D.K. Malviya

The occurrence of term ‘good governance’ has become rather more frequent in literature and talks on development over the years. Good governance has been variously defined by experts and scholars, but essentially it consists in empowering people, securing justice to all and efficient public services delivery. Community participation in decision- making and implementation thereof is also a pre-requisite of it. Accountable leadership and well-contemplated policy formulation are other important components of good governance.

There is a general agreement nationwide that the changes effected in the administration inherited by our country from the British Raj have proved only cosmetic and skin-deep; the colonial mindset of those at the helm of affairs in the administration is yet to fully vanish. The government servants, who are also called public servants euphemistically are yet to give a good account of themselves in doing what they are meant to, i.e. serving the people to desired level. On the other hand the common people are still far from asserting their rights as citizens of an independent democratic country.

This situation provides a breeding ground for all manners of irregularities and corruption that plague the system, condemning the layman to live on the margins perpetually.

Anyway, there is always a silver linen. Madhya Pradesh government under the visionary leadership of the Chief Minister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan has, over the last seven years, has stood out in the country by taking effective and trend setting steps to set things right by de-clogging the administration, thereby creating an atmosphere conducive to efficient implementation of development and welfare schemes besides promoting new initiatives and toning up the public services delivery system.

A man of masses and wedded to the cause of the deprived sections of society Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan has, from day one in office, shown a rare concern and passion to ensure efficient and effective administration. Immediately after assuming office he set up Suraj Mission to ensure good governance at every level. He included good governance in the seven top priorities he set for all round development of the state.

Well acquainted with ground realities Shri Chouhan took no time to realize the urgent need to think out-of-box for bringing in innovations to stem the rot in the system. He took one innovative step after another in this direction.

At his special initiative to institutionalize and legislate the Citizens’ Charter to ensure delivery of public services to the people within specified time limits, the state government has enacted the Public Service Delivery Guarantee Act., the first of its kind not only in the country but probably anywhere else in the world.

The legislation specifies time-limits for delivery of 26 services of nine government departments directly dealing with public. An official failing to provide within the specific time-limit the services applied for would be liable to a fine of Rs. 250 per day and the amount may go up to a maximum Rs. 5000. If a government official is still found negligent or unwilling to deliver public services they would invite disciplinary action. This can best be described as a second freedom- freedom from officialism. This will change the condescending attitude of government officials towards people. Over 40 lakh people have so far received public services under the Act.

An important feature of the initiatives taken by the government for good governance is that Information Technology has been made the best use of.

The Chief Minister took an effective initiative christened Samadhan Online to redress the grievances of people using Information Technology. Under this, he holds a video conference with district collectors and after through review of pending complaints of people solve most of them then and there. This initiative has provided great relief to the people, many of whom had been running from pillar to post seeking redressal of their grievances. As many as 825 complaints have been redressed through Samadhan Online.

One could not agree more that distance between the system and the people and the administration has been a major reason for poor delivery of public services and a number of ills prevailing in the system. As part of measures to bridge this gap the Chief Minister Shri Chouhan undertook an intensive tour in the form of Jan Darshan. During the whistle stop tour the Chief Minister held direct dialogue with the people, soliciting their opinions and suggestions about implementation of the various schemes and programmes and the facilities and services available to them. He received about 35 thousand petitions during this tour from the people, of which about 32 thousand were disposed off on the spot. He adopted a carrot and stick approach towards government officials. He pated on the back the employees who were found dedicated to their duties and punished the ones found wanting in this regard. The suggestions received by the Chief Minister during his dialogues with the masses have been accommodated in the schemes and system. It also helped him get a first hand account of the goings-on in the field.

The Chief Minister has laid great stress on the best possible use of Information Technology in the administration and delivery of public services. As many as 6500 Common Service Centres (CSCs) in clusters of villages. Each cluster comprises 5-6 villages. Besides, 1500 CSCs (mponline) have been set up in urban areas. Following this, now visiting a government office is just a click away. The results are showing already. People are increasingly availing this facility to save time and energy. These centres provide over 130 services and facilities pertaining to agriculture, education, application forms for competitive examinations, news, useful information about various matters, railway booking, online counseling etc. on nominal charges. Kiosk banking service has also been introduced in 150 of these centres through which payments of wages under MNREGS and pensions etc. are paid.

In yet another innovative measure Call Centres have been set to provide people information about government schemes and to lodged their complaints. For this, a toll free number has been provided. The concerning departments take action on these complaints and the complainants are informed thereof.. Over 2 lakh 83 thousand people have availed this facility since its inception on September 25, 2008. The solution rate has been 95 percent at these centres.

It is a known fact that common people fear to approach senor officials and are quite hesitant to tell them their problems properly. In order to afford the general public a platform to meet the senior officers about their problems and pending cases, a Jan Sunwai or public hearing system has been introduced. Under this, senior police and administrative officers hold public hearing on every Tuesday in their offices. Thousands of cases have been disposed off during public hearing in the state. This has bridged the gap between administration and the common people on the one hand, it has also sent a message across the state to the employees that they would ill-afford to dilly-delay in doing public work on the other.

The public hearings held by the police officers may be case in point. During the public hearings as many as 90 thousand 941 complaints came up for hearing out of which 85 thousand 516 have been redressed. Thus, the redressal rate has been 95.90 percent.

Another heartening fact has come to light that after introduction of public hearing system the number of complaints received by the State Human Rights Commission has considerably come down, as the grievances of the people are redressed at the appropriate levels.

In order to eliminate the possibilities of underhand dealings and other financial irregularities the state government has introduced e-tendering system in all the departments. Now the state is moving towards e-payment.

A democrat to the core Shri Chouhan has ensured participation of concerning sections of people for whom the various schemes are being implemented or to be introduced. For this he has adopted the practice of holding Panchayats of concerning sections of people before taking any decision bearing on them. He also seeks their opinion and suggestions on the ongoing schemes and programmes. A number of new schemes have been launched and many others have been fine tuned or amended on the basis of the conclusions of these Panchayats. The unique Ladli Laxmi Yojana is also a result of a Panchayt.

Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan has always maintained that nobody is a know- all. Common people have a deep understanding and wisdom on matters bearing on them. With a view to soliciting their suggestions a website www.ideasforcm.com has been launched. A total of 3100 suggestions were received, of which 10 have already been accepted and implemented by the government.

Monitoring of status of availability of basic amenities in villages has always been a major problems for successive governments. With this fact in view the state government has introduced a practice named ”Parakh” for online compilation of information about these amenities in all 52 thousand villages and to monitor them online through video conferencing.

It has been a general problem throughout the country that people have to do rounds of district offices for works that can be done the same day. The state government has set up Samadhan Kendras under One Day Government system for issuance of different certificates like caste and income certificate, ration cards etc. on the same day these are applied for.

All these innovative good governance practices adopted by Madhya Pradesh government have been duly awarded at national level. Madhya Pradesh is the only state in the country to have received 3 Prime Minister Awards for Excellence for successful use of IT in preparation and distribution of forest land right papers, removal of 300 religious places constructed by encroaching public places, without disturbing communal harmony and effective implementation of rural employment schemes in Balaghat district, respectively.

All these efforts have helped set things right in administration and governance, that has also helped in all round development of the state.