Paper II- Public Administration

Citizen charter

The Citizens’ Charter is an instrument which seeks to make an organization transparent, accountable and citizen friendly. A Citizens’ Charter is basically a set of commitments made by an organization regarding the standards of service which it delivers. Every citizens’ charter has several essential components to make it meaningful; the first being the Vision and Mission Statement of the organization. This gives the outcomes desired and the broad strategy to achieve these goals and outcomes. This also makes the users aware of the intent of their service provider and helps in holding the organization accountable. Secondly, in its Citizens’ Charter, the organization 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. These commitments/promises constitute the heart of a citizens’ charter. Even though these promises are not enforceable in a court of law, each organization should ensure that the promises made are kept and, in case of default, a suitable compensatory/remedial mechanism should be provided. Thirdly, the Citizens’ Charter should also stipulate the responsibilities of the citizens in the context of the charter.

Background

The Citizens’ Charter, when introduced in the early 19 90’s, represented a landmark shift in the delivery of public services. The emphasis of the Citizens’ Charter is on citizens as customers of public services. The Citizens’ Charter scheme in its present form was first launched in 1991 in the UK. The aim was to ensure that public services are made responsive to the citizens they serve.

A Citizens’ Charter is a public statement that defines the entitlements of citizens to a specific service, the standards of the service, the conditions to be met by users, and the remedies available to the latter in case of non-compliance of standards. 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 are demand driven rather than supply driven. In this context, the six principles of the Citizens’ Charter movement as originally framed were:

Quality : improving the quality of services;

Choice : for the users wherever possible;

Standards : specifying what to expect within a time frame;

 Value : for the taxpayers’ money;

Accountability : of the service provider (individual as well as Organization);

Transparency : in rules, procedures, schemes and grievance redressal.

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

• Set standards of service;
• Be open and provide full information;
• Consult and involve;
• Encourage access and promote choice;
• Treat all fairly;
• Put things right when they go wrong;
• Use resources eff ectively;
• Innovate and improve; and
• Work with other providers

Government of India in 1996 commenced a National Debate for Responsive Administration. A major suggestion which emerged was bringing out Citizen Charters for all public service organisations.  idea received strong support at the Chief Ministers’ Conference in May 1997; one of the key decisions of the Conference was to formulate and operationalise Citizens’ Charters at the Union and State Government levels in sectors which have large public interface such as Railways, Telecom, Post & Public Distribution Systems, Hospitals, and the Revenue & Electricity Departments. momentum for this was provided by the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DAR&PG) in consultation with the Department for Consumer Affairs. Department of AR & PG simultaneously formulated guidelines for structuring a model charter as well as a list of do’s and don’ts to enable various government departments to bring out focused and effective charters. Since May 1997, when the programme was launched in India, different Ministries, Departments, Directorates and other organizations at the Union level have formulated 115 Citizens Charters.

Making Citizens’ Charters Effective

The Commission has briefly dealt with the issue of Citizen’s Charters in its Fourth Report on ‘Ethics in Governance’. The Commission observed that in order to make these Charters effective tools for holding public servants accountable, the Charters should clearly spell out the remedy/penalty/compensation in case there is a default in meeting the standards spelt out in the Charter. It emphasized that it is better to have a few promises which can be kept than a long list of lofty but impractical aspirations.

Internal restructuring should precede Charter formulation: As a meaningful Charter seeks to improve the quality of service, mere stipulation to that effect in the Charter will not suffice. There has to be a complete analysis of the existing systems and processes within the organization and, if need be, these should to be recast and new initiatives adopted. Citizens’ Charters that are put in place after these internal reforms will be more credible and useful than those designed as mere desk exercises without any system re-engineering.

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 Citizen’s Charters vary significantly across the country. Added to these are differing local conditions. The highly uneven distribution of Citizen’s Charters across States is clear evidence of this ground reality. For example, some agencies may need more time to specify and agree upon realistic standards of service. In others, additional effort will be required to motivate and equip the staff to participate in this reform exercise. Such organizations could be given time and resources to experiment with standards, grievances redressal mechanisms or training. They may also need more time for internal restructuring of the service delivery chain or introducing new systems. Therefore, the Commission is of the view that formulation of Citizen’s Charters should be a decentralized activity with the head office providing broad guidelines.

Wide consultation process: Citizens’ Charters should be formulated after extensive consultations within the organization followed by a meaningful dialogue with civil society. Inputs from experts should also be considered at this stage.

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. With the passage of time, an effort should be made for more stringent standards of service delivery.

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. In addition, wherever there is a default in the service delivery by the organization, citizens must also have recourse to a grievances redressal mechanism. This will be discussed further in the next chapter on grievances redressal mechanisms.

 

Periodic evaluation of Citizen’s Charters: Every organization must conduct periodic evaluation of its Citizens’ Charter preferably through an external agency. This agency while evaluating the Charter of the organisation should also make an objective analyses of whether the promises made therein are being delivered within the defined parameters. The result of such evaluations must be used to improve upon the Charter. This is necessary because a Citizen’s Charter is a dynamic document which must keep pace with the changing needs of the citizens as well as the changes in underlying processes and technology. A periodic review of Citizens’ Charter thus becomes an imperative.

 

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 ICT (Information and Communications Technology), So it is the application of information and communication technology (ICT) for delivering government services, exchange of information, communication transactions, integration of various stand-alone systems and services between government-to-customer (G2C), government-to-business (G2B), government-to-government (G2G) as well as back office processes and interactions within the entire government framework.Through e-governance, government services will be made available to citizens in a convenient, efficient and transparent manner. The three main target groups that can be distinguished in governance concepts are government, citizens and businesses/interest groups.

 

Types of Government Interaction in e-governance.

• G2G: Government to Government 

• G2C:Government to Citizen 

• G2B: Government to Business

• G2E:Government to Employee

 

1. G2G (Government to Government): When the exchange of information and services is within the periphery of the government, is termed as G2G interaction. This can be both horizontal, i.e. among various government entities and vertical, i.e. between national, state and local government entities and within different levels of the entity.

 

2. G2C (Government to Citizen): The interaction amidst the government and general public is G2C interaction. Here an interface is set up between government and citizens, which enables citizens to get access to wide variety of public services. The citizens has the freedom to share their views and grievances on government policies anytime, anywhere.

 

3. G2B (Government to Business): In this case, the e-governance helps the business class to interact with the government seamlessly. It aims at eliminating red-tapism, saving time, cost and establish transparency in the business environment, while interacting with government.

 

4. G2E (Government to Employees): The government of any country is the biggest employer and so it also deals with employees on a regular basis, as other employers do. ICT helps in making the interaction between government and employees fast and efficient, along with raising their level of satisfaction by providing perquisites and add-on benefits.

E-governance can only be possible if the government is ready for it. It is not a one day task, and so the government has to make plans and implement them before switching to it. Some of the measures include Investment in telecommunication infrastructure, budget resources, ensure security, monitor assessment, internet connectivity speed, promote awareness among public regarding the importance, support from all government departments and so forth.

Benefits of E-governance

• Reduced corruption
• High transparency
• Increased convenience
• Growth in GDP
• Direct participation of constituents
• Reduction in overall cost.
• Expanded reach of government

Through e-governance, the government plans to raise the coverage and quality of information and services provided to the general public, by the use of ICT in an easy, economical and effective manner. The process is extremely complicated which requires, the proper arrangement of hardware, software, networking and indeed re-engineering of all the processes to facilitate better delivery of services.

E Governance in India

e-Governance in India has transformed to promote inclusive growth that covers electronic services, products, devices and job opportunities. An initiative driving this growth is the Digital India. The Digital India programme is a flagship programme of the Government of India with a vision to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

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 and Mission mode Projects

§  UID

The unique identification project was conceived as an initiative that would provide identification for each resident across the country and would be used primarily as the basis for efficient delivery of welfare services. It would also act as a tool for effective monitoring of various programs and schemes of the government.

 

• e-Governance in Municipalities

It is a unique initiative of the Government of India conceptualized under the umbrella of the overall National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) and the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (Jnnurm) aimed at improving operational efficiencies within Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).

 

§  Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems

Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS) MMP aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and effective policing at all levels and especially at the Police Station level through adoption of principles of e-Governance, and creation of a nationwide networked infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled state-of-the-art tracking system.

 

§  Public Distribution System

Computerization of the PDS is envisaged as an end-to-end project covering key functional areas such as supply chain management including allocation and utilization reporting, storage and movement of food grains, grievance redressal and transparency portal, digitization of beneficiary database, Fair Price Shop automation, etc.

 

§  Health

ICT for programme management has been undertaken by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in the Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS) programme and the Ministry envisages a more comprehensive use of ICT including for Hospital Information Systems, supply chain management for drugs and vaccines, providing ICT tools to ASHA and ANM workers.

 

§  e-procurement

Ministry of Commerce & Industry (Department of Commerce) has been nominated as the Nodal Ministry for implementation of e-Government Procurement (e-GP) Mission Mode Projects (MMP).

 

§  e-Courts

The e-Court Mission Mode Project was conceptualized with a vision to transform the Indian judiciary by making use of technology. The project had been developed, following the report submitted by the e-Committee under Supreme Court on national policy & action plan on implementation of information communication tools in Indian judiciary.

 

§  e-Biz

The e-Biz Mission Mode Project, being executed by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, was conceptualized with the vision

 

• 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.

 

• 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 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.

 

The English word  administer‘ is derived from a combination of two Latin words and ?ministrate‘ meaning ?to serve or manage‘. Literally, the term means management the affairs of public or private. Administration refers to mobilisation of resources – human and material- to achieve pre-set of objectives.

Administration is thus an activity undertaken in pursuit of the realisation of a goal. It is an effort requiring a group of persons, each individually carrying out certainallotted tasks, which when so performed by all, leads to the achievement of an objective which has already been established and made explicit.

Management is defined as an act of managing people and their work, for achieving a common goal by using the organization‘s resources. It creates an environment under which the manager and his subordinates can work together for the attainment of group objective. It is a group of people who use their skills and talent in running the complete system of the organization. It is an activity, a function, a process, a discipline and much more.Planning, organizing, leading, motivating, controlling, coordination and decision making are the major activities performed by the management. Management brings together 5M‘s of the organization, i.e. Men,Material, Machines, Methods, and Money. It is a result oriented activity, which focuses on achieving the desired output.

The nature of management can easily be brought out by the following elements:

(i) Management is goal-oriented: Management is not an end in itself. It is a means to achieve certain goals. Management has no justification to exist without goals. Management goals are called group goals or organisational goals. The basic goal of management is to ensure efficiency and economy in the utilisation of human, physical and financial resources. The success of management is measured by the extent to which the established goals one achieved. Thus, management is purposeful.

(ii) Management is universal: Management is an essential element of every organised activity irrespective of the size or type of activity. Wherever two or more persons are engaged in working for a common goal, management is necessary. All types of organisations, e.g., family, club, university, government, army, cricket team or business, require management. Thus, management is a pervasive activity. The fundamental principles of management are applicable in all areas of organised effort.

Managers at all levels perform the same basic functions.

(iii) Management is an Integrative Force: The essence of management lies in the coordination of individual efforts in to a team. Management reconciles the individual goals with organisational goals. As unifying force, management creates a whole that is more than the sum of individual parts. It integrates human and other resources.

(iv) Management is a Social Process: Management is done by people, through people and for people. It is a social process because it is concerned with interpersonal relations. Human factor is the most important element in management. According to

Appley, ?Man- agement is the development of people not the direction of things. A good manager is a leader not a boss. It is the pervasiveness of human element which gives management its special character as a social process?.

(v) Management is multidisciplinary: Management has to deal with human behaviour under dynamic conditions. Therefore, it depends upon wide knowledge derived from several disciplines like engineering, sociology, psychology, economics, anthropology, etc. The vast body of knowledge in management draws heavily upon other fields of study.

(vi) Management is a continuous Process: Management is a dynamic and an on-going process. The cycle of management continues to operate so long as there is organised action for the achievement of group goals.

(vii) Management is Intangible: Management is an unseen or invisible force. It cannot be seen but its presence can be felt everywhere in the form of results. However, the managers who perform the functions of management are very much tangible and visible.

(viii) Management is an Art as well as Science: It contains a systematic body of theoretical knowledge and it also involves the practical application of such knowledge. Management is also a discipline involving specialised training and an ethical code arising out of its social obligations.

The significance of management can be brought out by following points:-

(i) Achievement of group goals: A human group consists of several persons, each specialising in doing a part of the total task. Each person may be working efficiently, but the group as a whole cannot realise its objectives unless there is mutual cooperation and coordination among the members of the group. Manage- ment creates team-work and coordination in the group. He reconciles the objectives of the group with those of its members so that each one of them is motivated to make his best contribution towards the accomplishment of group goals. Managers provide inspiring leadership to keep the members of the group working hard.

(ii) Optimum utilisation of resources: Managers forecast the need for materials, machinery, money and manpower. They ensure that the organisation has adequate resources and at the sametime does not have idle resources. They create and maintain an environment conducive to highest productivity. Managers make sure that workers know their jobs well and use the most effi- cient methods of work. They provide training and guidance to employeers so that they can make the best use of the available resources.

(iii) Minimisation of cost: In the modern era of cut-throat competition no business can succeed unless it is able to supply the required goods and services at the lowest possible cost per unit. Manage- ment directs day-to-day operations in such a manner that all wastage and extravagance are avoided. By reducing costs and improving efficiency, managers enable an enterprise to be com- petent to face competitors and earn profits.

(iv) Survival and growth: Modern business operates in a rapidly changing environment. An enterprise has to adapt itself to the changing demands of the market and society. Management keeps in touch with the existing business environment and draws its predictions about the trends in future. It takes steps in advance to meet the challenges of changing environment. Changes in busi- ness environment create risks as well as opportunities. Manag- ers enable the enterprise to minimise the risks and maximise the benefits of opportunities. In this way, managers facilitate the continuity and prosperity of business.

(v) Generation of employment: By setting up and expanding busi- ness enterprises, managers create jobs for the people. People earn their livelihood by working in these organisations. Managers also create such an environment that people working in enterprise can get job satisfaction and happiness. In this way managers help to satisfy the economic and social needs of the employees.

(vi) Development of the nation: Efficient management is equally important at the national level. Management is the most crucial factor in economic and social development. The development of a country largely depends on the quality of the management of its resources. Capital investment and import of technical know how cannot lead to economic growth unless wealth producing resources are managed efficiently. By producing wealth, management increases the national income and the living standards of people. That is why management is regarded as a key to the economic growth of a country.

Kautilya and Arthashastra:

Kautilya was the Prime Minister of Chandragupta Maurya. Chandragupta found the Mauryan Empire with his help. Arthashastra was written by him. It is the most important source for writing the history of the Mauryas and is divided into 15 adhikarnas or sections and 180 Prakaranas or subdivi­sions. It has about 6,000 slokas. The book was discovered by Shamasastri in 1909 and ably trans­lated by him.

 

It is a treatise on statecraft and public administration. Despite the controversy over its date and authorship, its importance lies in the fact that it gives a clear and methodological analysis of economic and political conditions of the Mauryan period.

The similarities between the administrative terms used in the Arthashastra and in the Asokan edicts certainly suggests that the Mauryan rulers were acquainted with this work.As such his Arthashastra provides useful and reliable information regarding the social and political conditions as well as the Mauryan administration.

1. King:

Kautilya suggests that the king should be an autocrat and he should concentrate all powers into his own hands. He should enjoy unrestricted authority over his realm. But at the same time, he should give honour to the Brahmanas and seek advice from his ministers. Thus the king though autocrat, should exercise his authority wisely.

He should be cultured and wise. He should also be well-read so as to understand all the details of his administration. He says that the chief cause of his fall is that the king is inclined towards evil. He lists six evils that led to a king’s decline. They are haughtiness, lust, anger, greed, vanity and love of pleasures. Kautilya says that the king should live in comfort but he should not indulge in pleasures.

2. Ideals of Kingship:

The major ideal of kingship according to Kautilya is that his own well-being lies in the well-being of his people of only the happy subjects ensure the happiness of their sovereign. He also says that the king should be ‘Chakravarti’ or the conqueror of different realms and should win glory by conquering other lands.

He should protect his people from external dan­gers and ensure internal peace. Kautilya maintained that the soldiers should be imbued with the spirit of a ‘holy war’ before they march to the battlefield. According to him, all is fair in a war waged in the interest of the country.

3. About the Ministers:

Kautilya maintains that the king should appoint ministers. King without ministers is like a one-wheeled chariot. According to Kautilya, king’s ministers should be wise and intelligent. But the king should not become a puppet in their hands.

He should discard their improper advise. The ministers should work together as; a team. They should hold meetings in privacy. He says that the king who cannot keep his secrets cannot last long.

4. Provincial Administration:

Kautilya tells us that the kingdom was divided into several provinces governed by the members of the royal family. There were some smaller provinces as Saurashtra and Kambhoj etc. administered by other officers called ‘Rashtriyas’. The provinces were divided into districts which were again sub-divided into villages. The chief administrator of the district was called the ‘SthaniK while the village headman was called the ‘Gopa’.

5. Civic Administration:

The administration of big cities as well as the capital city of Pataliputra was carried on very efficiently. Pataliputra was divided into four sectors. The officer incharge of each sector was called the ‘Sthanik. He was assisted by junior officers called the ‘Gopas’ who looked after the welfare of 10 to 40 families. The whole city was in the charge of another officer called the ‘Nagrika’. There was a system of regular census.

6. Spy Organisation:

Kautilya says that the king should maintain a network of spies who should keep him well informed about the minute details and happenings in the country, the provinces, the districts and the towns. The spies should keep watch on other officials. There should be spies to ensure peace in the land. According to Kautilya, women spies are more efficient than men, so they should, in particular, be recruited as spies. Above all the kings should send his agents in neighbouring countries to gather information of political significance.

7. Shipping:

Another significant information that we gather from Kautilya is about shipping under the Mauryas. Each port was supervised by an officer who kept vigil on ships and ferries. Tolls were levied on traders, passengesand fishermen. Almost all ships and boats were owned by the kings.

8. Economic Condition:

Kautilya says that poverty is a major cause of rebellions. Hence there should be no shortage of food and money to buy it, as it creates discontent and destroys the king. Kautilya therefore advises the king to take steps to improve the economic condition of his people. Kautilya says that the chief source of income was the land revenue in villages while the tax on the sale of goods was the chief source in the cities.

 

Transparency and accountability in administration as the sine qua non of participatory democracy, gained recognition as the new commitments of the state towards its citizens. It is considered imperative to enlist the support and participation of citizens in management of public services. Traditionally, participation in political and economic processes and the ability to make informed choices has been restricted to a small elite in India. Consultation on important policy matters, even when they directly concern the people was rarely the practice. Information-sharing being limited, the consultative process was severely undermined.

There is no denying the fact that information is the currency that every citizen requires to participate in the life and governance of society. The greater the access of the citizen to information, the greater would be the responsiveness of government to community needs. Alternatively, the greater the restrictions that are placed on ‘access’, the greater the feelings of ‘powerlessness’ and alienation. Without information, people cannot adequately exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens or make informed choices.

Government information is a national resource. Neither the particular government of the day, nor public officials, creates information for their own benefit. This information is generated for the purposes related to the legitimate discharge of their duties of office, and for the service of public for whose benefit the institutions of government exist, and who ultimately (through one kind of import or another) fund the institutions of government and the salaries of officials. It follows that government and officials are ‘trustees’ of the information of the people.

Nonetheless, there are in theory at least, numerous ways in which information can be accessible to members of the public in a parliamentary system. The systemic devices promote the transfer of information from government to parliament and the legislatures, and from these to the people. Members of the public can seek information from their elected representatives. Annual reporting requirements, committee reports, publication of information and administrative law requirements also increase the flow of information from government to the citizen. Recent technological advances also help to reduce further the gap between the ‘information rich’ and the ‘information’.

However, in spite of India’s status as the world’s most populous democratic state, there was not until recently any obligation at village, district, state or national level to disclose information to the people – information was essentially protected by the colonial secrets Act 1923, which makes the disclosure of official information by public servants an offence. The colonial legacy of secrecy, distance and mystification.

of the bureaucracy coupled with a long history of one party dominance proved to be a formidable challenge to transparency and effective government let alone an effective right to information secretive government is nearly always inefficient in that the free flow of information is essential if problems are to be identified and resolved.

Right to information has been seen as the key to strengthening participatory democracy and ushering in people centred governance. Access to information can empower the poor and the weaker sections of society to demand and get information about public policies and actions, thereby leading to their welfare. Without good governance, no amount of developmental schemes can bring improvements in the quality of life of the citizens. Good governance has four elements- transparency, accountability, predictability and participation. Transparency refers to availability of information to the general public and clarity about functioning of governmental institutions. Right to information opens up government’s records to public scrutiny, thereby arming citizens with a vital tool to inform them about what the government does and how effectively, thus making the government more accountable. Transparency in government organisations makes them function more objectively thereby enhancing predictability. Information about functioning of government also enables citizens to participate in the governance process effectively. In a fundamental sense, right to information is a basic necessity of good governance.

In recognition of the need for transparency in public affairs, the Indian Parliament enacted the Right to Information Act (hereinafter referred to as the RTI Act or the Act) in 2005. It is a path breaking legislation empowering people and promoting transparency. While right to information is implicitly guaranteed by the Constitution, the Act sets out the practical regime for citizens to secure access to information on all matters of governance.

Right to information : Challenges

The most contentious issue in the implementation of the Right to Information Act relates to official secrets. In a democracy, people are sovereign and the elected government and its functionaries are public servants. Therefore by the very nature of things, transparency should be the norm in all matters of governance. However it is well recognised that public interest is best served if certain sensitive matters affecting national security are kept out of public gaze. Similarly, the collective responsibility of the Cabinet demands uninhibited debate on public issues in the Council of Ministers, free from the pulls and pressures of day-to-day politics. People should have the unhindered right to know the decisions of the Cabinet and the reasons for these, but not what actually transpires within the confines of the ‘Cabinet room’. The Act recognizes these confidentiality requirements in matters of State and Section 8 of the Act exempts all such matters from disclosure.

The Official Secrets Act, 1923 (hereinafter referred to as OSA), enacted during the colonial era, governs all matters of secrecy and confidentiality in governance. The law largely deals with matters of security and provides a framework for dealing with espionage, sedition and other assaults on the unity and integrity of the nation. However, given the colonial climate of mistrust of people and the primacy of public officials in dealing with the citizens, OSA created a culture of secrecy. Confidentiality became the norm and disclosure the exception. While Section 5 of OSA was obviously intended to deal with potential breaches of national security, the wording of the law and the colonial times in which it was implemented made it into a catch-all legal provision converting practically every issue of governance into a confidential matter. This tendency was buttressed by the Civil Service Conduct Rules, 1964 which prohibit communication of an official document to anyone without authorization. Not surprisingly, Section 123 of the Indian Evidence Act, enacted in 1872, prohibits the giving of evidence from unpublished official records without the permission of the Head of the Department, who has abundant discretion in the matter. Needless to say even the instructions issued for classification of documents for security purposes and the official procedures displayed this tendency of holding back information.

The Official Secrets Act, 1923 should be repealed, and substituted by a chapter in the National Security Act, containing provisions relating to official secrets.

Implementation of right to information act

In order to enforce the rights and fulfil the obligations under the Act, building of institutions, organization of information and creation of an enabling environment are critical. Therefore, the Commission has as a first step reviewed the steps taken so far to implement the Act as follow:

Institutions

Information Commissions

Information Officers and Appellate Authorities.

Information and record keeping

Suo motu declaration under Section

Public Interest Disclosure.

Modernizing recordkeeping

Capacity building and awareness generation

Creation of monitoring mechanism

 

Capacity Building and Awareness Generation

Training programmes: The enactment of Right to Information Act is only the first step in promoting transparency in governance. The real challenge lies in ensuring that the information sought is provided expeditiously, and in an intelligible form. The mindset of the government functionaries, wherein secrecy is the norm and disclosure the exception, would require a revolutionary change. Such a change would also be required in the mindset of citizens who traditionaly have been reluctant to seek information. Bringing about this radical change would require sustained training and awareness generation programmes. The Commission’s own experience in seeking information from select public authorities reveals that even some PIOs are not conversant with the key provisions of the Act. The Information Commissioner’s Office in the United Kingdom has published an ‘Awareness Guidance’ series to assist public authorities and, in particular, staff who may not have access to specialist advice about some of the issues, especially exemption provisions. This practice may also be adopted in India.

Awareness generation: The enactment of the Right to Information Act has led to an intense debate in the media on various aspects of freedom of information. Despite this, enquiries reveal that level of awareness, particularly at the grass roots level, is surprisingly low. In order to achieve the objectives of the Act it would be necessary that citizens become aware of their entitlements and the processes required to use this right to improve the quality of governance. Awareness generation so far has been largely confined to government advertisement in print media. An effective awareness generation campaign should involve multi media efforts including street plays, television spots, radio jingles, and other mass communication techniques. These campaigns could be effectively implemented at low cost, once committed voluntary organizations and corporates with creativity, passion and professionalism are involved.

Issues in implementation

The implementation of the RTI Act is an administrative challenge which has thrown up various structural, procedural and logistical issues and problems, which need to be addressed.

Facilitating Access: For seeking information, a process as prescribed under the Act has to be set in motion. The trigger is filing of a request. Once the request is filed the onus of responding to it shifts to the government agency. Based on the experiences there are some issues arising in the implementation:

• Complicated system of accepting requests.
• Insistence on demand drafts.
• Difficulties in filing applications by post.
• Varying and often higher rates of application fee.
• Large number of PIOs.

Complicated system of accepting requests : While accepting applications, Departments insist that cash be paid at the accounts office. In Ministries, the accounts office and the PIOs office are different and at times in different locations. The Rules also prescribe that for each extra page of information, Rs. 2 has to be paid, for which the applicant has to go through the same process. The difficulty would get further pronounced in field offices, many of which do not have provision to collect cash. Moreover, getting a visitor’s pass to enter a government building results in unwarranted wait times (especially, when the PIO responsible might not be available owing to a number of other responsibilities which (s)he handles). Therefore, the process of filing requests for information needs to be simplified.

Insistence on demand drafts: Though there is a provision to pay fees through bank drafts, this poses another problem, as the bank charges Rs 35 to prepare a demand draft of Rs 10. Therefore the insistence by some departments to receive fees only through demand drafts and not in cash needs to be dispensed with.

Difficulties in filing applications by post: Under the existing dispensation, filing applications by post would necessarily involve payment of the application fee by way of demand draft or Banker’s cheque.

Varying and often higher rates of application fee: Different States have prescribed different fees in this regard. The Tamil Nadu Right to Information (Fees) Rules provides that an application fee of Rs 50 has to be paid for each request. During its public hearing in Chennai, the Commission was informed that this high rate of fees discouraged filing of applications under the Act. Therefore there is a need to harmonise the fee structure.

 

Suggestions

• In addition to the existing modes of payment, appropriate governments should amend the Rules to include payment through postal orders.
• States may be required to frame Rules regarding application fee which are in harmony with the Central Rules. It needs to be ensured that the fee itself does not become a disincentive.
• Appropriate governments may restructure the fees (including additional fees) in multiples of Rs 5. {e.g. instead of prescribing a fee of Rs. 2 per additional page it may be desirable to have a fee of Rs. 5 for every 3 pages or part thereof}.
• State Governments may issue appropriate stamps in suitable denominations as a mode of payment of fees. Such stamps would be used for making applications before public authorities coming within the purview of State Governments.
• As all the post offices in the country have already been authorized to function as APIOs on behalf of Union Ministries/Departments, they may also be authorized to collect the fees in cash and forward a receipt along with the application.
• At the Government of India level the Department of Personnel and Training has been identified as the nodal department for implementation of the RTI Act. This nodal department should have a complete list of all Union Ministries/ Departments which function as public authorities.
• Each Union Ministry/ Department should also have an exhaustive list of all public authorities, which come within its purview. The public authorities coming under each ministry/ department should be classified into (i) constitutional bodies, (ii) line agencies, (iii) statutory bodies, (iv) public sector undertakings, (v) bodies created under executive orders, (vi) bodies owned, controlled or substantially financed, and (vii) NGOs substantially financed by government. Within each category an up-todate list of all public authorities has to be maintained.
• Each public authority should have the details of all public authorities subordinate to it at the immediately next level. This should continue till the last level is reached. All these details should be made available on the websites of the respective public authorities, in a hierarchical form.
• A similar system should also be adopted by the States.

 

Elections are the primary means for citizens to hold their country’s officials accountable for their actions in office, especially when they have behaved illegally, corruptly, or ineptly in carrying out the government’s work. For elections — and the people’s will — to be meaningful, basic rights must be protected and affirmed, as through the Bill of Rights in the United States. James Madison, the author of the Bill of Rights, believed that the very basis for government’s responsiveness was the assurance that citizens would have sufficient knowledge to direct it. If citizens are to govern their own affairs, either directly or through representative government, then they must be able to have access to the information needed in order to make informed choices about how best to determine their affairs. If citizens and their representatives are not well informed, they can neither act in their own self-interest, broadly speaking, nor can they have any serious choice in elections, much less offer themselves as candidates.

Sher Shah’s Work

 

 Sher Shah was one of the most distinguished rulers of north India who had done a number of developmental works (along with well-planned administrative works). His works can be studied under the following heads:

 

Administrative Works

 

 Sher Shah re-established law and order across the length and breadth of his empire.

 Sher Shah placed considerable emphasis on justice, as he used to say, “Justice is the most excellent of religious rites, and it is approved alike by the king of infidels and of the faithful“.

 Sher Shah did not spare oppressors whether they were high nobles, men of his own tribe or near relations.

 Qazis were appointed at different places for justice, but as before, the village panchayats and zamindars also dealt with civil and criminal cases at the local level.

 Sher Shah dealt strictly with robbers and dacoits.

 Sher Shah was very strict with zamindars who refused to pay land revenue or disobeyed the orders of the government.

Administrative Division

 

 A number of villages comprised a pargana. The pargana was under the charge of the shiqdar, who looked after law and order and general administration, and the munsif or amil looked after the collection of Land revenue.

 

 Above the pargana, there was the shiq or sarkar under the charge of the shiqdar-i-shiqdran and a munsif-i-munsifan.

 Accounts were maintained both in the Persian and the local languages (Hindavi).

 

 Sher Shah apparently continued the central machinery of administration, which had been developed during the Sultanate period. Most likely, Sher Shah did not favor leaving too much authority in the hands of ministers.

 

 Sher Shah worked exceptionally hard, devoting himself to the affairs of the state from early morning to late at night. He also toured the country regularly to know the condition of the people.

 

 Sher Shah’s excessive centralization of authority, in his hands, has later become a source of weakness, and its harmful effects became apparent when a masterful sovereign (like him) ceased to sit on the throne.

 

 The produce of land was no longer to be based on the guess work, or by dividing the crops in the fields, or on the threshing floor rather Sher Shah insisted on measurement of the sown land.

 

 Schedule of rates (called ray) was drawn up, laying down the state’s share of the different types of crops. This could then be converted into cash on the basis of the prevailing market rates in different areas. Normally, the share of the state was one-third of the produce.

 

 Sher Shah’s measurement system let peasants to know how much they had to pay to the state only after sowing the crops.

 

 The extent of area sown, the type of crops cultivated, and the amount each peasant had to pay was written down on a paper called patta and each peasant was informed of it.

 

 No one was permitted to charge from the peasants anything extra. The rates which the members of the measuring party were to get for their work were laid down.

 

 In order to guard against famine and other natural calamities, a cess at the rate of two and half seers per bigha was also levied.

 

 Sher Shah was very solicitous for the welfare of the peasantry, as he used to say, “The cultivators are blameless, they submit to those in power, and if I oppress them they will abandon their villages, and the country will be ruined and deserted, and it will be a long time before it again becomes prosperous“.

 

 Sher Shah developed a strong army in order to administer his vast empire. He dispensed with tribal levies under tribal chiefs, and recruited soldiers directly after verifying their character.

 

 The strength of Sher Shah’s personal army was recorded as:

 

o 150,000 cavalry;

 

o 25,000 infantry armed with matchlocks or bows;

 

o 5,000 elephants; and

 

o A park of artillery.

 

 Sher Shah set up cantonments in different parts of his empire; besides, a strong garrison was posted in each of them.

 

 Sher Shah also developed a new city on the bank of the Yamuna River near Delhi. The sole survivor of this city is the Old Fort (Purana Qila) and the fine mosque within it.

 

 One of the finest nobles, Malik Muhammad Jaisi (who had written Padmavat in Hindi) was the patron of Sher Shah’s reign.

 

Akbar’s Administrative System

 

 Though Akbar adopted Sher Shah’s administrative system, he did not find it that much beneficial hence he had started his own administrative system.

 

 In 1573, just after returning from Gujarat expedition, Akbar paid personal attention to the land revenue system. Officials called as ‘karoris’ were appointed throughout the north India. Karoris were responsible for the collection of a crore of dams (i.e. Rs. 250,000).

 

 In 1580, Akbar instituted a new system called the dahsala; under this system, the average produce of different crops along with the average prices prevailing over the last ten (dah) years were calculated. However, the state demand was stated in cash. This was done by converting the state share into money on the basis of a schedule of average prices over the past ten years.

 

 Akbar introduced a new land measurement system (known as the zabti system) covering from Lahore to Allahabad, including Malwa and Gujarat.

 

 Under the zabti system, the shown area was measured by means of the bamboos attached with iron rings.

 

 The zabti system, originally, is associated with Raja Todar Mal (one of the nobles of Akbar), therefore, sometimes, it is called as Todar Mal’s bandobast.

 

 Todar Mal was a brilliant revenue officer of his time. He first served on Sher Shah’s court, but later joined Akbar.

 

 Besides zabti system, a number of other systems of assessment were also introduced by Akbar. The most common and, perhaps the oldest one was ‘batai’ or ‘ghalla-bakshi.’

 

 Under batai system, the produce was divided between the peasants and the state in a fixed proportion.

 

 The peasants were allowed to choose between zabti and batai under certain conditions. However, such a choice was given when the crops had been ruined by natural calamity.

 

 Under batai system, the peasants were given the choice of paying in cash or in kind, though the state preferred cash.

 

 In the case of crops such as cotton, indigo, oil-seeds, sugarcane, etc., the state demand was customarily in cash. Therefore, these crops were called as cash-crops.

 

 The third type of system, which was widely used (particularly in Bengal) in Akbar’s time was nasaq.

 

 Most likely (but not confirmed), under the nasaq system, a rough calculation was made on the basis of the past revenue receipts paid by the peasants. This system required no actual measurement, however, the area was ascertained from the records.

 

 The land which remained under cultivation almost every year was called ‘polaj.’

 

 When the land left uncultivated, it was called ‘parati’ (fallow). Cess on Parati land was at the full (polaj) rate when it was cultivated.

 

 The land which had been fallow for two to three years was called ‘chachar,’ and if longer than that, it was known as ‘banjar.’

 

 The land was also classified as good, middling, and bad. Though one-third of the average produce was the state demand, it varied according to the productivity of the land, the method of assessment, etc.

 

 Akbar was deeply interested in the development and extension of cultivation; therefore, he offered taccavi (loans) to the peasants for seeds, equipment, animals, etc. Akbar made policy to recover the loans in easy installments.

 

Army

 

 Akbar organized and strengthened his army and encouraged the mansabdari system. “Mansab” is an Arabic word, which means ‘rank’ or ‘position.’

 

 Under the mansabdari system, every officer was assigned a rank (mansab). The lowest rank was 10, and the highest was 5,000 for the nobles; however, towards the end of the reign, it was raised to 7,000. Princes of the blood received higher mansabs.

 

 The mansabs (ranks) were categorized as:

 

o Zat

 

o Sawar

 

 The word ‘zat’ means personal. It fixed the personal status of a person, and also his salary.

 

 The ‘sawar’ rank indicated the number of cavalrymen (sawars) a person was required to maintain.

 

 Out of his personal pay, the mansabdar was expected to maintain a corps of elephants, camels, mules, and carts, which were necessary for the transport of the army.

 

 The Mughal mansabdars were paid very handsomely; in fact, their salaries were probably the highest in the world at the time.

 

 A mansabdar, holding the rank of:

 

o 100 zat, received a monthly salary of Rs. 500/month;

 

o 1,000 zat received Rs. 4,400/month;

 

o 5,000 zat received Rs. 30,000/month.

 

 During the Mughal period, there was as such no income tax.

 

 Apart from cavalrymen, bowmen, musketeers (bandukchi), sappers, and miners were also recruited in the contingents.

 

Administrative Units

 

 Akbar followed the system of the Subhah, the pargana, and the sarkar as his major administrative units.

 

 Subhah was the top most administrative unit, which was further sub-divided into Sarkar. Sarkar (equivalent to district) was constituted of certain number of parganas and pargana was the collective administrative unit of a few villages.

 

 The chief officer of subhah was subedar.

 

 The chief officers of the sarkar were the faujdar and the amalguzar.

 

 The faujdar was in-charge of law and order, and the amalguzar was responsible for the assessment and collection of the land revenue.

 

 The territories of the empire were classified into jagir, khalsa and inam. Income from khalsa villages went directly to the royal exchequer.

 

 The Inam lands were those property, which were given to learned and religious men.

 

 The Jagir lands were allotted to the nobles and members of the Royal family including the queens.

 

 The Amalguzar was assigned to exercise a general supervision over all types of lands for the purpose of imperial rules and regulations and the assessment and collection of land revenue uniformly.

 

 Akbar reorganized the central machinery of administration on the basis of the division of power among various departments.

 

 During the Sultanate period, the role of wazir, the chief adviser of the ruler, was very important, but Akbar reduced the responsibilities of wazir by creating separate departments.

 

 Akbar assigned wazir as head of the revenue department. Thus, he was no longer the principal adviser to the ruler, but an expert in revenue affairs (only). However, to emphasize on wazir’s importance, Akbar generally used the title of diwan or diwan-i-ala (in preference to the title wazir).

 

 The diwan was held responsible for all income and expenditure, and held control over khalisa, jagir and inam lands.

 

 The head of the military department was known as the mir bakhshi. It was the mir bakhshi (and not the diwan) who was considered as the head of the nobility.

 

 Recommendations for the appointments to mansabs or for the promotions, etc., were made to the emperor through the mir bakhshi.

 

 The mir bakhshi was also the head of the intelligence and information agencies of the empire. Intelligence officers and news reporters (waqia-navis) were posted in all regions of the empire and their reports were presented to the emperor’s court through the mir bakhshi.

 

 The mir saman was the third important officer of Mughal Empire. He was in-charge of the imperial household, including the supply of all the provisions and articles for the use of the inmates of the harem or the female apartments.

 

 The judicial department was headed by the chief qazi. This post was sometimes clubbed with that of the chief sadr who was responsible for all charitable and religious endowments.

 

 To make himself accessible to the people as well as to the ministers, Akbar judiciously divided his time. The day started with the emperor’s appearance at the jharoka of the palace where large numbers of people used to assemble daily to have a glimpse of the ruler, and to present petitions to him if required so.

 

Akbar’s Provinces

 

 In 1580, Akbar classified his empire into twelve subas (provinces) namely:

 

o Bengal

 

o Bihar

 

o Allahabad

 

o Awadh

 

o Agra

 

o Delhi

 

o Lahore

 

o Multan

 

o Kabul

 

o Ajmer

 

o Malwa and

 

o Gujarat

 

 Each of these subah consisted of a governor (subadar), a diwan, a bakhshi, a sadr, a qazi, and a waqia-navis.

 

The “key word” to be used in this is the “Good Governance” in the various phases of the service definition, development, refining and monitoring, and the whole concept of Good Governance services is based on “putting the citizen (user) at the centre of innovative services” starting from enabling of a specific procedure: citizens shall be involved in the user-centric services development driven by what users want and operate on a scale that is relevant to them.

The whole approach can be actualised through very different ways and using very different tools, often not only ICT-based; public workshops and consultation are still a powerful instrument to create a co-operative debate

Good governance ensures that even the tallest leaders and top bureaucrats are answerable to an ordinary citizen, hailing from any part of India. The government believes in operating in complete transparency, with every file and official record open for public scrutiny, except when these may endanger national security. The BJP’s ascendancy is an antidote to whatever has troubled the Indian political system over the last six decades– crony capitalism, feudalism, favouritism and archaic methods of governance. For us, governance is a mission that isn’t complete without proactive involvement of the citizens of India. It strive to provide a clean and efficient government that invites proactive participation and involvement of citizens at every step.

Indeed ICT is only a tool, both for information gathering and information delivering, as we can elicit useful information through face-to-face discussions, and the first challenge is to define the most suitable interface for users/citizens we shall use to empower the citizen to interact.

Citizen-centric or Good governance means also creating a so-called ‘smart environment’ that see the users/citizens as their main stakeholders. The user-centricity will be the basis for adopting a shared approach: people living in a smart multimodal environment which maximizes the economies of scope and scale across its multiple infrastructure layers. Here, the ‘smartness’ shall not be referred uniquely to the technologies, but includes a broader view of ensuring a minimum QoS for public and private services, the direct contact and management of the resources in the territory, the coopetition among citizens and the other actors (government, industry, academia) working together to co-drive structural changes. It’s the application of the Quadruple Helix model, introduced within the Open Innovation 2.0 (OI20) main vision, and applied to the territorial open government.

The ideal citizen centric or good governance scenario might be described as one with freedom of choice to participate in the design, delivery and review of public services with governments that focus on enabling user initiating and implementing levels. However, realising this relies on a number of factors, among all the interactivity and including active citizen participation through discussion, dialogue and debate, possibly supported by social networks and platforms. It has been emphasised that techniques such as narratives, games or even art may be important vehicles for expressing evidence and forming opinion.

Following this preliminary analysis, and keeping in mind that an informed citizenry might engage with experts from many domains in generating scenarios for improving the quality of urban life and urban performance, we can list some initial recommendation targeted to the Community at large:

• It’s important to assess methodologies for users and citizens’ engagement that imply the active participation of users especially in the phase of the service definition. Empowering citizens to be decision makers: individuals, small communities and organizations can participate in the entire decision making process in a manner that was not possible earlier.

 

• The use of new technologies and the 2.0 tools through mobile devices empowers the co-participation of users, being these the interface that almost all citizens and users are going to use for the management of all the information of his/her daily life. The focus shall be on ways in which citizens can first access information about what is happening in their communities and cities but also explore ways in which a wide range of different groups can become actively involved in the design and planning process, both remotely and in face-to-face situations using data, models and scenarios all informed by contemporary ICT.

 

• The business perspective for the service’ sustainability is a boundary requirement when thinking about the need of provision of added-value content information. More users, more trust, more engagement, more feedback, more info to be elaborated by third parties.

 

• Core Principles for Making Governance Citizen Centric

 

 

• In our country there is a tendency for some enforcement agencies not to rigorously enforce the provisions of law. This is particularly evident in case of traffic related violations, civic offences, infringement of pollution control laws etc. For their part, sometimes, the citizens are equally to blame for flouting rules with impunity and without regard to public health, safety and consideration for others. A crackdown on these types of offences in some cities like Delhi, whether enforced by Courts or otherwise, have tended to operate as campaigns and may therefore be unable to create and sustain a long term impact because they are driven by personalities or by court verdicts rather than by the institutions themselves.
• Hence all public agencies should adopt a zero tolerance strategy towards crime, in order to create a climate of compliance with laws leading to maintenance of public order. This strategy should be institutionalized in the various public agencies by creating appropriate statistical databases, backed up by modern technology, to monitor the level and trends of various types of offences and link these to a system of incentives and penalties for the officials working in these agencies. It should be combined with initiatives to involve the community in crime prevention measures. The core principles for making governance citizen centric are:
• Making Institutions Vibrant, Responsive and Accountable
• Active Citizens’ Participation – Decentralization and Delegation
• Transparency
• Civil Service Reforms
• Ethics in Governance
• Process Reforms
• Periodic & Independent Evaluation of the Quality of Governance

 

Citizen expects good governance and high quality performance from Government. Good governance brings prosperity. Instead bad governance, brings conflict result in civil war, as it restricts opportunities of its citizen which make them frustrated.

Having said all this, it is important to re-iterate that the success of the governance depends on proper policy making and policy implementation which in turn depends on the successful implementation of different methodologies of good governance at the ground level rather than managerial skills of the administrators, mainly because of the in-built variable and dynamic nature of the problems wherein the success of the decisions more depend on whether the understanding of the administrator is congruent to the nucleus of the problem as it was perceived by the public at large. Further not only the administrators are expected to identify the issues but also the relative weights which needs to ascribed to the various issues and their related aspects. Lastly the manner in which the issues are addressed again is very organic and fluid which ascribes ultimate importance to the sensitivities and perceptions of the clientele in accordance with the situational features. Thus, participation of all stakeholders as government, judiciary, institutions, civil society and citizens are necessary to bring good governance.

ADMINISTRATIVE ADJUDICATION

Administrative adjudication is a name give to the administrative exercise of judicial functions. It is a name given to the various ways of deciding disputes outside the ordinary courts. Administrative adjudication is constitutional, though it is a negation of the principle of separation of powers. Administrative adjudication is the participation or involvement of the executive arm of government (administrative agencies) in judicial function. Through the instrumentality of administrative adjudication, administrative agencies can pass authoritative and appealable decisions.

Administrative adjudication in india

In India, administrative adjudication increased after independence and several welfare lawswere promulgated which vested the power on deciding various issues in the hands of theadministration. The modern Indian Republic was born a Welfare State and thus the burden onthe government to provide a host of welfare services to the people was immense. Thesequasi-judicial powers acquired by the administration led to a huge number of cases withrespect to the manner in which these administrative bodies arrived at their decisions.

Administrative Tribunals in India

  In India growth of administrative tribunals has been rather haphazard. They have come into existence as or when required. Though their number has been gradually multiplying, yet they have never been organized into a coherent system. Over 3,000 such courts exist in India.  Income Tax Appellate Tribunal, Railway Rates Tribunal, Labour Courts, Industrial Tri­bunals, Wage Boards, Compensation Tribunals, Election Tribunals, Central Administrative Tri­bunal, Rent Tribunals are some of the examples of such Tribunals.

Administrative tribunals are constituted with amendment to Articles 323A and 323B of the Indian Constitution. These are constituted to exclusively deal with service matters of the civil servants. However, Administrative Tribunal is a substitute to High Court. These tribunals are quasi-judicial in nature but assigned with adjudicate the matters referred before them. It is a sign of welfare state. As many tribunals are working today, regulatory mechanism is very much needed. The tribunals are established to avoid regular court approach by civil servants. The only strict restriction imposed on them is to follow Principles of Natural Justice, but the tribunals started to give their own construction to interpret the Principles of Natural Justice. This is because there are no settled definite principles to say these are the fundamental principles of Natural Justice.

Central Administrative Tribunal:  Article 323 A added in the Constitution of India in 1985 provides for the setting up of Administrative Tribunal for adjudicating the disputes relating to service matters of persons em­ployed to public services and posts in the Central Government and the States. In Pursuance of the above amendment the Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985 was enacted.  The CAT enjoys the status and powers of a High Court in respect of service matters Appeals against its orders He to the Supreme Court only. It has 17 regular Benches operating at the principal seats of High Court. These regular Benches also hold circuit sittings at other seats of High Courts.

The difference between CAT and ordinary courts is as follows:

• The Tribunal is free from the shackles of many of the technicalities of the ordinal courts in respect of hearing of evidence and pleading by the lawyers and the presentation of the case.
• The government can present its case through the departmental officers or legal prac­titioners.
• Only a nominal fee is to be paid by the petitioner for filing an application before the Tribunal.

The members of the Administrative Tribunals are drawn from the administrative stream also, whereas the judges of ordinary courts belong to the legal stream.

State administrative tribunal

Article 323 B empowers the state legislatures to set up tribunals for various matters. The matters to be covered by such tribunals are as follows:

Levy, assessment, collection and enforcement of any tax

Matters connected with Land reforms covered by Article 31A

 

Income Tax Appellate Tribunal:  Section 252 of the Income Tax Act, 1961 provides that the Central Government shall constitute an Appellate Tribunal consisting of an many Judicial Members and Accountant mem­bers as it thinks fit to exercise the powers and functions conferred on the Tribunal by the Act.  Under the Act, a judicial Member shall be a person, who has held a judicial office for at least ten years or has been a Member of the Central Legal Services and has held a post in Grade II of that service or any equivalent or higher post for at least three years or who has been an Advocate for at least ten years.

The powers and functions of the Tribunal are exercised and discharged by the Bench constituted from amongst the members of the Tribunal. A Bench consists of one Judicial Mem­ber and one Accountant Member. The Benches of the Tribunal have been constituted in differ­ent parts of the country presently there are 63 benches.

Advantages of Administrative Tribunals

• Administrative adjudication is a dynamic system of administration, which serves, more adequately than any other method, the varied and complex needs of the modern society. The main advantages of the administrative tribunals are as follows:
• Administrative adjudication has brought about flexibility and adaptability in the judicial as well as administrative tribunals.
• In the fast changing world of today, administrative tribunals are not only the most appropriated means of administrative action, but also the most effective means of giving fair justice to the individuals.
• Administrative justice ensures cheap and quick justice. As against this, procedure in the law courts is long and cumbersome and litigation is costly.
• The system also gives the much-needed relief to ordinary courts of law, which are already overburdened with numerous suits.

Disadvantages of Administrative Tribunals

• Administrative adjudication is a negation of Rule of Law. Rule of Law ensures equality before law for everybody and the supremacy of ordinary law and due procedure of law over governmental arbitrariness.
• Administrative tribunals have in most cases, no set procedures and sometimes they violate even the principles of natural justice.
• Administrative tribunals often hold summary trials and they do not follow any precedents. As such it is not possible to predict the course of future decisions.

Values are the standards on which, we evaluate things. For every situation we don’t have time to ‘test’ the case on ethics theories such as utilitarianism. Values provide time saving short-cut in such situation.

Under New public management (NPM), the concept of public services is fast changing. Bureaucrat has become directly accountable to citizen-customer. He has to respond to moral universe of the citizens. He has discretionary powers, therefore he must be provided with guiding principles to prevent abuse of power. The foundational values provide these guiding principles.

Some important foundational values for civil services are as follows:

• Neutrality
• Anonymity
• Commitment and dedication to public service
• Civil Activism
• Important Commandment for Civil Servants
• Civil Services Accountability
• Ethical Conduct of a Civil Servant
• Responsibility
• Courage
• Discipline
• Integrity
• Humility
• Impartiality

Neutrality

Neutrality is the tendency of not to side in a conflict (physical or ideological), which may not suggest neutral parties do not have a side or are not a side themselves. In colloquial use neutral can be synonymous with unbiased. However, bias is a favoritism for some side,distinct of the tendency to act on that favoritism.  Neutrality is distinct (though not exclusive) from apathy, ignorance, indifference, doublethink, equality, agreement, and objectivity. Objectivity suggests siding with the more reasonable position (except journalistic objectivity), where reasonableness is judged by some common basis between the sides, such as logic (thereby avoiding the problem of incommensurability). Neutrality implies tolerance regardless of how disagreeable, deplorable, or unusual a perspective might be.Advocating neutrality is non-neutral.

Sardar Patel had made the following observations in the Constituent Assembly to support the continuance of the pre-independence civil service structure:

“It needs hardly to be emphasized that an effi cient, discipline and contended civil service assured of its prospects as a result of diligent and honest work, is a sine-quanon of sound administration under democratic regime even more than under an authoritarian rule. Th e service must be above party and we should ensure that political considerations, either in its recruitment or in its discipline and control, are reduced to the minimum if not eliminated altogether.”

Unfortunately, this vision of civil service neutrality no longer holds good. Changes in governments particularly at the state level often lead to wholesale transfer of civil servants. Political neutrality is no longer the accepted norm with many civil servants getting identifi ed, rightly or wrongly, with a particular political dispensation. Th ere is a perception that offi cers have to cultivate and seek patronage from politicians for obtaining suitable positions even in the Union Government. As a result, the civil services in public perception are often seen as increasingly politicized.

As observed by Paul Appleby civil servants should not confuse ‘political neutrality’ with ‘programme neutrality’. At the stage of policy formulation, the role of civil servants is to render free and frank advice which should not be coloured by any political considerations. Once a policy or programme has been approved by the elected government, it is the duty of the civil servant to faithfully and enthusiastically see to its implementation. Not carrying out this task in the right spirit would amount to misconduct inviting appropriate sanctions.

 

Anonymity

The anonymity of the civil service is linked to two concepts: permanence and neutrality. Civil servants, many of whom remain in their jobs whilst serving numerous governments, are thus likely to have to give advice to governments of different political parties, who may have different attitudes to policy. The advice they give needs to be given to ministers both freely and also without fear of adverse public or political reactions and without fear of future career damage. This is tied into the concept of ministerial responsibility, whereby the convention is for the minister to accept responsibility for their actions and decisions and those of their departments.

 

Commitment and dedication to public service

Dedication means quality of involving oneself completely or applying one’s attention, time to a particular activity, cause or a person. Dedication in public service is required as civil servants in India, a developing country need to perform the regular administrative and also play an important role in socio-economic development of the nation. In carrying out these activities he may be faced with several obstructions like social opposition against any programme which is against their deep rooted belief, lack of support from political executive. Schemes for promoting family planning are generally opposed in rural as they consider contraceptives as taboos here dedication is required to fulfil the goal of healthy society. One’s employees and superiors may be involved in corruption. These obstacles can only be overcome when one has perseverance and dedication.

Integrity

Integrity is the fundamental moral concept in civil services. It is an important basis of ethical behaviour and ethical competency. It is associated with the value of being honest and maintain strong moral principles. Integrity includes financial integrity, professional integrity and intellectual integrity. Ethics and integrity are closely related. An ethical person having strong moral values is bound to be a man of integrity. Those people who have experience of working in the government know that integrity is evaluated every year through their Annual Performance Report. The assessment takes place on the basis of decisions/performance of the individual Civil Servants throughout the year. In conducting interview for testing personality of the candidates, the board carefully observes the approach of the answer of individual candidate while assessing their integrity. In written examination, the examiner will obviously look into moral stand of the candidates especially on issues and conflicts faced by them while dealing with various glitches.

SOCIAL AUDIT

“Social auditing is defined as a systematic attempt to identify, analyse, measure (if possible), evaluate, and monitor the effect of an organisation’s operations on society (that is, specific social groups) and on the public well-being.”

Social audit as a term was used as far back as the 1950s. In a nutshell, it refers to the steps that are taken to ensure that the work done by the government is actually benefiting the people whom it is intended to benefit. It is based on the principle that the local governance should be carried out, as much as possible, with the consent and in complete understanding of the requirements of the people concerned. It is a process and not an event. Thus, Social Audit is nothing but understanding, measuring, reporting, and most importantly improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the local governance. India being a welfare state, several programs and policies are implemented for the benefit of people. Politicians and executives are usually the ones who control and implement these policies. Some policies are common to all and some are special that are meant to benefit the weaker sections of the society. To implement all such policies, funds are drawn from the state exchequer. The social control over withdrawal and usage of this fund is called Social Audit.

Objectives of Social Audit Goyder defined the objectives of social audit in clear terms. He classified the objectives into two broad categories namely, 1. Principal objectives, and 2. Secondary objectives. Principal Objectives of Social Audit

 

The principal objectives according to Goyder are as follows. 1. The extension, development and improvement of the company’s business and building up of its financial independence. 2. The payment of a fair and regular dividend to the shareholders. 3. The payment of fair wages under the best possible conditions to the worker. 4. The reduction of prices to the consumers. Secondary Objectives of Social Audit 1. Provision of a bonus to the workers. 2. Assist in promoting the amenities of the locality. 3. Assist in developing the industry in which the firm is a member. 4. Promote education, research and development in the techniques of the industry. From these objectives, we can infer that social audit is really an extension of the principle of public disclosure to which corporations are subject. Need for Social Audit Each business enterprise is not only connected with internal public but intimately connected with external public also. The modem corporations are more powerful and command huge resources. This power should not be used indifferently, irresponsibly or in an antisocial way. Its activities can create much impact on the society. As such its impact over society cannot be ignored or taken lightly. Its behaviour not only affects the society but also creates problems to the Government. Thus, social audit has become the need of the day. Social accounting and Social Audit

 

Social accounting is a systematic assessment and reporting on those parts of a company’s activities, which have a social impact. It refers to the identification, measurement, recording and reporting the information as to social activities of the concern to its users (both internal and external). On the other hand, social audit refers to the systematic evaluation of an organization’s social performance. Here, its economic performance is not considered. It discloses the company’s involvement in socially oriented activities, activities taken for the well-being of the employers of the concern, activities as to prevention of environment from pollution etc.

PERFORMANCE AUDIT

Meaning

An independent examination of the efficiency and effectiveness of government undertakings, programs or organisations, with due regard to economy, and the aim of leading to improvements”.

Performance audit is simply an audit of sound financial management, namely of the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which audited entities have carried out their responsibilities.

Performance Audit invariably is referred to as Value-for-money audit or Operational audit.

Performance Audits= Value for Money Audit = Operational Audits.

Objectives of Performance Auditing

 Acquire resources of the right quality, in the right quantity, at the right time and place at the lowest possible cost (Economy).

 Achieve the optimal relationship between output of services or other results and the resources used to produce them (Efficiency)

 Achieve policy objectives, operational goals and other intended effects (Effectiveness).

More specifically, in the public sector, benefits of performance audit may include the following:-

 Helps in the identification of problem areas, including factors that cause problems. This helps in finding alternative solutions, that is, through recommendations for improvements to policies, procedures and structure which could help in reducing wastage and inefficiencies.

 Helps in evaluating performance of individuals and departments or sections in an organisation. Evidently, performance audits assist in obtaining a critical view of compliance with legal requirements, policies, objectives and procedures.

 Helps citizens obtain insight into the management of different government programmes and activities. Performance audits may serve as a basis of decisions on future funding and priorities.

EFFICIENCY AUDIT

Efficiency audit is related to that whether corporate plans are effectively executed. In this, auditor investigates the reasons of variances in actual performance and planned-performance. It also investigates that capital resources of company are properly utilized. Purposes of Efficiency Audit Modern managements now-а-days undertake efficiency audit with а variety of objectives in mind. The principal objectives are: 1. То diagnoses the operational weaknesses by а review of the organization’s environment.

 

2. То sees whether the resources of the business flow into constructive and profitable channels. 3. То assesses how far the measures and techniques adopted are effective in attaining the goals and objectives of the firm. 4. То highlights the important fact in each of the functions or operations that are employed. 5. То evaluates and compares the optimum return on capital invested in the business operations. б. То suggest and recommend feasible alternative treatments for improvements in а manner that the heads of the functional or operational management themselves would do if they have time for self — introspection (Examination of their own thoughts and feelings).