Pramod Kumar

INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION (IDC),2011

ABOUT PUNJAB GOVERNANCE REFORMS COMMISSION (PGRC)

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE OF THE COMMISSION
CHIEF SECRETARYS EMPOWERED COMMITTEE
Recommendations are sent periodically

Recommendation

Action taken report

PGRC Chairman Members 4 Member Secretary 1 Secretary 1

Task groups

Task group 1 Basic Civic Services and Civic Regulatory Services

Task group 2 Social Security and Welfare Programme

Task group 3 Access to Social Development

Task group 4 Police Reforms and Access to Police Services

Task group 5 Institutional Framework for Delivery of Services

Task group 6 Access to Education

Public hearing

Public suggestions

Stakeholder meetings

Meeting with Political leaders, legislatures, political activists

Interaction with representatives of industries, trade, labour, farmers, unions, associations, etc.

Interactions with NGOs

Adv.

Suggestion boxes

Net

INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION (IDC),2011

APPROACH Reports were prepared periodically by the Commission and the Government prepared action-taken reports simultaneously. Task groups set up for specialised functions. Task group had a Chairperson nominated by the Commission and a Member Secretary appointed by the Government. Chief Secretarys Empowered Committee constituted exclusively to deal with the recommendations only. Empowered Committee to prepare an action-taken report and submit it to the Commission in a time bound manner. Interface with stakeholders, regulators, functionaries and citizens
INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION (IDC),2011

BOUNDARY CONDITIONS FOR ENGAGED GOVERNANCE

Engaged governance means politically more engaging and developmentally more equitable. Enabling conditions to achieve this was to empower citizens. To put in the words Hannah Arendt, Right to have Rights. The Commission was guided by four broad boundary conditions. To reduce the mistrust between the citizens and the government. Secondly, to protect dignity of citizens by identifying spaces, policies, processes and practices which perpetuate undignified exchange between the citizens and the state. Third, to amend procedures to meet productivity deficit. Lastly, to build capacity of citizens to participate in decision-making with Right-Based Approach
INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION (IDC),2011

TRUST DEFICIT
To eliminate all those procedures which make right to identity a citizen restrictive. Elimination of Affidavits unless required by law. Local inventions (86) Total affidavits annual submitted (Approx) 30 lacs @ Rs. 200 per affidavit = Rs. 600 crores

INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION (IDC),2011

Dignity Deficit
Nature of exchange between citizens and administration
Exchange undignified and corrupt Police Revenue District Collector Exchange corrupt but Dignified Electricity Board Health Education Bank Irrigation Animal Husbandry 36.53 36.33 35.74 34.70 34.20 33.75 58.32 44.05 41.86

To reverse this trend, the Commission made recommendations to strengthen internal accountability and to make these departments directly accountable to the citizens.
INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION (IDC),2011

Dignity Deficit
Existence of effective complaint redressal system against working of Government/Public agencies
Responses Yes Frequency Percent

482

32.13

No

1018

67.87

Total
Source: PGRC Survey, 2011

1500

100.00

Most of the respondents were of the view that there was no system of redressing complaints. Around one-third did mention the multiple grievance redressal available ranging from political leaders to judiciary to consumer forum etc.

INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION (IDC),2011

POLICE REFORMS FOR RESTORATION OF CITIZEN DIGNITY The new institutional mechanism branded as Saanjh is distinct on three counts;
a) It has been modelled as a platform for community police partnership to deliver police services; b) to function as a non-formal forum for resolution of conflicts, domestic disputes, economic discords and social unrest; c) To provide a transparent institutional mechanism to hold police accountable for their misconduct.

INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION (IDC),2011

Dignity Deficit
REVENUE REFORMS FOR MORE DIGNIFIED EXCHANGE

The government has established around 116 Fard Kendras to provide comfortable and easy access to revenue services, online copies of jamabandis have been made available for majority of districts, simplified process for settlement of contested mutations, withdrawal of

discretionary powers of tehsildar regarding calculation of construction cost and its replacement with flat rate have been implemented.
INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION (IDC),2011

Productivity and Participation Deficit A third set of prerequisites relates to the productivity, i.e. to engage people with the system in a productive manner.
The fourth boundary conditions was to transform these claims relating to exchange between the citizens and the public functionaries from patron-client or Ria Mai Baap to Public Servantscitizen partnership, the Commission proposed to empower the citizens through a legislation titled Punjab Right to Services Act, 2011.

INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION (IDC),2011

WHY RIGHT TO SERVICE ACT?

Sixty-four years after independence

Citizens were not trusted by the government. Services were provided as doles or khirat. And citizens were treated like Ria and administration as Mai Baap. Bribes and corruption became rampant and blatant No institutional system of complaint redressal.

INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION (IDC),2011

Convergence of Engaged Governance with e-governance

Trust

Dignity

Productivity

Accountability

Transparency

Efficiency

INSTITUTE FOR DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATION (IDC),2011