutory form on the line of the Right to Information Act, 2005
which would make it mandatory on all State
Governments/UTs/Ministries/Departments/Organisations to
pursue the grievance till their final disposal

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Right to Information act:

Right to Information (RTI) Act was introduced in 2005. RTI proved to be
landmark reform in public grievance redressal because it put the onus of
redressal on the official dealing with the particular issue and also
introduced a penalty clause.
 It forced the concerned official to address the grievance in a time
bound manner but also reduce corruption and enforced a situation
of accountability
 Introduction Year 2020 marks 15 years of the enactment of the
Right to Information (RTI) law, which has empowered millions to
assert their citizenship and show truth to power. It was a vibrant
grassroots movement, led not just by the educated elite but the
working poor across the country, that eventually resulted in the
passage of the historic law in 2005.
 RTI as Fundamental right: The right to information has been
upheld by the Supreme Court as a fundamental right flowing from
Article 19 of the Constitution, which guarantees every citizen the
right to free speech and expression.
 RTI help formulates opinion: Without access to relevant
information, people‘s ability to formulate opinions and express
themselves meaningfully is curtailed.
 Accountability: Since its enactment, the RTI law has been used by
people to seek information to actively participate in decision-
making processes and hold governments accountable. In
recognition of the need for transparency in public affairs, the
Indian Parliament enacted the Right to Information Act in 2005. It
is a path breaking legislation empowering people and promoting
transparency. Evolution of RTI in INDIA
 The genesis of RTI law began in 1986, when the Supreme Court
ruled in the case of Mr. Kulwal vs. Jaipur Municipal Corporation,
that the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by
Article 19 of the Constitution specifically includes the right to
information, since freedom of speech and expression cannot be
completely exercised by people without information.
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 In 1990, the former Prime Minister of India, Shri. V.P. Singh,

proposed the RTI Act in India.
 Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) launched the first
grassroot movement for the implementation of RTI in 1994.
 National Campaign for People's RTI – Established in 1996, the
National Campaign for People's RTI drafted the first draft of RTI
legislation for the government.
 In 1997, Tamil Nadu became the first Indian state to enact RTI
legislation.
 Parliament passed the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act in 2002,
but it was never enforced. o The Freedom of Information Act (FOI)
was the forerunner of India's Right to Information Act of 2005. The
biggest flaw in this act was that it did not recognise the people's
right to information. As a result, it only allowed appeals inside
government entities.
 On the advice of the National Advisory Council (NAC), the bill for
the current RTI Act, 2005 was passed in May 2005, and the RTI
Act, 2005 went into effect on October 12, 2005. Salient features of
RTI Act, 2005 • Section 1(2): It applies to the entire country of
India.
 Section- 2 (f): It talks about the means of information.
 Section 2(h): "Public authority" means any authority or body or
institution of self government established or constituted— o by or
under the Constitution; o by any other law made by the
Parliament/State Legislature. o by notification issued or order
made by the appropriate Government, and includes any— o body
owned, controlled or substantially financed;
 non-Government organisation substantially financed, directly or
indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government.
 Section- 2(j) : "Right to Information" means the right to information
accessible under this Act which is held by or under the control of
any public authority.

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 Section 4 of the RTI Act requires suo motu disclosure of

information by each public authority
 . • Section 8 (1) mentions exemptions against furnishing
information under the RTI Act.
 Section 8 (2) provides for disclosure of information exempted
under Official Secrets Act, 1923 if larger public interest is served.
 The Act also provides for appointment of Information
Commissioners at Central and State level. Public authorities have
designated some of its officers as Public Information Officer. They
are responsible to give information to a person who seeks
information under the RTI Act.
 Time period: In normal course, information to an applicant is to be
supplied within 30 days from the receipt of application by the
public authority.

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTATION OF RTI

• RTI is crippled by rising backlog: Fifteen years after the Right to
Information (RTI) Act came into force, more than 2.2 lakh cases are
pending at the Central and State Information Commissions, which are
the final courts of appeal under the transparency law.
 High pendency: A report card brought out by the Satark Nagrik
Sangathan and the Centre for Equity Studies found that
Maharashtra had the highest number of pending appeals, with
over 59,000 cases, followed by Uttar Pradesh (47,923) and the CIC
(35,653). o Slow disposal: At the current rate of disposal, the
Odisha Commission would take more than seven years to dispose
of all pending complaints, while the CIC would take more than
two years.
 Most Commissions are functioning at reduced capacity: Under the
law, every commission should have a chief and up to 10
commissioners. The report card on the Performance of
Information Commissions in India, released by Satark Nagrik
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 69

Sangathan (SNS) and the Centre for Equity Studies (CES) in

October 2020 - Functioning without chief: The report card revealed
that nine out of 29 information commissions (31%) in the country
were functioning without a chief information commissioner. -
Defunct commissions: Odisha is functioning with just four
commissioners, while Rajasthan has only three. Jharkhand and
Tripura have no commissioners at all, and have been defunct for
months.
 Reluctance to impose penalties: RTI Act empowers (Section 20 of
the RTI Act)the ICs to impose penalties of up to Rs 25,000 on
erring public information officers (PIOs) as a deterrent against
wrongful refusal to provide information, ―ICs imposed penalty in
an extremely small fraction of the cases in which penalty was
imposable‖ and ―commissions appear to be reluctant to even ask
the PIOs to give their justification for not complying with the law.
o The actual penalties were only imposed in 3.8% of cases where
they could have been imposed.
 Lack of transparency: It said much of the information sought as
part of the assessment should have been available in the annual
reports of these panels. However, 25 out of 29 ICs (86%) did not
publish their annual report for 2019 and the Punjab SIC was found
to have not published its annual report since 2012 while the
Uttarakhand SIC had not published it since 2014. o Also, the
assessment said 19% of Information Commissions had not made
their latest annual report available on their website.
 No valid reason stated for rejection of RTI plea: The Centre has
only rejected 4.3% of all Right to Information (RTI) requests in
2019-20.However, almost 40% of these rejections did not include
any valid reason, as they did not invoke one of the permissible
exemption clauses in the RTI Act. This includes 90% of rejections
by the Prime Minister‘s Office.
 Denial of information: Section 8(1)(j) permits denial of access to
personal information if disclosure has no relationship to any
public activity or public interest or is likely to cause unwarranted
invasion of the privacy of the individual concerned. One third of
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all permissible rejections invoked this clause. o Exemptions from

sharing information: Section 24 of the Act which exempts
information related to security and intelligence organisations —
except allegations of corruption and human rights violations —
was also frequently used, with one in five permissible rejections
coming under this category.
 The Agriculture Ministry has denied a Right to Information (RTI)
request for details on prelegislative consultations on the farm
reform laws, saying the matter is sub judice.
 Killing of RTI activists: The factor that dilutes the Act is the killing
of RTI activists across the country, with Maharashtra and Gujarat
leading the way.
 Lack of diversity in appointments: Section 12 (5) of the RTI Act
states that the commissioners be selected from among ―persons of
eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in
law, science and technology, social service, management,
journalism, mass media or administration and governance.‖ But in
reality, 84% of CICs are from bureaucratic backgrounds, including
65% retired IAS officers.
 Constraints faced in inspection of records: Under the Act, the
information is to be provided in the form requested unless it
would disproportionately divert the resources of the public
authority. The inadequate training of the PIOs and APIOs creating
hindrance to utilize this provision effectively.
 Constraints faced in filing applications: There has been non-
availability of user guides. Lack of user guide results in undue
hardship to information seekers to gather knowledge about the
process for submitting a RTI request.
 Poor Quality of Information: Due to lack of infrastructure and
adequate processes to comply with the RTI Act, the quality of
information provided is very low. The information provided is
either incomplete or lacks the substantial data. Supply side
challenges:

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 Lack of Behavioural Training: RTI is an evolving act, resulting in

new dimensions being added routinely. Hence, RTI refresher
training or a central knowledge repository needs to be available to
the PIOs.
 Lack of monitoring and review mechanism: There is no centralized
database of RTI applicants. A centralized database of applicants
with their information requests and responses from information
providers will enable the PIOs to send an accurate and timely
compilation under Sec. 25(1).
 There have been inadequate processes and records available with
the Information Commissions to monitor and review the working
of the various Public Authorities and initiate steps to make them
comply with the spirit of the Act.
 Weakening of CIC office: The RTI Act (Amendment) Act, 2019
gives the central government the power to fix the terms and the
service conditions of the Information Commissioners both at
central and state levels.
 By vesting excessive powers with the central government, this
amendment has hampered the autonomy of CIC.
 The RTI Act does not seek to make the Information Commission a
constitutional body.
 Use of official secrets act 1923 and denying information on pretext
of National security:
 Recently the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
refused to answer queries over notice given to twitter citing that
Section 69A of the IT Act and its matters ―are related to National
Security, sovereignty and integrity‖ of the country, it attracted the
provisions of Section 8(1)(a) of the RTI Act.
 The free flow of information in India remains severely restricted
by the legislative framework including several pieces of restrictive
legislation, such as the Official Secrets Act, 1923.

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15 Years of RTI

A report by the Satark Nagrik Sangathan and the Centre for Equity
Studies has pointed out that more than 2.2 lakh Right to
information cases are pending at the Central and State Information
Commissions (ICs), which are the final courts of appeal under the RTI
Act, 2005.

 Unavailability during Covid-19 lockdown: Out of the total 29 ICs

that were studied, 21 were not holding any hearings.

o Even the websites of 3 ICs -Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and

Nagaland -were not accessible during the lockdown.
o Websites of 11 commissions out of 29, had no
information/notification about the functioning of the IC
during the lockdown.
 Reduced Capacity: Of the 29 ICs, two ICs -Jharkhand and Tripura -
were found to have no commissioners for varying lengths of time.
They were completely defunct.

o 4 were functioning without a Chief Information

Commissioner -Bihar, Goa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
o Under the RTI 2005 act, every commission should have a
chief and up to 10 commissioners.
 Delays and Backlogs: The assessment found that on average, the
CIC takes 388 days (more than one year) to dispose of an
appeal/complaint from the date that it was filed before the
commission.

o The highest number of pending appeals, with over 59,000

cases were in Maharashtra, followed by Uttar Pradesh and
the Central Information Commissions (CIC).

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 No Penalties: The report found that the Government officials face

hardly any punishment for violating the law.

o Penalties were imposed in only 2.2% of cases that were

disposed of, despite previous analysis showing a rate of
about 59% violations which should have triggered the
process of penalty imposition.
Suggestions

 The government must ensure the timely appointment of chiefs and

members of ICs.

o The increasing backlog of cases is exacerbated by the fact

that most Commissions are functioning at reduced
capacity.
 It is absolutely critical that all information commissions
conduct timely and effective hearings and disposal of cases to
ensure people can exercise their fundamental right to information.

o Commissions should hold hearings telephonically. Where

possible, video calls can be set up.
 There should be a prioritization of cases dealing with information
related to life and liberty. Information regarding matters like food
distribution, social security, health and COVID 19-related issues
should be proactively disclosed.

o Section 7(1) of the RTI Act states that information

concerning the life or liberty of a person has to be
supplied within 48 hours of the request being received.
o Section 4 of the RTI Act requires suo motu disclosure of
information by each public authority.
 Urgent digitization of records and proper record management is
important as lack of remote access to records in the lockdown has
been widely cited as the reason for not being able to conduct
hearings of appeals and complaints by commissions.

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o Governments should put in place a mechanism for online

filing of RTI applications.
 Ensure prompt and timely response: All information
commissions must put in place necessary mechanisms to ensure
prompt and timely response to information requests filed to
them.
 The RTI applications must be disposed off within the statutory
time limit provided under the Act with complete and
comprehensive information.
 Ensure relevant information of its functioning: Each
information commission must ensure that relevant information
about its functioning is displayed on its website. This must
include information about the receipt and disposal of appeals
and complaints, number of pending cases, and orders passed by
commissions. The information should be updated in real time.
 Ensure submission of annual reports: Information commissions
must ensure that, as legally required, they submit their annual
report to the Parliament/state assemblies in a reasonable time.
Violations should be treated as contempt of Parliament or
legislature, as appropriate
 Mechanism for online filing: ICs in collaboration with
appropriate government should put place a mechanism for
online filing of RTI applications, along the lines of the web
portal set up by the central government (rtionline.gov.in).
Further, the online portals should also provide facilities for
electronic filing of first appeals, and second appeals/complaints
to the information commissions.
 Balancing with Privacy Right: This right is enshrined within the
spirit of Article 21 of the Constitution. The right to information
must be balanced with the right to privacy within the
framework of law.
 Open Data Policy: Government institutions should put all
disclosable information on their respective websites. By this, the
petitioners may immediately access whatever information they
need. Example: Jan soochna portal

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 The Public Information Commissioners must be given adequate

training to be cooperative enough towards the Information
seekers. External agency must be appointed to train the officers
within and beyond the Act
PYQ on this topic
―Recent amendments to the Right to information Act will have
profound impact on the autonomy and independence of the
Information Commission‖. Discuss.

Consumer protection act, 2019

The act aims to address consumer vulnerabilities to new forms of unfair
trade and unethical business practices in the fast-changing new age
economy.
Key features of the act:
1. A consumer is defined as a person who buys any good or avails a
service. It covers transactions through all modes including offline, and
online, teleshopping, etc.
2. Act defines various ―consumer rights‖ like protection against the
marketing of goods, products or services which are hazardous to the life,
the right to consumer awareness, right to to be informed about the
quality of goods/services.
3. Central Consumer Protection Authority will be set up to promote,
protect and enforce consumer rights.
4. Consumer Disputes Redressal Commissions will be set up at the
District, State and National levels for adjudicating consumer complaints.
District: Up to Rs one crore; State: Between Rs one crore and up to Rs 10
crore; National: above Rs 10 crore
5. Product liability means the liability of a product manufacturer,
service provider or seller to compensate a consumer for any harm or
injury caused by a defective good or deficient service.
6. The Act recognizes and addresses the menace of unilateral and
unfair contracts

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 Rules on E-commerce and Unfair Trade Practices: The

government will notify the Consumer Protection (E-
commerce) Rules, 2020 under the Act whose broad provisions
are given below.

 E-commerce entities are required to provide information to

consumers, relating to return, refund, exchange, warranty and
guarantee, delivery and shipment, modes of payment, grievance
redressal mechanism, payment methods, security of payment
methods, charge-back options and country of origin.

o These are necessary for enabling the consumer to make

an informed decision at the pre-purchase stage.
 These platforms will have to acknowledge the receipt of any
consumer complaint within 48 hours and redress the
complaint within one month from the date of receipt. They will
also have to appoint a grievance officer for consumer grievance
redressal.
 The Consumer Protection (E-commerce) Rules, 2020
are mandatory and are not advisories.
 Sellers cannot refuse to take back goods or withdraw services
or refuse refunds, if such goods or services are defective,
deficient, delivered late, or if they do not meet the description
on the platform.
 The rules also prohibit the e-commerce companies from
manipulating the price of the goods or services to gain
unreasonable profit through unjustified prices.
Product Liability:

 A manufacturer or product service provider or product seller

will be held responsible to compensate for injury or
damage caused by defective product or deficiency in services
Basis for product liability action:

o Manufacturing defect.

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o Design defect.
o Deviation from manufacturing specifications.
o Not conforming to express warranty.
o Failing to contain adequate instructions for correct use.
o Service provided-faulty, imperfect or deficient.
 Punishment for Manufacture or Sale of Adulterated/Spurious
Goods:

 In case of the first conviction, a competent court may suspend

any licence issued to the person for a period of up to two
years and in case of second or subsequent conviction,
may cancel the licence permanently.
Alternate Dispute Resolution Mechanism of Mediation:

 A complaint will be referred by a Consumer Commission for

mediation, wherever scope for early settlement exists and
parties agree for it.
 The mediation will be held in the Mediation Cells which will be
established under the aegis of the Consumer Commissions.
 There will be no appeal against settlement through mediation.
Simplification of the Consumer Dispute Adjudication Process:

 Empowering the State and District Commissions to

review their own orders.
 Enabling a consumer to file complaints electronically and in
consumer commissions that have jurisdiction over the place of
his residence.
 Video-conferencing for hearing and deemed admissibility of
complaints if the question of admissibility is not decided within
the specified period of 21 days.

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E governance:

The ―e‖ in e-Governance stands for ‗electronic‘. Thus, e-Governance is

basically associated with carrying out the functions and achieving the
results of governance through the utilization of what has today come to
be known as ICT (Information and Communications Technology).
accountability.

According to the World Bank, ―E-Government refers to the use by

government agencies of information technologies that have the ability to
transform relations with citizens, businesses, and other arms of
government. These technologies can serve a variety of different ends:
better delivery of government services to citizens, improved interactions

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with business and industry, citizen empowerment through access to

information, or more efficient government management. The resulting
benefits can be less corruption, increased transparency, greater
convenience, revenue growth, and/ or cost reductions.‖

Types of Interactions in e-Governance:

G2G (Government to Government): This kind of interaction is only

within the sphere of government and can be both horizontal i.e. between
different government agencies as well as between different functional
areas within an organisation, or vertical i.e. between national, provincial
and local government agencies as well as between different levels within
an organisation

G2C (Government to Citizens): It gives citizens the choice of when to

interact with the government (e.g. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week), from
where to interact with the government

G2B (Government to Business) –The G2B initiatives can be

transactional, such as in licensing, permits, procurement and revenue
collection. They can also be promotional and facilitative, such as in
trade, tourism and investment

G2E (Government to Employees): This interaction is a two-way process

between the organisation and the employee.

The four pillars of e-Government are:

• People
• Process
• Technology

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• Resources

Benefits of e-Governance:

1. Better access to information and quality services for citizens:

ICT would make available timely and reliable information on
various aspects of governance.
2. Simplicity, efficiency and accountability in the government:
Application of ICT to governance combined with detailed
business process reengineering would lead to simplification of
complicated processes, weeding out of redundant processes,
simplification in structures and changes in statutes and
regulations
3. Expanded reach of governance: This enhancement of the reach of
government – both spatial and demographic – would also enable
better participation of citizens in the process of governance

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The goals of e-Governance are:

a. better service delivery to citizens
b. Ushering in transparency and accountability
c. Empowering people through information
d. Improved efficiency within Governments
e. Improve interface with business and industry.

e-Governance : Initiatives in India

Government to Citizen (G2C) Initiatives:

1. Computerisation of Land Records (Department of Land Resources,

Government of India):
From 1994-95 onwards, it was implemented in collaboration with the
NIC.

The main objectives of the scheme were:

i. Ensuring that landowners get computerized copies of
ownership, crop and tenancy and updated copies of Records of
Rights (RoRs) on demand.

ii. Realizing low-cost and easily-reproducible basic land record

data through reliable and durable preservation of old records.

iii. Ensuring accuracy, transparency and speedy dispute

resolution.

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iv. Facilitating fast and efficient retrieval of information for

decision making

v. According legal sanctity to computer-generated certificates of

land records after authentication by the authorized revenue
official

vi. Setting up a comprehensive land information system for better

land-based planning and utilization of land resources.

vii. Focusing on citizen-centric services related to land and revenue

administration

Lessons:
i. The scheme failed to address the main problem in case of land
records in India, i.e. the land records do not reflect the factual
ground reality. Computerisation of existing land records without
corroborating it with the actual field position only led to
perpetuation of existing loopholes and errors.

ii. Complex e-Governance projects have various components all of

which need to be implemented for which a holistic approach is
needed during implementation.
iii.
2. Bhoomi Project in Karnataka : Online Delivery of Land Records
 Bhoomi is a self-sustainable e-Governance project for the
computerized delivery of 20 million rural land records to 6.7
million farmers through 177 Government-owned kiosks in the
State of Karnataka
 rural land records are central conduits to delivering better IT-
enabled services to citizens because they contain multiple data
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elements: ownership, tenancy, loans, nature of title, irrigation

details, crops grown etc
 The need for a project such as Bhoomi was felt for the following
reasons:
1. In the traditional system, land records were not open for public
scrutiny resulting in manipulation and favouritism.
2. The process for applying for transfer of title was cumbersome, time
consuming and prone to harassment.
3. There were instances of Government land being illegally transferred
in the name of influential persons.
4. It was not possible for the administrators to procure, collate and
analyse data from the manually maintained records.
5. Land records offered a unique opportunity to make people in the
rural areas aware of the benefits of e-Governance. A number of
benefits were attached with successful implementation of such
projects: for example, the sanction of crop loans, since banks would
insist on production of land records; reducing delay in the disposal of
court litigation due to non-availability of records etc.
The Bhoomi project is a noteworthy effort and sets an example for other
projects in its approach towards piloting a project, as well as its rolling
out and sustenance. It may be mentioned here that manually written
Records of Right, Tenancy and Cultivation (RTC) have been declared
illegal

Lessons:
1. A well conceptualized and executed BPR is a pre-requisite for success
of e-Governance projects.
2. There should be end-to-end computerization.
3. Large e-Governance projects, having large scale impact require total
support at the political level.
4. Continuity in the Project Management team helps in proper
implementation of e-Governance projects.
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5. If benefits to citizens are real and substantial, projects become

sustainable.
6. A holistic approach is necessary for e-Governance. Adequate time
and resources need to be devoted in conceptualization,
implementation and maintenance of projects.
7. Systems should have a strong back-up mechanism.

Gyandoot (Madhya Pradesh):

Gyandoot is an Intranet-based Government to Citizen (G2C) service
delivery initiative. It was initiated in the Dhar district of Madhya
Pradesh in January 2000 with the twin objective of providing relevant
information to the rural population and acting as an interface between
the district adm s.
The services offered through the Gyandoot network include
i. Daily agricultural commodity rates (mandi bhav)
ii. Income certificate
iii. Domicile certificate
iv. Caste certificate
v. Rural Hindi newspaper
vi. Public grievance redressal
vi. Rural Hindi email vii. BPL family list
There is a prescribed service charge for each service which is displayed
at each kiosk along with the information about the expected delivery
time

power supply, connectivity, and backend support are the essential pre-
requisites for such projects and significant re-engineering of backend
processes and introduction of services that directly contribute to poverty
alleviation are needed to make such initiatives sustainable.
Lessons:

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1) Supporting infrastructure is a pre-requisite for e-Governance projects

2) User charges may act as a deterrent, especially in rural areas
3) The interface with the users should be simple and citizen-friendly
4) Technology should be tailored to the environment

Lokvani Project in Uttar Pradesh:

Lokvani is a public-private partnership project at Sitapur District in
Uttar Pradesh which was initiated in November, 2004. Its objective is to
provide a single window, self-sustainable, e-Governance solution with
regard to handling of grievances, land record maintenance and
providing a mixture of essential services.
The services offered by Lokvani are:
a. Availability of land records (khataunis) on the internet
b. Online registration, disposal and monitoring of public grievances
c. Information of various Government schemes
d. Online availability of prescribed Government forms
e. Online status of Arms License applications
g. Details of work done under MPLAD/Vidhayak Nidhi
h. Details of allotment of funds to Gram Sabhas under different
development schemes
i. Details of allotment of food grains to Kotedars (fair price shops)
Despite these bottlenecks, the response to this project has been
overwhelming. The main attraction for the citizens is the online
grievance redressal system. The Lokvani Centre enters the complaint on
behalf of the complainant. The user need not be literate or computer
expert to lodge his / her grievance
Lessons:
1) e-Governnance projects should be broken into components for the
purpose of implementation. Those components which lend
themselves to ICT should be taken up first.
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2) Reach of e-Governance projects can be enhanced through PPP

models which would also be cost effective.

Project FRIENDS in Kerala

 FRIENDS (Fast, Reliable, Instant, Efficient Network for the
Disbursement of Services) is a Single Window Facility providing
citizens the means to pay taxes and other financial dues to the
State Government.
 This project is a classic case of achieving front end computerized
service delivery to citizens without waiting for completion of back
end computerization in various government departments. This
project thus tries to avoid the complex issues involved in business
process re-engineering in the participating departments. In fact,
the FRIENDS counters are not even networked with the
participating departments/entities. Print-outs of payments made
through the counters are physically distributed to participating
entities for processing. To remove bottlenecks at the time of
processing, a government order was issued to treat a receipt from
a FRIENDS counter as equivalent to a receipt from the concerned
government entity

3. Digital India Land Record Modernization Program

About DILRMP

 The DILRMP was previously known as the National Land Record

Modernization Programme (NLRMP).
 It was launched in 2008 with the purpose to digitize and
modernizing land records and developing a centralized land
record management system.
 The DILRMP is the amalgamation of two projects:

1. Computerization of Land Records (CLR)

2. Strengthening of Revenue Administration and Updating of Land
Records (SRA & ULR)

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 The district will be taken as the unit of implementation, where all

activities under the programme will converge.

Components of DILRMP
The DILRMP has 3 major components

1. Computerization of land record

2. Survey/re-survey
3. Computerization of Registration

Key features: Unique Land Parcel Identification Numbers

 It is just like the Aadhar Number of land parcels.

 A unique ID based on Geo-coordinates of the parcels is generated
and assigned to the plots.
 This has been introduced to share the computerized digital land
record data among different States/Sectors and a uniform system
of assigning a unique ID to the land parcel across the country.

Benefits offered

The citizen is expected to benefit from DILRMP in one or more of the

following ways;

 Real-time land ownership records will be available to the citizen

 Property owners will have free access to their records without any
compromise in regard to the confidentiality of the information
 Abolition of stamp papers and payment of stamp duty and
registration fees through banks, etc. will also reduce interface with
the Registration machinery
 These records will be tamper-proof
 This method will permit e-linkages to credit facilities

Government to Business Initiatives

MCA 21

Objective

The MCA21 application is designed to fully automate all processes

related to the proactive enforcement and compliance of the legal
requirements under the Companies Act, 1956, New Companies Act, 2013

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and Limited Liability Partnership Act, 2008. This will help the business
community to meet their statutory obligations.

Benefits

The MCA21 application offers the following.

1. Enables the business community to register a company and file

statutory documents quickly and easily.
2. Provides easy access of public documents
3. Helps faster and effective resolution of public grievances
4. Helps registration and verification of charges easily
5. Ensures proactive and effective compliance with relevant laws and
corporate governance
6. Enables the MCA employees to deliver best of breed services

Services offered

1. Obtain Digital Signature Certificate -

2. Apply for Director Identification Number (DIN) -
3. View master details of any company/LLP registered with
Registrar of Companies -
4. e-Filing for Limited liability partnership (LLP) –

1. Government to Government (G2G) Initiatives:

 Khajane Project in Karnataka: It is a comprehensive online

treasury computerization project of the Government of Karnataka.
The project has resulted in the computerization of the entire
treasury related activities of the State Government and the system
has the ability to track every activity right from the approval of the
State Budget to the point of rendering accounts to the government.
 SmartGov (Andhra Pradesh): SmartGov has been developed to
streamline operations, enhance efficiency through workflow
automation and knowledge management for implementation in
the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat

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National E-governance Plan

The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) has been formulated by the

Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) and
Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG)
in 2006.

The NeGP aims at improving delivery of Government services to

citizens and businesses with the following vision: ―Make all
Government services accessible to the common man in his locality,
through common service delivery outlets and ensure efficiency,
transparency & reliability of such services at affordable costs to realise
the basic needs of the common man.‖

Recent Initiatives

Direct Cash transfer

 To facilitate disbursements of Government entitlements like

NREGA, Social Security pension, Handicapped Old Age Pension
etc. of any Central or State Government bodies, using Aadhaar and
authentication thereof as supported by UIDAI.

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Aadhar Enabled Payment system (AEPS) :

AEPS is a bank led model which allows online interoperable financial
inclusion transaction through the Business correspondent of any bank
using the Aadhaar authentication. This has helped in financial inclusion.
The four Aadhaar enabled basic types of banking transactions are as
follows:-

 Balance Enquiry
 Cash Withdrawal
 Cash Deposit
 Aadhaar to Aadhaar Funds Transfer
 Digital India program

The Digital India is transformational in nature and would ensure that

Government services are available to citizens electronically. It would
also bring in public accountability through mandated delivery of
government‘s services electronically, a Unique ID and e-Pramaan based
on authentic and standard based interoperable and integrated
government applications and data basis.

The program aims at providing digital infrastructure as a utility to every

citizen as well as high-speed internet as a core utility in all gram
panchayats. The overall scope of this program is ―to prepare India for a
knowledge future‖, ―to make technology central to enabling change‖
and ―to become an umbrella program covering many departments‖

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 MyGov citizen portal

Prime Minister launched an online platform mygov.nic.in to engage

citizens in the task of ―good governance‖ ( surajya ) as he completed 60
days in office on Saturday. MyGov is a technology-driven platform that
would provide people with the opportunity to contribute towards good
governance.

 Digital Cloud for every Indian

Certificates issued by the government — education, residential, medical

records, birth certificates, etc. — are to be stored in individual ‗digital
lockers‘ and a communication protocol established for government
departments to access them without physically having to see the hard
copy. The purpose of government is that copies of certificates issued by
the government itself not to be carried around by people to government
offices for various services.

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M-governance

M-Governance is not a replacement for e-Governance, rather it

complements e- Governance. M-Governance, is the use of mobile or
wireless to improve Governance service and information ―anytime,
anywhere‖. Mobile applications also rely on good back office ICT
infrastructure and work processes. It has potential of using mobile
phones as input devices in certain areas where last mile connectivity
becomes issues for simple data inputs of critical importance for decision
making in government departments.

M-Governance is not a new concept. The private sector has been greatly
leveraging these of mobile phones for delivery of value added services
for the following which however are mostly SMS based: Banking,
Media, Airlines, Telecom, Entertainment, News, Sports, Astrology, and
Movie Tickets Etc.

M-governance has increased the productivity of public service

personnel, improving the delivery of government information and

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services, increasing channels for public interactions and Lower costs

leading to higher participation of people.
Recent thrust to m-governance is being provided through USSD
Services Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD) is a session
based service unlike sms which is store and forward service. It can be
used by the user to send command to an application in text format.
USSD acts as a trigger for the application
Government initiatives for m-governance

Mobile Seva

 It aims to provide government services to the people through

mobile phones and tablets. It has been developed as the core
infrastructure for enabling the availability of public services
through mobile devices.
 Mobile Seva enables the integration of the mobile platform with
the common e-Governance infrastructure consisting of State Data
Centers (SDCs), State Wide Area Networks (SWANs), State and
National Service Delivery Gateways (SSDGs/NSDG).
 It enables a government department to integrate both web and
mobile based services seamlessly and enhances the access to
electronic services tremendously leveraging the very high
penetration of mobile phones, especially in rural areas
 A Mobile Applications Store (m-App Store) has also been
developed by DeitY as part of Mobile Seva. The Mobile
Governance Portal and the m-App Store can be accessed at
http://mgov.gov.in/. The m-Appstore currently hosts over 240
live mobile applications. The live applications can be downloaded
and installed free of cost on a mobile phone by any person.
 The project, ―mobile seva‖ has won the second prize at the
prestigious United Nations‘ Public Services Awards in the
category ―Promoting Whole of Government Approaches in the
Information Age‖ for Asia Pacific.

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 A few years ago, Kerala launched ‗Dr. SMS,‘ an m-health

information system, for providing information on medical facilities
available in the locality of the resident.
 Goa followed, with a mobile governance initiative for issuing
alerts for receipt of government applications and complaints and
status tracking.
 Next came Maharashtra. It adopted a similar traffic management
system through mobile alerts.
 A laudable initiative launched by the Greater Hyderabad
Municipal Corporation in September tries to use technology in a
mobile phone-based Intelligent Garbage Monitoring System
enables sanitary supervisors to report the status of cleaning of
garbage bins through
 their GPS-enabled mobile phones. Centralised reports as well as
those of individual bins can be generated with the system.

e-Kranti – Electronic delivery of service

Objectives

The objectives of ‗e-Kranti‘ are as follows:

 To redefine NeGP with transformational and outcome-oriented e-

Governance initiatives
 To enhance the portfolio of citizen centric services
 To ensure optimum usage of core Information & Communication
Technology (ICT)
 To promote rapid replication and integration of e-Governance
applications
 To leverage emerging technologies
 To make use of more agile implementation models

Key principles of e-Kranti

 Transformation and not Translation – All project proposals in e –

Kranti must involve a substantial transformation in the quality,
quantity and manner of delivery of services and significant
enhancement in productivity and competitiveness.
 Integrated Services and not Individual Services – A common
middleware and integration of the back-end processes and

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processing systems are required to facilitate integrated service

delivery to citizens.
 Government Process Reengineering (GPR) – To mandate GPR as
the essential first step in all new MMPs without which a project
may not be sanctioned. The degree of GPR should be assessed and
enhanced for the existing MMPs.
 ICT Infrastructure on Demand – Government departments
should be provided with ICT infrastructures, such as connectivity,
cloud and mobile platform on demand. In this regard, National
Information Infrastructure (NII), which is at an advanced stage of
project formulation, would be fast-tracked by DeitY.
 Cloud by Default – The flexibility, agility and cost-effectiveness
offered by cloud technologies would be fully leveraged while
designing and hosting applications. Government Cloud shall be
the default cloud for Government Departments.
 Mobile First – All applications are designed/ redesigned to enable
delivery of services through mobile.
 Fast Tracking Approvals – To establish a fast – track approval
mechanism for MMPs, once the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of a
project is approved by the Competent Authority, empowered
committees may be constituted with delegated powers to take all
subsequent decisions
 Mandating Standards and Protocols – Use of e-Governance
standards and protocols as notified by DeitY be mandated in all e-
governance projects
 Language Localization – It is imperative that all information and
services in e-Governance projects are available in Indian languages
as well.
 National GIS (Geo-Spatial Information System) – NGIS to be
leveraged as a platform and as a service in e-Governance projects.
 Security and Electronic Data Preservation – All online
applications and e-services to adhere to prescribed security
measures including cyber security. The National Cyber Security
Policy 2013 notified by DeitY must be followed.

 The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP)

 The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), takes a holistic view of e-
Governance initiatives across the country, integrating them into a
collective vision, a shared cause. Around this idea, a massive

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countrywide infrastructure reaching down to the remotest of

villages is evolving, and large-scale digitization of records is
taking place to enable easy, reliable access to the internet.
 Further, with a vision to transform e-Governance for transforming
Governance and keeping in view the need to utilize emerging
technologies such as Cloud and Mobile Platform and focus on the
integration of services, the Government has proposed to
implement ―e-Kranti: National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) 2.0‖
under the Digital India programme.
DIGITAL INDIA INITIATIVES

 It is an umbrella program to prepare India for a knowledge-based

transformation.It weaves together a large number of ideas and
thoughts into a single comprehensive vision so that each of themis
seen as part of a larger goal.
 It has been launched by the Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology (Meity).

Vision Areas

 Digital infrastructure as Utility to Every Citizen

 Governance and services on demand
 Digital empowerment of citizens

9 pillars of Digital India

Broadband –highways

Public Internet – Access Programme

Information – For everyone

Early Harvest – program

Universal Access – to phones

IT for jobs – Electronic delivery of jobs

E-Kranti – Electronic Delivery of Services

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E-governance – Reforming Government through technology

Electronic – manufacturing target NET ZERO import

Advantages of e-governance

Following are the advantages of E-Governance

 Speed: Technology makes communication speedier. Internet,

Phones, Cell Phones have reduced the time taken in normal
communication.
 Cost Reduction: Most of the Government expenditure is
appropriated towards the cost of stationary. Paper-based
communication needs lots of stationary, printers, computers, etc.
which calls for continuous heavy expenditure. Internet and Phones
makes communication cheaper saving valuable money for the
Government.
 Transparency: Use of ICT makes governing profess transparent.
All the information of the Government would be made available
on the internet. The citizens can see the information whenever they
want to see. But this is only possible when every piece of
information of the Government is uploaded on the internet and is

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available for the public to peruse. Current governing process

leaves many ways to conceal the information from all the people.
ICT helps make the information available online eliminating all the
possibilities of concealing of information.
 Accountability: Once the governing process is made transparent
the Government is automatically made accountable.
Accountability is answerability of the Government to the people. It
is the answerability for the deeds of the Government. An
accountable Government is a responsible Government.
 Convenience: E-Government brings public services to citizens on their
schedule and their venue.
 Improved Customer Service: E-Government allows to redeploy
resources from back-end processing to the front line of customer service.
 Increased access to information: E-Government improves the
accessibility of government information to citizens allowing it become an
important resource in the making the decisions that affect daily life and so
it helps in empowerment of citizens

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Disadvantages of e-governance

 Electronic governments also consist on certain disadvantage. The

main disadvantage of an electronic government is to move the
government services into an electronic based system. This system
loses the person to person interaction which is valued by a lot of
people.In addition, the implementation of an e-government service
is that, with many technology based services, it is often easy to
make the excuse (e.g. the server has gone down) that problems
with the service provided are because of the technology.The
implementation of an e government does have certain constraints.
Literacy of the users and the ability to use the computer, users who
do not know how to read and write would need assistance. An
example would be the senior citizens. In general, senior citizens do
not have much computer education and they would have to
approach a customer service officer for assistance. And also in case
of rural people, it gives scope for middle man, who distort the
information.Studies have shown that there is potential for a
reduction in the usability of government online due to factors such
as the access to Internet technology and usability of services and
the ability to access to computersEven though the level of
confidence in the security offered by government web sites are
high, the public are still concerned over security, fear of spam from
providing email addresses, and government retention of
transaction or interaction history. There has been growing concern
about the privacy of data being collected as part of UID project.
The security of cyber space and misuse of data is still holding back
the citizens to full adaptation of Aadhar card.

Challenges in e-governance

 There are large numbers of potential barriers in

the implementation of e-Governance. Some hindrance in the path
of implementation, like security, unequal access to the computer
technology by the citizen, high initial cost for setting up the e
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government solutions and resistance to change. Challenges

identified as trust, resistance to change, digital divide, cost and
privacy and security concerns.

Trust

 Trust can be defined along two dimensions: as an assessment of a

current situation, or as an innate personality traitor predisposition.
The implementation of public administration functions via e-
government requires the presence of two levels of trust. The first is
that the user must be confident, comfortable and trusting of the
tool or technology with which they will interact. The second
dimension of trust pertains to trust of the government].

 There has to be a balance between ensuring that a system prevents

fraudulent transactions and the burden that extensive checks can
take place on people who are honest.
 Recently, confidential information on military veterans
was compromised when a computer containing their personal
information was lost. This type of incident can erode trust and
user confidence in government systems. Trust, along with financial
security, are two critical factors limiting the adoption of e-
government services.

Resistance to change

 The innovation diffusion theory states that over time an

innovation will diffuse through a population, and the rate
of adoption will vary between those who adopt early, referred to
as early adopters and to those who adopt the innovation much
later, referred to as ―laggards.

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 The resistant to change phenomenon can explain much of the

hesitation that occurs on the part of constituents in moving from a
paper based to a Web-based system for interacting with
government.

 Citizens, employees and businesses can all have their biases with
respect to how transactions should be processed. However,
government entities and public policy administrators cannot
ignore the changes that occur as a result of the implementation of
information and communication technology (ICT

 Education about the value of the new systems is one step toward
reducing some of the existing resistance. It can also be particularly
useful for a leader or manager, to buy into the new system at an
early stage in the adoption process

Digital Divide
 The digital divide refers to the separation that exists between
individuals, communities, and businesses that have access to
information technology and those that do not have such access.
 Social, economic, infrastructural and ethno-linguistic indicators
provide explanations for the presence of the digital divide.
 Economic poverty is closely related to limited information
technology resources
 An individual living below poverty line does not afford a
computer for himself to harness the benefits of e-government and
other online services. As the digital divide narrows, broader
adoption of e-government in the public domain becomes possible.
Economic poverty is not the only cause of digital divide. It can also
be caused by the lack of awareness among the people. Even some
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of the economic stable people don‘t know about the scope of e -

governance.
 Awareness can only help to bring users to that service delivery
channel once. It cannot guarantee sustained use of the system
unless the system is also designed in such a way as to deliver
satisfactory outcome. Procedures need to be simplified to deliver
concrete benefits and clear guidelines provided to encourage their
use by the actual end users and reduce user‘s dependence
on middlemen/intermediaries

Cost

 Cost is one of the most important prohibiting factor that comes in

the path of e-governance implementation particularly in the
developing countries like India where most of the people living
below the poverty line. Elected officers and politician don‘t seem
to be interested in implementing e-governance

Privacy and Security

 There will be three basic levels of access exists for e-government

stakeholders: no access to a Web service; limited access to a Web-
service or full-access to a Web service, however when personal
sensitive data exists the formation of the security access policy is
a much more complex process with legal consideration. With the
implementation of e-government projects, effective measures must
be taken to protect sensitive personal information. A lack of clear
security standards and protocols can limit the development of
projects that contain sensitive information such as income, medical
history.

Conclusion

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 We have seen how the concept of e-governance and m-governance

has evolved in Indian scenario and how much it is required for
transparency and accountability on the part of government and at
the same time it is also a toll to increase the participation of people
in policy making by empowering them with the right information
at right time. The penetration of internet, telecommunication
services in India has increased in the last decade and this gives a
ray of hope to the citizens of India to fight with the long persisting
problems of poverty, corruption, regional disparity and
unemployment. But at the same time, due to slow pace of project
completion, red-tape and resistance from the side of government
employees and citizens too has not given the desired result.

Previous years questions:

1. Implementation of information and Communication
Technology (ICT) based Projects / Programmes usually
suffers in terms of certain vital factors. Identify these factors,
and suggest measures for their effective implementation

2. E-Governance is not only about utilization of the power of

new technology, but also much about critical importance of
the ‗use value‘ of information Explain.

The Representation of the People Act, 1950

RPA, 1950 Schedules

 The First Schedule: Allocation of seats in the House of the People

 The Second Schedule: Total number of seats in the Legislative
Assemblies

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 The Third Schedule: Allocation of seats in the Legislative

Councils
 The Fourth Schedule: Local authorities for purposes of elections
to Legislative Councils

 Key Provisions

o Lays down procedures for delimitation of

constituencies.
o Provides for the allocation of seats in the
House of the People and in the Legislative
Assemblies and Legislative Councils of
States.
o Lays procedure for the preparation of
electoral rolls and the manner of filling
seats.
o Lays down the qualification of voters.
 Delimiting Constituencies

o The President of India has been conferred the power

to amend orders delimiting constituencies, only
after consulting the ECI.
o In Lok Sabha, there is a reservation of seats
for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
o The ECI has the power to determine the
constituencies to be reserved for scheduled tribes in
the states of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and
Tripura.
 Allocation of seats: As far as possible, every state gets
representation in the Lok Sabha in proportion to its
population as per census figures.
 Electoral Rolls
 The 1950 Act permits the registration of persons in electoral rolls
who are ordinarily resident in a constituency and
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persons holding:

o Service qualification such as a member of armed forces,

member of the armed police force of a state, serving
outside the state, or central government employees posted
outside India.
o Certain offices in India declared by the President in
consultation with ECI.
o The wives of such persons are also deemed to be
ordinarily residing in India. There is a proposal for
making some provisions gender-neutral by replacing the
term ‗wife‘ with ‗spouse‘.
 Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)

o Each state to have a CEO nominated or designated by the

ECI in consultation with the state
government to supervise the election work in the State/
UTs.
o The ECI also nominates or designates an officer of the
state as the District Election Officer (DEO) in
consultation with the state government

 The DEO works under the overall superintendence

and control of the CEO.
 Electoral Registration Officer (ERO)

o The ERO is responsible for the preparation of the

electoral roll for each constituency
(parliamentary/assembly).
o An appeal against the order of the ERO during the update
of the electoral rolls now lies with District Magistrate.
 Returning Officer(RO)

o RO is responsible for the conduct of the election in a

constituency and returns an elected candidate.
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o The ECI nominates or designates an officer of the

government or local authority as the RO in consultation
with the state government.
 Power to make rules under the act is conferred to the
Central government, which can exercise this power
in consultation with the ECI.

o The Civil Courts have also been barred to question the

legality of any action of the ERO regarding revision of
electoral rolls.
 Voting Rights: In 2010, voting rights were extended to citizens of
India living abroad.

The Representation of the People Act (RPA),1951

Key Provisions

 It regulates the actual conduct of elections and by-elections.

 It provides administrative machinery for conducting elections.
 It deals with the registration of political parties.
 It specifies the qualifications and disqualifications for
membership of the Houses.
 It provides provisions to curb corrupt practices and other
offences.
 It lays down the procedure for settling doubts and disputes
arising out of elections.
Qualification for Contesting Elections in India

 The Parliament has laid down the following qualifications (for

contesting election) in the RPA,1951:

o A person must be an elector in the constituency.

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o The person must be a member of a Scheduled Caste or

Scheduled Tribe in any state/UTs if he/she wants to
contest a seat reserved for them.
o The minimum age for becoming an MLA/MPs (Lok
Sabha) is 25 years.

 At the panchayat and municipality levels, the

minimum age limit for contesting elections is 21
years.
 Right to Vote

o Apart from Article 326 of the Constitution ( that

guarantees the right to vote to every citizen above
the age of 18 years, unless disqualified by any
law), Section 62 of the RPA,1951 also ensures that
every person who is in the electoral roll of that
constituency is entitled to vote.
o One person can vote at one constituency
only and only for one time in a particular election.
o If a person is confined in a prison, whether under
a sentence of imprisonment or transportation, then
he is not eligible for voting, however, in the case
of preventive custody, he can vote.

 In 2014, the ECI had said that the person

under preventive custody had the right to
vote, but not under-trials and convicts.
 However, the Act allows those serving
sentences less than 2 years to contest
elections from prison.
 NOTA Option: None of the Above was introduced in the
ballot papers/ Electronic Voting Machine (EVMs) in General
Election to the State Assemblies in 2013.
 VVPAT: Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail is an
independent system attached with the EVMs that allows

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voters to verify that their votes are cast as intended. It was

introduced in 2013, after the SC allowed the ECI for the
‗requirement of free and fair elections‘ in its verdict in
the People‟s Union for Civil Liberties vs. Union of India case
(2013).
 Provisions Related to Political Parties: Every association or
body in order to become a political party must be registered
with the ECI whose decision regarding registration will
be final.

o Registered political parties, in course of time, can get

recognition as 'State Party‟ or National Party‟.
o Change in name and address of a registered
political party must be communicated to the ECI.
o The ECI can not derecognise a party.
 Voluntary Contributions

 Voluntary contributions by any person or company within India

( other than a government company) can be accepted by the
registered political party.

o A company can donate any amount of money to any

political party.
o There is no obligation of the company to report such
donations in its profit and loss account.
 It is mandatory for the political parties to submit to the ECI a list
of donations they received above Rs. 2,000.

o Political parties cannot receive more than Rs 2000 as cash

donations.
 Now, political parties are eligible to accept contributions
from foreign companies defined under the Foreign
Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010.
Declaration of Assets and Liabilities

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 Individuals contesting elections have to file

an affidavit, declaring their criminal records, assets & liabilities
and educational qualification.
 After getting elected, MPs are required to file a declaration of
assets and liabilities with the Speaker of Lok Sabha and the
Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
 These declarations have to be made by MPs within 90 days of
taking their seats in Parliament.
Right to Information

 Candidates need to furnish information whether he/she is

accused of any offence punishable with imprisonment of 2
years or more in a pending case or has been convicted of an
offence.
Voting Through Postal Ballot

 Any class of person can be notified by the ECI in consultation

with the concerned government which can give their votes by
postal ballot.
 Section 126 of the RPA, 1951

 48 hours before the polling ends or concludes, displaying of

any election matter by television or similar apparatus in a
constituency is prohibited.
 Section 126 is not applicable to the print media, news portals
and social media

o Section 126A prohibits the conduct of exit

poll and dissemination of its results during the period
mentioned.
Ceiling on Expenditure

 A candidate contesting polls in large states can spend up to Rs

70 lakh in the Lok Sabha election and Rs 28 lakh in an Assembly
election.
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Counting of Votes

 At every election where a poll is taken, the votes are counted by,
or under the supervision of the Returning Officer (RO), and
contesting candidate, his election agent and his counting agents.
 Destruction, loss, damage or tampering of ballot papers at the
time of counting must be reported by the RO to the ECI.
Corrupt Practices

 All government or non-government officials are included

within the scope of corrupt practices.
 Bribery: Any gift/offer/promise or gratification to any person
as a motive or reward.
 Undue Influence: Any direct or indirect interference/attempt to
interfere on the part of the candidate with the free exercise of
any electoral right.
 The publication by a candidate any statement of fact which
is false in relation to the personal character/conduct of any
candidate
 The hiring or procuring of any vehicle by a candidate of any
elector to or from any polling station.
Promoting Enmity

 Any person who promotes or attempts to promote on grounds

of religion, race, caste, community or language, feelings of
enmity or hatred between different classes of citizens of India
can be punished with imprisonment for a term which may
extend to 3 years.
 Prohibition of public meetings during a period of 48
hours ending with the hour fixed for the conclusion of the poll.
Disqualification of MPs and MLAs

 The RPA, 1951 lays down certain rules for disqualification of

MPs and MLAs.

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 Section 8 (3) of the Act states that if an MP or MLA is convicted

for any other crime and is sent to jail for 2 years or more, he/
she will be disqualified for 6 years from the time of release.

o Even if a person is on bail after the conviction and his

appeal is pending for disposal, he is disqualified from
contesting an election.
 Section 8(4) allowed convicted MPs, MLAs and MLCs to
continue in their posts, provided they appealed against their
conviction/sentence in higher courts within 3 months of the
date of judgment by the trial court.

o The Supreme Court in July 2013 struck down section 8(4)

of the RPA, 1951 and declared it ultra vires and held that
the disqualification takes place from the date of
conviction.
Judgements regarding RPA:

1. In ADR, 2002 case, the Supreme Court has made it mandatory for
candidates to provide a comprehensive list of information at the time of
filing nomination.

2. In Jan Chaukidari vs Union of India judgement, all those in lawful

police or judicial custody will forfeit their right to stand for election.

3. In Lily Thomas vs Union of India, the SC declared Section 8(4) of

the RP act, 1951, which allowed legislators a three-month window to
appeal against their conviction as unconstitutional.

4. With a view to bringing about purity in elections, the SC held that

a voter could exercise the option of negative voting and reject all
candidates as unworthy of being elected. The court directed the EC to
provide the NOTA button in the EVM.

5. SC in the case of Subramanian Swamy case has held that VVPAT is

indispensable for free and fair elections. In accordance to that, the SC
has directed the EC to equip EVMs with VVPAT systems.

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6. Supreme Court said that freebies promised by political parties in

manifestos shake the roots of free and fair polls and directed the Election
Commission to frame guidelines for regulating contents of manifestos.

7. The Allahabad high court stayed caste-based rallies in Uttar

Pradesh, above that will block off a key avenue that the major political
parties use to expand their support base, especially before elections.

8. In 2015, SC held that even after a Returning Officer has declared

the result, the election can be nullified if candidate has not disclosed
criminal records.

Challenges:
1. As per Section 8, a person is disqualified from contesting election
only on conviction by the court of law. Due to huge pendency of
cases in courts, conviction is getting delayed.
2. ECI has no power to call off election based on electoral offences,
these are tried in HC which leads to legal hassles and low
conviction. Even in corrupt practices which come under ECI do
not include provisions of paid media, hate speech, money power
etc.
3. RP act has not been successful in curbing the money and muscle
power. Muscle power has not even been defined by the act. Money
limit has often been breached using different means.
4. MCC is not legally enforceable and often parties do not agree
voluntarily on what is/are ethically right and wrong.
5. The section 126 of RPA currently prohibits publication of ads by
political parties in electronic media (TV, radio) and recently added
social media, 48 hours before voting ends. The ECI wants print
media to be included in Section 126 of the RP Act
6. False Disclosures: Even after the provision of the declaration of
assets and liabilities in the RPA act, candidates do not disclose all
the assets and provide wrong and incomplete information
regarding their assets, liabilities, and income and educational
qualifications

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7. Misuse of Government Machinery: The RPAs lack clear provisions

and guidelines on the matters related to the misuse of official
machinery that gives an unfair advantage to the ruling party at the
time of elections and leads to the misuse of public funds for
furthering the prospects of candidates of a particular party.

Role of civil services in democracy:

 The All–India Services (AIS) are a unique feature of federal

polity. It is the view of any constitutional experts that the
Constitution though federal form is unitary in substance.
 Constitutional provisions related to civil services:
 As per Articles 53 and 154, the executive power of the Union and
the States vests in the President or Governor directly or through
officers‘ subordinate to him. These officers constitute the
permanent civil service and are governed by Part XIV of the
Constitution (Services under the Union and States (Article 308-
323)).
 Article 309: Powers of Parliament and state legislatures – It
empowers the Parliament and the State legislature regulate the
recruitment, and conditions of service of persons appointed, to
public services and posts in connection with the affairs of the
Union or of any State respectively
 Article 310: Doctrine of Pleasure – Every person of Defence
service, Civil Service and All India Service holding any post
connected with the above services holds office during the pleasure
of the President or Governor of the State.
 Article 311 – Dismissal, removal or reduction in rank of persons
employed in civil capacities under the Union or a State.
 Article 312 – All India Services.
Role of Civil Services in Governance:

1. Basis of Government: There can be no government without

administrative machinery.

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2. Policy Making & Implementation:

They assist in identifying major policy areas such as

preparing major policy proposals, analyzing various
alternatives and solutions to societal problems requiring
urgent attention, dividing the major policies into sub-
policies, determining program of action and suggesting
modification in the existing policy on the basis of its
experience on the implementation front.

3. Providing Services to People:

 Protective Functions: They protect the life and

property of the people by maintaining law and order
 Management of public enterprises: Civil servants are
also managing public enterprises and public utilities in
the interest of socio-economic justice
 Welfare services: The welfare services provided for the
people include social security, old age pensions,
welfare of the weaker sections, poverty alleviation etc.

4. Maintain Continuity in Administration:

Civil services carry on the governance when governments

change due to election. while governments may come and
go, ministers may rise and fall, the administration of a
country goes on forever

5. Developmental Functions: The services perform a

variety of developmental functions like promoting
modern techniques in agriculture, promoting the
industry, trade, banking functions, bridging the digital
divide, etc. t. E.g. the District Collector of Dewas, Umakant
Umrao helped the farmers in Madhya Pradesh to fight
against drought by constructing over 16,000 ponds.
6. Developing a sense of nationhood: Several divisive forces
such as communal and ethnic conflicts, caste feuds and
regional rivalries often threaten the national unity. In order
to develop a sense of nationhood among the people of these

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countries, the civil servants have to resolve the sub-national

and sub- cultural differences among the people.
7. Emergence of welfare state: As a welfare state, governments
have to perform major functions such as dispenser of social
services, a provider of essential commodities, a manager of
key industries and banking services and a controller and
regulator of private economic enterprises and activities. This
has naturally increased the importance of civil service
8. Calamities and crisis: Natural calamities such as
earthquakes, floods, droughts and cyclones have also
enhanced the importance of civil services.

the Bhilwara model (in Rajasthan) has become a successful

example for the world to emulate in tackling the Covid-19
crisis because of the efforts of local bureaucracy.

9. Record-Keeping: civil servants keep record of day-to-day

functioning as per the standards set by the Government and
as per the requirements.
10. Channel of Communication: They work on the ground
level from where they provide input to executives and
ministers and act as a channel of communication between
citizens and policymakers
Issues with Civil Services in India:

1. Lack of Professionalism & Poor Capacity Building: The debate of

generalists vs. specialists has been an old one in the discussions of
governance reforms
2. Indian Bureaucracy is alleged to be Status Quoist: they resist
changes as they are wedded to their privileges and prospects and
thereby, have become ends in themselves.
3. Rule-Book Bureaucracy: civil servants have developed the
attitude ‗bureaucratic behaviour‘, which evokes issues like red-
tapism, the complication of procedures, and the maladapted
responses of ‗bureaucratic‘ organisations to the needs of the
people.
4. Political Interference- There has been regular political interference
in the functioning of civil servants to further narrow political
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agenda, which undermines the public welfare at large. o Fear of

transfer and lure of promotion sometimes impairs judgement of
civil servants making them politically compliant. e.g. IAS Officer,
Ashok Khemka, has been transferred 53 times in 28 years.
5. Transparency and Accountability- Various committees and
surveys have observed that the corrupt practices have become
prevalent in the civil services and there is a loss of public
perception in terms of their uprightness, neutrality and honesty.
E.g. the former Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh was convicted by
a CBI court in 2012, for corruption and possessing
disproportionate assets.
6. Outdated Rules & Procedures: that prevent civil servants from
exercising independent judgement and performing efficiently
7. Systemic Inconsistencies in Promotion: The recommendation of the
Civil Services Board has not been followed by many states. Fear of
transfer and lure of promotion sometimes impairs judgement of
civil servants making them politically compliant
8. Rule oriented than outcome oriented: Civil Service in India is more
concerned with the internal processes than with results.

important suggestions on how Civil Services can become a more

effective tool of public service delivery and contribute to the
development of the country:

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Skilled Bureaucracy :
There is a need for development of new skill :

 Civil Servants have to equip themselves with domain/sector specific

skills

o Develop Project/Programme Management skills to implement

large projects in a timely and cost effective manner. This should
also include commercial, legal and financial negotiation and
contract management skills.
 Digital Skills to be used for improved service delivery. There should
be increased reliance on egovernance and mobile governance.
 Capacity/Skill building is vital for lower bureaucracy since they are
in the front line of the public service delivery. There is a need to
enhance both their professional and soft skills.

 Converged Bureaucracy: There is a need to break down the silos

within Government to unlock productivity and outcomes

o Need for Horizontal convergence in vertical administration –

Greater thrust should be accorded on cross departmental
working, interdepartmental engagements, and lateral
communication among and within departments
o Shared services model may be adopted for services such as
IT, Finance, procurement etc. so that there is no duplication
in effort and cost.

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 Open Bureaucracy:

A culture of openness needs to be cultivated towards new

ideas, new challenges and innovation to bring about continues
transformation for better service delivery.

o Open Policy Formulation – may be undertaken through

openness to new thinking or in the gathering of evidence &
insight from external experts. Collaborative approaches to
policy making by taking views from members of civil
society, think tanks, Universities, other countries and states.
o Social Media for Participatory Governance – Social media,
crowd sourcing and open sourcing can be powerful tools to
connect with people and promote participatory governance.
o Constantly engaging with the private sector – Culture of
openness needs to be adopted for new forms of partnership
with private sector.

3. Connected Bureaucracy –

There is a need for the Bureaucracy to be connected within and globally

to imbibe the best practice.

 Need to be globally connected with the counterpart organizations

and have horizontal networks across the world. Understanding
global best practices will help our bureaucracy to develop world class
acumen.
 Horizontal Connectivity between the State Departments There is a
need for the State Government departments to share the learning and
best practices with their counterparts in other states

 Improvement in Interdepartmental connectivity through

Government process re-engineering, simplification of
rules.
Recommendation by different committees:

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 Insulating Civil Servants from Undue Political Interference:

 The second ARC suggested that there is a need to safeguard the
political neutrality and impartiality of the civil services. Setting up a
civil services board for posting and transfer.

 Professionalization with Stability of Tenure & Competition: Civil

servants should be encouraged to move laterally to non-government
organizations. o According to the Surinder Nath Committee,
performance assessment should be used mainly for an officer's
overall growth and placement in an environment where his or her
talents and potential can be best utilised.

 Citizen-Centric Administration: In 2004, the Hota Committee

recommended that information and communication technology (ICT)
be used to transform government by making it more available,
effective, and accountable.

 Accountability: To protect honest civil servants from malicious

prosecution and abuse, the Hota Committee recommended amending
Sections 13 (1) (d) and 19 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, as well
as Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

 Outcome Orientation: The Hota Committee on Civil Service Reforms

recommended in 2004 that the ACR be replaced with a performance
management framework that places a greater focus on objective
evaluation against agreed-upon work plans.

 Promoting Public Service Values & Ethics: For civil servants, a Code
of Ethics should be drafted that incorporates the core values of
honesty, merit, and excellence in public service.

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 The Hota Committee also recommended that a Model Code of

Governance be created, which would serve as a benchmark for
people to compare governance standards
Performance Appraisal:

 Surinder Nath Committee, 2003 recommended that - performance

appraisal should be primarily used for the overall development of an
officer and for his/her placement in an area where his/her abilities
and potential can be best used.
 Only those who can demonstrate a credible record of actual
performance and possess the necessary knowledge and skills
required for higher responsibilities should be promoted.
 There is no benefit in retaining officers who lack demonstrated
competence, or who are unqualified, or of doubtful moral or financial
integrity or who are in unacceptably poor health.
 The Yugandhar Committee, 2003 recommended the need for three
mid-career training programmes in the 12th, 20th and 28th years of
service. Trainings at these 3 stages was suggested as there is a ―major
shift‖ in the nature of work of the officer, at these stages of their
career.
Recommendations of ARC II-

i. Every government servant should undergo a mandatory

training at the induction stage and also periodically during
his/her career. Successful completion of these trainings should
be a minimum necessary condition for confirmation in service
and subsequent promotions.
ii. A monitoring mechanism should be set up for overseeing the
implementation of the National Training Policy.
iii. The objective of mid-career training should be to develop
domain knowledge and Student Notes: competence required
iv. Public servants should be encouraged to obtain higher
academic qualifications and to write papers for reputed and
authoritative journals.

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v. A National Institute of good governance may be set up by

upgrading one of the existing national/state institutes. This
institute would identify, document, and disseminate best
practices and also conduct training programmes.
vi. The composition of governing bodies of the national training
institutions such as the LBSNAA, SVPNPA, IGNFA and also
the State Administrative Training Institutes should be
broadened by inducting eminent experts

Civil Services Board (CSB):

 Following the recommendations of the Hota Committee (2004) and

2nd ARC, the Department of Personnel Rules of 2016 made it mandatory
for all states to create such boards.
 In 2013, the Supreme Court, in in T S R Subramanian and others v.
Union of India case, 2013, ordered the Centre and states to establish a
civil services board to consider promotions and postings of bureaucrats,
among other things, to protect the bureaucracy from political
interference and to put an end to frequent transfers of civil servants by
political bosses

What is the Civil Services Board (CSB)?

 Civil Services Board is responsible for the entry-level recruitment

and subsequent job promotions below the rank of Joint Secretary.
 As per a state government notification dated June 2, CSB will be
headed by Chief Secretary, with Personnel Secretary, and either
Financial Commissioner (Revenue) or Home Secretary (who so
ever is senior in the pecking order) as its members.
 The board provides for the state to follow the Centre‘s guidelines
on giving a fixed tenure of at least two years for cadre officers.
 They cannot be transferred before that and if anyone recommends
their transfer then the board will examine and affect it.
 The final authority is the Chief Minister.

Functions:

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 The board is mandated to decide on the transfer of a civil

servant before completion of his or her fixed tenure.
 The rules mandate the civil services board to submit an annual
report on January 1 to the central government about the date
of the meetings held by them.

Benefits:

o If the officials have a fixed tenure they will be able to

provide better administration.
o They will also feel safe and try to stick to the
rules instead of pleasing political bosses.
o Insulate civil servants from political pressure: It helps to
protect the bureaucracy from political pressure and puts
an end to unnecessary and frequent transfers of civil
servants, which is a major cause of low civil servant
morale and low administrative standards.
o Promote sense of objectivity: It will also facilitate civil
servants in maintaining neutrality and objectivity in their
work.
o Promote sense of term security: Officials would be able to
have effective administration if they have a set tenure and
it will ensure good governance in service delivery
 Issues Involved:

o If the tenure of bureaucrats is fixed, it may create

functional and administrative problems.

 The officers may overstep the authority and

jurisdiction of the state government.
 It may make them less answerable and accountable
to legislators.
o With the fixed tenure rule, the political executives feel
their influence has been reduced to nothing, since all the
powers to examine a recommendation for a transfer lies
with the CSB.
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o The bureaucrats feel the urge to go to courts for effective

implementation of guidelines in letter and spirit.

 E.g. Haryana had the CSB in place but the

guidelines are not followed here

 Lack of Compliance: To date, only 20 states have created a CSB,

with Punjab being the most recent to do so in 2020. Madhya
Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, for example, have not followed the
mandatory rules for establishing the board.
 Conflict of Interest: The board would be led by bureaucrats
who may have a vested interest in the outcome of the process.
 Interference of political class: Governments have the authority
to amend, change, or refuse the civil service board's
recommendation for reasons that must be recorded in writing.
 Insecurity in the political executives believe their control has
been diminished by the fixed tenure clause, since the CSB has
sole authority to review a transfer recommendation.

Issue of lateral entry:

 NITI Aayog, in its three-year Action Agenda, and the Sectoral
Group of Secretaries (SGoS) on Governance in its report submitted
in February 2017, recommended the induction of personnel at
middle and senior management levels in the central government.
 These ‗lateral entrants‘ would be part of the central secretariat
which in the normal course has only career bureaucrats from the
All India Services/ Central Civil Services.
 Lateral entry means when personnel from the private sector are
selected to an administrative post of the government despite them
not being selected in or being part of a bureaucratic setup.
 Government has, from time to time, appointed some prominent
persons for specific assignments in government, keeping in view
their specialised knowledge and expertise in the domain area.

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Lateral recruitment is aimed at achieving the twin objectives of

bringing in fresh talent as well as augment the availability of
manpower.
Reasoning behind Lateral entry:
1st ARC
 It recognised the need for specialisation as the functions of the
government had become diversified.
o It suggested following things:
o ▪ Devising a rational basis for policy making positions with
those budgeting required qualification and competence.
Thus, Indian Engineering Services and other such
professional services created.
o ▪ Selecting senior management personnel from all relevant
sources.
o ▪ Providing greater opportunities to talented personnel to
move to higher positions in the Civil Services based on
competence and performance.

Need of specialist or domain expert:

 Technical knowledge: These domain experts can provide ground
level insight and real challenges associated with policy formulation and
its implementation.
 The functions related to administration are now becoming more
and more complex, technical and subject specific, hence only a specialist
can deal with them effectively.
 Lacking field knowledge: The generalist or traditional bureaucrats
are not aware of reality in the field
 Fill the officer vacancy gap: According to a study by the Ministry
of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, the country is short of
nearly 1,500 IAS officers. o Considering the officer shortage, the Baswan
Committee (2016) also advocated lateral entry.
 Entry and retention of talent in government- According to the
Sixth Central Pay Commission report (2006), lateral entry will "ensure

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entry and retention of talent in the government even for those positions
that have a high demand and premium in the open sector
 Bring new dimensions and fresh talent in Policy Making-
 It is essential to have people with specialized skills and domain
expertise in important positions as policy making is becoming complex
in nature.
 The IAS officers see the government only from within, lateral entry
would enable government to understand the impact of its policies on
stakeholders — the private sector, the non-government sector and the
larger public.
 Increase in efficiency and governance- Career progression in the
IAS is almost automatic which could put officers in comfort zone.
Lateral entrants could also induce competition within the system.
Bringing a Change in Work Culture: It will help in bringing
change in bureaucratic culture in Government sector culture.
This bureaucratic culture is criticized for red-tapism, rule-book
bureaucracy, and status-quoist.

o Lateral Entry helps in bringing the values of

economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in the
Government sector. It will help in building a culture
of performance within the Government sector.
 Participatory Governance: Presently, governance is becoming
a more participatory and multi-actor endeavor. In this context,
the lateral entry provides stakeholders such as the private
sector and non-profits an opportunity to participate in the
governance process.
Issues and challenges:

 Groups representing SCs, STs and OBCs have protested the

fact that there is no reservation in these appointments.
 Conflict of Interest: Hiring of the private sector into
administrative positions raises issues of potential conflict of
interest.

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o This issue requires a stringent code of conduct for entrants

from private sectors to ensure conflict of interest is not
detrimental to the public good.
 Lateral entry at only at top level policy making positions may
have little impact on field level implementation, given
the multiple links in the chain of command from the Union
Government to a rural village.
 Lateral entrants with the right „connections‟ may join just to
enjoy the perks and privileges by cherry-picking the post.
 Cumbersome Decision-Making Process: The success of lateral
entry requires an understanding of the system and an ability to
work with the ―permanent‖ establishment. No training or
orientation is provided for this.

o By the time networks are built, it is time to move on. On

past evidence, the lateral entrants who made the biggest
impact are those who served in the system for a length of
time and at different levels
 Issue with execution: Career civil servants are better at bridging
the gap between policy making and ground level execution than
external talent.
• Instances of failure: The private sector, which operated Air India,
Indian Airlines, and Vayudoot, all failed miserably

 Difficult to ensure responsibility and accountability- for the

decisions taken by the private people during their service,
especially given the short tenures of 3 to 5 years.
Way forward:

 Setting Objective Criteria: There are several joint secretaries

in each ministry who handle different portfolios. If lateral
entrants are assigned to an unimportant portfolio, there are
chances that they will not be motivated.

o A cursory look at the portfolios of the eight laterally-

hired joint secretaries doesn‘t suggest that they hold
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critical portfolios. That‘s why one entrant has

already quit.
o Thus, what key skills, qualities, and experiences a
particular role requires must be objectively decided.
 Relaxing Age Barrier: To attract the best talent from outside at
the joint secretary level, entry requirements need to be relaxed
so that persons of 35 years of age are eligible.

o If one looks at lateral entry in an earlier generation,

among economists, there was much greater
flexibility.
o The likes of Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Bimal Jalan
and Vijay Kelkar were joint secretaries in their mid-
30s and secretaries by their late 40s or by 50.
o That is one of the reasons they left lucrative
assignments abroad.
 Need for the Transparent Process: The key again to the
success of this scheme would lie in selecting the right people
in a manner that is manifestly transparent.

o The constitutional role of UPSC should not be

ignored as it will provide legitimacy to the entire
process of selection
 Training of Lateral Entrants: An intensive training program
for entrants from the private sector to civil services needs to be
formulated which helps them understand the complex nature
of work in Government.
 India's civil service needs reforms such as protection from political
coercion and specialization-based career paths.

 The government can consider lateral entry for some mission-mode

projects and public-sector organisations where private-sector
expertise is critical. It should be a combination of the private sector
and government employees.

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 According to a RTI, the Government decided to undertake lateral

recruitment to ten posts of joint secretaries during 2018-19.
Accordingly, eight joint secretaries were appointed in September
2019 in respective ministries/departments. Out of these, seven are
in position at present.

Mission Karmayogi- National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building

(NPCSCB):
Mission Karmayogi‘ envisages to prepare Indian civil servants for the
future by making them more creative, constructive, imaginative,
innovative, proactive, professional, progressive, energetic, enabling,
transparent and technology-enabled.

Need for Mission Karmayogi:

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 There is a need to develop domain knowledge besides

administrative capacity in the bureaucracy.
 There is a need to formalize the recruitment process and
match the public service to a bureaucrat‘s competence, so as to
find the right person for the right job.
 The plan is to begin right at the recruitment level and then
invest in building more capacity through the rest of their
career.
 As the Indian economy grows, it will get more complex to
govern; the governance capacities will have to be enhanced
proportionately which this reform undertakes.
 The reforms in the Indian bureaucracy are the need of the
hour and It is a major reform undertaken in recent years to
transform it.
 Moving from rule based to role-based management
 Domain Training: Apart from domain knowledge training, the
scheme will focus on functional and behavioural competencies
also.

 Uniform Training Standard: It will harmonise training standards

across the country, so that there is a common understanding of
India's aspirations and development goals.
 Vision For New India: Mission Karmayogi is aimed at building a
future-ready civil service with the right attitude, skills and
knowledge, aligned to the vision of New India.
 On Site Learning: It will emphasize on 'on-site learning' to
complement the ‗off-site‘ learning.
 Adoption Of Best Practices: It will encourage and partner with
the best-in-class learning content creators including public
training institutions, universities, start-tips and individual
experts.

Aim:-

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For efficient public service delivery, a comprehensive reform of the

capacity-building apparatus at the individual, institutional, and
process levels is needed. Thus,
• It aims to create a future-ready civil service with the right
mindset, skills, and expertise, in line with New India's vision.
• Its aim is to make Indian public servants more innovative,
positive, constructive, creative, progressive, knowledgeable,
enthusiastic, open, and technology empowered for the future

Mission Karmayogi will have the following six pillars:-

(i) Policy Framework,

(ii) Institutional Framework,
(iii) Competency Framework,
(iv) Digital Learning Framework (Integrated Government
Online Training Karmayogi Platform (iGOT-Karmayogi),
(v) electronic Human Resource Management System (e-
HRMS), and
(vi) Monitoring and Evaluation Framework.

Salient features
• The scheme would cover 46 lakh central government employees
at all levels and will cost Rs. 510 crores over five years. The half
financial burden will be financed by multilateral assistance to tune 50
million.
• Change from a 'rules-based' to a 'roles-based' approach. Human
Resource (HR) Management involves aligning civil servants' work
assignments by matching their skills to the job requirements.
• To build a common training technology environment, which
includes learning materials, institutions, and staff.
• To apply a Framework of Roles, Activities, and Competencies
(FRACs) approach to all Civil Service positions.

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• Apart from domain awareness preparation, the scheme will also

concentrate on ―functional and behavioural competencies,‖ as well as a
performance assessment management process. Programme module
and institutional structure: The Integrated Government Online
Training-iGOT Karmayogi Platform will be used to deliver the
programme. For capacity building, it will include curated digital e-
learning content. Other service-related issues, such as confirmation
after a probationary period, deployment, job assignment, and vacancy
notice, will finally be integrated with it.
• Special Purpose Vehicle: It will govern the iGOTKarmayogi
platform. o It will be set up under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013
and will be a ―not-for-profit‖ company. The SPV will own all
Intellectual Property Rights on behalf of the Government of India.
• Human Resources (HR) Council of the Prime Minister: Under the
Chairmanship of the Prime Minister, it will act as the apex body for
providing strategic guidance to the mission of Civil Services Reform
and capacity building. Select Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, eminent
public HR professionals, thinkers, global opinion leaders, and Public
Service functionaries will make up the group.
• Capacity Building Commission: formed to play following
oversight roles o It will create and track annual capacity-building
plans, as well as audit the government's human resources. o Exercise
functional oversight of all Central Training Institutions that deal with
the development of civil service capacity. o Recommend to the
government policy initiatives in the fields of human resources
management, recruitment, and capacity building

iGOT- Karmayogi platform

 iGOT stands for Integrated Govt. Online training‘ (iGOT).

o It is a portal on the Ministry of HRD‘s DIKSHA

platform for the purpose of capacity building.
 iGOT-Karmayogi is a continuous online training platform,
which would allow all government servants from assistant

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secretary to secretary level to undergo continuous training,

depending on their domain areas.
 All kinds of Courses from international universities will be
made available on the platform for officers to take.
 The platform is expected to evolve into a vibrant and world-
class market place for content, where carefully curated and
vetted digital e-learning material will be made available.
 Besides capacity building, service matters like confirmation
after probation period, deployment, work assignment and
notification of vacancies etc. would eventually be integrated
with the proposed competency framework.
Challenges associated with the programme
 Conservative outlook of Indian bureaucracy: The Indian
bureaucracy remains essentially unchanged and conservative. It
opposes reforms and new ideas. As a result, a reform of this
magnitude could face a number of obstacles within the bureaucracy.
 Distance self-learning can help frontline workers gain
complementary skills and refresh their experience, but it isn't always
the best option for developing core knowledge.
 Overcentralization of the system: A decentralised training and
learning framework is required for a dynamic public service
workforce.
 In today‘s world the governance is getting technical with each
passing day and hence it‘s important that the person in authority too
should have the requisite skill and experience in that particular area.

 Thus, there should be a behavioural change in the bureaucracy too

and they must embrace the change as a need of the hour and not an
attack on their status quo.
The ultimate goal of Mission Karmayogi is to bridge the divide between
the government and the people. By providing them ―Ease of Living‖ for
the common man, as well as Citizen-Centricity and ―Ease of Doing
Business‖, which bridges the divide between the government and the
people

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Bureaucracy vs Democracy:

 Bureaucracy is the executive arm of the government where

elected government employs competent state officials to run state
matter. They are selected by government through merit based
process.
 Democracy is the process whereby the government is elected by
the people whereas Bureaucracy is the system in which elected
government employs competent state officials to run state
matter. They are selected by government through merit based
process.
Relationship between Bureaucracy and Democracy:

The relationship between bureaucracy and democracy is both

paradoxical and complementary.
Complementary:

o Democratic governance institutions are assumed to be

responsive to the wishes of the public, and to be attempting
to map those preferences of the public into positive
outcomes for their citizens. Here, effective democracy may
require an effective and well-functioning bureaucracy

o The values of formalized and ideal type bureaucracy like

efficiency & effectiveness are emphasized by the latest
paradigm in public administration emphasizing efficiency in
public service delivery.A public service which delivers well
will ultimately strengthen democracy, hence the values of
bureaucracy are very important for democracy as well

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Paradoxical:

o Bureaucracies are typically conceptualized as being legalistic

and largely indifferent to the wishes and demands of
individual citizens. Bureaucracies also tend to be associated
with hierarchical and even authoritarian forms of governing
Differences between Bureaucracy and Democracy:
Democracy Bureucracy
Based on the values of Based on the values of
Equality, Federalism, Hierarchy, Centralization, Top
Republicanism to bottom flow
Freedom of Expression Freedom of Expression is not
allowed
Public Representatives Not public representatives
Responsible to its electorates Responsible to its hierarchy
Elected Selected

Evolution of bureaucracy since independence:

 Nation Building: After independence, bureaucracy set out to

implement agenda of its political masters. It included commitment
to democratic socialism, secularism and non-alignment.
 Democratization of Bureaucracy: After the 1967 assembly
elections, civil services got major fillip with increased
representation of backward castes. Later representation was given
impetus post Mandal commission recommendations. Experts
argue that it led to democratisation of the bureaucracy.
 Welfare state: With the independence and adoption of
constitution, India as nation transitioned from police state to
welfare state where bureaucracy played major role in the smooth
transition.
 Dealing with divisive forces: The bureaucracy faced tremendous
challenges to preserve the democracy like partition and

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subsequent communal riots, integration of princely states,

linguistic reorganisation of states.
 Emergency era: Experts say that Indian democracy has survived
the emergency only because of strong bureaucracy.
 Committed Bureaucracy: This idea emerged in 1970s and 80s. The
idea most fundamentally, entailed that a bureaucrat should be
hundred percent committed to the policies and programmes of the
political party in power. By extension, this also implied full
commitment to the individual politicians holding power. A
bureaucrat was not to be guided by any other consideration.
 License permit Raj: Due to socialist model of development, license
was needed to start any business –small or big. The discretionary
power rested with bureaucracy who could give license against
favours granted by the concerned businessman.
 Globalization: It marked the watershed era for Indian
bureaucracy. By liberalisation of the economy is meant freeing a
national economy from governmental control and letting it run as
per the market forces. Liberalisation era marked the shift from
License Permit Raj to facilitator role for bureaucracy.
Changing role of bureaucracy in post liberalisation era:

 Due to planned economy and existence of public sector

bureaucracy in initial years became responsible for regulation and
management of all PSUs.
But privatisation drive after 1991 reforms, the role of bureaucracy has
been drastically reduced. Bureaucracy has also survived this transition
and striving to adopt principles of New Public Managemen

PYQS:
 ―Institutional quality is a crucial driver of economic
performance‖. In this context suggest reforms in Civil Service
for strengthening democracy.
 Initially Civil Services in India were designed to achieve the
goals of neutrality and effectiveness, which seems to be lacking
in the present context. Do you agree with the view that drastic
reforms are required in Civil Services. Comment

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Issues relating to development and management of

Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education,
Human Resources, poverty

Health:
• The WHO defines health as a state of complete physical, mental
and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
• The determinants of good health are: access to various types of
health services, and an individual‘s lifestyle choices, personal, family
and social relationships.
• At present, India‘s health care system consists of a mix of public
and private sector providers of health services. Networks of health care
facilities at the primary, secondary and tertiary level, run mainly by
State Governments, provide free or very low cost medical services.
There is also an extensive private health care sector, covering the entire

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spectrum from individual doctors and their clinics, to general hospitals

and super speciality hospitals.

Problems pertaining to Healthcare sector in India:

1. Insufficient Medical personnel:

 There is a massive shortage of medical staff, infrastructure

and last mile connectivity in rural areas. g.: Doctor:
Population 1:1800 and 78% doctors cater to urban India
(population of 30%).
 Massive shortages in the supply of services (human resources,
hospitals and diagnostic centres in the private/public sector)
which are made worse by grossly inequitable availability
between and within States.
 For example, even a well-placed State such as Tamil Nadu has
an over 30% shortage of medical and non-medical
professionals in government facilities.

2. Health budget:

 It has increased from 1.15 per cent in 2013-14 to 1.35 per cent in
2017-18 as a percentage of GDP
 The National Health Policy 2017 had aimed for this to
be 2.5% of GDP.

3. Infrastructure constraints: There are doubts on the capacity of

India‘s infrastructure to take on the additional load of patients
during pandemics like Covid-19 as seen recently.
4. Crumbling public health infrastructure:

There is a shortage of PHCs (22%) and sub-health centres

(20%), while only 7% sub-health centres and 12% primary
health centres meet Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS)
norms.

In the northern States there are hardly any sub-centres and

primary health centres are practically non-existent. First mile

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connectivity to a primary healthcare centre is broken. For eg, in

Uttar Pradesh there is one PHC for every 28 villages.

5. Strong role of Private players: Over 70 per cent of the total

healthcare expenditure is accounted for by the private
sector.However, Private hospitals don‘t have adequate presence
in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and there is a trend towards super
specialisation in Tier-1 cities. lack of transparency and unethical
practices in the private sector.

6. High Out of pocket expenditure:

According to the latest National Health Accounts (NHA)

estimates released in March 2021, patients bear a big chunk of
health expenses, as high as 61 per cent of the total health
expenditure, by themselves.

7. Poor insurance penetration:

India has one of the lowest per capita healthcare expenditures in the
world. Government contribution to insurance stands at roughly 32
percent, as opposed to 83.5 percent in the UK

8. Healthcare without holistic approach:

There are a lot of determinants for better health like improved
drinking water supply and sanitation; better nutritional
outcomes, health and education for women and girls; improved
air quality and safer roads which are outside the purview of the
Health Ministry.

9. Less emphasis on Medical Research: In India, there is no much

impetus is being given to R&D and cutting-edge technology-led new
initiatives. Such technologies could be useful in an unprecedented
situation like Covid-19.

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National Health Mission:

 NHM was launched by the government of India in 2013 subsuming

the National Rural Health Mission (Launched in 2005) and
the National Urban Health Mission (Launched in 2013).
o The main programmatic components include Health
System Strengthening in rural and urban areas for -
Reproductive-Maternal- Neonatal-Child and
Adolescent Health
(RMNCH+A), and Communicable and Non-
Communicable Diseases.
o The NHM envisages achievement of universal access
to equitable, affordable & quality health care
services that are accountable and responsive to
people's needs.

Support to States & Union Territories (UT):

 Health Facilities:

o NHM support is provided to States/UTs for setting up

of new facilities as per norms and upgradation of
existing facilities for bridging the infrastructure gaps
based on the requirement posed by them.
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 Health Services:

o NHM support is also provided for provision of a range

of free services related to maternal health, child health,
adolescent health, family planning, universal
immunisation programme, and for major diseases such
as Tuberculosis, vector borne diseases
like Malaria, Dengue and Kala Azar, Leprosy etc.

 Major Initiatives Supported Under NHM:

o Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram (JSSK).

o Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK).
o Implementation of Free Drugs and Free Diagnostics
Service Initiatives.
o PM National Dialysis Programme.
o Implementation of National Quality Assurance
Framework in all public health facilities.
o Mobile Medical Units (MMUs) & Tele-consultation
services are also being implemented to improve access
to healthcare particularly in rural areas.
o Ayushman Bharat.
o Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
Achievements of NHM

 Improvement in Health Indicators:

o In the 15 years of implementation, the NHM

has enabled achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) for health.

 The MDGs have been superseded by

the Sustainable Development Goals.

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o It has also led to significant improvements in

maternal, new-born, and child health
indicators, particularly for maternal mortality
ratio, infant and under five mortality rates, wherein
the rates of decline in India are much higher than the
global averages and these declines have accelerated
during the period of implementation of NHM.
 Growth in Public Health Facilities:

o NHM adopts a health system approach and targets to

build a network for public health facilities with
Health & Wellness Centres at the grassroot level and
District Hospitals, with robust referral linkage, to offer
Comprehensive primary and secondary care services to
citizens.
o NHM has not only contributed to increase in the
institutional capacities for service delivery but also
has led to development of capacities for targeted
interventions of the various National Programmes
under the NHM.
 Equitable Development:

o There was also a sustained focus on the health of tribal

populations, those in Left Wing Extremism areas, and
the urban poor.
o A more recent effort at ensuring equity in access and
use, is the Aspirational district initiative, in which 115
districts across 28 states, with weak social and human
development indicators have been identified for
allocation of additional resources and capacity
enhancement to catch up with more progressive
districts.
 National Ambulance Services:

o At the time of launch of NRHM (2005), ambulance

networks were non-existent.

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o So far, 20,990 Emergency Response Service Vehicles

are operational under NRHM.
o Besides 5,499 patient transport vehicles are also
deployed, particularly for providing ―free pickup and
drop back‖ facilities to pregnant women and sick
infants.
 Human Resource Augmentation:

o NHM supports states for engaging service delivery HR

such as doctors, nurses and health workers and also
implements the world‟s largest community health
volunteer programme through the Accredited Social
Health Activists (ASHAs).

 More than 10 lakhs ASHAs and ASHA

facilitators are engaged under NHM.
o NHM has also supported states to acquire staff with
skills in public health, finance, planning and
management to plan and implement interventions,
freeing up clinical staff to deliver health services.
 Health Sector Reforms:

o NHM enabled the design and implementation

of reforms specifically related to Governance,
Procurement and Technology.
 Addressing high Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE):

o Recognising the need for reducing the current high

levels of OOPE, and that, almost 70% of the OOPE is on
account of drugs and diagnostics, the Free Drugs and
Free Diagnostics Services Initiatives have been
implemented under the NHM.
o The National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) and
the Essential Diagnostics Lists have been notified and
are periodically updated to include more essential
drugs based on new initiatives undertaken.
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Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY):

Key Features of PM-JAY:

1. The world‘s largest health insurance/ assurance scheme fully

financed by the government.
2. It provides cover of 5 lakhs per family per year, for secondary
and tertiary care hospitalization across public and private
empaneled hospitals in India.
3. Coverage: Over 10.74 crore poor and vulnerable entitled
families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries) are eligible for
these benefits.
4. Provides cashless access to health care services for the
beneficiary at the point of service.
5. The National Health Authority (NHA) is the nodal agency
responsible for the nationwide roll-out and implementation of
the AB-PMJAY scheme.
6. This scheme is a Centrally sponsored scheme with some
Central sector components.

Eligibility:

1. No restrictions on family size, age or gender.

2. All pre–existing conditions are covered from day one.
3. Covers up to 3 days of pre-hospitalization and 15 days post-
hospitalization expenses such as diagnostics and medicines.
4. Benefits of the scheme are portable across the country.
5. Services include approximately 1,393 procedures covering all
the costs related to treatment, including but not limited to
drugs, supplies, diagnostic services, physician‘s fees, room
charges, surgeon charges, OT and ICU charges etc.
6. Public hospitals are reimbursed for the healthcare services at
par with the private hospitals.

As per the latest economic survey:

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1. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) contributed

to improvement in many health outcomes in States that
implemented the programme.
2. States that joined the PM-JAY, compared to those that did not,
experienced greater penetration of health insurance, reduction
in infant and child mortality rates, realised improved access
and utilisation of family planning services and greater
awareness of HIV/AIDS.
3. Across all the States, the proportion of households with health
insurance increased by 54% for States that implemented PM-
JAY while falling by 10% in States that did not.

AYUSH

• AYUSH is the non-allopathic medical systems in India comprising

of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy.
• Benefits of AYUSH system are:

 It addresses gaps in health services.

 It provides low cost services in far-flung areas.
 AYUSH can provide best care to elderly

• .  Problem of tobacco and drug abuse can be tackled by AYUSH

especially through Yoga.

 Useful in lifestyle diseases like diabetes and

hypertension.
 Large part of the population prefers AYUSH as it is
perceived to have lower side effects, costs and
considerations of it being more natural. Challenges
in the present system are:
 Quality standards of Medicines – Scientific
validation of AYUSH has not progressed in spite of
dedicated expenditure in past.
 Lack of human resources – Practitioners are moving
away from traditional system for better
opportunities
 The existing infrastructure remains under-utilized.

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Some of the suggestions to completely utilize the benefits of AYUSH

system are:

• Research and Development

• More research is required to validate AYUSH therapies o Cross-
disciplinary research with other disciplines will ensure best health
practices.
• Standard Treatment Guidelines and a Model Drugs List of AYUSH
drugs for community health workers should be developed.
• Quality certification of raw materials is required.
• All education programmes taught in colleges and universities
related to AYUSH must be accredited.

Regulatory framework

 All Government health care facilities should offer suitable AYUSH

services as per laid down standards.
 Mandated representation of AYUSH experts at all levels for
regulatory framework is important.
 A separate Central Drug Controller for AYUSH drugs and
strengthening of quality enforcement mechanism in the States
should be established.
 Community-based AYUSH interventions for preventive and
promotive healthcare are required.

Human resources development

 Cross-disciplinary learning between modern and AYUSH systems at

the post-graduate level.
 Modification in syllabi at the undergraduate level should be worked
by a team of experts from the different Professional Councils.
 Collaboration between AYUSH teaching colleges and with medical
colleges for mutual learning should be encouraged

• AYUSH graduates should be legally empowered to

practice as Primary Health care physicians

Concept of AYUSH Gram:

One village per block can be selected for implementation of integrated

primary care protocols of AYUSH and modern system of medicine.

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Following should be implemented in these villages:

 Herbal medicinal gardens o Regular Yoga camps should be

organized preferably through PRI institutions.
 Basic knowledge on hygiene, promotion of health and prevention
of diseases.
 A mainstreaming of AYUSH mission into National health mission
is required.
 Information and Communication technology can be used to share
information about AYUSH across all parts of country

Opportunities

 National Health Policy 2017 recommends increasing the public

expenditure on health to 2.5%, which should be adhered to. This
could help reduce out of pocket expenses.
 Focusing of primary care: India needs to shifts focus from
secondary and tertiary sectors to primary care. PHCs should be
made attractive to doctors by providing incentives and making
rural service mandatory for medical students.
 Focus should be shifted to preventive healthcare from curative
healthcare. Universal immunization helps reduce the incidence of
communicable diseases and thus reduce the costs of curative care.
 Private investment in educational institutions should be
encouraged. This would help increase the number of graduating
doctors in a year and address the problem of doctor-patient ratio.
NITI Aayog also recommended the same.
 Proper implementation of initiatives like Rashtriya Swasthya
Suraksha Yojana is needed to increase insurance penetration.
 A National Health Regulatory and Development Framework
needs to be made for improving the quality (for example
registration of health practitioners), performance, equity, efficacy
and accountability of healthcare delivery across the country.
 It should put out standard treatment guidelines for public and
private providers, frame a patients charter of rights, engage with
professional associations and civil society, and establish a regular
audit system.

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 The government's National Innovation Council, which is

mandated to provide a platform for collaboration amongst
healthcare domain experts, stakeholders and key participants,
should encourage a culture of innovation in India and help
develop policy on innovations.
 Establishment of Ministry of AYUSH provides an opportunity to
explore alternative medical practices. AYUSH systems should be
made mainstream in healthcare along with allopathy. Research
and development should be encouraged in these domains and
awareness need to be created.
 Leveraging the benefits of Information Technology: computer
and mobile-phone based e-health and m-health initiatives were
launched on World Health Day in 2016. These include the Swastha
Bharat mobile application for information on diseases, symptoms,
treatment, health alerts and tips; ANMOL-ANM online tablet
application for health workers, e-RaktKosh (a blood-bank
management information system) and India Fights Dengue.
Leveraging the benefits of information technology helps in
enhancing the quality of service delivery.
 Investment from Startups: Start-ups are investing in healthcare
sector from process automation to diagnostics to low-cost
innovations. Policy and regulatory support should be provided to
make healthcare accessible and affordable.
 Data Analytics: Big data analytics could be used in tracking
patient data, treatment prescriptions, etc.
 Spreading awareness about non-communicable diseases like
hypertension, diabetes. Healthy lifestyle should be promoted with
yoga, meditation.
 Active participation and campaigns helped the eradication of
polio. Success was achieved in reducing the incidence of HIV
AIDS by providing information and spreading awareness. Similar
strategies can be used for containing the spread of diseases like
Tuberculosis, dengue.
 Working towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC): India
should take cue from other developing countries like Thailand to
work towards providing UHC. UHC includes three components:
Population coverage, disease coverage and cost coverage.

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What is National Health Profile (NHP)?

 The NHP is an annual stocktaking exercise on the health of the

health sector.
 It provides a comprehensive framework on the socio-economic
health status and the status of demographic and health resources
in the country.
 It is prepared by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence (CBHI).
 The NHP was first published in 2005. Ever since the profile has
been released every year and this year, is its 14th edition.
 In 2016, India‘s Domestic general government health expenditure
stood at $16 per capita.
 This is lower than Norway ($6,366), Canada ($3,274), Japan
($3,538), Republic of Korea ($1,209) and Brunei Darussalam ($599).
 Life expectancy in India has increased from 49.7 years in 1970-75 to
68.7 years in 2012-16.
 On demographics, the survey found the high incidence of the
young and economically active population.
 The survey notes that 27% of the total estimated population of
2016 was below the age of 14 years.
 Majority (64.7%) of the population were in the age group of 15-59
years i.e. economically active, and 8.5% population were in the age
group of 60-85 plus years.
 The infant mortality rate (IMR) has declined considerably (33 per
1,000 live births in 2016), however differentials of rural (37) and
urban (23) are still high.

National Health Stack (NHS) to help achieve the desired Continuum of

Care across primary, secondary and tertiary care.The Health Stack is a
nationally shared digital infrastructure usable by both Centre and State
across public and private sectors.

 There are five components of NHS:

1. Electronic national health registry that would serve as a single

source of health data for the nation;

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2. Coverage and claims platform that would serve as the building

blocks for large health protection schemes, allow for the horizontal
and vertical expansion of schemes like Ayushman Bharat by states,
and enable a robust system of fraud detection;
3. Federated personal health records (PHR) framework that would
serve the twin purposes of access to their own health data by
patients, and the availability of health data for medical research,
which is critical for advancing the understanding of human health;
4. National health analytics platform that would provide a holistic
view combining information on multiple health initiatives, and
feed into smart policymaking, for instance, through improved
predictive analytics; and
5. Other horizontal components including a unique digital health ID,
health data dictionaries and supply chain management for drugs,
payment gateways, etc., shared across all health programmes

Why is the NHS necessary?

 Currently apart from Ayushman Bharat there are many secondary

and tertiary care schemes running in various states.
 West Bengal has opted out of Ayushman Bharat, and Telangana
and Odisha have never been a part of the scheme.
 Also, there is an urgent need for integration of the two arms of
Ayushman Bharat — health and wellness centres which constitute
the primary care arm, and PMJAY.
 This is the secondary and tertiary care arm under which the target
is to provide 10.74 crore families with an annual health cover of Rs
5 lakh each.
 Without integration, the goal of continuum of care cannot be met —
and that would mean PMJAY might end up becoming a perpetual
drain on resources.
 Hence, the need for a common digital language for the
operationalization and inter-operability of various health schemes,
which the NHS seeks to provide.
 it has 4 layers: cashless, paperless, consent, presence less
 The NHS will provide for a mechanism through which every user
participating in the system can be uniquely identified. Accurate
identification will greatly reduce the risk of preventable medical
errors and significantly increase quality of care. It will enable users

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to obtain a longitudinal view of their healthcare records. Also, it

will also drive out unnecessary costs by reducing inefficiency

What measures are required in the sector?

 Improving infrastructure: There is a need of improvising the
infrastructure of public hospitals which have a lot of burden due
to the high population in India.
 Focus on private hospitals: Private hospitals must be encouraged
by the government because their contribution is important. Private
sector also needs to participate because the challenges are
significant and these cannot be resolved only by the government
alone.
 Efficiency enhancement: More medical personnel must be
recruited to enhance the capabilities and efficiency of the sector.
 Technology utilisation: Technologies must be used to connect the
dots in the health system. Medical devices in hospitals/ clinics,
mobile care applications, wearables, and sensors are some forms of
technology that should be added in this sector.
 Awareness: People should be made aware of early detection and
preventive care. It would help them in saving pocket expenditure
also.
 Bringing Behavioural Change: There is a need to ensure people
eat right, sleep right, maintain good hygiene, exercise, and adopt
a healthy lifestyle that necessitates concerted interventions at
various levels of the system.

 In order to catalyse people‘s participation for healthy

India, there is need for Swasth Bharat Jan Andolan on
lines of Swach Bharat Abhiyan.
 Cooperative Federalism: Given the major role that States have to
play in creating strong health systems across the country,
allocations provided by the Finance Commission can become the
critical catalyst for transforming the nation‘s health.

 State governments should be incentivized to invest

in creating a dedicated cadre for public health at the
state, district and block levels.
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 More Funding: Public funding on health should be increased to

at least 2.5% of GDP as envisaged in the National Health Policy,
2017.
 Decentralisation: There is a need to make nutrition, water,
sanitation and hygiene (WASH) part of the core functions of
Panchayati raj institutions and municipalities.
 Creating a Nodal Health Agency: There is need to create a
designated and autonomous focal agency with the required
capacities and linkages to perform the functions of disease
surveillance, information gathering on the health impact of
policies of key non-health departments, maintenance of national
health statistics, enforcement of public health regulations, and
dissemination of information to the public.

 In this pursuit, NITI Aayog‘s National Health Stack is a

step in the right direction, which needs to be
operationalised as soon as possible.

Poverty:

 Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or

community lacks the financial resources and essentials for a
minimum standard of living. Poverty means that the income
level from employment is so low that basic human needs can't
be met.
 According to World Bank, Poverty is pronounced deprivation
in well-being, and comprises many dimensions. It includes
low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and
services necessary for survival with dignity. Poverty also
encompasses low levels of health and education, poor access
to clean water and sanitation, inadequate physical security,
lack of voice, and insufficient capacity and opportunity to
better one's life.
Types of Poverty: There are two main classifications of poverty:

 Absolute Poverty: A condition where household income is

below a necessary level to maintain basic living standards

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(food, shelter, housing). This condition makes it possible to

compare between different countries and also over time.

o It was first introduced in 1990, the ―dollar a day‖

poverty line measured absolute poverty by the
standards of the world's poorest countries. In
October 2015, the World Bank reset it to $1.90 a day.
 Relative Poverty: It is defined from the social perspective that
is living standard compared to the economic standards of
population living in surroundings. Hence it is a measure of
income inequality.

o Usually, relative poverty is measured as the

percentage of the population with income less than
some fixed proportion of median income.
Poverty Estimation in India:
 Alagh Committee (1979) determined a poverty line based on a
minimum daily requirement of 2400 and 2100 calories for an
adult in Rural and Urban area respectively.
 D. T. Lakdawala Committee extended these poverty lines to
states and over time allowing official poverty counts over time
and in the states.
 In 2005, recognizing that the rural poverty line was too low,
the government appointed the Tendulkar committee to take a
fresh look at the poverty lines. Reporting in 2009, the
Tendulkar Committee revised upward the rural poverty line.
Continued media criticisms led the government to appoint the
Rangarajan Committee in 2012.
 Reporting in June 2014, the Rangarajan Committee recommended
raising further both the rural and urban poverty lines. The
decision is yet to be taken on the Rangarajan Committee
recommendations.

 Therefore, the Tendulkar poverty line remains the official poverty

line and is the basis of the current official poverty estimates in
1993-94, 2004-05 and 2011-12.
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 Note: As per the Tendulkar estimation, the percentage of people

living below the poverty line in India is 21.9%. However, as pe
Rangarajan estimation, the percentage of people living below the
poverty line in India is 29.5%.

Causes of Poverty in India

 Population Explosion: India‘s population has steadily
increased through the years. During the past 45 years, it has
risen at a rate of 2.2% per year, which means, on average,
about 17 million people are added to the country‘s population
each year. This also increases the demand for consumption
goods tremendously.
 Low Agricultural Productivity: A major reason for poverty in
the low productivity in the agriculture sector. The reason for
low productivity is manifold. Chiefly, it is because of
fragmented and subdivided land holdings, lack of capital,
illiteracy about new technologies in farming, the use of
traditional methods of cultivation, wastage during storage, etc.
 Inefficient Resource utilisation: There is underemployment
and disguised unemployment in the country, particularly in
the farming sector. This has resulted in low agricultural
output and also led to a dip in the standard of living.
 Low Rate of Economic Development: Economic development
has been low in India especially in the first 40 years of
independence before the LPG reforms in 1991.
 Price Rise: Price rise has been steady in the country and this
has added to the burden the poor carry. Although a few
people have benefited from this, the lower income groups
have suffered because of it, and are not even able to satisfy
their basic minimum wants.
 Unemployment: Unemployment is another factor causing
poverty in India. The ever-increasing population has led to a
higher number of job-seekers. However, there is not enough
expansion in opportunities to match this demand for jobs.
 Lack of Capital and Entrepreneurship: The shortage of capital
and entrepreneurship results in low level of investment and
job creation in the economy.
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 Social Factors: Apart from economic factors, there are also

social factors hindering the eradication of poverty in India.
Some of the hindrances in this regard are the laws of
inheritance, caste system, certain traditions, etc.
 Colonial Exploitation: The British colonisation and rule over
India for about two centuries de-industrialised india by
ruining its traditional handicrafts and textile industries.
Colonial Policies transformed india to a mere raw-material
producer for european industries.
 Climatic Factors: Most of india‘s poor belong to the states of
Bihar, UP, MP, Chhattisgarh, odisha, Jharkhand, etc. Natural
calamities such as frequent floods, disasters, earthquake and
cyclone cause heavy damage to agriculture in these states.

Counting the number of the poor

 If the state of the Indian economy is to be repaired, we need to

meticulously count the number of the poor and to prioritise
them.
 The World Bank $2-a-day poverty line might be inadequate but it
would be a start and higher than the last line proposed by the C.
Rangarajan committee.
 A survey in 2013 had said India stood at 99 among 131 countries,
and with a median income of $616 per annum, it was the lowest
among BRICS and fell in the lower-middle-income country
bracket.
 Since 2013 three important data points have made it clear that
the state of India‟s poor needs to be acknowledged if India is to
be lifted.
 The first being, the fall in the monthly per capita
consumptionexpenditure of 2017-18 for the first time since 1972-
73.
 Second is the fall of India in the Global Hunger Index to „serious
hunger‟ category.
 Third, health census data or the recently concluded National
Family Health Survey or NFHS-5, which had worrying markers
of increased malnutrition, infant mortality and maternal health.
 A fourth statistic, Bangladesh bettering India‟s average income
statistics, must also be a reason for Indians to introspect.

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Increase in number of poor in India

 In 2019, the global Multidimensional Poverty Index reported

that India lifted 271 million citizens out of poverty between 2006
and 2016.
 Since then, the International Monetary Fund, Hunger Watch,
SWAN and several other surveys show a decided slide.
 In March, the Pew Research Center with the World Bank data
estimated that ‗the number of poor in India, on the basis of an
income of $2 per day or less in purchasing power parity, has more
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than doubled to 134 million from 60 million in just a year due to

the pandemic-induced recession‟.
 In 2020, India contributed 57.3% of the growth of the global
poor.
 This has thrown a spanner in the so far uninterrupted battle
against poverty since the 1970s.
 Urgent solutions are needed within, and the starting point of that
would be only when we know how many are poor.

Debate on the poverty line

 In 2011, the Suresh Tendulkar Committee report at a ‗line‘ of ₹816

per capita per month for rural India and ₹1,000 per capita per
month for urban India, calculated the poor at 25.7% of the
population.
 The anger over the 2011 conclusions, led to the setting up of the C.
Rangarajan Committee.
 In 2014, C. Rangarajan Committee estimated that the number of
poor were 29.6%, based on persons spending below ₹47 a day in
cities and ₹32 in villages.
 The National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised
Sector in 2004, had concluded that 836 million Indians still
remained marginalised.
 The Commission‘s conclusion was ignored — that 77% of India
was marginalised — emphasising that it was a problem of a much
bigger magnitude, than the figure of 25.7% conveyed.

Why counting the poor matters?

1) Helps in forming public opinion

 Knowing the numbers and making them public makes it possible

to get public opinion to support massive and urgent cash
transfers.
 The world outside India has moved onto propose high fiscal
support, as economic rationale and not charity.
 In India too, a dramatic reorientation would get support only once
numbers are honestly laid out.

2) It helps in evaluating success of policies

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 Recording the data helps to evaluate all policies on the basis

of whether they meet the needs of the majority.
 Is a policy such as bank write-offs of loans amounting to ₹1.53-
lakh crorelast year, which helped corporates overwhelmingly,
beneficial to the vast majority?
 This would be possible to transparently evaluate only when the
numbers of the poor are known and established.

3) Helps in addressing the concerns of real majority

 If government data were to honestly account for the exact numbers

of the poor, it may be more realistic to expect the public debate to
be conducted on the concerns of the real majority.
 Such data would also help in creating a climate that demands
accountability from public representatives.

4) To gauge the rising inequality

 India has clocked a massive rise in the market capitalisation and

the fortunes of the richest Indian corporates, even as millions of
Indians have experienced a massive tumble into poverty.
 To say that the stock market and the Indian economy are ‗not
related‘ is ingenuous.
 Indians must have the right to question whether there is a
connection and if the massive rise in riches is not coincidental, but
at the back of the misery of millions of the poor.
 If billionaire lists are evaluated in detail and reported upon,
the country cannot shy away from counting its poor.

Poverty alleviation programs in India:

India has been conducting various poverty alleviation programs.

Employment programmes and skill-building

 Jawahar Gram Samriddhi Yojana: The JRY was meant to

generate meaningful employment opportunities for the
unemployed and underemployed in rural areas through the
creation of economic infrastructure and community and social
assets.
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 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act

(MGNREGA) 2005: The Act provides 100 days assured
employment every year to every rural household. One-third
of the proposed jobs would be reserved for women. Under
the programme, if an applicant is not provided employment
within 15 days s/he will be entitled to a daily unemployment
allowance.
 National Rural Livelihood Mission: Ajeevika (2011): It evolves
out the need to diversify the needs of the rural poor and
provide them jobs with regular income on monthly basis. Self
Help Groups are formed at the village level to help the
needy.
 National Urban Livelihood Mission: The NULM focuses on
organizing urban poor in Self Help Groups, creating
opportunities for skill development leading to market-based
employment and helping them to set up self-employment
ventures by ensuring easy access to credit.
 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana: It will focus on the
fresh entrant to the labour market, especially the labour
market and class X and XII dropouts.

Conclusion

The massive slide into poverty in India that is clear in domestic and
international surveys and anecdotal evidence must meet with an
institutional response.

Education:

• Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) related to Education

• Goal 4 of SDG: Education for all – ensures equitable, inclusive
and quality education along with the promotion of lifelong learning
opportunities for all by 2030

• Over the years the Indian government and institutions have been
working to reform the existing education model and have been

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successful on many counts yet there are several issues that the Indian
education system is grappled with

Current Status of Education in India: Data from Census 2011

 Literacy rate in India as per Census 2011: 74%.

 Literacy rate: Male: 82.1%; Female: 65.5%
 Kerala tops the rankings, followed by Delhi, Maharashtra and
Tamil Nadu.
 Bihar is the lowest among states, followed by Arunachal
Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand etc., however, they are
improving their position.
 Bihar has a literacy rate of 63.8%, and that of women is 53.3%.
 Literacy rates for both adults as well as youths have
increased, still, the absolute number of illiterates in India is as
much as India‘s population was at the time of independence.
 The gender gap in terms of literacy began to narrow first in
1991 and the pace has accelerated, however still lags far
behind the global female literacy rate of 7% (UNESCO 2015).
 There are large state variations in the gender gap.
 However, during 2001 – 2011, the male literacy rate increased
by 6 percentage points but female literacy increased by nearly
12 percentage points. Achievement in female literacy in Bihar
is noteworthy: from 33% in 2001 to 53% in 2011.

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 Be that as it may, India is still lagging behind the

world literacy rate of 86.3%(UNESCO 2015). A major group of
states lies in the average rank i.e. just above the national level
of 64.8 percent.

Challenges:

 To encourage youngsters and graduates to come into the

teaching profession is the biggest challenge of this
government.
 Secondly, the issue is about increasing privatization, of not
just school education but cutting across education sectors-
primary, secondary as well as higher education.
 The Delhi government has set a very good example by
investing very heavily in public education, and government
schools are turning around.
 Major problem with the education sector lies with the higher
education sector as we see the higher education structure in
the country today, we are producing degree holders after
degree holders.
 There appears to be an absolute emphasis on graduates who
have degrees, that will not make them employable.
 The crisis in India is that a lot of graduates are getting
produced, who are then either unable or are not skilled
enough to enter the workforce.
 Thus, the primary challenge for India‘s higher education sector
is the skilling issue.
 Attempts have been made in the past of building vocational
skills at the schooling level itself, but unfortunately, such
plans have not worked out.
 The National Skills Development Council had setup for the
first-time various sector-skill councils.
 These sector-skill councils will offer short-term courses to
graduates who are not interested in traditional education.
 Lack of good secondary and higher secondary schools: The
number of secondary schools is less than 150,000 for a country
of 1.3 billion, and even this comes down to just 100,000 at the
higher secondary level. While there are around five million

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primary school teachers, at the secondary level the number is

just 1.5 million. India has persisted with a schooling system
that has long failed its young.

The inevitable shift to private school education along with the Right to
Education Act represents a failure of the public-school system.

Indian Education System: The Present Pyramidal Structure

The Indian education system can broadly be considered as a pyramidal
structure:

1. Pre-primary level: 5-6 years of age.

2. Primary (elementary) level: 6-14 years of age. Elementary-
level education is guaranteed by our constitution
under Article 21 A. For this level, the government has
introduced Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) under the Right To
Education(RTE) Act.
3. Secondary level: Age group between 14-18. For this level, the
government has extended SSA to secondary education in the
form of the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan.
4. Higher education: generally of three levels: UG→ PG→
MPhil/PhD. To cater to the requirements of higher
education, the government has introduced Rashtriya
Uchhattar Shiksha Abhiyan(RUSA).

Provisions in the Indian Constitution related to Education

 Under Article 45 in DPSP, it was mentioned that the government
should provide free and compulsory education for all children up
to the age of 14 years within 10 years from the commencement of
the Constitution. As this was not achieved, Article 21A was
introduced by the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2002,
making elementary education a fundamental right rather than a
directive principle. And Article 45 was amended to provide
for early childhood care and education to children below the age
of six years.

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 To implement Article 21A, the government legislated the RTE Act.

Under this act, SSA – Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan – got a further
impetus. SSA aims to provide Universalization of Elementary
Education (UEE) in a time-bound manner.
 SSA has been operational since 2000-2001. Its roots go back to
1993-1994 when the District Primary Education Programme
(DPEP) was launched. However, under the RTE Act, it got legal
backing.
RTE Act 2009

 86th Amendment Act 2002 introduced Article 21-A, which

provides for free and compulsory education of all children in
the age group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right.
 The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education
(RTE) Act was enacted to implement this fundamental right.

Provisions of the RTE Act

 Right of children to free and compulsory education till

completion of elementary education in a neighbourhood
school.
o ‗Compulsory education‘ means an obligation of the
government to provide free elementary education
and ensure compulsory admission, attendance
and completion of elementary education.
 Provision for a non-admitted child to be admitted to an age-
appropriate class.
 Norms and standards like Pupil Teacher Ratios
(PTRs), buildings and infrastructure, school-working days,
teacher-working hours, appropriately trained and qualified
teachers are enumerated.
o Rational deployment of teachers, ensuring that
there is no urban-rural imbalance in their postings.
o Prohibition of deployment of teachers for non-
educational work, other than services like
decennial census, elections etc.
 It prohibits (a) physical punishment and mental harassment
(b) screening procedures for admission of children (c)
capitation fee (d) private tuition by teachers (e) running of
schools without recognition.
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 Development of curriculum in consonance with the values

enshrined in the constitution, ensuring all-around
development of the child, building a system of child-friendly
and child-centred learning.
 To further inclusiveness, 25% reservation is provided for
disadvantaged students in private schools.

Criticisms of the RTE Act

 Even though the RTE + SSA have increased access to schools,

resulting in a high enrollment rate, dropout rates increased
in tandem. However, there is inadequate attention given to
this scenario.
 There is inadequate attention to the PTR:
o There is a fear of financial burden on the
government for teacher recruitment and training.
o The grey area of teacher transfer is also not helping
the cause.
 There is a provision of the academic calendar being decided
by the local authority, but it has not been implemented.
o Since all state holidays are not relevant for all
localities, such a calendar preparation by local
authorities can increase attendance and can also
encourage local panchayats to take ownership of
schools.
 There is a divergence between urban-rural and rich-poor in
education.
o RTE students in private schools are paying extra
fees as the schools claim that the government fund
provided for the same is not adequate.
o Most private schools treat RTE as charity and
demand that the onus of universalizing education
should be on the government‘s head rather than
putting pressure on them.
 70% of students are in government schools. So it must be
fixed in priority, by
providing infrastructure, teacher quality, targeted learning f
or children from disadvantaged groups to provide an
equitable education system.

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 Rajya Sabha amends the RTE bill, scrapping the no-detention

policy and thus reinstating detention for students of Class V
and Class VIII if they fail to pass examinations.
o Under the RTE Act, till class 8, students should not
be failed in exams. This is called the No detention
policy. It had reduced dropout rates.
o There is growing criticism of the policy resulting in
reducing the quality of elementary education.
Hence the RTE Act was amended to scrap the
policy.
 RTE Act prioritized schooling of children only from the age of
6, thus ignoring pre-school education. Kothari
commission had recommended the establishment of a centre
for the development of pre-primary education in each district.
 RTE Act recommends a PTR of 30:1 for primary classes and
35:1 for upper primary classes
o District Information System for Education (DISE)
report states that 30% of primary and 15% of upper
primary schools have higher PTRs.
o According to Economic Survey 2018-19, the PTR at
the national level for primary schools is 23 and 27
for secondary schools. Thus PTR appears to be
satisfactory, as there are sufficient teachers.
However, the main issue is a balanced deployment
of teachers based on student strength.
o Even though the Student-Classroom ratio (SCR)
improved in almost all of the States, there is
disparity across the country.

National Education Policy 2020:

School Education

 New Policy aims for universalization of education from pre-

school to secondary level with 100 % Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER)
in school education by 2030.
 NEP 2020 will bring 2 crore out of school children back into the
main stream through open schooling system.
 The current 10+2 system to be replaced by a new 5+3+3+4
curricular structure corresponding to ages 3-8, 8-11, 11-14, and 14-

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18 years respectively. This will bring the hitherto uncovered age

group of 3-6 years under school curriculum, which has been
recognized globally as the crucial stage for development of mental
faculties of a child. The new system will have 12 years of schooling
with three years of Anganwadi/ pre schooling.
 Emphasis on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, no rigid
separation between academic streams, extracurricular, vocational
streams in schools ; Vocational Education to start from Class 6
with Internships
 Teaching up to at least Grade 5 to be in mother tongue/ regional
language. No language will be imposed on any student.
 Assessment reforms with 360 degree Holistic Progress Card,
tracking Student Progress for achieving Learning Outcomes
 A new and comprehensive National Curriculum Framework for
Teacher Education, NCFTE 2021, will be formulated by the NCTE
in consultation with NCERT. By 2030, the minimum degree
qualification for teaching will be a 4-year integrated B.Ed. degree .

Higher Education

 Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education to be raised to 50 % by

2035 ; 3.5 crore seats to be added in higher education.
 The policy envisages broad based, multi-disciplinary, holistic
Under Graduate education with flexible curricula, creative
combinations of subjects, integration of vocational education
and multiple entry and exit points with appropriate certification.
UG education can be of 3 or 4 years with multiple exit options and
appropriate certification within this period.
 Academic Bank of Credits to be established to facilitate Transfer of
Credits
 Multidisciplinary Education and Research Universities (MERUs),
at par with IITs, IIMs, to be set up as models of best
multidisciplinary education of global standards in the country.
 The National Research Foundation will be created as an apex
body for fostering a strong research culture and building research
capacity across higher education.
 Higher Education Commission of India(HECI) will be set up as
a single overarching umbrella body the for entire higher
education, excluding medical and legal education. HECI to
have four independent verticals - National Higher Education

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Regulatory Council (NHERC) for regulation, General Education

Council (GEC ) for standard setting, Higher Education Grants
Council (HEGC) for funding, and National Accreditation Council(
NAC) for accreditation. Public and private higher education
institutions will be governed by the same set of norms for
regulation, accreditation and academic standards.
 Affiliation of colleges is to be phased out in 15 years and a stage-
wise mechanism is to be established for granting graded
autonomy to colleges. Over a period of time, it is envisaged that
every college would develop into either an Autonomous degree-
granting College, or a constituent college of a university.

Others

 An autonomous body, the National Educational Technology

Forum (NETF), will be created to provide a platform for the free
exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning,
assessment, planning, administration.
 NEP 2020 emphasizes setting up of Gender Inclusion Fund,
Special Education Zones for disadvantaged regions and groups
 New Policy promotes Multilingualism in both schools and higher
education. National Institute for Pali, Persian and Prakrit , Indian
Institute of Translation and Interpretation to be set up
 The Centre and the States will work together to increase the public
investment in Education sector to reach 6% of GDP at the earliest.

Issues Related to NEP 2020

 Knowledge-Jobs Mismatch: There is a persistent mismatch

between the knowledge & skills imparted and the jobs
available. This has been one of the main challenges that have
affected the Indian education system since Independence.

o NEP 2020 failed to check this, as it is silent on

education related to emerging technological fields
like artificial intelligence, cyberspace, nanotech, etc.
 The Requirement of Enormous Resources. An ambitious
target of public spending at 6% of GDP has been set.
Mobilising financial resources will be a big challenge, given

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the low tax-to-GDP ratio and competing claims on the national

exchequer of healthcare, national security and other key sector

Annual State of Education Report (ASER) survey :

Annual Status of Education Report

 It is a nationwide survey of rural education and learning

outcomes in terms of reading and arithmetic skills that has
been conducted by the NGO Pratham for the last 15 years.
 It uses Census 2011 as the sampling frame and continues to
be an important national source of information about
children‟s foundational skills across the country.
 ASER 2018 surveyed children in the age group of 3 to 16 years
and included almost all rural districts in India and generated
estimates of foundational reading and arithmetic abilities of
children in the age group 5 to 16 years.
 ASER 2019 reported on the pre-schooling or schooling status
of children in the age group 4 to 8 years in 26 rural districts,
focused on the ―early years‖ and laid emphasis on
―developing problem-solving faculties and building a memory
of children, and not content knowledge‖.
 ASER 2020 is the first ever phone-based ASER survey and it
was conducted in September 2020, the sixth month of national
school closures.
ASER and COVID:
 Enrollments:

o 5.5% of rural children are not currently enrolled for

the 2020 school year, up from 4% in 2018.

 This difference is the sharpest among the

youngest children (6 to 10) where 5.3% of
rural children had not yet enrolled in
school in 2020, in comparison to just 1.8%
in 2018.
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 Due to the disruptions caused by the

pandemic, families are waiting for the
physical opening of schools to enrol their
youngest children, with about 10% of six-
year-olds not in school.
o Among 15-16 year-olds, however, enrolment levels
are slightly higher than in 2018.
o The proportion of boys enrolled in government
schools has risen from 62.8% in 2018 to 66.4% in
2020, while for girls, that number has gone up from
70% to 73% in the corresponding period.
o Patterns show a slight shift toward government
schools, with private schools seeing a drop in
enrolment in all age groups.
o The Centre has now permitted States to start
reopening schools if they can follow Covid-19
safety protocols but the majority of the country‘s 25
crore students are still at home.
Availability of Smartphones:

 Among enrolled children, 61.8% live in families that own at

least one smartphone which was merely 36.5% in 2018.

o About 11% of families bought a new phone after

the lockdown, of which 80% were smartphones.
 WhatsApp is by far the most popular mode of transmitting
learning materials to students, with 75% of students receiving
input via this app.
Availability of Learning Material:

 Overall, more than 80% of children said they had textbooks for
their current grade.

o This proportion was higher among students enrolled in

government schools (84.1%) than in private ones (72.2%).

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 In Bihar, less than 8% got such materials from their schools,

along with 20% in West Bengal, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
 More than 80% of rural children in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab,
Kerala and Gujarat received such input.
Learning Activities:

 Most children (70.2%) did some form of a learning

activity through material shared by tutors or family members
themselves, with or without regular input.
 11% had access to live online classes, and 21% had videos or
recorded classes, with much higher levels in private schools.
 About 60% studied from their textbooks and 20% watched
classes broadcast on TV
Some Suggestions
Teacher Education
 The lack of learning in India‘s schools call for changes to teacher
education. A collaboration between foreign universities‘ schools
of education with Indian teacher training institutes in necessary.
 Such a collaboration could help build capacity and upgrade
teacher education both in terms of curriculum and pedagogy,
which is much needed in Indian teacher education institutions
like the District Institutes of Education and Training.
 Such collaborations could be facilitated through technology,
collaborative research projects, teacher exchanges, and
subsidized online courses for teachers in India.
Building Good Assessment Systems
 Good assessments are useful at the classroom level for teachers
to gauge their students‘ understanding and also to inform
policy.
 The need for regular and useful assessments in India is
something that Indian departments of education are focusing on
at the central and state level.
Gender studies education:

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 Boys and girls should be taught to think about gender equality

from an early age and the curriculum should include gender
studies with appropriate teacher training.
Skills Development
 Making education more practically relevant to the labour
market should be a priority
Resources
 Currently spending on education is low in India, and stands at
3.4 percent of the GDP. This needs to be increased.

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