Good governance key to efficient administration

As ex-CM of Goa, what were the areas of governance you felt needed improvement and what did you do about it?

The biggest problem faced by me in my quest for good governance was the quality of manpower available to the government for implementation of the programmes. The problem was further compounded due to poor training and procedures that have been set over time period.

The mindset of beauracracy is hard to change and set procedures are oriented towards safe decision-making, rather than transparent and accountable decisions.

What parameters would you suggest for evaluating the quality of governance?

We need to set parameters for evaluation on development indicators such as improvement in law and order/education/finance/health/infrastructure besides transparency as also emotional index to include sensitivity of any government (based on reaction time to resolve any issue of public importance) and will to implement social sector reforms/schemes as per the objectives of the scheme.

In short besides materialistic development, good governance should also include the emotional involvement of the government in welfare of the society.

Would these be accepted across the whole political spectrum?

Politicians may initially not like the idea of indexing or judging governments on emotional index. However, if indexing is done by an neutral agency, the same can become an issue for voting by section of population and therefore, compulsion for the politicians.

Could this be used as a criterion for elections?

Yes, as any other quality certification, such indexing will definitely be used for elections, initially with small percentage of voters but subsequently, with a substantial section of the society.

Do you think it is feasible to have a rating system like Crisil?

Yes, it is possible to have ratings; however the rating has to be carefully devised and improved with time and experience. It may also have different weightages for various parameters state wise depending on the current position and resources of the state.

How critical is the role of the Judiciary and the Election Commission for good governance?

Judiciary and the Election Commission has very important role in ensuring good governance. Election Commission by ensuring proper elections by controlling misuse of money and muscle power as also ensuring strict control on the voters list can ensure that better candidates are elected.

Judiciary can ensure transparency and accountability for good governance. In present set up accountability has been sacrificed at the altars of procedure. Project overruns, bad implementation of social welfare schemes has all role to play in current mess.

What is your take on e-governance?

E-Governance can reduce corruption to an extent. However, it is far from being correctly implemented in view of low rate of computer penetration and lack of E-Education.

Lastly, For good governance we need to first understand the importance of good politicians in the system. In today’s situation in India, being an politician, is like being a goonda or criminal. We need to change the perspective and encourage good people. Indexing good governance can definitely help choose the better of the lot.

The author is an alumnus of I.I.T. Bombay and an ex-CM of Goa