Reaching out to the people
Governments are primarily formed to provide various services and facilities to the common man who elects his representatives through elections or other mode so that the public services he is entitled to reach him with ease.
Since a common man always has to go through several interactions with the administration, these interactions are part of the engagement of the government with the people as the two share lot of common interests which includes public delivery of various welfare measures.
However, what was being witnessed over the past several years that the contact between the public and the administration was always proving cumbersome and at times full of red tape as well. This system led to a lot of discontent among the people and a need to improve the governance index was always felt very desperately.
In today’s world good governance is one of the most important factors in eradicating poverty and promoting development across all spheres through a more transparent, responsive and accountable dispensation in place.
Keeping pace with its commitment of extending good governance to people of Jammu and Kashmir, the administration has institutionalized a slew of good governance initiatives in the Union Territory.
This includes zero tolerance against corruption, nepotism and discrimination against minorities so that voices that were otherwise going unheard are given due recognition.
Good governance initiatives that have been ensured over the past several months now include prevention of corruption act, abolition of interviews for group C and D posts besides implementation of more than 800 Central Laws that have been made applicable to JK.
Another milestone that the administration has achieved is the implementation of the District Good Governance Index (DGGI). The DGGI index has been a result oriented proposal and as such it is likely to be adopted pan India by DARPG as a replication of the best governance practices.
The development of DGGI as a tool to assess the status of governance in JK is a path breaking initiative taken up by DARPG. Under DGGI, emphasis is being given on incorporating more indicators especially with regard to District Plan and Execution of Works, Self-Employment, Human Resources Development, Sports, etc., keeping in view priorities of the government thus making it a benchmark and a litmus test for effective public service delivery and good governance.
Moreover, with the adoption of e-office, a simplified, responsive, effective and transparent paperless working culture in most of the government offices of Jammu and Kashmir has also been established. The e-Office is aiding government departments to enhance the public service delivery by eliminating the delay of files in offices.
This initiative is proving to be a game changer as most offices have been mandated to put all necessary documents and details of services provided in an online mode where a common man can enjoy the ease of interacting with the various government outlets.
Another aspect to public reach out is the conduct of ‘back to villages programme’ which has led to a healthy involvement of people with the administration. The reach out has made features like on-the-spot grievance redressal, instantaneous delivery of goods and services to the masses and speedy execution of people centric projects a reality.
KV News
