UPSC Mains 2016 · GS II · Q11 · 12.5 marks · 200 words

“Effectiveness of the government system at various levels and people’s participation in the governance system are inter-dependent.” Discuss their relationship in the context of India.

हिन्दी में

“विभिन्न स्तरों पर सरकारी तंत्र की प्रभाविता तथा शासकीय तंत्र में जन-सहभागिता अन्योन्याश्रित होती हैं ।” भारत के संदर्भ में इनके बीच सम्बन्ध पर चर्चा कीजिए ।

Policy Design and Implementation Local Government

How a topper answered the closest question

Toppers wrote this one in a test series: “"The effectiveness of governance at various administrative levels in India is influenced by citizen participation." Discuss how this relationship ensures democratic governance and quality of public service delivery in the Indian context.”

Utkarsh YadavAIR 32 · CSE 2024 · 139 wordsTheir whole copy

Opening

Participatory and Consensus oriented decision making is one of the key pillars of Good Governance that influences effectiveness of governance at various levels.

For governance to be effective, citizens should be active participants in policy making and implementation instead of being passive recipients.

Relationship ensures democratic governance →

Body

(1) by leading to direct democracy (2) citizen participation via Gram Sabha in beneficiary selection (3) makes people key stakeholders in decision making. (4) deepens democracy

and promotes accountability.

It leads to quality service delivery by → (1) Social auditing where people participate in exposing wrongdoings. (2) People filing RTI exposes corruption. (Ex: RTI uncovered Adarsh Housing Society scam 2011) (3) Formulation of quality Citizen's Charter by people's participation ensures timely service delivery.

Diagram

Challenges ├─ (1) Limited time and awareness about RTI, Social Audit ├─ (2) Non-Regular Gram Sabhas └─ (3) Threat to RTI activists & whistle blowers (Ex: murder of Satendra Dubey) deters people's participation.

Therefore, steps like MyGov.In, People's Plan Campaign, effective RTI implementation is needed to enhance people's participation in decision-making.

How toppers approach this question, and more on its topic: open the question.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Main) Examination 2016, General Studies Paper II, Q11. The paper on upsc.gov.in. Themes and links to toppers’ answers are by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.