12th ARC report

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Chapter 2 _ e Concept of Citizen Centric Administration
Chapter 3 Functions of Government
Chapter 4 Citizens Charters
Chapter 5 Citizens Participation in Administration
Chapter 6 Decentralisation and Delegation
Chapter 7 Grievance Redressal Mechanism
Chapter 8 Consumer Protection
Chapter 9 Special Institutional Mechanisms
Chapter 10 Process Simplifi cation
Conclusion
Summary of Recommendations

INTRODUCTION

The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) was set up with a wide mandate to
prepare a blue print for revamping the public administration system and to suggest measures
to achieve a pro-active, responsive, accountable, sustainable and effi cient administration for
the country at all levels of government. Governance in order to be citizen centric should be
participative and transparent. It should be eff ective, effi cient and responsive to the citizens.
Furthermore, an ethos of serving the citizens should permeate all government organizations.
Last but not the least, government organisations should be accountable to the people. As one
of the primary functions of the State is to promote the welfare of its citizens, an evaluation of
the functioning of the institutions of governance will ultimately have to be based on the
satisfaction they provide to the common man. In this regard, prominence would need to be
attached to the voice of the citizens themselves.

Past Initiatives

There have been a large number of reform measures - some at the macro level and others at
the micro level - which have sought to bring administration closer to the people. Th ese
IntroductionPromoting e-Governance Th e SMART Way Forward
3 include (i) enacting laws giving certain rights to people, (ii) setting up of new institutional
mechanisms to redress citizens grievances, (iii) improving accessibility to citizens by setting
up units closer to people, (iv) simplifying procedures to reduce bureaucratic delays, (v) using
technology to improve internal effi ciency, (vi) rewarding government employees who
perform well, (vii) improving discipline within the organization, (viii) reducing regulatory
control (ix) holding public contact programmes etc. Some of the generic reform initiatives are
described in the following paragraphs.

Santhanam Committee Report

The Central Vigilance Commission On the basis of recommendations made by the Committee
on Prevention of Corruption, popularly known as the Santhanam Committee, the Central
Vigilance Commission (CVC) was set up by the Government of India in 1964. It was
accorded statutory status, consequent upon the judgement of the Honble Supreme Court in
Vineet Narain v. Union of India (1998) 1 SCC 226, through the Central Vigilance
Commission Act, 2003. Th e CVC advises the Union Government on all matters pertaining to
the maintenance of integrity in administration. It exercises superintendence over the working
of the Central Bureau of Investigation - the principal investigating agency of the Union
Government in anti-corruption matters - and also over the vigilance administration of various
Ministries and other organizations of the Union Government.