Administrative Reforms for a New India: A Systematic Approach to Problem Solving
August 11, 2021
“A brave New India for an average Indian, that is what reforms should aim for” -Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi
In order to transform India into our cherished dream of AatmaNirbhar Bharat, we need to work with the guiding principle of ‘minimum government, maximum governance’. And it is with this keystone in mind, the government’s administrative reforms have been aimed at encouraging greater efficiency, transparency, corruption-free governance, accountability, and reduction in scope for discretion.
As we set to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence with promises of a New India at heart, let us also look back at some of the administrative reforms which have not only become the testament of our strength in the last few years but also gave us the mantra of ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas’:
- Launch of “Mission Karmayogi”- From rules-based to roles-based, the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB) was launched as a new national architecture for civil services. It is a comprehensive reform of the capacity-building apparatus at the individual, institutional and process levels for efficient public service delivery.
- e-Samiksha- A real-time online system for monitoring and following up on the decisions taken by the Government at the Apex level in respect of the implementation of important Government programmes/projects.
- e-Office- Strengthening of e-Office Mission Mode Project (MMP) for enabling Ministries/ Departments to switch over to paperless offices and efficient decision making.
- Self-certification of documents for appointments- From June 2016, recruiting agencies can issue provisional appointment letters based on the submission of self-certified documents by the candidates.
- Discontinuation of the interview in the recruitment of junior-level posts- From January 2016, interviews were discontinued for recruitment to all Group ‘C’, Group ‘B’ (Non-Gazetted posts), and other equivalent posts in all Government of India Ministries/ Departments/ Attached Offices/ Subordinate Offices/ Autonomous Bodies/ Public Sector Undertakings to curb malpractices and to bring objectivity to the selection process.
- Appointment at senior positions- Multi-source feedback for empanelment for the posts of Joint Secretary and above was introduced.
- Citizen Charters- The government has mandated Citizen Charters for all Ministries/Departments which are updated and reviewed on a regular basis. The Citizen Charters of Central Government Departments are available at the respective websites of Ministries/Departments. To know more about Citizen Charter, Click Here.
- Weeding out inefficient officers: Intensive review of Officers with doubtful integrity by premature retirement.
- Integrated Government Online Training Programme: Use for online module-based training.
- Good Governance Index 2019: It was launched to assess the Status of Governance and the impact of various interventions taken up by the States/UTs The objectives of GGI are to provide quantifiable data to compare the state of governance in all States and UTs, enable them to formulate & implement suitable strategies for improved governance and shift to result-oriented approaches and administration.
- ‘Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration’: Comprehensive restructuring of the Scheme for Awards in 2014 and thereafter in 2020.
- Promote e-Governance: To boost e-Governance in a holistic manner, various policy initiatives and projects have been undertaken to develop core and support infrastructure.
- National Conference on e-Governance: It provides a platform for government to engage with experts, intellectuals from industry, and academic institutions to exchange experiences relating to e-Governance initiatives.
- National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment: It aims at assessing the States, UTs, and Central Ministries on the efficiency of e-Governance service delivery. To take part in the Survey, Click Here.
- Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS): The Government undertakes CPGRAMS reforms in the top grievance receiving Ministries/ Departments by enabling questionnaire-guided registration process and providing automatic forwarding of grievances to field level functionaries to reduce redress time. To know more about CPGRAMS, Click Here.
- Increasing efficiency in decision making in Central Secretariat: By reducing the channel of submission to 4, adoption of e-Office version 7.0, digitization of central registration units, a greater delegation of virtual private networks under the Central Secretariat Manual of Office Procedure 2019, and adoption of desk officer system, the government is increasing efficiency in decision making in Central Secretariat.
To know more about various such reforms, visit: Transforming India.
