This article is written by Shreya Pandey, from Banasthali University. This article deals with the reforms that came in the public administration through the Administrative Reforms Commission.
Table of Contents
Introduction
The administration is an agency through which the services are provided in such a way that it fulfills the needs of the citizens. The administrative system was thus necessary for the socio-economic development of India. The administration system is a dynamic process where there is a continuous need for reforms in the system to deal with the new changes and remove the faults in the old processes. After independence, India needed to set up a Commission that could help the public administration to reform and work effectively. The Commission was established in January 1996. The Commission was set up to help the public administration to work efficiently by giving recommendations to transform and reorganize the administrative system.
The administrative reform aims to establish and bring into practice the changes which are required to function the administrative agencies of a government to implement public policies efficiently. The administration agencies act as a key to bring the necessary transformations in society. The first reform in India can be noted as the change from colonial rule and British laws to democracy. Thus from there, it was needed to bring administrative reforms and therefore, many commissions and committees were established such as:
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- Gopal Swami Ayyangar Committee (1949): This was the first committee undertaken by the Gopalaswamy Ayyangar which recommended the establishment of bureaus such as the bureau of commerce and industry, etc.
- Gorwala Committee (1951): This committee was set up for bringing reforms in the country by keeping a check on the planning and development of the administrative system.
- Paul H. Appleby Committee (1953): This committee, after making a survey, recommended the establishment of an ‘organization and management division’ to improve methods and procedures of administration in the country.
- Administrative Reforms Commission (1966-70): To review the administrative system of India and recommend for establishing Lokpal and Lokayukta and other important recommendations, this commission was appointed.
The commission for its working has set up 20 study teams, 13 working groups, and 1 task force. It submitted 20 reports and made many 581 recommendations.
Administrative Reforms Commission
The Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) was set up by the Indian Government which was first chaired by Shri Morarji R. Desai to make recommendations for reforming the administrative system. This commission was one of the biggest achievements in the time of Nehru. It was established to give management advice and to facilitate the implementation of the policies that were reformed. The commission was set up on 5th January, 1996 which was chaired by Morarji Desai and other members of Parliament such as K. Hanumanthaiya, H.C. Mathur, G.S. Pathak, and H.V. Kamath and V. Shanker as member secretary of the commission. The main job of the commission was to examine the Indian public administration and to recommend the changes needed to be done in the existing system.
First Administrative Reforms Commission
The First Administrative Reform Commission was set up to make recommendations and bring reform in the public administration system of India. The commission made 20 reports and gave 537 main recommendations out of which the 13th report talks about the issue of the Centre-State relationship. The 13th report gave recommendations such as establishing an inter-state council to discuss topics in which states have an interest etc. It recommended giving the council the power to investigate the disputes between the states. The commission also recommended replacing councils and conferences like the National Development Council, the Chief Minister Conference, and Finance’s Conference with the Inter-State Council. This Council shall provide effective machinery for consultation between states and the centre and it should have a secretariat of such quality so that he could work effectively.
The other reports were on problems that came while redressing citizen grievances, planning machinery, public sector enterprises, railways, economic, personnel and state administration, RBI, posts and telegraphs, etc.
Second Administrative Reforms Commission
The Second Administrative Reforms Commission was set up on 31st August 2005 which was chaired by Shree Veerappa Moily to inquire and prepare to remodel the public administration system of India. The Commission consisted of the chairman and 4 other members including Smt. Vineeta Rai as Secretary. The main aim of the commission was to develop a responsible, sustainable, and better administration system. It submitted 15 reports consisting of reports on the right to information as the main tool for good governance, crisis management, public order, local governance, promotion of e-governance, strengthening financial administration system, local and state administration, etc.
The steps included in the processing of the recommendations were that firstly, those recommendations would be given to the concerned departments to give their views on it then those views would be passed to the Core Group on Administrative Reforms (CGAR) which will be headed by the Cabinet Secretary. Then they were to be placed before the Group of Ministers (GoM) for their views which would then be submitted to the Prime Minister for his directions.
A Group of Ministers was constituted to consider the recommendations of the Second Administration Reform Commission on 30th March 2007, which was chaired by the then External Affairs Minister. It had to measure the implementation of the recommendations and also to guide the departments to implement those recommendations effectively. The Group of Ministers have considered 12 reports till now out of which the 5th and the 10th report are yet to be considered. The eighth report on fighting Terrorism was considered by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The Cabinet on 3rd December 2009 held a meeting to take note of the implementation of the report on unlocking human capital (2nd Report) and on 29th December 2009, it reviewed the implementation on the 1st and the 3rd report.
Mandate and Recommendations Reports
The Administrative Reform Commission worked for reforming the then existing public administration system of India and for such reformation and development, the commission gave several recommendations. Since there were two ARCs, the mandate and recommendations of the ARC can be studied for both of them separately.
First Administrative Reform Commission
Mandate
The first ARC was mandated to examine the necessity to ensure the efficiency of the public administrative system. It was mandated to make public administration a key to carry out the socio-economic policies and goals for the development of the country. The commission was given certain areas to work upon. They were:
- Centre-State Relation
- Financial, Personnel, District, Agricultural and Economic administration
- Government machinery, and its procedure
- Planning system at every level
- State-level administration
- Citizen grievances redressal problems
Recommendations
The first ARC submitted 20 reports and 537 recommendations. The recommendations were made in the Official Secrets Act, Governmental Privilege in Evidence, the Oath of secrecy, exempted organizations, Central Civil Services Rules, Manual of Office Procedure, classification of information, building institutions, designating information officers and appellate authorities, organizing information and record keeping, capacity building and awareness generation, monitoring mechanism, etc.
Second Administrative Reform Commission
Mandate
The Second ARC was mandated to suggest steps to accomplish a responsible, powerful, capable, and productive administration for India at all levels of the government. The commission was given certain areas to work upon. They were:
- Enhancing financial management system
- Modernizing personnel administration
- Measures to ensure powerful State and District administration
- Disaster Management
- Supporting E-Governance
- Good conduct in the administration
- The regulatory structure of the Indian Government, etc.
Recommendations
The second ARC made 15 reports and gave recommendations based on the areas given to them for review. The commission gave almost 1500 recommendations on the reports made by it. Most of the recommendations were for the State Governments (SGs). The commission recommended a dual role for the district administrations: One, to act as a secretariat and executive in District Councils and the other is to act as an agency to the SGs. The recommendations fall into two groups. One is the changes that are necessary to make in administrative structure, their processing, and techniques to be used. The other is the work needed to be done in resolving the issues by the government. For implementing the recommendations of the Commission, there is a need for strong political will and adequate guidance to bring reform in the public administrative system.
The first report on Right to Information had 21 topics under which recommendations were made. The topics were: The Official Secrets Act, Governmental privilege in evidence, the oath of secrecy, exempted organizations, The Central Civil Services Rules, The Manual of Office Procedure, etc. It recommended repealing The Official Secrets Act. The second report on unlocking human capital recommended 36 topics including monitoring systems, Transparency, and the Right to Information Act and uses of IT in different sectors, etc. The third report on crisis management dealt with 40 issues for recommendations including epidemics and disruption of essential services, etc. The fourth report on ethics in governance recommended certain topics such as the role of media, enactment of False Claims Act, strengthening of investigation and prosecution, etc. The fifth report on public order deals on issues like SG and police, separation of investigation from other organs and police establishment committees, etc.
The sixth report on local governance deals with the reorganization and effective working of local government. The seventh report on capacity building for resolution of conflicts deals with issues arising from SCs, STs, etc. The eighth report on combating terrorism has yet on been decided and reviewed by the government. The ninth one deals with social capital to provide for a new legal framework for charities etc. The next report on refurbishing personnel administration has yet not been decided by the government. Likewise, other reports deal with providing recommendations to reorganize and better the efficiency of the country.
Implementation
The reform in the government is a dynamic process where the government continuously is thriving to better the efficiency and working procedure of the departments. Several schemes have been working for implementing the recommendations of the reports of ARC. Except for the eighth report, i.e. Combating terrorism, all other reports have been considered by the government. Out of 1514 recommendations from the 14 reports, 1183 were accepted. Only 228 were not accepted. 21 recommendations were referred to other forums for consideration. Those recommendations which were accepted have been conveyed to the concerned departments and ministries for implementing those recommendations. Many schemes like E-Governance, Digital India, Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, etc. were implemented for the development of the country.
Impact
The Commission was established to provide certain recommendations to make the government work effectively and strongly. The recommendations given by both the commissions were based on the reports made by them in which they suggested such reformative ways which were grouped in two different sectors. Those recommendations either suggested to amend, repeal, amend certain legislation or to change the structure or procedure of the government. These recommendations had a positive effect on the government as it implemented them through certain schemes and laws. The impact can be seen in the country as to how much difference it has created through its implementation. Since all the recommendations are not implemented yet, but still, a diverse change in the working procedure and structure of the government can be noticed. The government should implement the recommendations which have a positive effect on itself.
Conclusion
The Administrative Reform Commission is a commission that works to give recommendations to the government for an increase in its effectiveness. Till now two commissions were set up that gave many recommendations and most of them were almost considered and accepted by the government. The reform is a dynamic concept that has to be continued for developing the country. Many reformations have already been done but still, there are many loopholes in the administration system. One of the main problems in the administration system is that of corruption which is like a disease in the system and needs to be cured as soon as possible for ensuring effective administration. The commission has dealt with many issues and areas but there are yet many issues left unnoticed. Some of the recommendations that were made and accepted but yet not implemented should be implemented adequately.
References
- https://darpg.gov.in/arc-reports
- http://interstatecouncil.nic.in/first-administrative-reforms-commission/
- https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/india-2/arc-administrative-reforms-commission/46753
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