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UNITED CAUSE FOR GOVERNANCE COUNCIL

FOLLOWS THE RULE OF LAW EQUITABLE & INCLUSIVE

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GOOD GOVERNANCE: T H E O N LY M A N T R A T O TRANSFORMING THE WORLD

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TRANSPARENT

Need of the hour

GOOD GOVERNANCE DAY

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ood Governance Day सशासन ु िदवस, i s a d a y o f n a t i o n a l importance in India observed annually on the twenty-fth day of December, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Good Governance Day was established in 2014 to honor Prime Minister Vajpayee by fostering awareness among the Indian people of accountability in government.

In keeping with this principle, the Government of India has decreed Good Governance Day to be a working day for the government.

On 23 December 2014, the then ninety-year old former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya(posthumously) were announced as recipients of India's highest civilian award for merit, the Bharat Ratna by the Honorable President Shri Pranab Mukherjee.

Following the announcement, the newly elected administration of the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi established that the birth anniversary of the former Prime Minister would be henceforth commemorated annually in India as Good Governance Day

PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA SHRI NARENDRA MODI ANNOUNCES ATAL BIHARI VAJPAYEE’S BIRTHDAY AS GOOD GOVERNANCE DAY

GOOD GOVERNANCE Good Governance is about the processes for making and implementing decisions. It's not about making 'correct' decisions, but about the best possible process for making those decisions.

Good decision-making processes, and therefore good governance, share several characteristics. All have a positive effect on various aspects of local government including consultation policies and practices, meeting procedures, service quality protocols, councillor and ofcer conduct, role clarication and good working relationships.

WHAT ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD GOVERNANCE? GOOD GOVERNANCE IS ACCOUNTABLE Accountability is a fundamental requirement of good governance. Local government has an obligation to report, explain and be answerable for the consequences of decisions it has made on behalf of the community it represents.

GOOD GOVERNANCE IS TRANSPARENT People should be able to follow and understand the decision-making process. This means that they will be able to clearly see how and why a decision was made – what information, advice and consultation council considered, and which legislative requirements (when relevant) council followed.

GOOD GOVERNANCE FOLLOWS THE RULE OF LAW This means that decisions are consistent with relevant legislation or common law and are within the powers of council. In the case of Victorian local government, relevant legislation includes the Local Government Act 1989 and other legislation such as the Public Health and Well Being Act 2008, and the Equal Opportunity Act 2010.

GOOD GOVERNANCE IS RESPONSIVE Local Government should always try to serve the needs of the entire community while balancing competing interests in a timely, appropriate and responsive manner.

GOOD GOVERNANCE IS EQUITABLE AND INCLUSIVE A community's well being results from all of its members feeling their interests have been considered by council in the decision-making process. This means that all groups, particularly the most vulnerable, should have opportunities to participate in the process.

GOOD GOVERNANCE IS EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT Local government should implement decisions and follow processes that make the best use of the available people, resources and time to ensure the best possible results for their community.

GOOD GOVERNANCE IS PARTICIPATORY Anyone affected by or interested in a decision should have the opportunity to participate in the process for making that decision. This can happen in several ways – community members may be provided with information, asked for their opinion, given the opportunity to make recommendations or, in some cases, be part of the actual decision-making process

WHY IS GOOD GOVERNANCE IMPORTANT? Good Governance is important for several reasons. It not only gives the local community condence in its council, but improves the faith that elected members and ofcers have in their own local government and its decisionmaking processes.

It also leads to better decisions, helps local government meet its legislative responsibilities and importantly provides an ethical basis for governance.

THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS When decision-making processes are not working well, complaints about lack of information, inadequate consultation or rowdy behaviour usually occurs.

When this happens, it’s worth looking at the whole process to see where problems are and how they can be addressed.

FINANCIAL GOVERNANCE Financial governance is important for good governance because the consequences of failure can be so devastating for a council. No matter how good the rest of a council's governance may be nancial failure can bring it undone.

This section focuses on nancial governance mainly from the councillor's perspective and highlights how the council can meet its accountability requirements. The areas covered include where the responsibility and accountability lie for council nances, the role of the Strategic Resource Plan and annual budget, and the importance of rigorous nancial reporting.

WHY IS GOOD GOVERNANCE IMPORTANT FOR PLANNING? Planning can be one of the most important and challenging areas for councillors. Strategic land use planning is a vital part of how a municipality will develop now and into the future.

Statutory planning decisions are complex and often controversial.

They demand high levels of knowledge and understanding about the processes, the statutory requirements and the different roles that a councillor has to play. This is important because good governance involves good decisionmaking processes and being clear about the different roles.

ROLE OF JUDICIARY IN GOOD GOVERNANCE

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t has been nearly six decades that we inherited a well-entrenched system of judicial administration besides elaborate and codied, substantive and procedural laws from Britishers. These laws had generally stood the test of time. Therefore, we adopted them with suitable corrections wherever required. Over the years, we have netuned the judicial administration so as to meet the needs of changing times and aspirations of the modern India. The concept of governance is as old as human civilization.

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hat is “Governance”? It simply means the process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented. The quality of governance depends, in a large measure, upon the indulgence shown by subjects. Speaking on basis of experiences of medieval period and the times of colonial rule, in particular in the continents of Africa and Asia, some political scientists would use sarcasm in describing the system of governance one such scientist 1 said : “the marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments”.

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ood Governance signiď€ es the way an administration improves the standard of living of the members of its society by creating and making available the basic amenities of life; providing its people security and the opportunity to better their lot; instill hope in their heart for a promising future; providing, on an equal & equitable basis, access to opportunities for personal growth; affording participation and capacity to inuence, in the decision-making in public affairs; sustaining a responsive judicial system which dispenses justice on merits in a fair, unbiased and meaningful manner; and maintaining accountability and honesty in each wing or functionary of the Government.

THE CHALLENGE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE IN INDIA GOOD GOVERNANCE Good Governance is associated with accountable political leadership, enlightened policy-making and a civil service imbued with a professional ethos. The presence of a strong civil society including a free press and independent judiciary are pre-conditions for good governance.

What is 'good' governance in the Indian context? The central challenge before good governance relates to social development. In his famous 'tryst with destiny' speech on 14 August 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru articulated this challenge as 'the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and inequality of opportunities'.

Good governance must aim at expansion in social opportunities and removal of poverty. In short, good governance, as I perceive it, means securing justice, empowerment, employment and efď€ cient delivery of services.

NATIONAL VALUES The concept of governance was decisively shaped by the freedom movement led by Mahatma Gandhi and the aspirations of founding fathers of the Constitution. The values in the Indian context at the time of the inauguration of the Republic were those of nationalism, democracy, secularism, nonalignment and mixed economy.

The meaning of nationalism today relates more to further strengthening of a trillion dollar gross domestic product economy and less to cohesion among states or integration of princely order that Sardar Patel so magniď€ cently accomplished. Another historic decision was taken to make India a secular state. Religion always had a major place in our private lives. Politicisation of religious, ethnic and caste ties have reached unprecedented levels.

Today communal and sectarian approaches are more prominent in our polity and also in public policy at national and state levels. For the last sixty years, our ideological frame of reference was determined by public choice. It is another matter that it was not always real. Since 1991 we have slowly moved towards the capitalist path.

Democracy is at the heart of governance in India. However, in its working, democracy has revealed several inadequacies. The chain of accountability from the civil service to legislature and political authority is weak; follow-through at higher levels of administration is poor; and limited oversight by Parliamentary committees is part of the problem.

ACCESS TO JUSTICE Access to justice is based upon the basic principle that people should be able to rely upon the correct application of law. In actual practice there are several countervailing factors. Some citizens do not know their rights and cannot afford legal aid to advocate on their behalf. The most severe challenge relates to complexity of adjudication as legal proceedings are lengthy and costly and the judiciary lacks personnel and logistics to deal with these matters.

Systematic solutions are, therefore, needed for strengthening access to justice. At the same time ad hoc measures are required to provide immediate assistance to the needy citizens.

RULE OF LAW The concept of good governance is undoubtedly linked with the citizens' right of life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. This could be secured in a democracy only through the rule of law.

The rule of law is expressed through the axiom that no one is above the law.

One has to clearly understand that the rule 'of' law is different from the rule 'by' law. Under the rule 'by' law, law is an instrument of the government and the

Government is above the law while under the rule 'of' law no one is above the law not even the government. It is under this framework that rule of law not only guarantees the liberty of the citizens but it also limits the arbitrariness of the government and thereby it makes government more articulate in decisionmaking.

The rule of law as Dicey postulated is equality before law. This is secured through formal and procedural justice which makes independent judiciary a very vital instrument of governance. In our constitutional system, every person is entitled to equality before law and equal protection under the law.

No person can be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law. Thus the state is bound to protect the life and liberty of every human being. The courts have the ď€ nal authority to test any administrative action on the standard of legality. The administrative or executive action that does not meet the standard of legality will be set aside if the aggrieved person brings an appropriate petition in the competent court.

A necessary corollary of this phenomenon is called 'judicial activism'.

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ecently the terms "Governance" and "Good Governance" are being increasingly used in development literature. Bad governance is being increasingly regarded as one of the root causes of all evil within our societies. Major donors and international ď€ nancial institutions are increasingly basing their aid and loans on the condition that reforms that ensure "good governance" are undertaken.

This article tries to explain, as simply as possible, what "governance" and "good governance" means.

Governance The concept of "governance" is not new. It is as old as human civilization.

Simply put "governance" means: the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented).

Governance can be used in several contexts such as corporate governance, international governance, national governance and local governance. Since governance is the process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented, an analysis of governance focuses on the formal and informal actors involved in decision-making and implementing the decisions made and the formal and informal structures that have been set in place to arrive at and implement the decision.

Government is one of the actors in governance.

Other actors involved in governance vary depending on the level of government that is under discussion. In rural areas, for example, other actors may include inuential land lords, associations of peasant farmers, cooperatives, NGOs, research institutes, religious leaders, nance institutions political parties, the military etc. The situation in urban areas is much more complex. Figure 1 provides the interconnections between actors involved in urban governance.

At the national level, in addition to the above actors, media, lobbyists, international donors, multi-national corporations, etc. may play a role in decisionmaking or in inuencing the decisionmaking process.

All actors other than government and the military are grouped together as part of the "civil society."

In some countries in addition to the civil society, organized crime syndicates also inuence decision-making, particularly in urban areas and at the national level. Similarly formal government structures are one means by which decisions are arrived at and implemented. At the national level, informal decision-making structures, such as "kitchen cabinets" or informal advisors may exist. In urban areas, organized crime syndicates such as the "land Maa" may inuence decisionmaking. In some rural areas locally powerful families may make or inuence decision-making.

Hon'ble Prime Minister Message to the Nation on Good Governance Day

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has outlined meaningful engagement, simplication of procedures and processes, redressal of grievances and the use of technology to bridge the government-citizen gap as focus areas for his government.

Good Governance is the key to a nation's progress. Government is committed to providing a transparent and accountable administration which works for the betterment and welfare of the common citizen.

"Citizen-First" is our mantra, our motto and our guiding principle. It has been my dream to bring government closer to our citizens, so that they become active participants in the governance process. During the last seven months, our government has been consistently working towards this goal. mygov.in and interact with PM seek to make this engagement meaningful. The unprecedented response which these initiatives have evoked, places a large responsibility upon us, and I assure you, my countrymen that we will not let you down.

An important step for Good Governance is simplication of procedures and processes in the Government so as to make the entire system transparent and faster.

The push towards self-certication in place of afdavits and attestations is another indicator of the relationship of trust between the citizens and the Government. Doing away with cumbersome and out-dated legislations which no longer have relevance is another focus area. Already Appropriation Acts have been identied for repeal and more Acts are being reviewed.

No people exists that would not think itself happier even under its own bad government that it might really be under the Good Governance of an alien power Father of Nation India Mahatma Gandhi

Contrary to the prevailing notion that Good Governance is bad politics, in reality Good Governance is good politics. A overnance should work keeping in mind the welfare of future generations, not the next election.

Narendra Modi

Missiles may kill terrorists.but good governance kills terrorism. free and independent societies - free from suffering,oppression and occupation - this is what will kill terrorism.

Barack Obama

The Government should solve problems, the opposition should criticize the government and offer alternative solutions

Vladimir Putin

Manpower without Unity is not a strength unless it is harmonised and...united properly, than it becomes a spiritual power

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference.

They are the father the mother and the teacher

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

We are going to enter into a life of contradiction.In politics, we will have equality and in social and economic rights,We will have inequality.....We must remove this contradiction or else who suffer from this inequality will blow up the structure Dr. Ambedkar

Gender equality is more than a goal in itself. It is a precondition for meeting the challenge of reducing poverty, promoting sustainable development and building good governance.

Secretary-general united nations from 1997-2006 Koď€ Annan

If we can’t all swim together, we will sink. there is no plan b, because there is no planet b.

Secretary, United Nations.

Ban Ki-moon

Democracy, good governance and modernity cannot be imported or imposed from outside a country.

Former President of Lebanon

Emile Lahoud

Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards , if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.

American politician and actor Ronald Reagan

Life under a good government is rarely dramatic ; life under a bad government is always so Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde

Oscar Wilde.

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.

Abraham Lincoin

No system of governance can ensure stability and progress if it depends solely on one person without the support and participation of the people in the political process.

Dalai Lama

Fanaticism and extremism cannot grow on an earth whose soil is embedded in the spirit of tolerance, moderation, and balance. Good governance can eliminate injustice, destitution and poverty.

Abdullah Of Saudi Arabia

Corruption is the enemy of development, and of good governance. It must be got rid of. Both the government and the people at large must come together to achieve this national objective.

Former President of India Pratibha Patil

USA Address India Address

“TRANSPARENCY IS A CORNERSTONE OF GOOD GOVERNANCE AS IT ALLOW CITIZENS EVERYWHERE TO HOLD INSTITUTIONS AND GOVERNMENTS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR POLICIES AND PERFORMANCE”

Supported by:

Global Wellness Foundation

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UNITED WORLD DIABETES FEDERATION

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