(Sample Material) Gist of Important Articles from IIPA Journal
Topic: Opening Government for Public Scrutiny: A Critique of Recent Efforts to Make Governance in India more Transparent and Accountable R.B. Jain
OBSERVATIONS
Although India has made some rapid strides and taken concrete actions in the last one decade to secure transparency and accountability in public administration, and positive results have already begun to appear in an as much as the public sector is now immensely more transparent and accountable than it has been any time in the first four decades of India’s Independence, but it still has to go a long way in making it more open and less secretive. Although in recent years a good deal has been accomplished in even making the funding of elections and election expenditure more transparent by initialing number of electoral reforms, but some of the existing statues like the Official Secrets Act the Civil Services Conduct Rules, the Indian Evidence Act etc. need to be suitably amended in order to RTI becoming a truly operational and being easily invoked by the common man without any hindrances and bottlenecks. At the same time there is a need to enact Whistle Blowers’ Act (on the lines similar to what has been recommended by the Law Commission of India in respect of the judiciary mentioned below) in order to protect the person(s) who dare to come out in open with critical information vital to upholding the public interest and alert the government and the public with regard to misadministration, misuse of power or corrupt practices. It is a good beginning in the matter of Whistle- blowing against the conduct of Judges in India, the Law Commission of India, in its 195th Report has recently suggested a whistle blower clause to protect those who complain about judges and ensure full confidentially of complaint proceedings.