Making administration accountable

Administrative structure and system in our country is what the British colonialists had devised and introduced during their rule. After their departure, it continues to remain in place. Late Sardar Patel, the first Home and Deputy Prime Minister of independent India was once asked how he would deal with the top bureaucrats of ICS cadres who had remained loyal to the colonial rule during the freedom movement. The great Sardar said,” I would like to fire them but who will run the administration of the country?” The ICS (now IAS) cadre officers were the pillars of civil administration and the quality of administration depended on their capability and competence. Unfortunately, in post-independence period criterion for good administration has gradually come down. There are a number of unavoidable reasons for that phenomenon but the primary one is a massive and widespread forward movement in all walks of life in post-independence period aiming at changing life and its quality drastically. This entails a price through PSGA we want to make good by taking remedial measures.
Political scientists have underscored the importance of good governance as one effective measure for welfare of people.  Good governance also means discarding the master-servant culture of colonial days and replacing it with responsibly empowered status for the administrator as well as the administrated. It meant that people had to be given the right to call for the accountability of the administrative authority. This line of thinking made the present Government pass the Public Service Guarantee Act in 2011. The quintessence of the Act aims at empowering general public to enforce upon the administration their right of receiving prompt delivery of public services on various fronts of day-to-day life importance. In his public rallies, the Chief Minister has been repeatedly educating the people about their right to demand delivery from the administration as stipulated by the PSGA.
But the axiom goes that the taste of pudding is in eating. What is the real ground situation in the context of implementation of the Act in letter and in spirit? This is what the Government is deeply concerned about. In order to have a clear picture, the Chief Minister has ordered constituting of special teams to monitor the status of implementation of the provisions of the Act. Obviously, he has found some loopholes here and there in the administrative structure which need to be plugged. But plugging can take place only when the discrepancies are identified. That is what the proposed special teams have been asked to do. Plugging the loopholes carries with it the element of fixing the responsibility and calling for accountability. This exercise has been evolved along twin strategy of sensitizing the officials on various provisions of the Act and disciplinary action against the defaulting chapter. We would have very much wished that the Government was not forced to consider punitive measures against the defaulters. But, as is evident, there is still lack of full appreciation of the spirit of the Act governing administrative accountability. Ordering the constituting of special groups to assess the implementation of the Act shows that the Government is seriously interested in its decision of empowering the people. There are other constitutional and legal provisions reinforcing empowerment of people, but PSGA goes a long way in mitigating their recurrent complaints invariably brought to the notice of the Government. It has to be noted that the Government persisted with providing wherewithal that would facilitate implementation of the provisions of the Act. It had issued notifications identifying the public services, designated officers, stipulated timeframe for providing the services, first appellate authority and second appellate authority besides notifying rules to make the Act operational with immediate effect. The Act, as has been stated above, was aimed at empowering general public to enforce upon the administration their right of receiving prompt delivery of public services on various fronts of day-to-day life importance. Therefore, the Government is within its legal, administrative and moral limits to pursue the phenomenon of accountability.
In final analysis, we have no reservation in cautioning the Government that any laxity in bringing the defaulters to book will have adverse effect on the spirit of the PSGA. Government must ensure that it does not succumb to pressure tactics from vested interests. Since charity begins at home is the axiom, let PSGA be the guiding force behind the Government’s handling of defaulting agencies.

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