Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
2, December, 2009
Abstract
South Asia has long been a neglected area of study, primarily because it has
been a region of great deprivation, want and misery, seemingly far from the
mainstream of international activity except occasionally in the news as a
theatre of politics in the Cold War era. It is also known as one of the most
misgoverned areas of the world. Indeed, as a well known Bangladeshi scholar Rehman
Sobhan has said: "South Asia is united by a common thread of
'misgovernance'. In recent years, however, the wave of democratization has
swept away some of the military/authoritarian and traditional polities in
the region, This change together with the endemic ethnic conflicts and
violence which have dogged practically every country of the region and the emergence of
India as a country moving towards a rapid economic and industrial growth
amongst other countries of South Asia have aroused the interest of scholars in this
region.
After discussing the various interpretation of the concept of "Good
Governance", the paper aims to discuss some of the important challenges
faced by the South Asian countries in revamping their administrative systems
in order to discern the emerging perspective of "good governance" in South
Asia, as distinct from its Western concept.
1. Introduction
In the last five decades of the twentieth
century, a large number of nations have
emerged as independent sovereign states
out of the clutches of the colonial rule.
The successor governments not only had
the responsibility of establishing identity
and legitimacy as unified and
independent nation- states, but also to
create a new system of policy and
decision-making and implementation for
socio-economic development leading to
corrections of inequalities and injustices
existing in the societies either because
of caste, ethnic, racial, sex, religious, or
Nepalese Journal of Public Policy and Governance, Vol. xxv, No.2, December, 2009
Democracy, Development
Good Governance
and
Nepalese Journal of Public Policy and Governance, Vol. xxv, No.2, December, 2009
Nepalese Journal of Public Policy and Governance, Vol. xxv, No.2, December, 2009
poor
populations.
Political
and
administrative corruption is another
prominent characteristic of all the South
Asian governments, which prevent these
nations to utilize their maximum
capacity to develop.
2.
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3.
4.
5.
6.
Strategies
towards
Governance in South Asia
Good
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12
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observations
that
"Life
is
an
aspirationthe ideal must not be
lowered because of our weakness and
imperfections", and the fact of his longlife resistance to evil in many form-from racialism and imperialism to
untouchability.
Thus, in addition to the many
suggestions already made above, like
the adoption of various legislative
measures to effectively curb defections,
operation of black money, break the
nexus between electoral politics,
economic resources and criminal
support, and establishing the institution
of Ombudsman, it is necessary that a
rigorous Code of Conduct be drawn for
both Ministers/Legislators and also for
important functionaries of all political
parties, which should incorporate what
the Nolan Committee in the U.K. has
suggested as the seven principles of
public life-- viz., selflessness, integrity,
objectivity, accountability, openness,,
honesty and leadership.
A Public Ethics Committee consisting of
representatives of all Political Parties
and some eminent public persons,
presided over by a retired Justice of the
Supreme Court may be constituted to
enforce, oversee and monitor the
adherence to this code (Jain, 2006).
Operationalizing
Governance in South Asia
Good
to
regenerate
political
and
administrative institutions from the
virtual collapse that India has
experienced in the last three decades -restore the legitimacy and effectiveness
of the legislature, bureaucracy, the
judiciary and the non-state actors of the
civil society. As the 'sustainability of
transition' in India has been greatly
affected by the gradual incremental loss
of the capacity and effectiveness of the
democratic institutions, it is necessary
that a radical package of reforms to
revamp the institutional framework be
implemented immediately. At the same
time, it is necessary to consolidate and
operationalize
the
gains
of
decentralization of authority and
empowerment of the people especially
the weaker and vulnerable sections of
the population in reality, affected by the
73rd and 74th Amendments of the
Constitution. Initiatives for local
planning coupled with augmenting of
local resources is of utmost for restoring
the credibility of sub-national and local
institutions.
b) In respect of the administrative system,
there is an immediate need to cut down
the size of the government and its
expenditure as early as possible.
Downsizing of bureaucracy has always
been a controversial and complicated
task. But the excessive fat of
governments has to be trimmed down to
make them run faster.
c) One of the other measures adopted in
many western countries to ensure
transparency in the functioning of the
government and to fight corruption and
maladministration is the enactment of
Public
Interest Disclosure
Acts
popularly called Whistle-blower Acts.
The object of such elements is to
improve accountability in government
and public sector organizations by
encouraging people not to turn a blind
eye to malpractices taking place in their
Nepalese Journal of Public Policy and Governance, Vol. xxv, No.2, December, 2009
e)
f)
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g)
primary education and primary healthcare is not the solution alone, the real
challenge is effective management on
the part of the administration to deliver
these goods at the lowest costs and in an
equitable manner. These are some of the
areas where the state cannot abdicate its
responsibilities notwithstanding the
emphasis
of
liberalization
and
privatization, increased public and
foreign investments, and contracting out
of the services in various industrial and
other sectors of the economy and social
services., and finally,
Utilizing the tools of technology and
on-line
governance,
wherever
feasible, for quick delivery of services.
Providing information and redressal of
grievances. In the management of
public services, the adoption of
information technology is essential to
eh efficiency of public administration.
Communication to the public through
the Internet and other media is required
to achieve transparencya condition
for accountability.
Concluding Observations
In conclusion, however, it should be
remembered that for achieving good
governance, no amount of planning and
thinking in all these areas would be
useful unless the governments at all
levels of the polity are capable enough
to take hard and unpleasant decisions
and have the will and capacity to
implement and continuously monitor
and evaluate their impact. At the same
time, the political leadership has to
demonstrate its strong determination to
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