Ethical Concerns In Public Administration

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ETHICS - MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE:
Ethics is a system of accepted beliefs,morals and values that influence human behaviour. It has been stressed upon in individual life as well as public life through time immemorial through sacred texts and theorists like the manusmriti, ramayana, mahabharata, etc. and Bentham and Rawls as well as Arostotle,etc. respectively.

The Behaviouralist school brought a dichotomy between facts and values in decision making and made it strictly rational like a machine model which was not successful and was questioned all the time. That led to the New Public Administration school of thought that brought back values at the centre stage along with facts and rationality in decision making.

The society,educational institutions,laws and their implementation and family play a large part in inculcating good values and morals in people. The political environment is also of significance as well as the behaviour of politicians directly and majorly affects the behaviour of his/her subordinates and his/her ethics.


MAXIMS OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ETHICS:
 Maxim of Legality and Rationality: An administrator will follow the law and rules that are framed to govern and guide various categories of policies and decisions.

• Maxim of Responsibility and Accountability: An administrator would not hesitate to accept responsibility for his decision and actions. He would hold himself morally responsible for his actions and for the use of his discretion while making decisions. Moreover, he would be willing to be held accountable to higher authorities of governance and even to the people who are the ultimate beneficiaries of his decisions and actions.

• Maxim of Work Commitment: An administrator would be committed to his duties and perform his work with involvement, intelligence and dexterity. As Swami Vivekananda observed: “Every duty is holy and devotion to duty is the highest form of worship.” This would also entail a respect for time, punctuality and fulfillment of promises made. Work is considered not as a burden but as an opportunity to serve and constructively contribute to society.

• Maxim of Excellence: An administrator would ensure the highest standards of quality in administrative decisions and action and would not compromise with standards because of convenience or complacency. In a competitive international environment, an administrative system should faithfully adhere to the requisites of Total Quality Management.

• Maxim of Fusion: An administrator would rationally bring about a fusion of individual, organisational and social goals to help evolve unison of ideals and imbibe in his behaviour a commitment to such a fusion. In situation of conflicting goals, a concern for ethics should govern the choices made.

• Maxim of Responsiveness and Resilience: An administrator would respond effectively to the demands and challenges from the external as well as internal environment. He would adapt to environmental transformation and yet sustain the ethical norms of conduct. In situations of deviation from the prescribed ethical norms, the administrative system would show resilience and bounce back into the accepted ethical mould at the earliest opportunity.

• Maxim of Utilitarianism: While making and implementing policies and decisions, an administrator will ensure that these lead to the greatest good (happiness, benefits) of the greatest number.

• Maxim of Compassion: An administrator, without violating the prescribed laws and rules, would demonstrate compassion for the poor, the disabled and the weak while using his discretion in making decisions. At least, he would not grant any benefits to the stronger section of society only because they are strong and would not deny the due consideration to the weak, despite their weakness.

• Maxim of National Interest: Though universalistic in orientation and liberal in outlook, a civil servant, while performing his duties, would keep in view the impact of his action on his nation’s strength and prestige. The Japanese, the Koreans, the Germans and the Chinese citizens (including civil servants), while performing their official roles, have at the back of their mind a concern and respect for their nation. This automatically raises the level of service rendered and the products delivered.

• Maxim of Justice: Those responsible for formulation and execution of policies and decisions of governance would ensure that respect is shown to the principles of equality, equity, fairness, impartiality and objectivity and no special favours are doled out on the criteria of status, position, power, gender, class, caste or wealth.

• Maxim of Transparency: An administrator will make decisions and implement them in a transparent manner so that those affected by the decisions and those who wish to evaluate their rationale, will be able to understand the reasons behind such decisions and the sources of information on which these decisions were made.

• Maxim of Integrity: An administrator would undertake an administrative action on the basis of honesty and not use his power, position and discretion to serve his personal interest and the illegitimate interests of other individuals or groups.


There can be many more, however, the main motive is good governance and ethical practices backed by proper values and principles of public administration.


MEASURES SUCCESSFULLY TAKEN TOWARDS REINFORCEMENT OF ETHICS IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION:
1) Establishment of Lok Ayuktas
2) Establishment of RTI Act
3) Citizen's Charters.
4) Ethics and code of conduct for public employees
5) Establishment of Vigilance Commissions
6) Establishment of Panchayati Raj Institutions
7) Partnership of Govt. - Civil Society Initiatives and its growing strength
8) Proposed Whistle blower Protection Act and Judicial Accountability And Standards Bill


OBSTACLES TO ETHICAL ACCOUNTABILITY:
1) Special expertise and Information held by the bureaucrats by virtue of their position is sometimes misused by them to fool the stakeholders as no one can surpass them in this knowledge area. RTI is in place but the poor and needy cannot afford it due to the cost involved as well as the information is sometimes never parted with leading the aggrieved to a harrowing experience leading to  the court rooms.

2) Full time status of bureaucrats make them corrupt, laid back and less accountable.

3) Massive expansion of bureaucracy has made the span of control of its heads/ ministers really cumbersome leading to arbitrary actions on the behalf of the former.

4) Lack of Coordination between established government anti corrupt agencies and institutions as well as their lack of teeth has lead to an even more chaotic situation on checking corruption.

5) Misinterpretation of role and obligation amongst the bureaucrats.Their role and obligation is to carry out policies for the upliftment of society and not towards the politicians for their vested interest or unimpactful policy decisions.

6) Subversion where certain government servants pass on critical secrets to enemies in exchange for pecuniary benefits or for sale of extra territorial loyalty.


ADMINISTRATIVE ETHICS ISSUE - THE WAY OUT:
Manipulation and lack of ethics lead to humongous negative effects and reduce efficiency in an organisation. Therefore the enforcement and development of administrative ethics in public servants in today's welfare state times as well as the sensitive position they occupy is of utmost priority and urgency.
The essentials to ensure the practice of ethics in administration are:
a) Faith,determination towards pursuit of excellence of service in their professional activities via methods of training and sensitisation.
b) Infusion of ethics into politics through trainings,etc so that it is passed on to their sub ordinates that are the civil servants.
c) Relations between citizens and personnel to create favourable opinion of society and people towards public services and servants.
d) Need for character building in public servants through education,adult education and functional or job responsibility literacy.
e) Impartiality should be practiced and encouraged.
f) Political neutrality in civil servants.
g) Education of people and society regarding their rights the work of public servants and redressal mechanisms available to the people against them and the government.

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Conflict Resolution - A Redefinition

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Loomis and Loomis state that Conflict is an ever present process in human relations. Conflict may define, maintain and strengthen group boundaries,contributing to the group's distinctiveness and increasing group solidarity and cohesion.


CHANGING NATURE OF CONFLICT:
Earlier theories and discussions regarding conflicts were only done with regards to organisations and to a limited extent to the environment of organisations and even these were confined to efficiency and productivity of enterprises. But now, policies are not made in isolation, as globalisation has made it a universal and worldwide process involving all types of stakeholders which are not limited to groups or nations but triggered by ethnic,religious,racial and economic differences as well, therefore conflict resolution has now been redefined or updated to help resolve these issues of international conflicts/disagreements between stakeholders.



PHASES OF CONFLICTS:
1) Potential Conflict Phase : At this stage conflict is present at very low level of intensity. Structural factors and underlying causes create division among groups along socio economic, cultural and political lines. Mobilisation of collective discontentment begins but not organised, thus, preventive action at this point is not risky and has high potential payoff.

2) Gestation Phase: Consolidation of mobilisation is the characteristic of this phase as inter-group relations are politicised and popular mobilisation puts pressure on decision makers to address the issues. Polarisation between groups increase but one must take note that issues are still negotiable though preventive actions may cost initially but the potential payoffs are still much positive.

3) Triggering and Escalation Phase : There is a real and visible change in the group's economic,social or political conditions can trigger the escalation of conflict. Inter elite ties break down and social interactions focus on organised reaction as political exchanges fade and conflicting parties lose confidence in each other and feel they cannot compromise. Intervention at this phase becomes risky as well as costly.

4) Post - Conflict Phase : In this phase preventive interventions aim at reestablishing communication channels between the conflicting groups,in order to avoid a new round of conflict.

These need not occur in the manner laid out and often the lack of information or incentives to act fast are barriers to resolving conflicts.


CONFLICT RESOLUTION AT THE MICRO LEVEL:
1) Intra Organisational Level - These are conflicts occurring within organisations.

A) Task conflict - Disagreement about the Communication or directions from superiors among subordinates as some of the orders may lie outside their " Zone of Acceptance". The leadership should make sure that they substantiate their communications among the subordinates to resolve this and the ways to do this are suggested by Mary Parker Follett:
i) Domination to resolve a conflict- Here only one party wins which is the stronger one. The weaker party remains disgruntled and this will lead to very ugly consequences later. therefore this should be avoided.
ii) Compromise - Where no party benefits but settle mutually for the time being. But this sort of resolution is only a short term one and the conflicts keep building up internally and become more dangerous when it shows its face again and then it might become out of hand to even try to settle it. This method also she did not suggest much.
iii) Integration to resolve a conflict - Follett considers this technique to be the best. As under this method there is a feeling of win-win equation & both conflicting groups see their issues addressed. And this is long term solution.

THE PROCESS OF INTEGRATION(in detail):
This process unfolds in three steps:
a) Surfacing of conflict or identification of existing issue.
b) Analysis of the conflict and development of a solution - A solution should be such that it no way leaves any room for the conflict resurfacing or a new conflict arising and it should benefit all and a circular response should be evoked where every member gets to vent out his feelings so that he feels heard.
c) Anticipation of results.

HINDRANCES TO THE SMOOTH IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROCESS OF INTEGRATION:
a) It requires high degree of knowledge and analysis.
b) It requires high order of creativity and innovation
c) It may require more resources.
d) Superiors may have the tendency to continue domination.
e) True integration may not be achieved as groups may not agree to substitution.
f) Rushing to the application of scheme may create problems as its proper comprehension may require time.
g) Groups may feel inadequately represented but may not show at that particular time when integration is seemed to be achieved.


B) Inter Group Conflict: It deals with relationships among people/teams in an organisation more than a task and it is inevitable, so to manage it for optimal group maintenance, a six step process has been described:
a) Recognition and acknowledgement that conflict exists
b) Analysis of the existing situation
c) Facilitation of communication
d) Negotiation
e) Provision for necessary adjustments,reinforcements,confirmations
f) Realisation of living with conflicts as all conflicts cannot be resolved


C) Procedural Conflict : It occurs when group members disagree about the procedure to be followed in accomplishing the group goal. Solutions are-
a) New procedures may be formulated and a new agenda suggested.
b) Group goal may be modified
 This along with Task Conflict is of productive nature and brings in many reforms in the way of doing things more efficiently in the eyes of the higher management/decision makers.


That was about Intra - Organisational conflicts or within an organisation conflicts. Now we move on to discussing Intra Organisation Conflicts or conflicts occurring amongst two or more organisations.

INTRA ORGANISATIONAL CONFLICTS:
It has two aspects.
A) Environment of the particular organisation-: Two organisations may be in the same environment but clashing goals. For example - Scheduled Tribes ( Recognition of forest rights) Act 2005, while Ministry of Environment and forests may be concerned about the depleting forest cover by allowing more and more rural people into them for livelihood, on the other hand the Ministry of Tribal Affairs may be tackling the livelihood issues of the tribals. Thus such incompatible goals create conflicts that may lead to jurisdictional conflicts as well as the issue would be the control over areas given to tribals.

B) Institutional Pluralism -: In an effort for efficient governance and government services sometimes many service delivery agencies operate in the same domain, both in the private and public sphere and compete with each other. Conflict and competition may not be confused here as though they both have a common root cause of individuals striving towards incompatible goals, yet the major difference is that interference that hinders attainment of the goal, if done by established rules and regulations is termed as competition but when no rules are followed then it turns into a conflict.



CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AT THE MACRO LEVEL:
i) Policy making as Conflict Resolution,here all interest groups, protest groups and civil society as well as all stakeholders of a policy initiative should democratically contemplate and arrive at policies suitable to all so that conflicts do not arise as far as possible.
ii) Proactive Conflict Resolution. Catch the conflict when it is young instead of letting it escalate.
iii) Integrated Conflict management systems.
iv) Strengthening all government and non government institutions to tackle conflicts.
v) A central coordinating point for all conflict resolution efforts. A very good example of which is the prime minister's office in India where it intervenes between conflicts of ministries.
vi) Strong system evaluation and monitoring mechanisms.
vii) Capacity Building of individuals and institutions.
viii) People's participation as much as possible
ix) Civil society organisations
x) International Organisations of Conflict Resolution ( UNO,ICJ,etc) who work by international treaties and  charters,mandates while negotiating and arbitrating international disputes brought before them

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Growing Role Of Civil Society Organisations

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CIVIL SOCIETY:
Civil society is the arena outside of the family, the state, and the market where people associate to advance common interests. It is sometimes considered to include the family and the private sphere and then referred to as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business.Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon defines civil society as 1) the aggregate of non-governmental organizations and institutions that manifest interests and will of citizens or 2) individuals and organizations in a society which are independent of the government. Sometimes the term is used in the more general sense of "the elements such as freedom of speech, an independent judiciary, etc, that make up a democratic society".
NGO's and NPO's are part of civil society. However there is no unanimous view to define civil society and it keeps changing.
The civil society also does include political parties and professional organisations. They help encourage public interest and participation and helps in formulation and implementation of policies of govt. as well as bring core issues of concern in the eyes of the govt to take care of.

CONTEMPORARY CIVIL SOCIETY & THE IMPACT OF GLOBALISATION:
Since the 1980s, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have emerged as an important force on the world stage working to democratize decision-making processes, protect human rights and provide essential services to the most needy. Underpinning this expanded role in global governance has been a certain disillusionment with the role of the state in facilitating sustainable human development and the belief that more flexible, motivated and decentralized structures have the required skills and responsibility to undertake this role.

In recent years, the arena of NGO action has expanded rapidly from local and national settings to the international level. The institutional transformations that are occurring in the context of globalization have seen international actors — such as United Nations agencies, regional organizations, finance and trade institutions and transnational corporations — as well as inter-governmental "summits" assume an increasingly prominent role in global governance. NGOs have been late-comers to this evolving system of global governance but are now finding ways to influence the international decision-making process associated with development issues.

In this globalised world there is a worry of the accountability of the Global civil society considering there are no longer any barriers between nation states. Refer - http://www.globalautonomy.ca/global1/glossary_pop.jsp?id=CO.0028

Also refer to another interesting read on the challenges to Civil Society in the Indian context - http://openspace.org.in/civilsocietyindia

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Indian Governmental Institutions Reforms

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We have already discussed Government as well as Governance in India in our previous posts, today we talk about the roads to reform them that have been provided in various forms of committee recommendations, public opinion, parliamentary protests,etc.

LEGISLATIVE REFORMS:

1) State funding of Political parties -
To stop criminalisation of politics,state funding to political parties has been recommended by Khandwalla ( 1999 ) can be in the form of maintenance subsidy and electioneering expenditure to cover costs of grass root works,training of cadre,media costs,costs of organising meetings and rallies. These funds can be routed through the Election Commission who can keep a close check on them by virtue of its job. These political parties should maintain accounts,get them audited, and file the audited accounts with the Election Commissions so that they are open to public scrutiny.

2) Representative legislature
- Khandwalla recommends for Representative legislature instead of the normal territorial legislature prevalent as it does not represent all the sections of society. If a candidate secures 50.5 % votes and he has the majority to first past the post but then what about the rest 49.5 %,what about their interests and needs? What is the guarantee that they would be represented by the leader and not spite them instead and the same applies at the centre for the ruling government where the same first past the post system prevails.

Khandwalla recommends that in coalition governments there should be a system of rotation of Prime Minister among candidates of all the allied parties so that interests of all sections and areas are well represented and taken care of.

Khandwalla representation is also a good step in today's era of coalition governments where each constituency will elect not one but more than one legislator depending on the size of the constituency So each party can field more than one contestant from their party for that constituency and the winning candidates will reflect the preference of the voters as the top three vote scorers in a constituency will go to the legislature instead one which will be a more fairer representation of the people.

3) Stable Coalitions:
Remove grey areas of the anti defection act with stronger legal actions and the coalition should work on the basis of consensus and mutual consultation. There should be incentives for well performance of politicians and disincentives for those not performing their duties to the required level.

4) Responsive Parliamentary Procedures -
The National Commission headed by former Chief Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah in 2000 for the review of the working of the Constitution stated that there is a need for a better conduct by the politicians and for their better standards of debate and discussion in the parliament and for this there needs to be an aware opposition to thwart the ill will of government and make it more responsive.

5) Strong Committee System -
The National Commission also stated the need to strengthen the Committee of Parliament given their instrumental and enormous importance of these committees towards budget bills and other matters passing. Recommendations of the Commission can be viewed in totality here : http://lawmin.nic.in/ncrwc/finalreport.htm

POLITICAL EXECUTIVE REFORMS:

1) Educational qualifications to be set for legislators -
After election they are to be trained regarding their duties and responsibilities, entitlements and rights,constitutional provisions,working of the government and legislative processes,legal procedures,important political,social and economic institutions and agencies and ICT competence. A National Training Academy can be set up for this purpose to help inculcate professionalism in them before assuming their duties totally.

2) Norms of Elected Candidates -
They must have a standard code of conduct and open themselves to public scrutiny through parliamentary Ombudsman and apart from this, there should be a provision to totally bar candidates having ongoing cases going on them whether acquitted or at trial stage to contest elections.

3) Training and performance review of legislators

JUDICIAL REFORMS:

1) Speedy and time bound disposal of cases -
Appoint enough judges for doing so. Proper software should be devised and implemented for segregating waste cases and a proper grievance redressal mechanism in private and public institutions so that employer - employee disputes should be settled effectively at that level only and only major cases come to the court.

The National Commission in 2000 recommended that each High Court should lay down time limits for time bound clearance of arrears in the courts under its jurisdiction and lay down annual targets and district wise performance targets which should be monitored and evaluated regularly. The Commission also advocated for the Supreme Court and high courts to not delay judgements more than 90 days after conclusion of cases.

The 7th Law Commission under Justice Rao suggested that the Gram Nyayalays could process 60-70 % of rural litigation leaving the regular courts and sub divisions time to devote to complex criminal and civil matters. Apart from this the rural people's interaction will increase more and they would be happy with a fast,fair and flexible machinery of justice that is also inexpensive.

Another option is the Conciliation Courts method where along with a participatory model where a professional judge interacts with two lay judges and evolves a reasonable resolution and in such cases once a matter is decided there would not be any appeal against it and only a revision petition will be permissible on questions of law to the District Courts.

2) User - Friendly Courts -
Contempt of Court should be codified and not used arbitrarily by the Judges so that people find courts more approachable.

3) Judicial Reforms And Accountability -
The Judiciary still is relatively out of the reach of the public and that leads to non accountability and the scare of Contempt of court halts any process to question them. Therefore, there is a need to set up a body like a Judicial Council to look into cases and deviant behaviours of judges. It will comprise judges and will take actions against a defiant judge. It can reprimand a judge and recommend voluntary retirement,or resignation and withdraw cases dealt by such judges. Removal of judge is done through impeachment in Parliament, so this body can send the records of the judge to the parliament and recommend an impeachment.

In this context read the proposed Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill in the parliament - http://www.indiapolicywiki.org/index.php?title=The_Judicial_Standards_and_Accountability_Bill,_2010_Summary


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Participation, Social Equity - The Changing Patterns

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CHANGING NORM OF EQUITY:
Upon hearing the word " Equity ", one is always propelled towards the picture of equality. And these two have no doubt existed as synonyms of each other till date erroneously.

Today's concept of equity, in this diverse classification of our society and glaring disparities between people, gender and status assumes the definition of not considering A equal to B ( that's what Equality is) but rather focuses on adjusting the shares in society in such a way so that Citizen A is made equal to citizen B in the coming time. To make sure that there is no concentration of wealth or resources at one place where it is not required and giving a part of it to the needy who are in dire need of the same for their survival. This social equity is now an important strand in Public Administration practice and studies as one of its foundation ethics so that every decision of the administrators and the politicians are routed through a thought of equity first as they are the guardian of the people and it is their first responsibility to carry out the same.

INDIAN CONTEXT:
In the Indian context one can see this manifest itself in the form of 73rd and 74th Constitutional Act of Parliament where the rural development was started, as well as reservation for women and backward classes have been provided for to bring them into the mainstream for advancement. Right to education Act,abolition of untouchability, creation of local self help groups,save the girl child and maternal health programmes are other landmarks in this regard in India.




CHANGING NORM OF PARTICIPATION:
The new norms of participation by the people and the State is not restricted to the old fashioned thought of simply voting once in a while and keeping mum after that.  Rather, now there are various other issues that have to be dealt with by the State and so citizen participation is all the more active and needed in this information and awareness driven environment of Globalisation for effective,long-lasting & good governance to take effect.
The new norms of Participation have to ensure the involvement of the people from all the classes,especially the weaker sections and minorities, women and children.

INDIAN CONTEXT:
The right to information act,reservations in jobs and educational institutes for sc/st and obc,state-civil society partnerships for social development,citizen's charters,vigilance commissions,etc are all reforms in this direction in India.


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Citizen Administration Interaction - Importance, Norms, Modes, Responses, Research and Institutional Strategies and Devices.

In keeping with the direction of the previous post on this blog,the new post is hereby presented.

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CITIZEN - ADMINISTRATION INTERACTION : IMPORTANCE,NORMS,MODES AND RESPONSES -
As discussed in the previous posts on this blog, it is of utmost importance of any country's government through its administration to maintain good relations with their people in order to gain longevity of their rule and the required cooperation and support need from the citizens for the same.

The different modes of interaction between the two are of the following forms:
a) Clients - Government provides services to the citizen like education,health care,etc.
b) Regulatees - Citizens are regulated by the administration through the police,income tax authorities,etc.
c) Litigants - When an aggrieved person goes to court,tribunal and Lok Adalats for justice.
d) Participants - At all levels like elections,policy formulation,policy implementation and monitoring,etc.
e) Protesters/People's struggles which has mostly been caused because of socio-economic deprivation  of the people especially the marginalised sections by the vested and corrupt interests of politicians and corporates/industrialists.

The State on its part has many ways to respond to the above interactions:
a) Anti Participatory - Mostly visible in capitalist systems where there is accumulation of assets and downtrodden are not cared for. People's participation is thus not politically acceptable.
b) Manipulative mode - The State looks to weaken the opposition by co-opting autonomous movements with ulterior motives in order to ultimately gain total control over them while camouflaging as a very accomodative government so that the opposition's immediate protests do not get substantiated.
c) Incremental mode - It is an ambivalent approach of the State towards interactions where compromises are made to just muddle through and there is no long term solutions.
d) Participatory mode - The State takes the initiative to create institutions of community participation and ensure involvement of even the grass root level people for real development and so is the goal of the bureaucracy in such a State.
e) Repressive mode - The State in this mode reacts negatively and ruthlessly to people's struggles through force at times.



RESEARCH IN INDIA:
i) Citizen's ignorance about procedures involved in getting things done.
ii) Unhelpful attitude of government officials,especially the lower level functionaries.
iii) Inordinate delay and waiting period.
iv) Prevalence of favouritism in administration.
v) Rampant corruption among officials.
vi) Dependence on middlemen to get things done.
vii) Urban dwellers being more critical about public administration than rural counterparts.
viii) The rich having easy access to administration and the officials generally avoiding the poor and underplaying their needs and interests for favouring the rich.


INSTITUTIONAL DEVICES AND STRATEGIES TO STRENGTHEN THE MODEL:
Across the world:
i) Ombudsman- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ombudsman

ii) Parliamentary Commissioner - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parliamentary_Commissioner_for_Standards

iii) The Administrative Courts





The Indian Scenario:
i) In accordance with the Santhanam committee report the Vigilance Commissions were set up at the Centre and various states later.
ii) Lokayukta has been created in many states.
iii) Citizens Charter initiatives in almost all government offices.



CITIZEN - ADMINISTRATION INTERACTION THROUGH DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S STRUGGLES CASE STUDIES:

i) The Right To  Information ( RTI ) Case Study- In order to exercise ones legal and constitutional rights and duties, information is necessary and that information is to be provided by the government dutifully. But, sadly this wasn't being done in India even in the late 20th century and that is when the watershed movement of RTI stormed the corrupt corridors of the powerful and elite and brought equality and justice to the people in the form of the Right To Information Act, which took roots in Rajasthan.
To read the complete case study in detail, click on - http://www.sasanet.org/documents/Case%20Studies/MKSS%20Case%20Study.pdf

ii) The Chilka Movement - When State arbitrariness and indifference hands in glove with the vested interests of corporate looked upon the only means of livelihood of a small village of fisherman in rural Orissa, the Chilka Movement is a landmark example of what strength, unity and informed citizenry can do to nip the above mentioned corruption in the bud and make the legislators create laws to punish them in the future.
To read the complete Chilka Lake Case study in detail, click on - http://thelivelihoodschool.in/publication/case-studies/Chilka-Bachao-Andolan-Mihir-Sahana.pdf



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Inter-Relationship Dynamics - Society, State And Public Administration

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Learned readers of this blog:

The blog now ventures into a more specialised and concentrated mode of higher Public Administration studies' curriculum,which are of the Masters in Public Administration (MPA) and M.Phil in Public Administration degree levels. Thus,furthering and widening the avenues of knowledge in this discipline for all.

The subjects coming under the Undergraduate degree of Public Administration as well as the UPSC Public Administration Mains syllabus topics have already been covered in totality and compiled within respective previous posts uploaded on this blog, that have been, and still are, majorly appreciated by its readers across the globe.

Spread the word about this new post as well,just the way you all have been doing viz. the previous posts on this blog,so that, through your one act of goodwill, knowledge reaches out to the the maximum readers & post graduate students of Public Administration studies, thus, helping them benefit immensely from the same and to make efforts to convert that knowledge into practicality and efficiency by means of the various jobs they are involved in, for the good of society.

Your valuable feedback and suggestions are always welcome,so post them via the comments section so that it can be given due attention.

Let's begin.

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STATE - AN ATTEMPT AT DEFINING THIS CONTENTIOUS CONCEPT :
Till date there has been no consensus on the definition of the State by its various theorists as it is said to be a complex concept encompassing various parameters, some identified, and others still on the course of identification. The reason for this chaos is the changing nature of the State since its inception, whose trajectory is - Tribal Communities < City Communities < City States of Greece and Rome Feudal Societies < Absolutist Sovereign States <Fascist States < Communist States < and now Welfare States, which are obviously helped by the society (national and international) that it is set in at that point in time and the effects of the abovementioned pour into the functioning of its administration without doubt. So, this is the reason we are discussing the inter - relationships today as they are imperative to understand the abovementioned before moving further.

Some theorists in favour of the State defend it by stating that the State is an altruistic force which uses its monopolistic coercive force at times for the betterment of the country, however cynicists of the State present it as a malevolent body and an instrument of exploitation. However, no clear idea of the State comes across through the above, so let's look at it through the various parameters/features of the State on which even most of the theorists have seemed to have a unequivocal yet subdued agreement for now. These are:

1) Territoriality
2) Population
3) Government
4) Sovereignty

So, the State is as per the abovementioned features, a system of relationship which defines the territory and membership of a community,regulates its internal affairs, conducts relations with other States and provides it with identity on the international stage and keeps it together.

Christopher Morris characterises the State in terms of a number of inter- related features namely:
1) Continuity in Space and Time : The State is a set of political organisations ( i.e. the Legislature) whose institutions ( PMO,CAG,Judiciary,Military,Election Commission,Information Commission,etc) endure over time.
2) Transcendence: The State's institutions do not constitute it;they are its agents.
3) Political Organisation: These are institutions through which the State acts.
4) Authority : The sovereign is the ultimate source of political authority in its territory.
5) Allegiance : Citizens owe allegiance to the State and the State has a strong loyalty towards them.

CHANGING NATURE OF THE STATE:
The State is a man made institution and is not an organic one therefore it is not a necessity if not required by the society. Let us take a look at its changing nature.
1) In mid 17th century in imperialist world, there was the model of the Westphalian State having the Nation State as its kingpin which flourished till the World War II. Under this model, the world consisted of sovereign States recognising no superior power governing themselves apart from them. No international law prevailed on them except the norms of peaceful coexistence among the States. Law making, resorting to force and violence, cross border issues were to be settled between the affected States and no one should intervene unless asked by both the respective States.

2) Post World War II, the emergence of World organisations like the UNO and the demise of the Communist superpower Russia has made the whole world tilt towards one side and that is towards the West. The UNO and its allied bodies are the ones ruling the roost in this globalisation era where the Natin State stands almost non existent since there are no boundaries anymore of States and International law holds more ground than the local ones. Free trade and revolutionary uses of Information and communication technology geared up globalisation on the vehicle of the WTO have hold sway but still nobody is unaware of the looming negative effects of the same like contributing to Internet crime and terrorism as well as loss caused to many MNC's as well as poor people of the world as the capitalists come closing in on humanity for their materialistic gains.

Globalisation is irreversible and one needs to adapt to it but in the garb of globalisation and free trade there are many capitalist vested interests entering the developing countries and making them dance to their tunes and implement policies of theirs which is actually not required by the people of that country. Apart from that one must note that if this is happening then it is the State of that country who needs to take matters in their hands and collaborate with the market and civil society and use the public funds collected from the country towards the betterment of the people through proper and needed local resolutions to the local problems. If Globalisation is choking the growth of the people then it is the State who now assumes and even greater role in this era of globalisation than ever before as a regulator, facilitator and guard of the people and be the one in between the global forces and the people of the country and perform ameliorative functions and thus helping the disadvantaged people which are in the majority of the population to reach the level where even they can eat the fruits of globalisation as equally as the other benefactors of the same.


Now, since we have got a fair idea of the definition of the State,lets move on to the changing nature of the State and understand it through the various perspectives/ideologies of the State. These are:

1) Liberal Perspective Of State: It is a political ideology/philosophy of the State based on the ideas of Liberalism, which broadly represent freedom,modernity and progress. This perspective is extremely imperative to know and understand for the sole reason that it is the only perspective that attempts to give us an answer to a theory of State, its evolution and the incidents leading to its contemporary character and shape in today's world as one sees it.
Having been fed up with patriarchal and absolutist behaviours of the tyrannical trio of the monarchs, the aristocrats and the Roman Church who were helping each other by suffocating the individual to retain power any which way, the people and free thinking intellectuals looked for ways to end the distressing status quo prevailing. That was the birth of this perspective.
They advocated the freedom and equality of individuals born with inherent and nature gifted natural rights,i.e. right to life and liberty,right to property,right to religion,etc. that could not be taken  away by anyone on this earth, and the State was to confine itself to three key areas of activity, viz. Defence of individuals from other individuals,enforcement of contracts and defence of the country from external attack and harm.
The market is to be free and self governing determining the course of the economy and private property rights.
Hobbes gave a picture of the emergence of the Modern State through his Social Contract Theory, which states that human beings gave up some/all of their rights through a mutual agreement with each other in the society to a third entity which was a neutral body that would regulate them and maintain everyone's safety and security. This social contract created the State, which was the third entity. However, Hobbes theory, though very helpful lacked the answer to the question as to who was to regulate this ' Huge ' and ' Overpowering ' State that was created and prevent it from arbitrary and coercive action on the individuals.
John Locke then stepped in and pitched for a constitutional head of state ( most preferably Monarchy according to Locke) who would have a government of people's representatives to make laws and execute them for the benefit of people,but the day the government loses the trust of the people, it would be revoked and a new one formed that finds parlance with the people. However, he did not specify the means of choosing these representatives and on what basis would they be held accountable to the people for not carrying out their will.
Thus, legally sanctioned political power concept was further detailed by Jeremy Bentham and James Mill where they stated that Utilitarianism was the determining factor for holding the State accountable to the people which literally meant " Greatest good for the greatest number". So, he advocated under the Utility concept the State performing works of free education, old age insurance,minimum wages,sickliness benefit,agricultural communes and industrial houses, etc. If these are not carried out by the State then they should move out from power and make place for the more deserving.
Bentham and James Mill were called ' reluctant Democrats' because even though they spoke of reforms like voting and elections,etc. but they did not push for it and gave a very idealist perspective of the State which indirectly referred to the State and its govt. as so moral that if they did not do the above functions of welfare then they would automatically step down without further adieu without any need for asking them. This was not going to happen.
And, so James Mill's son, John Stuart Mill pushed for the above mentioned with all might.
So, along with James Mill and T.H Green and the others mentioned above, there is not an iota of doubt on the immense contribution of their thoughts that helped influence and shape the present day Modern State. The bottom line of the Liberalistic perspective is that the State was to perform the above mentioned three major functions and leave the market to govern itself by creating favourable conditions for each individual to prosper and reach to his/her maximum potential. The State in the meantime can also provide ameliorative services to the needy of the country as on of its duties so that they help even those to reap the benefits of capitalism.

2) Marxist Perspective Of State: Also regarded as the class theory of State and talks of economics more than the State. The State as seen by Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, Vladimir Lenin and Gramsci is an expression or condensation of class relations which implies pattern of domination and oppression as elements of the  State as it is viewed as an instrument of the elite,i.e. 'Bourgeoise', to exploit the working class or the ' proletariat'. Marx was more contemporary in his approach to these analysis of State as since the Liberal perspective of State was designed, a lot had changed and due to rise in Capitalism, a lot of new social classes had emerged and society was extremely heterogeneous by that time. Marx stated that in order to change the status quo,the workingclass/middle class should capture the State,destroy the privileges of the old class and prepare the basis for the eventual disappearance of the State where every individual would be so morally and socially capable to self govern him/herself. This end stage was termed as a " Communist State" by Marx which means that the whole society would live together as one class and one community and help each other to attain their best.
The stage in between this transition of State and No State where the workers capture the State and make it democratic instead of simply a handful of minority elite ruling it, is what Marx and Engels term as the " Dictatorship Of The Proletariat" which was necessary for the transition period to Communism which this Dictatorship Of Proletariat would help in achieving and would be the sole purpose of this Dictatorship.
One can see two dominant perspectives of Marxist view of the State, in one he stresses that the State is a selfish and vested interest body having on its mind only to cater to the minority rich/elite and exploit the poor/working class, whereas on the other hand he talks of establishing another kind of State run by the working class to help convert the State into a Communist State which signals that the State need not be influenced by the rich and can also work for the benefit of its people depending on who is ruling it and is autonomous.
Marx also talked about how would the State look after turning in to a Communist State where there would only be administration running the country instead of people ruling. However, Marx and Engels stressed on the imperative need for central planning and direction without force and coercion as a feature of Proletarian State but it fails to resolve the dilemma of a conflict between centralised planning and individual freedom in the Communist society.
Marx considered the Bureaucracy to inherently incapable as hierarchical and functional differentiation leads to a mere combination and mutual reinforcement of incompetence where the superior does not know the specifics of a case and the subordinate does not know the general principles of the organisation and so the situation can never be seen in totality to resolve it. He states that deliberate non transparency and curtailment of information is cited as the norm for keeping corruption a secret and confidential while serving the interest of the rich. He says that the exams also conducted to recruit the bureaucrats are nothing but hogwash and is just a baptism into the world of bureaucracy and does not hold any merit.
Marx and Engels surveyed the Asiatic societies States and found that in these countries, the State controlled all classes and not necessarily the working class only as it was in the European countries that they came from. These Asiatic States performed all activities and thus suffocated the civil society as well as all other actors there whether elite or poor.
The Marxist perspective thus failed to answer the above mentioned questions and also as to what kind of organisations would be there to carry out a Communist society and the blueprint of its working.
We saw the enactment of Marxist theories in Russia and other Marxist ideology following countries in the early 20th century, however, till date none of those countries have shown a withering away of the State/Dictatorship of Proletariat and establishment of a Communist society living totally by the ideals of Socialism. Rather, many countries have abandoned this philosophy or are following it partially and many countries have broken up and divided in to many parts.
Irrespective of the questions posed to the abovementioned Marxist Perspective Of State, one must not forget that Karl Marx is important even today and the reason for that is that he was the first intellectual to provide the world with the discovery of the great law of motion of history, the law according to which all historical struggles,whether they proceed in the political, religious, philosophical or some ideological domain are in fact only more or less clear expression of struggles of social classes and the State mostly every time only represents the interests of the dominant classes in society and he also put forward the modes of intervention in these struggles. Also, he was the torch bearer of the importance of Socialism to all other theorists and States/governments, which taught these rulers that if the large public is ignored for Capitalism then their seat is in danger. So, Marx can be credited with the Socialist states that we see around us today in the contemporary world.
The new generation Marxist theorists have provided a new view on Marxist theories by stating that the State can be seen as an autonomous entity which need not be influenced by  Capitalism but rather works together with the capitalists and harmonises the worker class with their ideologies so that everyone works in tandem and in equality to attain the best of both worlds. Marxism is more alive today than it has ever been.

3) Neo - Liberal Perspective Of State : The Neo Liberal or the New/Recent/Modern Liberal perspective of State must not be confused with completely following the old Liberal Perspective of State in totality in the modern world. One needs to understand that the old Liberal Perspective of State originated from a political ideology of freedom and equality for all, whereas the Neo- Liberal perspective that has emerged in the era of Globalisation is born out of new economic needs/ideology which is a free economy and trade environment having more to do with economy and least with political ideologies.
Having said that, let us move on to analyse the origins of this perspective. The Neo - Liberal perspective was brought about by the inadequacy of the State under Keynesian Economics ( practiced in America where State was to regulate teh Market and perform Welfare functions beginning 1930 to 1970) towards its roles as there was rising debts, crime graphs, socio - economic inequities and inequalities and corruption,etc. Thus, the economy was badly ruptured by the State's over arching and inefficient work, so the Neo - Liberalists advocated the revival of economy for further survival through opening up barriers on trade and market across the globe and making the market self governing once again.
There were three very vociferous advocates of the above mentioned perspective of  State,namely:
1) Friedrich Von Hayek - He severely critiqued planning and collectivism in his works in the early 1940's as he believed that it led to homogenising the society and not allowing the individual to become competent and stand out in the crowd.
2) Robert Nozick - He was a late 20th century thinker and very influential in his writings. He was inspired by John Lcoke and advocated a minimal State and a low tax threshold. He believed that it was wrong for the State o view people as means to ends. A person is a means unto himself and should not be used as a means to fulfill others needs. He actually meant that it is wrong to take away the earnings of a rich man and give it to the poor who has not earned it and take the credit for it in the name of Welfarism. He also advocated the right to property.
3) Milton Firedman - A 1976 Nobel Prize Winner for excellence in economics, Friedman was one of the foremost advocates of the Neo Liberal perspective viz. economic freedom and free enterprise. He stated that the government which governs the least,governs best. For him, the State should be limited to military defence activities, enforcing contracts between individuals,protection of life of its citizens against crimes towards them or their property. The rest should be governed by the market regarding supply and demand. Ronald Reagan was much impressed by Friedman and hired him as the head of his Economic Policy Coordinating Committee together with George Schultz. Thus, Friedman's concepts were also trermed as ' Reaganomics'.

4) Thatcherism - Margaret Thatcher in the UK also was much impressed by the above concept as the people of the country were aslo disenchanted with the burgeoning effect of the State. Thatcher's Citizen's Charter initiattive and bringing in of management principles in to bureaucracy as well as downsizing of the bureaucracy is a known model and example followed all over the world till date.


PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND SOCIETY:
Social change and society is of extreme importance and relevance to Public Administration. As it has been noted, the celebrated social contract theory put forward by Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau stems from society itself, where society formed the State and the government and regulates it through its mandates in every election. Public Administration is the executive arm of the State/govt. whose job is to follow the orders of the people's will through the elected representatives, thus, Public Administration was built for the sole purpose of serving the society and this concept has gained all the more significance in the era of Welfare Statism.
Another important curve in the society affecting Public Administration has been the environment/ecological aspect as well as 'gender' issue impact where there have been new laws like anti pollution,conservation of forests,river,water bodies,biodiversity & introduction of ant - sexual harassment laws at workplaces for women have been brought in respectively.

MAX WEBER ON SOCIETY ADMINISTRATION RELATIONSHIP:
Max Weber was not against Capitalism and rather credited its emergence to the Protestant ethics of hard work and radicalism that had made people contribute all their energy to work in order to avoid sinning and stop worrying about afterlife punishments. This also contributed to the effect of these practices rubbing off on public agencies and a sort of democratic govt. and bureaucratic capitalism working in tandem.
He exemplified these administrative apparatuses and their administrative staff having the legitimate power given to them by the people themselves to help them with their needs through his ideal bureaucracy type model which we have discussed in an earlier post on the same topic. Please refer - http://publicadministrationtheone.blogspot.in/2012/07/scientific-management-and-scientific.html

RIGGSIAN CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY - ADMINISTRATION RELATIONSHIP:
Already discussed in the previous blog, refer here - http://publicadministrationtheone.blogspot.in/2012/08/comparative-public-administration.html

CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENTS IN SOCIETY - ADMINISTRATION RELATIONSHIPS:
Nowadays, a new wave of civil society organisations are playing an important part in the above mentioned state-society- administration relationship. They work hand in hand with the government and market for bringing about resolutions and watershed developments for the benefit of the people. Also, neo-liberalism has brought about a resurgence of individual freedom with the State vs. Market debate ( refer - http://publicadministrationtheone.blogspot.in/2012/08/development-dynamics-concept-of.html ). Apart from that the concept of "Good Governance" has taken over in the era of Globalisation today where the governance of a country is judged by parameters specified by the UN viz. Accountability,openness,transparency,participation and ethics in public administration.

THE GANDHIAN PERSPECTIVE OF STATE:
Gandhi's model of Polity is called by the Mahatma himself as "Swaraj" which means 'self rule'.
Gandhi was not in favour of the Modern State and its policies which he witnessed first hand during his stint at South Africa via the treatment meted out to him and other coloured individuals even though they were the majority there.\
This approach/model of polity is a combination of theoretical framework of 'Swaraj' and the practical tenets of a non-violent,self contained,grass roots level society.
He believed that the Indian Civilisation is in contrast to the Modern State functioning and he substantiates it by the following facts:
1) Indian civilisation was spiritual in essence whereas the Modern State was uniquely a product of a materialistic civilisation.
2) Non violence was deeply ingrained in Indian culture and cherished by its people whereas the Modern State was of a violent character and every one in the world was aware of the same considering the violence of wars and imperialism everywhere.
3) Indian civilisation was plural and tolerant in character towards its rich diversity of customs,etc. whereas the Modern State promoted homogeneity and was impersonal in nature.
4) Indians are basically rural whereas the Modern State was an urban civilisation based structure.
5) Decentralisation was the ethos of Indian Civilisation and system of governance whereas the Modern State follows the ethos of centralisation of power and evading autonomy requests of the people.

Gandhi's model of polity had the following guidelines:
a) Polity was to be rooted in non violence
b) Autonomy of the individual was of utmost importance.
c) The new polity was to build up courage,and a sense of power among the people.
d) The new polity was to honour diversity of Indian society by fostering strong and vibrant local communities.
e) Regeneration of Indian culture
f) New polity was urgently required to end ethnic and religious strife and establish national unity and peace as was before.
g) The new polity would be constituted by self governing local communities organised in the form of central government but not creating a centralised structure of authority.

He advocated a Police force that would be composed for believers of non violence and who would be reformers, not punishers. They would be servants of the people and will render them help instinctively and work with mutual cooperation with the people to deal with crimes and help decrease it. This police force would possess some sort of arms but will be rarely used.
The village communities formed will over the time build up strong sense of humanity and morals as well as socialist ideals in the sub conscious of the people that would ultimately get so ingrained in them that there would come a time when there would be no more a need for a ruling  authority or govt. and every individual will self govern himself and live in peace and harmony as aware and enlightened individuals driven by morals and virtues of goodwill.

One must not connect Liberalism with Gandhi's thoughts of a model polity just because he talks of the rolling back of State and individuals governing themselves because Gandhi though advocated the complete freedom of the individual from State clutches once he is on the path of socialist and moral life, Gandhi rejected the idea of Utilitarianism of Bentham and James Mill by stating that it is a crime to only think of doing good to the greatest number or as many as one possibly can,rather, Gandhi believed in Absolutism and said that I would rather dying helping every one instead of just helping the greatest number according to me and being satisfied.

GANDHI'S CONCEPT OF TRUSTEESHIP:
Gandhi believed that property was a social trust and people/owner of it as a trustee of it. The owner was not to take from it more than he required for a moderately comfortable life, the rest he must give away to charity or use it for the welfare of the society/needy. This will help people to outgrow their greed and sense of possession and respect even the poor and the labourer who earns his food.
He advocated laws to be passed to this effect to make it legal so that the capitalist society is changed into an egalitarian one. He also stated that a fixed maximum income should also be placed on each one just as they is a fixed minimum income law in place, which should be regulated and reasonable as and when needed.

The next post would be up shortly.

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Significant issues in Indian Administration: Values in public service; Regulatory Commissions; National Human Rights Commission; Problems of administration in coalition regimes; Citizen-administration interface; Corruption and administration; Disaster management.

To all the enquiries from readers regarding the continuity and future course of action of this blog, the good news is that this blog will now move on to covering higher,wider and deeper aspects of public administration as a discipline and practice that will broaden the learning horizon majorly. So, remain tuned in as this blog will be updated continuously.

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Click on ' JOIN THIS SITE ' to get instant updates on new posts on this blog. And also for 'INTERACTIONS AND DISCUSSIONS' regarding this blog's posts 'JOIN ITS FACEBOOK COMMUNITY/GROUP' that is mentioned on the right hand side of this page.
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Today we will be discussing the Significant Issues in Administration.


VALUES IN PUBLIC SERVICE:

Values flow from the individual's inner self of knowing what is right and wrong and doing that with integrity. Whereas ethics is about imposing from outside by an organisation as to what is right to do and wrong on its employees conduct.

Therefore in the recent times, one has seen an erosion of values and ethics in public service personnel due to a number of reasons like corruption, nepotism, bureaucratization,non transparency,etc.

Ethics can be handled by the organisations, however, unless it is backed by values in an individual, it will be incomplete in its totality. That is why values are extremely important. For details on the same there are extremely good and informative links regarding the above, posted below.

Do refer to this draft public service bill of the GOI,which is yet to be passed - http://persmin.nic.in/DOPT/EmployeesCorner/Acts_Rules/DraftPublicServiceBill/PublicServiceBill_2007.pdf

AND

http://persmin.gov.in/otraining/UNDPProject/undp_modules/valuedinadmin/Read%20hyperlinked%20pdf%20file/Values%20in%20Administration.pdf

http://www.preservearticles.com/2011100514767/free-sample-essay-on-the-values-in-public-services-india.html

http://drsatyapalsingh.blogspot.in/2009/08/three-core-values-for-public-service.html





REGULATORY COMMISSIONS :
As part of the process of de-bureaucratization and de-concentration
of authority, the process of entrusting decision making responsibility of
Government to Regulatory Commissions is in evidence.
It is quite likely that such Commissions shall be set up in many more areas of governance.
For the recruitment of civil servants we already have the Public Service
Commissions. In addition, we now have the Insurance Regulatory
Authority, the Telecom Regulatory Authority and the Power Regulatory
Authorities at the Centre and in the States. It is quite likely that by 2020
the process of decision making and enforcement of such decisions in many
more sectors will be in the hands of Regulatory Commissions over which
the government will have little control. Whether this would be for the
better or it will have adverse implications for governance will depend on
how these Commissions function and are allowed to behave.


NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION:
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is an autonomous statutory body established in 1993 according to the provisions of the Protection of Human Rights Act. The Commission is composed of a chairperson and six members. The chairperson has to have been a chief justice of the Supreme Court.

The purpose of the NHRC is, suo moto or through the petition of a person, to investigate the violation of human rights or the failures of the state or other to prevent a human rights violation. The Commission can visit state institutions where people are detained such as jails to examine the conditions of the institutions and make sure they are in compliance with human rights provisions. They can also examine any law or constitutional provisions to ensure that the safeguards of the law protect human rights. They are to advise the state on measures to prevent terrorism and related violations as well as on how to effectively implement provisions of human rights treaties. The commissions may also take on research about human rights, create awareness campaigns through various mediums, and encourage the work of NGOs.

Petitions can be made directly to the commission in the case of any human rights violation. However in 2002 there was a great deal of controversy surrounding the commission's rejection of the petition made by R. K. Sharma's family in the Shivani Batnagar Murder case. R.K. Sharma was the main person accused in the case and had absconded. The Commission denied the plea on the basis that the family petition also included the protection of the accused. The criticism is that the commission granting of protection would have been only to promote the human rights of the family and accused which are the same an every human being, not to protect him against the law or prosecution. It is also to be noted that Commission often takes years to respond to a single case by which time the case is irrelevant or has been dropped and often poor people who petition the commission have to spend large amounts on lawyers to get they case heard.

Visit its official website - http://nhrc.nic.in/
Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Human_Rights_Commission_of_India
 NHRC recently in the news - http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-25/patna/34081799_1_human-trafficker-nhrc-national-human-rights-commission




PROBLEMS OF ADMINISTRATION IN COALITION REGIMES:
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several parties cooper­ate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament. The UPA 2 party in the Parliament of India which is in power is a coalition government and consists of a number of parties working together to maintain majority in the parliament.


Do go through these detailed research articles on problems of administration in coalition regimes - http://www.ssmrae.com/admin/images/7dc4b27aaee9e21c05dd9316b7bebdac.pdf AND http://debatepedia.idebate.org/en/index.php/Debate:_Coalition_government

A case study on Ireland's Politico - Administrative Relations Under Coalition Government - http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/nispacee/unpan003676.pdf





CITIZEN ADMINISTRATION INTERFACE:
Citizen - administration interface are all those points where the public and administration connect or meet. It can be citizens charters, surveys conducted by the administration, petitions to the public organisations,connecting online with administration,voting,etc.

The main idea is to provide best experience of citizen administration interfaces which unfortunately at the present moment lack transparency, however, they are on the road to reform.

Refer to these informative articles for the same :
http://gkbasic.com/trends-in-citizen-administration-interaction/
http://www.preservearticles.com/2011100514716/essay-on-the-benefits-of-citizen-administration-interface.html
http://www.ideasforgov.org/admin/Citizen_interface.pdf
http://darpg.nic.in/darpgwebsite_cms/Document/file/Framework_of_Citizens_Charter_-IIPA.pdf
http://gkbasic.com/factors-important-in-citizen-administrative-interface/

AND

IGNOU NOTES ON THE SAME TOPIC - http://www.egyankosh.ac.in/bitstream/123456789/1093/1/UNIT-07.pdf




CORRUPTION AND ADMINISTRATION:
Corruption has always been a menace in administration and there have been many factors to blame for it like non-transparency,political interference,erosion of values and ethics in public services,etc.
One must be quite aware that political and administrative corruption has gone to an all time high right now with a number of humongous scams coming up recurrently. corruption erodes the institutional capacity of government as procedures are disregarded, resources are siphoned off, and public offices are bought and sold. At the same time, corruption undermines the legitimacy of government and such democratic values as trust and tolerance. Corruption cuts at the very root of socio-economic and political progress of a country and democratic ideals. Therefore, this needs to be curbed immediately with stringent action.

Refer - http://www.preservearticles.com/2011100514701/essay-on-the-impact-of-corruption-on-administration-india.html

AND http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_corruption



DISASTER MANAGEMENT:
Disaster management can be defined as the organization and management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in particular preparedness, response and recovery in order to lessen the impact of disasters.


Disasters can be Natural,Man made,breakdown of law and order,spread of epidemics,etc.

Every country should be prepared for a disaster. These disaster preparedness activities are designed to minimise loss of life and damage – for example by removing people and property from a threatened location and by facilitating timely and effective rescue, relief and rehabilitation. Preparedness is the main way of reducing the impact of disasters. Community-based preparedness and management should be a high priority in physical therapy practice management.

Disaster  relief - This is a coordinated multi-agency response to reduce the impact of a disaster and its long-term results. Relief activities include rescue, relocation, providing food and water, preventing disease and disability, repairing vital services such as telecommunications and transport, providing temporary shelter and emergency health care.

Once emergency needs have been met and the initial crisis is over, the people affected and the communities that support them are still vulnerable. Recovery activities include rebuilding infrastructure, health care and rehabilitation. These should blend with development activities, such as building human resources for health and developing policies and practices to avoid similar situations in future.
Disaster management is linked with sustainable development, particularly in relation to vulnerable people such as those with disabilities, elderly people, children and other marginalised groups.
Myths and Realities of Disaster Assistance summarises some of the common misunderstandings about disaster management.

Voluntary agencies and associations, NGOs and Non Profit Organisations play a huge role in Disaster Mangement.

National Disaster Management Authority Of India -  It is the Apex Body for Disaster Management in India. The setting up of the NDMA and the creation of an enabling environment for institutional mechanisms at the State and District levels is mandated by the Disaster Management Act, 2005. Website http://ndma.gov.in/ndma/index.htm

Disaster Management In India - http://www.unisdr.org/2005/mdgs-drr/national-reports/India-report.pdf

National Institute of Disaster Management - The National Institute of Disaster Management constituted under the Disaster Management Act 2005 has been entrusted with the nodal national responsibility for human resource development, capacity building, training, research, documentation and policy advocacy in the field of disaster management. Upgraded from the National Centre for Disaster Management of the Indian Institute of Public Administration on 16th October, 2003, NIDM is steadily marching forward to fulfill its mission to make a disaster resilient India by developing and promoting a culture of prevention and preparedness at all levels.


Disaster Management in the news recently - http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-09-26/news/34102059_1_floods-disaster-management-food-packets

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UPSC PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION MAINS - PAPERS 1 AND 2 .

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Do share your UPSC as well as all/any other examinations' experience in context of this blog and its contribution towards the same. Also, the role this blog has played in making its reader get a better/good grasp of the subject as a whole. It will only work to better this blog and continue it. Send your testimonials via the comments option and it will be conveyed.
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 As mentioned within its very first post, this blog was created with sincere efforts to generate a vivid conceptual & theoretical hold of the discipline of Public Administration in the minds of genuinely interested readers.
It is relevant to note that this blog was initiated to elucidate various aspects of Public Administration in order to allow any person belonging to any walk of life to reap benefits from the thorough base research of the blog.

Sincere efforts have been put into this blog to create a clear conceptual & theoretical hold over the subject of Public Administration in the reader's mind along with certain practical examples.

Therefore, UPSC aspirants should take note,that together with conceptual & theoretical knowledge, it is their responsibility & extremely imperative on their part to work on the practical aspects through proper General studies preparation, keeping abreast with current statistics of the topics in the public administration syllabus, up to date with current events and issues through newspaper and relevant magazines/journal reading, watching news and debates,using the internet effectively,etc. and then regularly applying their analytical skills to arrive at just and practicable solutions for the issues on the lines of Public Administration concepts/theories. It is relevant to note that conceptual & theoretical knowledge coupled with the candidates's hard work, proper strategy of keeping abreast with current affairs and analysing those events, time management and most important a presence of mind to interlink and connect the theoretical and conceptual knowledge with the practical facts at the opportune time in order to arrive at a holistic answer for the questions posed in the upsc mains exams are the recipe to success.

In furtherance of research from different sources viz. Public Administration Mains UPSC answer writing skills, the following points have been reproduced below which would be helpful:

Both the papers are interlinked and should not be thought of as separate. Paper 1 is all about Public Administration theories and concepts, and paper 2 is about the practical aspects of administration specific to India,that is Indian Administration and how the theories of Public Administration can be applied practically in today's times in India. Paper 2 questions are often related to General studies questions and covers Public Administration in the contemporary times and would require you to be analytical in your approach. The theoretical knowledge of paper 1 syllabus combined with a well rounded  general studies preparation and paper 2 syllabus preparation will help the candidate in analysing the practical questions asked in paper 2, on the lines of Public Administration theories/concepts, and make connections among the various topics of the syllabus. This would represent the candidate's all round knowledge about the subject in depth and not just mugging up.

The presentation of answers can be as per the comfort of the candidate, however, what matters is the true content which obviously can never vary in its versions , and it should be strictly within the boundary of what is asked in the question and well within the word limit.

Develop a general interest & aptitude for the subject,as only that will lead you through.

There should always be a short introduction to your answer that would give a background of the topic and then continue it into the body of the answer that can be in any form ( bullet points,paragraph,etc). The answer body along with theoretical and conceptual points should contain suitable examples - current/historical(or both) regarding the topic in question and then the conclusion should be remedial, forward looking in approach and optimistic. Be very careful regarding the conclusion because it will give a face to your analytical skills.
Always remember, the main idea of writing an answer or an essay is always the same, to give a true picture of the topic along with the solutions you put forward which should be based on sound principles of Public Administration and practicality.

Do go through previous years question papers ( last 4-5 years) religiously, answer them and evaluate your knowledge,grasp and understanding of the subject yourself or by referring to persons experienced in the art of UPSC answer writing.

At the end, it is your decision. Soliciting advice is a good practice,but the decision should be yours taking into account what is feasible to you.

It has been this blog's honest effort to try and cover all possible areas in its knowledge related to its posts,however, it is entirely the candidate's discretion to prepare and execute his/her UPSC Mains exam preparation strategy.

Also,do go through these links to find out what the toppers of civil services have to say regarding answer writing for Pub admin mains questions along with their answers. It would be of immense help. Refer -

http://www.iaspassion.com/123-ias-topper-ANAY_DWIVEDI.aspx


http://anaydwivedi.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/public-administration-mains/

http://anaydwivedi.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/public-administration-answers/

http://anaydwivedi.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/public-admin-paper-1-sample-answers/

http://anaydwivedi.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/public-administration-answers/pa-14/

http://anaydwivedi.wordpress.com/2010/06/10/public-administration-answers/


Best wishes to all those appearing for the UPSC Mains Exam 2012.

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Law and Order Administration: British legacy; National Police Commission; Investigative agencies; Role of central and state agencies including paramilitary forces in maintenance of law and order and countering insurgency and terrorism; Criminalisation of politics and administration; Police- public relations; Reforms in Police.

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LAW AND ORDER ADMINISTRATION:
Law and order administration is one of the most important function performed by the Government. In fact,the survival of administration depends upon maintenance of law and order in a country. The functioning of law and order administration comes under the state list with the Union/Central government having advisory and coordinating role(discussed in last post on this blog). Rapid growth of population,industrialisation,urbanisation,growing political consciousness lead to law and order problems. Agrarian and tribal revolts,political caste and communal violence,labour and student unrest and terrorism are indications of law and order problems.

Law and Order comes under the Ministry of Home affairs' Department of Internal Security in India. As such law and order and internal security are managed under one umbrella at the level of the Union Government. The Ministry of Home Affairs is responsible for matters relating to the internal security of the country and enacts laws for the functioning of the criminal justice system. Refer - http://india.gov.in/citizen/lawnorder.php

However, 'Police' and 'Public Order' are matters of State Governance and not Union governance, according to Schedule VII, making the management of law and order in India complex.








BRITISH LEGACY OF LAW AND ORDER ADMINISTRATION:
The First Police Commission, appointed on 17 August 1860, contained detailed guidelines for the desired system of police in India and defined police as a governmental department to maintain order, enforce the law, and prevent and detect crime.
The present Indian Police system is based on the Police Act of 1861. Under this act the police was made subordinate to the executive government. Later several changes were brought about in the structure as well as functioning of the police system in the country,but the basic structure and characteristics are enshrined in the Police Act of 1861 and it continues to dominate over the police system in India. Similarly, the Indian Penal Code(1860) and Criminal Procedure Code(1861) and the Indian Evidence Act were compiled and enacted for effective law and order.
Much before the Independence, superior police officers belonging to the Imperial Police (IP) were appointed by the Secretary of State on the basis of competitive examination. The very first open civil service examination for the service was held in England in June, 1893 and the top ten candidates were appointed as probationers of the Indian (Imperial) Police. However, it is not possible to pinpoint a date on which it could positively be claimed that the Indian Police came into being.
In around 1907, the Secretary of State's officers were directed to wear the letters "IP" on their epaulets to distinguish them from the other officers not recruited by the Secretary of State. In this sense, 1907 could be regarded as the starting point for the Indian Police. However, one must note that the

The Indian Police Service is not a force itself but a service providing leaders and commanders to staff the state police and all-India para-military forces. Its members, who are all at least university graduates, are the senior officers of the police.
With the pas­sage of time Indian Police Service's objectives were updated and redefined, the roles and functions of an Indian Police Service Officer are as follows:
» To fulfill duties based on broader responsibilities, in the areas of maintenance of public peace and order, crime prevention, investigation, and detection, collection of intelligence, VIP security, counter- terrorism, border policing, railway policing, tackling smuggling, drug trafficking, economic offences, corruption in public life, disaster management, enforcement of socio-economic legislation, bio-diver­sity and protection of environmental laws etc.
» Leading and commanding the Indian intelligence agencies like Research and Analysis Wing (R& Intelligence Bureau (IB), Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI), Crime Investigation Department (CID) etc., Indian federal law enforcement agencies, civil and armed police forces in all the and union territories.
» Leading and commanding the Para-Military Forces of India (PMF) which include the Central P Organisations (CPO) and Central Paramilitary Forces (CPF) such as Border Security Force ( Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), National Security G (NSG), Rashtriya Rifles, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), Vigilance Organisations, I Federal Law Enforcement Agencies, Assam Rifles, etc.
Serve at head of the departments in policy making in the Ministries and Departments of C and State Governments and public sector undertakings both at centre and states, Government India.
» To interact and coordinate closely with the members of other All-India Services and Central Services and also with the Indian Armed Forces
» Last but not the least, to lead and command the force with courage, uprightness, dedication a strong sense of service to the people.
» Endeavour to inculcate in the police forces under their command such values and norms as help them serve the people better.
» Inculcate integrity of the highest order, sensitivity to aspirations of people in a fast-changing and economic milieu, respect for human rights, broad liberal perspective of law and justice and standard of professionalism.


The District Collector's office was formed to be in charge of the police and maintain law and order at the district level as he also functions as a District Magistrate. This has been discussed in previous post on this blog, refer dist admin.








NATIONAL POLICE COMMISSION:
The National Police Commission (NPC) was appointed by the Government of India in 1977
with wide terms of reference covering the police organisation, its role, functions,
accountability, relations with the public, political interference in its work, misuse of powers,
evaluation of its performance etc. This was the first Commission appointed at the national
level after Independence. The Commission produced eight reports between 1979 and 1981,
suggesting wide ranging reforms in the existing police set-up.

For the major recommendations,implementations and status refer - http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/publications/police/npc_recommendations.pdf  And also refer to this link for other committees and commissions set up after the National Police Commission - http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/publications/police/police_reform_debates_in_india.pdf

Lack of political will still comes in between implementing the recommendations of the above as the abovementioned Commissions and Committees recommendations lie unimplemented.







INVESTIGATIVE AGENCIES:

1) Central Bureau Of Investigation - The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is India's premier investigative agency, responsible for a wide variety of criminal and national security matters. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941. The Central Bureau of Investigation is controlled by the Department of Personnel and Training in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension of the Union Government usually headed by a Union Minister who reports directly to the Prime Minister. It is India’s official Interpol unit. The CBI draws its officers from the best IPS and IRS officers around the country. It is responsible for investigation into various crimes and national security. The agency specializes in investigating crimes involving high ranking government officials and politicians.


2) The Indian Income-tax Department: Is India's premier financial agency, responsible for a wide variety of financial and fiscal matters.The Tax department is controlled by the Department of Revenue in the Ministry of Finance of the Union Government headed by a Union Minister who reports directly to the Prime Minister. It's officers are drawn from the Indian Revenue Services across the country. The Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation is responsible for investigation into various economic crimes and tax evasion.The special agents and agents are able to carry firearms when they are posted in the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) in the I-T department .The Finance Ministry has recently notified bringing under one umbrella the intelligence and criminal investigation units of the Income Tax department to effectively deal with terror financing cases and transactions that pose threat to national security.The department will now recruit special agents and agents (criminal investigation) under the new wing, half of whom would be recruited or brought on deputation from premier investigative agencies and police organisations of the country.The special agents who will form part of the premier DCI would be able to carry firearms under the rules prescribed by their parent organisation and would be able to tackle any intimidation in course of their new duty of checking and gathering intelligence on tax evasion.
The DCI will be headed by the Director General of Intelligence (Income Tax) and was notified in May this year to tackle the menace of black money with cross-border ramifications.The revamp is aimed at launching 'un-intrusive' investigations against "persons and transactions suspected to be involved in criminal activities having cross-border, inter-state or international ramifications, that pose a threat to national security and are punishable under the direct tax laws."
The commissioners of the intelligence directorate of I-T who are posted in cities like Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Lucknow will also take up criminal investigation work under the DCI."Criminal investigation relies heavily on accurate and specific actionable intelligence and information of such activities and hence such an arrangement has been made.Separate manpower for the criminal investigation unit will be raised in the next few years when the department gets additional sanction. The intelligence wing of the I-T department has the Central Information Branch (CIB) under it, which is a repository of classified and exhaustive data on taxpayers' financial transactions.


3) Directorate of Revenue Intelligence: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) is an intelligence-based organisation responsible for the co-ordination of India's anti-smuggling efforts.Officers in this organisation are drawn from Indian Revenue Service(I.R.S.)

4) National Investigation Agency: National Investigation Agency (NIA) is the central agency to combat terror in India. The agency is empowered to deal with terror related crimes across states without special permission from the states. The National Investigation Agency Bill 2008 to create the agency was moved in Parliament by Union Home Minister on 16 December 2008.The NIA was created in response to the Nov 2008 Mumbai terror attacks as need for a central agency to combat terrorism was found. It also deals with drug trafficking and currency counterfeiting.It draws it's officers from IRS and IPS.

5) Narcotics Control Bureau - The NCB is responsible for anti-narcotic operations all over the country. It checks the spread of contraband as well as the cultivation of drugs.The officers in this organisation are drawn from both the IRS and the IPS.

6) Central Forensic Science Laboratory: The Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) is a wing of the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, which fulfils the forensic requirements in the country. It houses the only DNA repository in South and Southeast Asia.
There are four central forensic laboratories in India, at Hyderabad, Kolkata,Mumbai,Rajkot, Chandigarh,Pune and New Delhi. CFSL Hyderabad is centre of excellence in chemical sciences, CFSL Kolkata in biological sciences and CFSL Chandigarh in physical sciences. These laboratories are under the control of the Directorate of Forensic Science (DFS) of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The laboratory in New Delhi is under the control of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and investigates cases on its behalf.








ROLE OF CENTRAL AND STATE AGENCIES IN MAINTENANCE OF LAW AND ORDER AND COUNTERING INSURGENCY & TERRORISM:
CENTRAL AGENCIES - Government of India is divided into the Legislative, the Executive and the Judiciary wings, with each performing its respective roles in management of internal security(maintaining cross border peace) and law and order of India.
National Security Council comprising of the Strategic Policy Group, the National Security Advisory Board and a Secretariat represented by the Joint Intelligence Committee (India) is the apex agency looking into the overall security (both internal and external security of India) Law and Order itself comes under the Ministry of Home affairs' Department of Internal Security in India.
For the Executive, the Ministry of Home Affairs is responsible for internal security of India and enactment of laws for the functioning of the criminal justice system in the country.
Several laws have been enacted to ensure general peace in India, maintain law and order and maintain its national integrity. Several law enforcement agencies have been created to tackle the problem of maintaining law and order in the country. Crimes are managed separately by the Criminal courts of the country.



STATE AGENCIES: To perform the task of law and order administration, a state government maintains a separate department called the Home Department. The administrative head of this department is the Secretary,drawn as a rule from the generalist Indian Administrative Service ( IAS). The Home Department administers the police. Under the administrative control of the Home Department comes the executive organisation namely the Police department headed by the Deputy - General Of Police,who as a rule is drawn from the Indian Police Service. He may have an Additional Director General of Police to assist him. The Police Hierarchy comprises Inspectors - General of Police,Deputy Inspectors General of Police,Superintendents of Police and other lower level functionaries.
The basic unit of law and order administration in a state is the police thana headed by the Station House Officer ( SHO) who is assisted by a complement of Inspectors, sub-inspectors,head constables and constables.
The Superintendent of Police in charge of the district police is an important functionary and is subject to control and supervision by a Deputy Inspector - General of Police, who is generally placed in charge of a group of districts.
THe overall command and control are exercised by the Director - General of Police at the state level. Officers in charge of sub units within a district like sub divisions,circles and police stations are subordinate to the Superintendent of Police. The District Police is thus an integral part of the state wide police setup,which is hierarchically structured and held togethe by bonds of strong discipline and control.

The District collector/Deputy COmmissioner who is head of the District administration and apart from his other duties is responsible for the law and order administration in the district police assisted by the police head , the Superintendent of the Police ( District).

In Metropolitan cities, there is the Police Commissionerate system like Mumbai,Kolkata,etc who reports to the state home ministry and is assisted by Joint commissioners of police who is in charge of the city range ( north range,south range,etc),Deputy Commissioner of Police ( incharge of the district) and ACP ( who is the head of sub division),and Station House Officer ( incharge of a police station) and other junior staff.

Delhi which is a Metropolitan has the COmmissionerate system who also enjoys magisterial powers but the reports directly to the Lieutenant Governor who reports to the President ( indirectly to the Central govt.)

The reputation of a state depends on how effectively it is able to maintain law and order withing its jurisdiction as freedom and independence will not have meaning unless such basic issues are properly attended to.

Unfortunately,in view of the prevailing atmosphere of violence in the country,attention to law and order is called for,but,the sad part is that this is being neglected in favour of development administration.
Therefore,it is imperative that law and order is given adequate attention and it is built up both on the infrastructural as well as intelligence and implementation level and its grievances and issues sorted out if we want a sound welfare state where development and law and order go hand in hand otherwise development will be stalled.








ROLE OF PARAMILITARY FORCES IN MAINTENANCE OF LAW AND ORDER AND COUNTERING INSURGENCY & TERRORISM:
A paramilitary is a military force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces.
Paramilitary forces(Except the State Armed Police Forces) in India are under the Central govt. and under their orders. The paramilitary forces are:

Assam Rifles - Performs many roles including the provision of internal security under the control of the army through the conduct of counter insurgency and border security operations, provision of aid to the civil power in times of emergency, and the provision of communications, medical assistance and education in remote areas. In times of war they can also be used as a combat force to secure rear areas if needed.

Border Security Force -  For manning the land borders of the country except in the mountains.

Central Industrial Security Force -  It was created for the better protection and security of industrial undertakings.  It is the largest Industrial security force in the world.

Central Reserve Police Force - Its primary role lies in assisting the State/Union Territories in police operations to maintain law and order and contain insurgency. It has been of extreme significance in J&K especially during elections.

Defence Security Corps-  The role of Defence Security Corps is to ensure the protection and security of designated Defence Installations against sabotage and pilferage. The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Defence Security Corps (DSC) provide security at India's nuclear laboratories and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) establishments, respectively. The CISF is purely a civilian Central government security force and though the DSC is a force under the Ministry of Defence and it comprises mainly superannuated soldiers who are re-employed for a few years.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police -  For manning the border with Tibet/China in the Himalaya

National Security Guards - Is a special force in India that has primarily been utilized for counter-terrorism activities. It's use in the Taj hotel terrorist attack in Mumbai 2008 has been the most recent and major highlighted one.

Railway Protection Force - The duties of the Railway Protection Force include: i) To do all conducive means for the free movement of the railways. ii) Protection and safeguarding of railway property. iii) Protection and safeguarding of passenger,their belonging and passenger area.

Rashtriya Rifles -A counter-insurgency/anti-terrorist force made up of soldiers deputed from other parts of the Indian Army, who receive special incentives while serving in the Rashtriya Rifles. It is deployed in J&K to tackle insurgency and terrorism.

Special Frontier Force - Conceived in the post Sino-Indian war period as a guerrilla force composed mainly of Tibetan refugees whose main goal was to conduct covert operations behind Chinese lines in case of another war between the People's Republic of China and India. It functions under the Research And Analysis Wing of the GOI.

Rapid Action Force - It was created to deal with riots & related unrest.

Sashastra Seema Bal -  For guarding the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan Borders.

Indian Coast Guard -  Its mission is the protection of India's maritime interests and enforcement of maritime law with jurisdiction over both territorial (including contiguous zone & exclusive economic zone) and international waters.

The State Armed Police Forces of India are the police units for dealing with serious law and order situations requiring a higher level of armed expertise than normal in states. The State Armed Police Forces exist in addition to the ordinary police services of the various states.







 RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS WING and INTELLIGENCE BUREAU:
The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW or R&AW) is an external intelligence agency of the Republic of India.Its creation was necessitated by the poor performance of the Intelligence Bureau(IB, which then handled both internal and external intelligence) in the recent wars against China (1962) and the Pakistan (1965) convinced the government that a specialized, independent agency was required for competent external intelligence gathering.The primary function of the RAW is collection of external intelligence, counter-terrorism and covert operations. In addition, it is responsible for obtaining and analyzing information about foreign governments, corporations, and persons, to advise Indian policymakers. It has been said that RAW is the "effective instrument of India's national power". RAW is also involved in the security of India's nuclear programme. The working of the RAW is not answerable to the Parliament of India and it works under the Prime Minister of India.

The present RAW objectives include, and are not limited to:

• Monitoring the political and military developments in adjoining countries, which have direct bearing on India's national security and the formulation of its foreign policy.
• Secondly, molding international public opinion with the help of the strong and vibrant Indian diaspora.

In the past, following the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and due to India's volatile relations with Pakistan, RAW's objectives had also consisted the following:

• To watch the development of international communism and the schism between the two big communist nations, the Soviet Union and China. As with other countries, both these powers had direct access to the communist parties in India.
• To control and limit the supply of military hardware to Pakistan, from mostly European countries, America and more importantly from China

The Intelligence Bureau is India's internal intelligence agency and reputedly the world's oldest intelligence agency. It was recast as the Central Intelligence Bureau in 1947 under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Shrouded in secrecy, the IB is used to garner intelligence from within India and also execute counter-intelligence and counter-terrorism tasks. The Bureau comprises employees from law enforcement agencies, mostly from the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the military. However, the Director of Intelligence Bureau (DIB) has always been an IPS officer. In addition to domestic intelligence responsibilities, the IB is particularly tasked with intelligence collection in border areas, following the 1951 recommendations of the Himmatsinhji Committee (also known as the North and North-East Border Committee), a task entrusted to military intelligence organizations prior to independence in 1947. All spheres of human activity within India and in the neighborhood are allocated to the charter of duties of the Intelligence Bureau. The IB was also tasked with other external intelligence responsibilities as of 1951 until 1968, when the Research and Analysis Wing was formed.

The workings of these two and their intelligence keep the cycle of law and order going and gets the central and state law enforcement agencies, military and paramilitary forces into motion for the same.









CRIMINALISATION OF POLITICS AND ADMINISTRATION:
On 28th August 1997, the Election Commissioner Krishnamurthy made a startling annunciation. According to him, of 1, 37,752 candidates who had contested the General Election to the Lok Sabha in 1996, nearly 1500 had criminal records.
Criminalisation of politics is present in every party whether ruling or non ruling.
The radical cause of increasing criminalisation of politics is nexus of muscle power, money power and politics.
In order to garner a ticket and votes candidates appraise and spend a huge amount compared to meagre limits. These funds are garnered from funds and donations,which come from unhealthy sources like mafias, local dons and corporates,among others. These sources then capture the MLA or MP they funded and make them indebted to them by making the politicians puppets in their hands for giving ends to their vested interest. Thus, people's needs and interests are not bothered about and these people are the ones who rule the roost through their puppet politicians.
On May 2, 2002, the Supreme Court gave a historic ruling following public interest litigation by an NGO.
It ruled that every candidate, contesting an election to Parliament, State Legislatures or Municipal Corporation, has to declare the following along with the application for his/her candidature:

• A candidate's criminal charges
• The candidate's financial records
• The candidate's educational qualifications

If the candidate fails to file any of the above three declarations, the Returning Officer will have the right to reject his nomination papers. The Supreme Court has ruled that all the three declarations will have to be true.
The Election Commission had sent a notification on June 28, 2002, to all State Election Officers with a view to enforcing it. The Supreme Court's thrust has been that the people and the voters have the right to know about the candidate's criminal record, assets and liabilities and educational qualifications. The Returning Officer has to publish these declarations for the voters' knowledge.
The Election Commission under T S Krishnamurthy proposed in its 2004 report that Section 8 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 should be amended to disqualify candidates accused of an offence punishable by imprisonment of 5 years or more even when trial is pending, given that the Court has framed charges against the person. In the report the Commission addresses the possibility that such a provision could be misused in the form of motivated cases by the ruling party.
To prevent such misuse, the Commission suggested a compromise whereas only cases filed prior to six months before an election would lead to disqualification of a candidate. In addition, the Commission proposed that Candidates found guilty by a Commission of Enquiry should stand disqualified.

The Court held that the right to information - the right to know antecedents, including the criminal past, or assets of candidates - was a fundamental right under Article 19(1) (a) of the Constitution and that the information was fundamental for survival of democracy.

Well this is just a guideline and the people are unaware about this and continue to vote blindfolded. The criminals will disclose their records on an election form(and most of the time it is not verified whether true or false)but their physical influence outside the booth,monetarily as well as muscle power will not stop inducing people to vote for them. Therefore, it is for us people to wake up, use RTI as well as other sources to vote for the right candidate with all knowledge and throw out this disease as it is thwarting the very ideas of democracy and Constitutional safeguards that our country stands on.








POLICE - PUBLIC RELATIONS:
i) Since the Police administration is based on law made in 1861 and not undergone any significant change, therefore, the colonial attitudes of police personnel still remain. The erstwhile police force of the British Raj who were trained to administer terror over our people for the perpetuation of foreign domination seem to heavily inspire our current Police administration who feel it’s their duty to treat a layman or a common citizen unfairly.
ii) We need to understand that the idea of having a welfare state envisaged by our constitutional experts stands completely null and void, in absence of a proper criminal justice system. And here, Police machinery plays one of the most important roles in order to set criminal law into motion by lodging FIR’s and conducting unbiased and speedy investigation. Moreover, in order to accomplish the solemn purpose of having a crime free society, more onerous duty is cast on the Police and learned magistrates. There is a well demarcated sphere of activity between the field of crime detection and crime punishment. Investigation of an offence is the field exclusively reserved for the executive through the police department, the superintendence over which vests in the State Government. The executive who is charged with a duty to keep vigilance over law and order situation is obliged to prevent crime and if an offence is alleged to have been committed it is its bounden duty to investigate into the offence and bring the offenders to book. Needless to state the ill consequences which can follow if the police refuses to investigate a cognizable offence (offences in which the police is duty bound to lodge an FIR, without acquiring prior permission of a magistrate in order to investigate the case, together with the power to arrest without warrant) such as theft, murder, dacoity, rape, hurt, assault, robbery, trespass, cheating etc). As per the scheme and policy of the criminal procedure code no investigation in an offence can be commenced without registration of FIR’s.
iii) Apart from the above, there have also been several studies and commissions set up to study and reform public-police relations and it was found that the public have greater dissatisfaction and disenchantment with the working of the police. Apathy of the police,inefficiency and incapacity of the police has given a poor image to it as people are in fear of even approaching it.
iv) Recent years have seen an upsurge in terrorism and violence in different parts of the country and the police is expected to take care of law and order to curb the problem. But their failure to do so has led to worsening of the situation and given an all the more bad reputation to the police in the eyes of the common man.
v) People are unaware of their rights and duties and so there leaves ample scope for the police or for that matter any organisation to take the law in their hands and exploit the common man.


Let's discuss the reforms in Police that would help resolve the above.







REFORMS IN POLICE:
The police personnel have a vital role in a parliamentary democracy. The society perceives them as custodians of law and order and providing safety and security to all. This essentially involves continuous police-public interface. The ever changing societal situation in terms of demography, increasing rate and complexity of crime particularly of an organized nature and also accompanied by violence, agitations, violent demonstrations, variety of political activities, left wing terrorism, insurgency, militancy, enforcement of economic and social legislations, etc. have further added new dimensions to the responsibilities of police personnel. Of late, there has been growing realization that police personnel have been functioning with a variety of constraints and handicaps, reflecting in their performance, thus becoming a major concern for both central and state governments. In addition, there is a feeling that the police performance has been falling short of public expectations, which is affecting the overall image of the police in the country. With a view to making the police personnel more effective and efficient especially with reference to their, professionalism and public interface several initiatives have been launched from time to time.

 Some of the steps suggested by the National Police Commission in this direction are:
• To bring about a change of attitude of police personnel so that they
become people friendly.
• To bring about more transparency and openness in police working.
• To improve public image and public participation in police working.
• To make the police more efficient and effective.

In order to achieve the above mention direction, the Ministry of Home Affairs with
the support of UNDP has taken up an experimental project covering nine police
stations in Rajasthan, Tamilnadu and Assam. One of the major aims of this project is
to revise the curricula for training of police personnel at State Police Training
Institutions.

Police sensitisation training has also been initiated to rid the police of their colonial attitudes and high handed behaviour.

Over working the staff, lack of manpower, improper or no proper infrastructure to carry out their duties,no reward system, no proper growth system,major political and bureaucratic interference and stranglehold,etc.

The recommendations of the National Police Commission to set up State security boards in order to make the police force more accountable and responsible but unfortunately they have been constituted in only a few states and that too they are not up to the mark.

The Supreme Court in 2006 gave directives which were to be followed till the states come up with their police acts.


First was to set up a State Security Commission which would insulate the police form unwarranted political interference. Political control is necessary but it needs to be conditioned in such a manner that political masters cannot take undue advantage. The primary responsibility of this commission is to lay down policy guidelines for service oriented policing, evaluate the functioning of the police and making binding recommendations to the government to that effect.
Second, the directives provide for a minimum fixed tenure of two years for the Chief of Police and four other police officers on operational duties in the field. The court expressed its shock over the frequent transfer of Superintendents of Police for whimsical reasons and observed that this trend leads to demoralization of the police force.

Third, the directives call for the separation of investigation from law and order which was also recommended by the Law Commission of India in its 154th report. This would ensure faster, accurate and fairer processes so that rule of law is maintained. Presently, law and order is prioritized over investigation work which leads to loss of material evidence crucial for the case under consideration.


Fourth, the Court's directive mandate the creation of a Police Establishment Board which would be a departmental body to oversee the transfer and posting of the officials above the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police.
Fifth and the most important, the judgment directs to set up Police Complaints Authority in states to inquire into allegations of complaint of public against the men in uniform. This is supposed to be an independent body comprised of civil society members to ensure that justice is done without prejudice to any party. However states are trying to dilute the neutrality of the complaint authority by increasing the number of policemen on the Complaint Authority in the guise of independent members. This would annul the efficacy of having a complaint authority.

However, the states have been reluctant to implement the directives of the Supreme Court. Most of the states have or are trying to pass the new Police Acts but have diluted the directives leaving lacunae in place for police to act discretionarily/arbitrarily and facilitating entrenchment by the political executive. This is a significant blow to all civil society members who turn to state and the police to protect their human rights. The entire campaign towards reform has been compromised by those who want to protect their narrow and partisan interests.
The Supreme Court has set up a monitoring committee to review the implementation of its directives.

 The eighth report of the NPC recommended that protection available to the police officers from prosecution under section 132 and 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure which mandate prior sanction of the government in order to prosecute any public servant including police official for any act done in discharge of his official duty be withdrawn or that a proviso be added to the section to initiate automatic judicial enquiry in every refusal to prosecute. This recommendation must be implemented. Making the police more accountable would deter police officials from harassing citizens.
Structural and institutional changes can only bring in marginal improvements,what is important is attitudinal change on both the police as well as people's side to effectively cooperate with each other for smooth administration.

Go through the international and national statistical data in this, very important - http://www.fdrindia.org/publications/IndianPoliceSystem_PR.pdf      AND   http://bprd.nic.in/writereaddata/linkimages/1645442204-Volume%201.pdf

This post would like to conclude with the following thoughts for you to ponder over. Corruption exists, is taken for granted, even celebrated. India is not truly free because like slaves, majority of Indians passively accept injustice.Passive acceptance of injustice is also violence. Disrespect is also violence. Laziness is also violence. We unquestioningly accept injustices at home, on our streets, in our workplaces and from those in public offices and it is us and only us who can change this and make India a better place to live in. True patriotism lies in not just saluting our national flag or standing up for the national anthem, we need to have a purpose in our lives, if not for anyone else, for ourselves and our future generations. You get back what you give. So, we should take all steps to make ourselves aware of our rights and duties towards ourselves and the society for law and order and justice,as well as make ourselves of the hierarchy of the police system as well as other public organisations and use it effectively alongwith RTI in order to report non - performance of duty of officials and reform them from our end as well.



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The next post will cover :

Significant issues in Indian Administration:
Values in public service; Regulatory Commissions;
National Human Rights Commission;
Problems of administration in coalition
regimes; Citizen-administration interface;
Corruption and administration; Disaster
management.