Good Governance Day

In News

  • Every year December 25 is celebrated as Good Governance Day as it marks the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Good Governance Day

  • In 2014, the government announced that December 25 would be celebrated as Good Governance Day.
  • Purpose:
    • To increase public access to various government programmes and services via good governance.
    • The day is celebrated to  make sure that the country’s residents are treated fairly by the government, and they receive the advantages of various government services. 
  • Slogan: “Good Governance through e-Governance.”  
  • In 2019,the government launched the Good Governance Index on this occasion.
    • The GGI is a scientifically prepared tool based on various parameters of good governance which assess the level of any state at a given point of time and help in shaping future development.

Good Governance Index

  • Body: The Department of Administration Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) launched the Good Governance Index (GGI).
  • Meaning: It is a comprehensive and implementable framework to assess the State of Governance across the States and UTs which enables ranking of States/Districts.
  • Objectives: 
    • The objective of GGI is to create a tool which can be used uniformly across the States to assess impact of various interventions taken up by the Central and State Governments including UTs. 
    • Based on the GGI Framework, the Index provides a comparative picture among the States while developing a competitive spirit for improvement.
  • Sectors covered:
    • Agriculture and Allied Sectors
    • Commerce & Industries
    • Human Resource Development
    • Public Health
    • Public Infrastructure & Utilities
    • Economic Governance
    • Social Welfare & Development
    • Judicial & Public Security
    • Environment
    • Citizen-Centric Governance.

What is Governance?

  • The concept of “governance” is not new. It is as old as human civilization. 
  • It is the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). 
    • Governance can be used in several contexts such as corporate governance, international governance, national governance and local governance.

What is Good Governance?

  • It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making
  • It is participatory, consensus, oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law.
  • It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society.

 

Challenges in Good Governance

  • Criminalization of Politics
  •  Corruption
  •  Gender Disparity
  • Delay in Justice
  • Low levels of Awareness of the Rights and Duties of Citizens etc.

Recent Government initiatives for Good Governance

  • Revamped e-HRMS 2.0 Portal:
    • It will provide the following services in a digital mode to the employees:
      • Transfers (Rotation/Mutual), Deputation, APAR, IPR, iGOT Training, Vigilance Status, Deputation Opportunities, Service Book and other basic HR Services like Leave, Tour, Reimbursements etc.
    • The revamped e-HRMS 2.0 is the first digital system in Govt. of India to provide end-to-end HR Services
    • Presently, no other Government Service Cadre System in India is as advanced in its reach and applications, as the revamped e-HRMS 2.0. 
    • With the launch of this system, DoP&T will be moving towards total digitization of HR Services. 
    • It will save several thousand man-hours and tons of printing paper.
    • This will also go a long way in improving employee satisfaction, promoting ease of doing/processing HR work and enhancing productivity and transparency in administrative functioning.
  • iGoTKarmayogi Portal:
    • Launch of Mobile Application of iGoTKarmayogi Portal by Karmayogi Bharat (SPV) will aim at creating professional, well-trained and future-ready civil service for India.
  • Revamped Probity Portal for Government Employees will demand the right attitude towards public service with ‘integrity’ and ‘probity’.
  • The compilation of 78 Master Circulars is expected to promote ease and convenience and help the user Departments expeditiously dispose of their HR issues.

Atal Vihari Vajpayee

  • He was born on December 25, 1924, in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh. 
  • He was elected three times as the nation’s prime minister:
    • In 1996, he was elected as the nation’s Prime Minister for the first time.
    • In 1998–1999, he was elected prime minister for a second term. 
    • On October 13, 1999, he was elected as the nation’s prime minister for the third time. 
  • Significantly, former prime minister Atal Vihari Vajpayee was the first head of state to address the UN in Hindi.
  • The “Bharat Ratna” award was given to him on March 27, 2015.

Source: IE