What's New

Transparency in government organisations is an essential pre-condition for good governance. Elucidate.

Transparency refers to the availability of information to the general public and clarity about functioning of governmental institutions. Governance is the manner in which decisions are taken

and implemented, particularly by the lawful authority. ‘Good’ signifies that the governance system adheres to certain well-accepted principles which make the system of governance ethical, just and effective. Some of these principles include adherence to rule of law, participation, accountability, transparency, equity, efficiency & effectiveness and inclusivity.

Transparency as a tool for good-governance

• In a functional democracy, the government is obliged to keep its citizens informed. This helps citizens to hold their public officials accountable, which is key to just and good governance.
• As per the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission, transparency in a democracy allows bi- directional information flow, which allows citizens to participate in governance.
• It empowers the citizens to demand and get information about public policies and programmes, keep themselves informed about their rights as well as duties. Thus, it promotes efficiency, effectiveness and responsiveness in public administration.

Tools for transparency

• In India, the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act), Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013, Citizen’s Charter, social audit, digitization of records, etc. are tools of transparency and accountability.
• When the process of decision-making is transparent, decisions are taken objectively in a fair manner. This ensures equality before law, just allocation of resources, cutting down on discretionary and arbitrary decisions etc.
• It not only leads to increased transparency but also reduction in corruption. For example, e- auctions of coal blocks by Coal India in 2018-19 made the auction process more transparent and fetched 44% higher prices.

Despite these measures, India has not fared well on the global parameters related to transparency in governance.

• According to the Global Corruption Index, 2018 developed by Transparency International corruption is all pervasive in Indian administration. The index ranks India 78 out of 180 countries.
• Despite its positive impacts, there are several issues in the implementation of the RTI Act such

as low level of awareness about the act especially among women, rural population, SC/ST/OBCs etc., procedural constraints in filing RTI applications, poor quality of information, increased attacks on RTI activists etc.

• Institutions such as the judiciary, political parties etc. remain outside the purview of the RTI Act, hence, it is difficult to monitor their functioning.
• Apathetic government officials who are secretive in their workings. This undermines both transparency and accountability in public functioning.

Measures should be taken to improve transparency in government organizations, accountability of public servants and involve more citizens in the governance process. The government should

proactively and voluntarily make information public as per Section 4 of RTI act to promote transparency in governance. It will ensure just and good governance.