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Administrative reforms and good governance are pet subjects of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Ever since he took charge in South Block three years ago, he has taken various initiatives to make the administrative system transparent and result-oriented. In tune with the Prime Minister’s emphasis on good governance, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India, has geared up to help administrators face the challenge. Among other things, it compiled success stories in two volumes. Its idea is to disseminate these stories among the administrators so that they would be inspired by them to break new grounds with more innovative methods and practices. Learn From Them: A Compilation of Best Practices, which was released by the Prime Minister in New Delhi to mark Civil Services Day, is a follow-up of the earlier volume, Ideas That Have Worked (Penguin/Viking, 2005). It is a compilation of 18 case studies by the officers themselves who, through their innovative approaches, have revolutionised administrative reforms. It encompasses a wide array of issues — from management of land records to elementary education, and from sanitation to computerisation projects. To begin with, Rahul Sarin, Additional Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India, gives an illuminating account of the key principles of best practices and the dire need to replicate success stories for good governance. Rajiv Chawla, (IAS, Karnataka), who bagged the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration this year, in his case study, analyses how he could streamline the management of land records in Karnataka through e-governance. The Bhoomi project helps 70 lakh farmers and over 35 million dependent people today. Before the Bhoomi’s launch in 2002, land records were in a terrible mess. The manual system, being opaque and monopolistic, resulted in corruption, inefficiency, productivity loss and wastage of human resources. In the absence of public scrutiny, farmers were harassed and the records were prone to manipulation. The Bhoomi project has indeed changed Karnataka’s face. Started as a pilot project, it covered the entire state within a few months. The technology resources (hardware and software) are continually upgraded to keep pace with the increasing demand. N.S. Kalsi (IAS, Punjab) writes about the IT-project, Prism, implemented throughout Punjab for the registration of deeds. The Prism software has been implemented at 110 sites in 17 districts. People are now able to get a deed registered in just 30 minutes, but the writer also highlights constraints. These are, among others, non-acceptance of the new system by the user, e-registration by private vendors, no uniform work style and lack of interest. As the state government is keen on making the system of registration and land records transparent and free from manipulation, how to popularise this system has indeed become a big challenge for the officers. Vivek Narain (IAS, Tamil Nadu) writes about e-registration with focus on two packages — Star and Reginet. These not only helped simplify the administration of registration but also ensured speed, efficiency, consistency and reliability. Moreover, this system introduced a transparent system of valuation of properties, easily accessible to citizens, and thus improved the citizen interface. Pramod Kumar Mishra (IAS, Gujarat) writes about the earthquake reconstruction project in Gujarat. The earthquake of January 26, 20 01, caused widespread destruction of life and property. A unique feature of this programme is its focus on medium-term and long-term aspects of disaster management, including mitigation, preparedness, capacity building and the creation of an appropriate institutional structure. Dr M.N. Roy (IAS, West Bengal) focuses on the Shishu Shiksha Karmasuchi programme in his state. Schools under this scheme provided the most maginalised sections access to education. Significantly, it involved a much lower cost per learner as compared to formal primary schools. Qualified local women work as teachers on contract, the cost of which is borne by the government. Case studies of other projects like ITC’s e-choupal movement, tele medicine in West Bengal, the Lokvani project in UP, IT for Braille education and Pune’s sanitation programme are all examples of the IAS officers’ commitment to reform the system and improve the quality of life. In addition to individual
enterprise and perseverance, these officers could succeed in their
mission because of the strong support they received from all sections,
including the political leadership. There is, no doubt, that this book
will be a useful guide to the administrators, experts, specialists in
public administration and all those involved in public policy and
decision-making.
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