Citizen-centric public services
The delivery of public services in a time-bound manner at the level of States and the Centre, if implemented efficiently, could become a single most revolutionary step imparting relief at the cutting edge level. The citizens, particularly our rural brethren, are shunted from one office to other for procuring documents relating to birth, death, caste, [...]
Why bureaucracy baulks at decisions, should omit draconian provisions in Prevention of Corruption Act
Our Prime Minister has time and again appealed to bureaucrats for taking fair and objective decisions based on sound evidence and designed to serve the national interest. Manmohan Singh exhorted civil servants to fight the tendency of not taking decisions because of the fear that things might go wrong and the civil servants might be [...]
Get cracking on corruption!
The issue of ending endemic corruption, including combating the menace of black money, needs to be addressed with both sincerity and speed. The government claims to have taken a series of measures to meeting the challenges posed by corruption in public life. However, the impression remains that it is ineffective in tackling the scourge of [...]
Fixing the ‘right’ to public services
The states and the Centre recently skirmished over federalism, following contentious legislation like the Lok Pal Bill, the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) and a proposed amendment of the Railway Protection Force Act, 1957. Now, the Centre is planning to step into troubled waters once again by transgressing the federal structure of governance through its draft [...]
Do we need Parliament to debate on the Team Anna Show!
A few months ago, Baba Ramdev demanded a time-bound commitment from the Union Government to bring back the black money stashed away abroad. Sticking to his demand to end corruption in the Indian polity, he undertook a protest fast at Ramlila Maidan grounds. After a series of clarifications made through its emissary, the Union Government [...]
Suggestions on the Rights of Citizens for Time Bound Delivery of Goods and Services and Redressal of Their Grievances Bill, 2011
1. In the Statement of Objects and Reasons enclosed with the Bill presently under the consideration of the Parliament, it has been stated that an over-arching structure is necessary as the impact of various legislations by the State Governments has been diffused and limited. It is difficult to appreciate that the Rights based approach as [...]
Government Grievance Bill – Revisiting the basic framework
National Campaign for Peoples Right to Information (NCPRI) has observed that the draft Bill will be ineffective in providing relief to weaker sections of society. While no one can have any issue with the objectives and expectations of the said NGO, perhaps, it has overlooked the structural issues of this draft Bill. An obituary, published [...]
The danger of the Lokpal becoming a still born baby
One hopes that the hotly contested Lokpal Bill will reach its final denouement at this Winter session of Parliament. In fact, the entire debate on anti-corruption in Parliament as well as in media has focused upon the single demand for the establishment of an omnipotent institution of the Lokpal with its triumvirate powers of enforcing [...]
Essential principles of regulatory oversight
No single law can address the issue of regulators’ accountability, but a start could be made with a committee of MPs monitoring their functioning – the practice in the United Kingdom. Please find the article here.
Regulating the regulators
A special oversight body at the PMO is needed to give regulatory reform a big push You can view the article here