District Good Governance Index developed for Northeastern States

PM Modi has transformed NE work culture: Jitendra Singh

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: With a view to improving the efficiency of governance, the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG), in collaboration with Arunachal Pradesh Government and Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad has developed a District Good Governance Index for the Northeastern States. This is a first for Northeastern States, on the lines of the National Good Governance Index for improving the efficiency of governance across districts.

Disclosing this while inaugurating a two-day Regional Conference on the theme 'Bringing Citizens and Government Closer through Administrative Reforms' here on Thursday along with Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions and other portfolios, Dr Jitendra Singh informed that the DARPG also plans to collaborate with the Government of Arunachal Pradesh to develop a District Good Governance Portal for monitoring the rankings of each district of Arunachal Pradesh on a monthly basis and help in benchmarking performance within the State.

The minister advocated for the adoption of a humane approach for resolving grievances of people. "Good governance is not an option but a basic right of all citizens. The government is duty-bound to provide it. The Modi Government is committed to providing justice for all," Dr Singh said.

Dr Singh further said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the work culture of North-East has undergone a revolutionary transformation in the last eight years. As a result, he said, now the projects in North-East are getting completed within a fixed timeline and the utilization of Central funds is almost 100 per cent. Every State is connected to the Union capital by railway and each of the eight States is coming up with its airport, whereas Guwahati has turned into an important international airport.

The Union Minister said that prior to 2014, the Northeastern region suffered economically due to myopic policies of the successive Central Governments, but soon after the Modi Government took over in 2014, the Prime Minister had stated that every effort would be made to bring the region at par with the more developed areas of the country. Singh said that in the last eight years, not only developmental gaps were bridged successfully, but the Northeastern region has also gained psychological confidence. The Minister added that the significant development in terms of road, rail and air connectivity is helping facilitate the movement of goods and persons not only across the region but also across the country.

"The administration must reach out to the last man in the queue. People-friendly reforms taken in the last eight years have benefitted the entire country including the people of the Northeast States," he said, complimenting the Arunachal Pradesh Government for its efficient Covid-19 management.

He added that the two-day meeting will give officials an opportunity to get acquainted with the best governance practices.

A memorandum of understanding was also inked on the occasion among the National Centre for Good Governance, DARPG and the Arunachal Pradesh government for conducting mid-career programs for officers of administrative services over the next five years.

Dr Singh said that it is only after Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister that such conferences are being held in the farthest Northeastern States like Arunachal Pradesh, as well as other hilly and backward areas, to empower them in every walk of life. He said that the Itanagar Conference organized by the DARPG comes after the National Conference on e-Governance held in Meghalaya in August, 2019, when the 'Shillong Declaration' on e-Governance was adopted to share best practices, latest technology developments and leveraging them for achieving effective governance and public service delivery.

Dr Singh also mentioned that Prime Minister Modi is working to make Arunachal a major gateway to East Asia. Modern infrastructure is set up, seeing Arunachal's role regarding national security. Nature has endowed Arunachal with a lot of its treasures and the Centre is also trying to take the tourism potential of Arunachal to the whole world, he said.

Coming back to Administrative Reforms, Dr Jitendra Singh said, India believes that 21st century Public Grievance redressal would be based on single window agencies which will help citizens use information for seeking better services. He added that many methods have been contemplated, including One Nation One Portal, Multilingual CPGRAMS for enhanced citizen outreach, data analytics to measure the quality of grievance redressal, feedback call centres and provision for citizen transcripts on the CPGRAMS portal etc.

Dr Jitendra Singh concluded that he believes India in 2047 would be governed by diligent civil servants and would serve the nation with utmost efficiency. It is crucial to inspire and involve the young civil servants with the Vision@2047.

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