Good afternoon everyone,

As part of my research for writing this speech, I saw numerous videos and read p
apers on good governance, heard profound discussion on good governance at G20 su
mmits and UN forums, and most recently our honorable Prime minister also gave hi
s insights on good governance at the 2014 Ratna awards. Given this new influx of
knowledge I decided to pen down my thougts on the subject I discovered that the concept of "governance" is not new. It is as old as the hu
man civilization, The term 'Governance' is wider than 'Government'. Governance m
ay be an activity of governing a country,
the controlling of an organization by the CEO, or even the head of the house co
ntrolling a household.
I would just like to cite UNESCO which defines governance as '-the process of de
cision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented.' UNESCO catego
rizes governance in several contexts such as corporate, local, national and inte
rnational.
As a proud student and citizen of the largest democracy in the world, at this po
int I realized something.
For us, the people sitting in this room, the constitution is the primary decisio
n maker which safeguards and limits our individual rights - The question beckons
, who is the custodian of this constitution? - Most definitely it is government.
And who elects the Government- The answer is the same- the people sitting in th
is very room.
When it comes to Good governance, this large democratic classroom called India i
s slowly but surely taking measures to deliver enhanced government services. I b
elieve Good Governance is not about making correct decisions; It is about arriving
at the best possible processes for making those decisions.
These Good decision-making processes, or the good governance practices, share se
veral characteristics. These characteristics are where technology and innovation
can significantly contribute in reaching the end beneficiaries.
1. The first characteristic is Inclusiveness Participation of the citizen could
be either direct or through legitimate intermediate representatives. Our 2014 Ge
neral elections recorded the highest participation ever recorded of 66.38% Overa
ll voter turnout which is an increase of over 7% or 56 million people. The mobil
izing potential of the internet can be definitely associated with this increase
with political parties spending more than 200 Crores on online advertising.
2. The second characteristic common to good decision making processes and good g
overnance practices is Transparency. Transparency is the basis of good governanc
e and the first step in fighting corruption.
I was born in 1991 and I am 23 years old, being a part of the generation that li
terally grew up with the internet, I can tell you that the Internet is not new a
nymore. What is new is the ability to harness the power of the huge amount of in
formation flowing through this vast network This ability to collate this informa
tion or Big Data as it is called and make it accessible to the public is where the
tremendous potential of technology lies.
A case in point being the Honorable Prime Ministers Jan Dhan Yojana, The Jan Dha
n Yojana(1.5 Crore bank accounts) aims at financial inclusion of Class 4 workers
into the banking system to achieve the dual purpose of curbing Black Money as w
ell as upliftment of the poor. The Jan Dhan Yojana website today has a link whic
h updates real-time on the number of accounts opened which can be segregated bot
h geographically and chronologically. This simple process of assimilation and co
mmunication of such information to the public presents several avenues where a s
imilar model can be scaled in Construction, Public-Private Partnerships,
This brings me to the

Accountability Transparency using provides a universal rationale

As socially responsible citizens, we vote to the best of our knowledge having tw

o agendas in mind - Firstly, Our immiediate social development and secondly for
the
greater good of the citizen of our Country. What constitutes to the KRA or Key r
esult area of this activity is that the system must ensure inclusive participati
on of
people from every aspect of society.
Assessment, Accountibility and Authority.

I realized that an analysis of governance should not only focus on the subtle nu
ances involved in decision-making, but also on the physical manifestation or the
Implementation of the decisions taken. As a student and citizen of the largest d
emocracy in the world,
the decisions made and the
formal and informal structures that have been
set in place to arrive at and implement the
decision.
Good governance,

Accordingly E-governance may also involve governing of a country, organisation,

company or a household, however with the help of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT).

Governance is 'the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions

are implemented'
I wondered what

I wondered what could I add to the already profound

Based
My outlook as a manager was never to create data
Democratic Governance- Local level -> Fair elections with maximum citizen partic
ipation -> Ensuring the expectations of citizens are met
Efficiency and Effectiveness along wtih transparency
Legal and Judicial decisions are respected,Ethical conduct
Skill and capacity building, Openness to change and innovation, Development shou
ld be sustainable
Soundfinancial management,
Respect for human rights and cultural diversity
Key aspect of all the above- Accountability