BANKING ESSAYS :
Essay writing --Good Governance - Tool for development:
In recent years the word
governance has become a very fashionable term and is being used in a
variety of ways and covers a large number of organizations both in
public and private domain. This is not a new concept. It is as old as
human civilization on this earth. Generally the term 'Governance' refers
to the process of decision making and the process by which decisions
are implemented (or not implemented). It can be used in several contexts
such as corporate governance, local governance, national governance,
international governance or to the interactions between other sectors of
society. Governance is necessary in each sector of nation for smooth
and efficient working. It is one of the actors of governance and takes
decisions at local and national level and implements those decisions for
human welfare. The quality of governance plays a vital role in the
economic development of countries as everybody knows that without good
governance there can be no sustainable development in a country.
It is widely recognized that good governance is a sine non qua for
economic development of developing countries. Good governance is
generally characterized by accessibility, accountability,
predictability, transparency and follows the rule of law. It assures
that corruption is minimized, views of minorities are taken into account
and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in
decision making. When good governance is guaranteed, residents of all
over the world go about their personal business and pursuits with
enhanced expectations whereas bad governance not only restricts
opportunities of success but it can even degenerate into sectarian
conflicts and civil wars.
Good Governance does not occur by chance. It cannot be introduced
overnight. The process is often, a gradual one involving changes to long
standing, practices, entrenched interests and cultural habits and
social and even religious norms. Recently President of USA Mr. Barack
Obama has said that what Africa required for development are not strong
men but strong institutions and good governance. The prosperity of an
economy depends upon the social, economic and sustainable development.
It is nevertheless admitted that good governance is one that encompasses
a whole range of social, political and economic activities and cannot
be confined to economic aspects alone.
What is the need of good' governance in the Indian context? A nation
where according to an estimation by an NGO based in Hyderabad, the
expenditure on Governance, by the 790 politicians at the Centre, the
4120 in the 35 States and Union Territories and the 18.7 million
employees of the Central and State Governments Use about Rs. 2200 crore
day or Rs. 760000 crore per year, both on capital and revenue account.
Instead of such a huge expenditure, the gulf of per capita availability
of resources between rich and poor has been widely increased.
Every day it is published and shown by media about various scams, tax
evasions, delay, in legal proceedings, wasteful expenditure of
government funds by corrupt politicians and by bureaucrats and rapidly
increasing the graph of corruption, terrorism and other evil practices
in society indicates the complex and non-transparent system of command
and control, monopoly of the government as a service provider,
underdeveloped legal frame work, lack of information and weak notion of
citizen's rights. These days the level of corruption, bribery and other
evil practices against social and economic development are being rapidly
increased due to poor governance. There have been many instances where
large sums of money have been spent on needed development ventures but
their costs are much higher owing to the contracts being given to those
who have paid bribes. Ultimately a tendency has been developed for their
construction to be substandard or even, defective. For instance CWG
scam, 2G scam and many other scams are the results of poor governance.
Many prominent persons such has Wipro's chairman Ajim Premji, Keshuub
Mahindra and HDFC's Deepak Parekh have expressed concerns over a series
of scams leading to governance deficit. Legal proceeding system is so
much complex in India due to which many corrupted officers and criminals
have been buried due to want of proves or have got imprisonment after a
long term. Though India is the world's biggest democracy and has a
strong political system, the world corruption watchdog Transparency
International has ranked India the 87th most corrupt country
in its latest report which shows how deep rooted the corruption is in
India. We can conclude that 'Good Governance' cannot be possible without
fighting from corruption and mismanagement of public resources.
It is now widely held view that good city administration can only
operate effectively with increased transparency in decision making
process and with greater involvement of each and every section of
society. It promotes security of life and property, access to justice
and rule of law. Good Governance will be a key requisite for the next
generation reforms. The upward movement in the GDP growth rate of 10% to
14% can be seen with Good Governance and effective administration. In
the last 64 years, after independence, it would seem that most of our
development has been directed towards the top 300 million of the Indian
population. This scenario can be changed with the help of good
governance since until the balance 900 million people of India ·benefit,
the country will not move ahead as a developed nation. This fact is
especially true in case of India which is rich with all kinds of
resources but lacks behind many developed nations in progress.
Poverty and unemployment are the two major barriers in the path of
progress which can be eradicated by proper implementation of policies
formed by the government. The proper implementation is possible under
Good Governance. For instance, the education system in India does not
impart any kind of technical skills in the students due to which they do
not get any stable employment opportunities. The need is to prepare the
young blood with such kind of education that would help them to acquire
vocational skills that accelerate them towards various employment
opportunities and also enable them to be self employed.
For Good Governance it is necessary that people who are well educated
and pursuing good character should be selected in elections, since the
main objectives of such kind of persons are firstly to administer and
Govern and secondly, to serve and benefit both the citizens and the
country in the best possible manner.
Good
governance is a tool of development which helps a nation to become a
developed nation where everybody can get equal opportunities to prosper
in life. There will be no scams and frauds and tax evasions will also be
minimized. The monster of corruption will be vanished from every sphere
of life and legal proceedings under judiciary system will be timely
solved and proper decisions will be made. No government officials will
demand bribe for performing the duties assigned to him. The vulnerable
conditions of working of many government institutions due to
irregularities; unaccountability and non-transparent system will also be
eradicated. All the benefits of policies framed for education, health
and eradication of poverty and unemployment will be directly availed
common person. The law and order system will also be improved such that
the 'Jehadi' terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir, the insurgency in the
North-East and rapidly expanding base of naxalite movement in main land
India will be vanished.
Corporate governance should also be improved in order to prevent and
detect scandals and bankruptcies. As defined by Wolfensohn "Corporate
Governance is about promoting corporate fairness, transparency and
accountability". Good corporate governance will be ensured so that
foreign investment will be attracted and nobody can dare to make a fraud
like 'Satyam Scam' so that trade and industry will also flourish.
Hoarding of stock and black marketing will be discouraged. As we all
know that foreign investors are often discouraged by officials who
demand bribes to permit foreign investment in vital sectors where
foreign investments needed. When foreign investors face a high level of
corruption and poor governance, they realize the higher transactions'
costs and shy away from the Countries of poor governance. That is why
some countries such as Singapore, have attracted investment, while
others have failed to attract adequate investments.
In order to make it a reality, a corruption free nation with
sustainable development and progressive economic development without any
criminalization of politics, actions must be taken towards good
governance and effective administration. The system of governance should
be transparent and opportunity to scrutinize our leaders and the
political structure must be provided, to common man. Policies for
development should be formulated in such a manner that is decision
making level. Women are the key to good governance. Their increasing
representation in democratic institutions has provided stability to
polity. They can bring creative, constructive and innovative changes in
economy.
From the above discussion it has
been cleared that the ideal of good governance is difficult to achieve
in its totality. Only a few nations have come nearer to achieving Good
Governance in its totality. Therefore we Indians will have to change our
mindset and take a much larger interest for our country by
participation in the governance of India. According to Mr. A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam – "Nation first and then the individual".
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