a survey on good governance and case study of kerala government

Indo-Bhutan International Conference On Gross National Happiness Vol 02, October 2013 Pages: 212-216

International Journal of Business Intelligents (IJBI) 212 www.ijbui.com

A Survey on Good Governance and Case Study of Kerala Government Deeni C.J1, Rosary M2

1Research scholar , Racine research center, Loyola College-34 2Research scholar , Racine research center, Loyola College-34

[email protected], [email protected] Abstract In this paper, we simply explains what is good governance and how it related to happiness and GNH. Good governance is one of the nine domains of GNH. Relating to good governance we point out the key words and five principles.Also in this we try to explore the innovative projects done by the government of Kerala. The two new projects are one is Kudumbashree and the other is akshaya e-project. In this we explain how it helps the people to live happily and smoothly. Keywords: Akshya e-project, GNH, Good Governance, Kudumbashree Project. 1. Introduction 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 cooperate, international, national and local governance. The concept of good governance is rather new and came into usage sincerely 90’s. The notion of good has its trajectory of usage. In the ancient literature that which is substantially good is called good. Good was used in this sense in Plato. Good was explained in terms of virtue and motive in Aristotle. Later good and bad was replaced by right and wrong. In the post Kantian era good was explained in terms of action and later with the outcome of action. Good governance is a indeterminate term used in international development public affairs and manage public resources in order to guarantee the realization of human rights. India is a sovergien, socialist, secular, democratic republic committed to social, economic and political justice, liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship, equality of status and of opportunity and fraternity assuring the diginity of the individual. Good governance will be the governance mechanism that promotes sovereignty, socialism, secularism and democracy with an ethical commitment to justice, liberty, equality and fraternity in the everyday life of the citizen.

The ability of the government in upholding its citizen’s right is good governance and its inability is bad governance. Accordingly governance can be good or bad at various levels with upholding the rights of its citizens. Good governance is one of the nine domains of Gross National Happiness (GNH). Unlike other domain, governance cuts across all domains or sectors and therefore, its effect on the society at large arise from the cumulative efforts of all sectors. 2. Five Principles of Good Governance Good governance must be focused on the primary responsibilities of the government. These must include the maintenance of the law and order, administration of justice and welfare of economically and socially weaker sections of society. It can truly be said that he who governs the least governs the best. Therefore in this case one main question arise: Is whether we are prepared to learn lessons for the future from our experience of the past. At the outset, it needs to be appreciated that the concept of good governance much larger than mere administrative reforms in the conventional sense of the term. Good governance, as a concept, is applicable to all sections of society such as the government, legislature, judiciary, the media, the private sector, the cooperate sector, the co-operatives, societies registered under the societies registration act, duly registered trusts, organizations such as trade unions and lastly the non-government organizations (NGOs).



Public accountability and transparency are as relevant for the one as for the other. The five basic principles of good governance as given by the United Nations Development Programme are given below. Legitimacy and Voice:- All men and women should have a voice in decision making, either directly or through legitimate intermediate institutions that represent their intention. Such board participation is built on freedom of association and speech, as well as capacities to participate constructively. Direction Leaders and the public have a board long term perspective on good governance and human development, along with a sense of what is needed for such development. Performance Effectiveness and efficiency another terms of performance. Institutions produces results that meet needs while making the best use of resources. Accountability Decision makers in government, the private sector and the civil society organizations are accountable to the public, as well as to institutional stakeholders. This accountability differs depending on the organizations and whether the decision is internal or external Transparency is also comes under this category. Transparency is built on the free flow of information. Information are directly to those concerned with institutions and process and enough information is provided to understand and monitor them. Fairness Equity and rule of law are the two subdivisions of fairness. By equity we meant that all men and women have opportunities to improve or maintain their wellbeing. Rule of law means that legal frame works should be

fair and enforced impartially, particularly the laws on human rights. 3. A Case Study of Good Governance of Kerala Government Kerala is a tiny state lying in the south-west part of Indian federation, where many Development experiments are being tested refined and implemented. In this section we discuss two innovative and public oriented projects launched by the government of Kerala. 3.1 Kudumbashree: A project to eradicate poverty Reaching out to the families through women and reaching out to the society through families. Most of the well-conceived, centrally planned, rigid, individual oriented anti-poverty programmes of the central and state governments failed to bring about the desired results. Mainly because they didn’t allow for the involvement and commitment of the poor and viewed the poor as “ resource less” receivers of benefits. When all such experiments are not worked, then in 1992 an innovate programme introduced by the Local Administration Department of government of Kerala in Alappuzha municipality was a fresh ray of hope. This was an instant success and was extended to the other urban areas in the state. The main purpose of this project is to ensure that the women should no longer remain as passive recipients of public assistance, but active leaders in women involved development initiatives. This new programme is named as ‘kudumbashree’. The programme created hierarchical community groups of urban poor women identified through objective parameters and empowered the groups to take up community based action in various sectors. 3.1.1 The specific objectives are:-

1. Identification of the poor families through risk indices based surveys,



with the active participation of the poor and the communities to which they belong.

2. Empowering the poor women to improve the productivity and managerial capabilities of the community by organizing them into CBOs.

3. Encouraging thrift and investment through credit by developing CDSs to work as informal bank of the poor.

4. Ensuring better health and nutrition for all.

5. Ensuring a minimum of 5 years of primary for all children, belonging to risk families.

6. Enabling the poor to participate in the decentralization process through the CDS, as it is a subsystem of the local government, under which it works.

3.1.2 The mission To eradicate absolute poverty in 10 years through concerted community action under the leadership of local governments, by facilitating organization of the poor for combining self-help with demand led convergence of available services and resources to tackle the multiple dimensions and manifestations of poverty holistically. Under kudumbashree (KDMS) women have organized themselves under a three-tier community based organization. The bottom of the KDMS programme is formed by the neighborhood groups (Ayalkoottam) (NHGs) comprising of 20-40 women members selected from poor families. Area development society (Ward samithy)( ADSs) is formed at the level of ward of local government by federating 8-10 NHGs. The Community Development Society (Panchayath samithy)(CDSs) formed at the village panchayath level or at the municipality(town) or corporation (city) is a federation of ADSs.

The paradigm shift in the approach is that any women who is residing in the Grama Panchayat can become a member of the Kudumbashree Ayalkoottam irrespective of the fact that she belong to a below poverty line (BPL) Family. Since this aspect gives an opening for the APL families to enter into the community structures envisaged by Kudumbashree, it is further ensured that majority of the office bearers should belong to BPL families. These structures give added importance to women empowerment both social and economic. 3.1.3 Milestones at a glance Kudumbashree practices a process approach and not a project approach. Milestones of the Mission, at a glance, are as follows:-. The largest women movement in Asia

with a membership of 36 lakhs representing equal number of families.

36 lakh poor families brought under the community based organizations (CBO)s consisting of 1.87 lakh Neighborhood Groups (NHG), 17,000 Area Development Societies (ADSs) and 1,058 Community Development Societies (CDSs)- rural & urban.

Mobilized a sum of Rs. 1,105 cores as thrift and disbursed loans amounting to Rs.2,818 cores to the members of Neighborhood Groups.

Ashraya-Destitute identification and Rehabilitation Project implemented in 745 Local Self Governments and 58,389 destitutes identified.

44,586 houses constructed under the Bhavanashree housing loan scheme (without subsidy) for the poor in rural areas.

235 entrepreneur groups (Thelima) formed for the municipal solid waste management in urban areas.

‘Buds’-10 special schools for physically and mentally challenged children set up under the leadership of the Local Self Government.



45,262 Balasabhas (Children’s) Neighborhood Groups) with 7.9 lakh children formed in urban and rural areas.

Unlike several government sponsored schemes which dole out money to the poor without achieving developmental goals, KDMS programme provides altogether different experiences and results. With the strong backing of local governments and SHG initiatives, the poor women in Kerala are being empowered, socially, politically and economically. According to the experience of KDMS, poor women should not be viewed as objects of development but agents of development. Women in SHGs have the power in translating their welfare into the welfare of families. This multi dimensional women oriented poverty alleviation programme has played a significant role in regaining the lost direction of “public action” that has now restarted to contribute to the improvement of quality of life in Kerala. 4. Akshaya E-Project Abstract terms like ‘empowering citizens’ and ‘bridging digital divide’ might sound odd to many, especially when it's used in a rural context, but the obscurity surrounding these terms are diminishing at a steady pace in Kerala. And credit for that goes to 2,000-odd Akshaya e-centres spread across Kerala. 4.1 Akshaya e-centres make life easy in Kerala The Akshaya project, first started in the rural Malapppuram district of Kerala, India, and now spread all around the state, was the first district-wide e-literacy project in India and one of the largest known Internet protocol (IP) based wireless networks in the world. In November 2002, the state government of Kerala put into place a project, piloted in Malappuram, with the goal for one person in every family to be computer literate in that district. Malappuram is now what is said to be India's First E-literate District. The mission

continues to make Kerala the First E-literate state in India. For instance, if residents want to submit a ration card application or want to apply for a certificate from a village office, they can avail the services of a string of government departments without being present at these offices physically. They can send applications and easily receive digitally signed certificates through the nearest Akshaya centre. In addition, they can use it to make online payments for several utility services like telephone, water and power, and even book railway tickets. The project offers a lot of services in 2008: E-Pay (electronic payment of utility bills like electricity, land phone, drinking water, university fees etc.); E-Krishi (for farmers to provide online agriculture trading and information portal, A to Z Solution) E-Vidya (advanced IT learning for e-literates and others); E-Ticketing (online train, flight, bus ticket reservations); PMRY online registration; online passport registration; a village kiosk for transparent collectorate program, online communication providers for nonresidential Indians; an online medical transcription course, with extension programs for all the above mentioned services. Currently, every panchayat in the state has at least two Akshaya centres. The task undertaken by these young private entrepreneurs on behalf of their fellow citizens range from e-filing of tax returns, computer training programme of international standards, UID registration, and even finding skilled labourers for construction or maintenance work from the local Akshaya database. The centres are also affiliated to Indria Gandhi National Open University ( IGNOU) and work as its distant arm. The operations of Akshaya as unfolded so far consist of three distinct phases. The first phase is that of enabling the masses by imparting basic skill in computer operations and making them familiar with internet. This phase is the period of e-literary



training. "Apart from several national and international recognitions, the Union government has recently sought our consultancy service for implementing similar common service centres in other parts of the country. As part of this, we have already set up a consultancy centre in Lakshadweep," In 2007 Akshaya moved into phase two of the project rendering new G2C (Government to Citizen) and Business to Consumer (B2C) services. Now Akshaya has to its credit over Rs 200 crore worth transactions across the state. Akshaya e-centres were envisaged to

have five computers and other infrastructure at a cost of Rs. 3-4 lakhs per centre and they were to be within 2-3 Kilometre distance from every household.

At least one person from every family was to be given training for ten days. It was planned that the local bodies should fund this e-literacy initiative Rs. 140 was fixed as tuition fee for 15 hour training programme (Grama Panchayat Rs. 80, Block Panchayat Rs. 20, Dist. Panchayat Rs. 20, beneficiary fee Rs. 20) Strategies were evolved for the involvement of community, civil society organisations, youth and welfare organisations, local bodies, etc for implementation.

Positioning Social Animators for linking Akshaya centres, citizens, local bodies and government

5. Conclusion To achive good governance the government shall be on a mission to follow clarity, conviction, compassion and consistency in governance which are prerequisites to achive the principles and vision of good governance. Clarity promotes transparency, participatory and efficient governance. Conviction promotes accountable and effective governance. Compassion promotes consensus oriented, equitable and inclusive governance. Consistency promotes responsive governance, follows the rule of law and modernizes itself according to the needs and changes of the society upholding the guiding principles of the Constitution. Decentralization is an essential part of the government to make more efficient and responsive. The government shall strengthen local government and management by devolving administrative and economic powers and responsibilities. 6. References [1] http://www.grossnationalhappiness.com [2] http://www.slideshare.net/nayanarenu.com [3] http://www.img.kerala.gov.in [4] http://www.goodgovernanceindia.com [5] http://www.keralame/inf.akshaya.php [6] http://www.cse.iitb.ac.in [7] http://www.iimahd.ernet.in [8] http://www.planningcommission.nic.in [9] http://www.junctionkerala.com [10] http://www.old.kerala.gov.in [11] http://www.cms.org

a survey on good governance and case study of kerala government

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