Good Governance, Lokayukta, E-Governance and Grievance Redressal

What the official syllabus says

Main Examination, General Studies V:

• Good Governance, Eradication of Corruption, Lokayukta, Citizen Charters, E-Governance, Right to Information, Redressal Policy.

This line does not name UP, but it sits in a paper on Uttar Pradesh, so the points below give the national framework and then the UP institutions.

Topics in detail

Good governance

• Features: participation, rule of law, transparency, responsiveness, consensus, equity, effectiveness, accountability
• Good Governance Day (25 December) and the Good Governance Index of the Union government
• Second Administrative Reforms Commission reports on ethics, citizen-centric administration and e-governance
• Time-bound services: the UP Janhit Guarantee Adhiniyam, 2011 (right to services within fixed times)
• Monitoring: dashboards, performance reviews, district rankings

Eradicating corruption

• Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, as amended in 2018 (bribe-giving made an offence, prior sanction for investigation)
• UP's anti-corruption bodies: the Vigilance Establishment, the Anti-Corruption Organisation and the Economic Offences Wing
• Causes of corruption: discretion, complexity, low pay, weak punishment, political finance
• Preventive tools: e-tendering, the Government e-Marketplace, direct benefit transfer, online land records, declaration of assets, rotation of sensitive posts
• Whistle-blower protection and the role of the media and civil society

Lokayukta

• UP Lokayukta and Up-Lokayuktas Act, 1975; the institution has worked since 1977
• Jurisdiction over ministers, public servants and other functionaries named in the Act; powers of inquiry
• Recommendations to the competent authority and annual reports to the Governor
• Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 and its requirement that states set up Lokayuktas
• Issues: recommendatory powers, delays, lack of an own investigation wing, follow-up of findings

Citizen's charters

• Meaning: a public statement of the services a department gives, standards, time limits and grievance routes
• The Sevottam model for service quality
• Charters in UP departments, police stations and hospitals; display and awareness
• Weaknesses: no legal backing, no penalties, low awareness; the move towards rights-to-services laws

E-governance

• National e-Governance Plan and Digital India; Common Service Centres in villages
• UP examples: e-District services (certificates), online land records (Bhulekh), the single-window system for investors (Nivesh Mitra), e-office, online scholarship and pension portals
• Aadhaar-enabled public distribution through point-of-sale machines; direct benefit transfer
• Benefits: speed, transparency, fewer middlemen; problems: digital divide, connectivity, data privacy, cyber risks

Right to Information

• Right to Information Act, 2005: public information officers, 30-day time limit, first appeal, second appeal to the Information Commission
• UP State Information Commission: structure and powers, penalties on officers
• Exemptions (Section 8); proactive disclosure (Section 4)
• 2019 amendment on the term and salaries of information commissioners
• Issues: pendency of appeals, vacancies, safety of RTI users

Grievance redressal

• The Integrated Grievance Redressal System (IGRS, Jansunwai portal) and the Chief Minister's helpline 1076
• Tehsil-level grievance days (Sampoorna Samadhan Diwas) and police station-level days (Thana Diwas)
• Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) for central matters
• Consumer commissions under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019; Lok Adalats; ombudsman schemes for banking and insurance
• Measuring redressal: time taken, quality of disposal, feedback from complainants

Overlaps

• Transparency, accountability, e-governance and citizen's charters: General Studies II.
• Probity in governance, RTI, codes of ethics and citizen's charters: General Studies IV.