It is important to celebrate Good Governance Day today as part of Telangana’s 10-year celebration as it has already made a big difference
Published Date – Sat 10 Jun 23 at 12:30pm
by Arvind Kumar
The formation of Telangana in 2014 revealed the inherent potential of the region to emerge and survive as an independent nation, and the desire of its people for their unique cultural identity, self-esteem and autonomy! During the agitation for statehood, some doubted whether Telangana could exist as an independent state.
Unexpectedly, a new status has arrived! It leads in key economic indicators like attracting investment, real estate and agricultural growth, ensuring uninterrupted 24/7 electricity, launching groundbreaking welfare measures, ease of doing business, increasing per capita income, GDP and almost all parameters at the national level It is impressive to take the major countries to the background.
Behind all of this is a concerted effort to promote the idea of ”good governance” for the larger goal of a progressive and prosperous “Bangaru (Golden) Telangana”. Fittingly, to mark the 10th year of Telangana’s ten-year existence, the government has organized a day-themed decennial celebration for about 21 days. Of all these, the June 10th celebration of “good governance” holds special significance for every citizen of the state, as it is the fulcrum for making significant changes in governance.
this concept
In its 1992 report entitled “Governance and Development”, the World Bank defined good governance as “the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development”.
While the concept of good governance expresses attributes such as fairness, justice, acceptability and fair play, in simple terms it can be said to be a form of governance in which public institutions dealing with public affairs and public resources are managed objectively with their overarching motto as to the overall The “common good” of society. Therefore, no one at any level should abuse or misuse power. This “neutrality” in governance should be the norm, not the exception, and it should be an attribute of every institution, not just the individuals who run them.
frame
The concept of good governance has greater relevance in democracies. Our Constitution epitomizes the core principles of good governance, namely equality of status and opportunity enshrined in the preamble; guarantees to every citizen a range of fundamental rights, including the right to equality, equality before the law and equal protection of the law; guiding principles of national policy The State is obliged to ensure social order to promote the welfare of the people (Article 38), and most importantly, the specific Article 326 provides for universal adult suffrage without discrimination against any individual.
However, at an all-India level, a surge in population growth, shrinking land holdings leading to a sharp decline in productivity, driving cities to find jobs, and subjectivity at the public interface related to delays and corruption have come at a price. Days of order and trust in governance have all come at a price. .
TS role model
However, since its inception, the Telangana government has made the people the central theme of its governance. It launched a number of welfare programs for different segments of society and invested a lot of money. A noteworthy aspect of these programs is the direct remittance to beneficiaries. Be it the flagship Rythu Bandhu, where each farmer gets Rs 10,000 per year as an input subsidy, Kalyan Lakshmi/Shaadi Mubarak provides Rs 1,16,000 for grooms from poor families, Rs 13,000 as tokens into eligible mothers’ bank accounts apart from monthly payments to About 3.6 million people pay their pensions, thanks to institutional deliveries. No need for anyone to go to any office, meet anyone! This not only removes middlemen, but ensures that the entire benefit goes directly to the beneficiary, leaving no room for leakage.
So this form of good governance has turned what used to be just an “opportunity” into a right.
Such as the creation of districts (previously 10 districts now 33), new revenue divisions, new orders, additional collector (local body) agencies, TS-iPass scheme by the Ministry of Industry, composition and integration of She Teams Initiatives such as the establishment of the Police Command and Control Center are some shining examples of institutionalized good governance in Telangana. This process is even more evident in the delivery of municipal services in the state’s 142 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs).
Gaps in Urban TS
Telangana is primarily a city-state with 46.8% of the population living in cities. Good governance has even greater relevance when it comes to local authorities. They attract the largest number of citizens’ daily footprints and provide a range of services, from city-wide municipal infrastructure needs, recreational facilities, street lighting, market maintenance, community needs such as cemeteries, to personal needs such as sanitation, water supply, property, birth and death certificates etc.
While citizens are welcome to visit the municipal offices, the Telangana Urban Authority, under the direction of the MA&UD Minister, strives to make each visit a fruitful and rewarding experience. In fact, the Telangana government has brought local administrations to citizens’ doorsteps, avoiding the need for citizens to go to municipal offices in person for any core municipal services.
The state government’s enactment of the groundbreaking Telangana Municipalities Act in 2019 accelerated the process of good governance in ULB. While many of its counterparts in other states are at the ideal stage of providing online services to their citizens, Telangana’s ULB goes one step further by offering not only online services but also instant services, which are automatically available to citizens without any need for Any specific applications/requirements.
The act specifies schedules for as many as 24 municipal services in its Schedule III. While citizens on the site can download one service for free, seven services are instant, eight services are limited to seven days, one service is limited to 14 days, and seven services are limited to 15 days.
The result of the 2020 TS-bPASS Act is a comprehensive legislation to ensure that citizens’ access to building/layout permits through online, time-bound and analog means must be believed. Since the enactment of the act, the state’s 142 ULBs have received a staggering 2,09,163 applications for building/layout permits. Perhaps, no other state in the country offers these services on such a large scale. Citizens do not need building permits for plots up to 75m2 unless registered by paying a nominal registration fee of Re 1 – this is instant approval. There is a 21-day time frame for approval for plots of 75 to over 600sqm, and the single window approval system has the same timetable for plots and layouts over 600sqm. Compliance with time limits by officials is constantly monitored and those found breaking the code are punished with fines.
City residents also do not need to visit their local council office for services such as assessment of buildings for property taxes, property changes (change of owner’s name in municipal records) and birth and death certificates, provided such events are recorded with the local government/registered private Hospital.
GHMC’s District Office
With a visionary Chief Minister and a dynamic and aggressive Municipal Administration Minister, the motto of urban governance in Telangana is “minimum government, maximum governance”. To further reduce the distance between municipal administrative services and citizens, the government has established “Constituency Offices” in each of GHMC’s 150 constituencies, one of the largest municipal corporations in the country.
With the average population of each constituency exceeding 50,000, these new constituency offices along with a series of officials from various departments of GHMC and other line departments such as Hyderabad Metro Water, Telangana Southern Distribution Corporation etc. Regional governments are expected to effectively, timely and fruitfully address citizen grievances and deliver on their expectations of citizen service. The idea is to try to get the different departments to coordinate with each other so that resources are fully utilized.
Before planning this initiative, MAUD studied the grass-roots municipal administrative setups of the different metropolitan cities across the country and came up with this unrivaled administrative structure that will be operational on June 10, 2023, the designated anniversary day of good governance.
All in all, we believe Telangana city can compete with the best cities globally in terms of citizen services and good governance, and we will raise our bar to be the best in the world.
