Sterile committees

It is generally believed that democracy does not promise prompt and agile administration. It is sluggish and moves at snail’s pace. Nothing happens that fast. However, we should not forget that democracy is made really successful not by a plethora of rules and regulations but by strong and effective democratic institutions. The first task before a democratic Government is to build and strengthen and perpetuate democratic institutions. Once that is done, the institutions somehow work mechanically. It means it works like a mill producing the stuff by share momentum.
The problem with our democracy is that our democratic institutions are neither theoretically developed nor practically functional. Real functionality comes with developed sense of responsibility as well as accountability. It is futile to expect delivery from a structure in which both of these pre-requisites are conspicuous by their absence. Let us be more objective and realistic. The question is whether in a democratic dispensation, the authority at the helm of affairs should exert and decide or should it, under the false notion of inducting democratic element in all minor and major administrative exercises, pass on the buck, and thus put off the priority of taking a decision.  A culture has developed in our administrative system in which the initiative of taking a decision and implementing it is deferred or put off under the rubric of constituting a committee, a panel, an advisory board and the rest of it. What do these committees do and how far are they effective in carrying forward the policy of the Government is a question which is seldom asked and never answered.
Let us be more precise. Several important projects are underway that have direct bearing on rapid development of the State. Four lanning of the National Highway is one of such projects. It is undertaken by the Border Roads Organization and the National Highway Authority of India. In an overall estimation this is not a small project and its importance and utility have been discussed at great length and at various responsible levels. Part of the project has even been completed but there needs to be done more to bring it to completion. A number of hurdles have appeared in carrying forward the project. Chief Minister took stock of things, had meetings with the top brass of both the organizations and after his discussions ordered constitution of a high-level panel to monitor the projects in hand. The purpose was to inform the Government about the hurdles in the way of rapid execution of the projects, and also suggest remedies so that these projects are brought to completion without further loss of time. Now if the panel has not met even once ever since it was constituted, what impression does it give to the people as a whole? The impression is that there is severe deficiency at the level of execution or administrative pressure. In either case, the Government becomes answerable to the people. We will not focus on lack of coordination among line departments. We are concerned with the type of mindset that works at the highest administrative level in the State.

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