Composition : Good Governance

 

Good governance is an indeterminate term used in the international development literature to describe how public institutions conduct public affairs and manage public resources. Governance is “the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented)”. In recent times issues on good governance have received increasingly serious attention from researchers, policy makers and international development community. Good governance now not only occupies central stage in the development discourse but also is considered as the crucial element to be incorporated in the development strategy. Apart from the universal acceptance of its importance and differences it prevails in respect of theoretical formulations, policy prescriptions and conceptualization of the subject itself.

1. Good Governance:

Before going into details it is relevant to know what governance is. Governance is the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development. There are three distinct aspects of governance. These are:

(a) The form of political regime and the legitimacy of government.

(b) The process in which authority is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources and

(c) The capacity of the government to design, formulate and implement policies and discharge functions. Governance may also be termed as a mechanism through which relationship between those who govern and those who are governed is expressed.

Good Governance is an approach to government that is committed to creating a system founded in justice and peace that protects individual’s human rights and civil liberties. According to the United Nations, Good Governance is measured by the eight factors of Participation, Rule of Law, Transparency, Responsiveness, Consensus Oriented, Equity and Inclusiveness, Effectiveness and Efficiency, and
Accountability.

1.1. Participation: Participation requires that all groups, particularly those most vulnerable, have direct or representative access to the systems of government. This manifests as a strong civil society and citizens with the freedom of association and expression.

1.2. Rule of Law: Rule of Law is exemplified by impartial legal systems that protect the human rights and civil liberties of all citizens, particularly minorities. This is indicated by an independent judicial branch and a police force free from corruption.

1.3. Transparency: Transparency means that citizens understand and have access to the means and manner in which decisions are made, especially if they are directly affected by such decisions. This information must be provided in an understandable and accessible format, typically translated through the media.

1.4. Responsiveness: Responsiveness simply involves that institutions respond to their stakeholders within a reasonable time frame.

1.5. Consensus Oriented: Consensus Oriented is demonstrated by an agenda that seeks to mediate between the many different needs, perspectives, and expectations of a diverse citizenry. Decisions needs to be made in a manner that reflects a deep understanding of the historical, cultural, and social context of the community.

1.6. Equity and Inclusiveness: Equity and Inclusiveness depends on ensuring that all the members of a community feel included and empowered to improve or maintain their well-being, especially those individuals and groups that are the most vulnerable.

1.7. Effectiveness and Efficiency: Effectiveness and Efficiency is developed through the sustainable use of resources to meet the needs of a society. Sustainability refers to both ensuring social investments carry through and natural resources are maintained for future generations.

1.8. Accountability: Accountability refers to institutions being ultimately accountable to the people and one another. This includes government agencies, civil society, and the private sector all being accountable to one another as well.

2. Features of Good Governance:

Good governance is characterized by an accountability government at the top, an independent judicial system, freedom of thought and expression and above all freedom of choice for its citizens.

Good governance is epitomized by predictable, open and enlightened policy making, a bureaucracy imbued with professional ethos acting in furtherance of the public good, the rule of law, transparent and a strong civil society participating in public affairs.

Good governance fosters a strong but sharply delimited state capable of sustained economic and social development and institutional growth. Good governance also implies a democratic structures, human rights and free media.

If sustainable development is to occur, a predictable and transparent framework of rules and institutions for the conduct of private and public business must exist. For the private sector, the requirement is that the framework be clear, applied even-handedly and that the intention of the government be predictable and transparent. And regarding government, the need is sound public sector management underpinned by accountability and transparency.

Poor Governance:

Poor governance is characterized by arbitrary policy making, unaccountable bureaucracy, uniformed or unjust legal systems, abuse of political power, a civil society unengaged in public affairs, and widespread corruption. Poor governance also undermines all efforts to improve policy making and create durable institutions. A country like Myanmar and Nigeria may have wealth but still remain poor because of poor governance. The bad governance of Ayub Khan led to the disintegration of Pakistan and the antidemocratic rule of Ershad regime systemically weakened all institutions in ingiadesh through political interference.

4. The Criteria or Pre-requisites for Good Governance: The main criteria of good governance are as follows-

• • Corruption-free state is a pre-requisite for good governance. Corruption amounts to the betrayal of public trust for individual or group gain. A corrupt goverment involves the moral incapacity of citizens to make disinterested moral commitments to actions, symbols and institutions. In a corrupt state, citizens are unwilling to do anything which does not bring them gratification. Thus corruption stands as an obstacle to good governance.

 

• • An accountability of bureaucracy is very vital in good governance. So, the bureaucrats are made accountable by enforcing service rules strictly and bringing them under punishment for bad performance. If needed, all the public accounts and audit reports are made public.

 

• • Good governance also presupposes an independent, speedy and affordable legal system. The legal system should be less costly in terms of fees, less time consuming and be within the reach of the generally people. Speedy and timely settlement of disputes is ensured. The judiciary should also be free timely settlement of disputes is ensured. The judiciary should also be free from all kinds of political and executive manipulation.

 

• • Economic management is another hallmark of good governance for sustainable economic and social development which depends on the efficient management of the economy. Economic development cannot occur without open, participatory and enlightened policy making, a professional bureaucracy and a strong administration with all behaving under the rules of law.

 

• • Political administrative relationship is another important component of good governance. There should be a certain and well defined relationship between the two groups and bureaucracy should be controlled by the politicians. One is time-bound, namely the political party in power and the other is permanent, namely the bureaucracy. A system of checks and balances of both the political and administrative components of government is, therefore, the necessary prerequisites for good governance.

 

• • Security of public life is a yardstick of good governance, because security of public life is the Pre-condition of a civil society. So if we have a look at the statistics about crimes in our society, we shall be able to understand the condition of our government.

 

• • Justice to the citizens is another precondition of good governance. More than 2.0 lakh cases are pending before the courts of assistant judges over the country and the number of pending cases before the courts of district judges are more than 1.0 lakh. This figures shows the slow disposal of cases in the civil courts which cause much hardship to the citizens who pray for justice. This is not a sign of good governance, because justice delayed is justice denied.

 

5. Shortcomings:

In spite of the efforts taken by the democratic government to improve the prevailing Condition of the country, it is constrained with some shortcomings which are-

• Law and order situation needs further improvement.
• In banks and corporations, the CBAs hold the management as hostages
• Privatization is very slow
• Many foreign investors fear to come due to political unrest
• About 80% of the poor still remain outside the safety net program.
• The civil bureaucracy stands divided
• There is political deadlock in the parliament.

6. Recommendations:

There are some recommendations for the government to move into good governance. The government of Bangladesh to be rated as good governance has to ensure the following:

1. Administrative neutrality should be protected.
2. Administration should be kept free from political pressure.
3. Rules of business should be amended giving more administrative and financial powers to departments and corporations.
4. Public servants should be trained adequately in administrative ethics.
5. There should be vision for a patriotic and incorruptible bureaucracy.
6. Nationalism and religious values should be protected.
7. Promotion at all levels should be based on merit and quality only.
8. NGO programmes should be closely monitored and they should be allowed only a complementary role.
9. Poverty alleviation programmers like Grameen model should be encouraged and reliance on foreign aid should be reduced in phases.
10. Education should be given the highest priority so that 100% literacy rate could be achieved by 2015.
11. Rule of law should be applied strictly irrespective of political allegiance, caste, creed and religion.

Good governance is about the processes for making and implementing decisions in order to ensure socio-economic emancipation of this poor nation, all major political parties, civil servants, academics, private sectors, and above all, all the conscious citizens have to come to a consensus on the issue of working for the nation. So the objective of all of us should be in creating a just and egalitarian society that protects the poor and weak, and does not limit itself to serve only a small interest group.

“Good Governance depends on ability to take responsibility by both administration as well as people.”

— Narendra Modi

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বাংলা রচনা : স্বদেশপ্রেম/দেশপ্রেম/দেশাত্মবোধ (১৬ টি পয়েন্ট)
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