1. Objective and Expected Outcome
- To expose the students to some key challenges of contemporary India.
- To enable the students to understand issues of governance in light of these challenges.
- To make them understand, how can the idea of active and participatory citizenship improve the quality of governance?
- The paper will provide the students perspective and insight of governance. It will help them become more informed and effective in their role as citizen.
Every Semester, teaching will be spread over 16 weeks including two weeks for review.
2. Themes & Sub-themes (28 Lectures plus 14 Presentations spread over 14 weeks)
I. The Concept of Good Governance ( 5 Lectures)
What is Good Governance? Good Governance vs Democratic Governance, Economic Development and Governance, Challenges to Good Governance
II. Citizens and their Rights and Obligations ( 5 Lectures)
Rights and Obligations of Citizens:Civic Culture,Participatory Citizenship, Social Audit, Citizen Policing, Role of Civil Society
III. Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice ( 6 Lectures)
Policing and Enforcement of Laws, Autonomy and Neutrality of Investigating and Enforcement Agencies, Access to Justice (Judicial delays, costly litigations etc).
IV. Rural and Urban Governance: Access to Opportunities and Amenities (7 Lectures)
Rural Poverty and Migration to Cities: Issues in Access to Food, Employment, Public Health and Education, Impact of Urbanization on Civic Amenities, Infrastructure and Environment.
V. Institutional Initiatives towards Good Governance (5 Lectures)
Right to Information, Citizens Charter, Consumer Rights, Indian Ombudsman, E- Governance
Classroom Teaching
- Discussion will be built by connecting the students with the current issues linked to governance.
- Case studies and projects will precede the discussions on theory.
- Focussed group discussions on text based materials so as to make classes more interactive and participatory.
- Data Collection through survey methods on several issues pertaining to real world day-to- day problems. This will enable the students to have first-hand access to information and facts which will improve their understanding.
3. Project Works
- Study of efficiency, accountability and transparency in the working of public institutions such as Delhi Jal Board, New Delhi Municipal Corporation, Delhi Electricity Board,etc.
- Projects demonstrating as how technology has enabled better governance. Study of People using technology and online access to information, grievance redressal mechanism and delivery system.
- Case studies on facilities and working ofhospitals and schools.
- Projects to assess the correlation between governance and economic development.
- Case study of Government agencies on their service delivery and grievance redressal mechanism.
- Citizens reactions and responses to national crisis.
- Study of visits of People Representatives to their Constituencies and their interaction with the people.
- Study and analysis of election data to know the linkages between social and religious demography of the constituencies and electoral behaviour.
- Study of educational and professional background of legislators.
- Study of walk-outs and disruptions of legislative proceedings by elected representatives.
- Voting percentage in rural and urban constituencies: Discerning emerging patterns.
- Why corruption cases do not reach the logical end in India?
- Judicial delays and issue of access to justice.
- Workload of civil and police officials.
- Encroachment of public space by citizens.
- Citizens promoting corruption and black money (Survey of consumers and Shopkeepers in buying and selling goods).
- Citizens monitoring/audit of implementation of government programmes and projects.
- Study of Citizens Charter in public organizations (Banks, Hospitals, Electricity Department,etc,)
- Project to study efficiency, accountability and responsiveness of police department.
- Pending court cases: pattern and nature. Projects to assess the workload on judiciary.
- Understanding the nature and pattern of crimes against women.
- Case studies on judicial delays, interaction with litigants and lawyers to study the cost of litigations.
- Studies of perception of people on some high profile corruption and criminal cases.
- Study of traffic violations at red light.
- Filing an RTI application and study of use and misuse of the RTI.
- Evaluation of public protests movements: Analysis of the cost of strike days
- Study of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)to see how theycomplement the functions of the government.
- Study of protest movements against corruption, black money, land acquisition and displacements, etc.
4. Reading List
Printed Materials:
- Babu, D. R. Satish (2009). Conceptualising the Process of E-governance: The E-Seva Experience in Hyderabad, The Indian Journal of Public Administration, Vol.LV, No.2. April-June. pp 165-186.
- C. Chakrapaniand Arup Mitra(1995).Rural to Urban Migration: Access toEmployment Incidence of Poverty and Determinants of Mobility, IndianJournal of Social Work, Vol.54, No.3, July, pp.377-86.
- Citizen Centric Administration: the Heart of Governance, Twelfth Report of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, Government of India, New Delhi, 2009, pp 8-24.
- Dhaka, Rajvir S. (2009). Right to Information Act and Good Governance: Operational Problems and Road Ahead, The Indian Journal of Public Administration, Vol.LV, No.3. July-September. pp 534-561.
- Dutta, R.K.( 2000). Policing the New millennium, Indian Police Journal, Vol. 47, Nos. 2 & 3, April-Sept 2000, pp. 58-63
- Jain, Abhishek and Aaruhi Jain (2009). Promoting Right to Information through E- Governance A Case of E-Soochna and Other Initiatives in H.P.,The Indian Journal of Public Administration, Vol.LV, No.1. January-March. pp 36-51.
- L. Radhakrishnan and K Ravi Kumar (2013). Land Acquisition in India: Need for a Paradigm Shift Kurukshetra [Ministry of Rural Development], Vol.61, No.5, March. pp 30-37.
- M.Lingarajuand Johnson Samuel (2005). Rural – Urban Linkages: DoesImpermanent Migration to Cities help the Rural Poor?, Nagarlok, Vol.37, No.1, Jan-March, pp.9-20.
- Mishra, O.P. (2006). Policing in the 21st Century: Areas for Concern, Indian Police Journal, Vol. 53, No. 1, (Jan-March), pp. 7-11.
- Nanda,Ved P. (2006). The Good Governanc Concept Revisited, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science,Vol. 603, Law, Society, and Democracy: Comparative Perspectives (January), pp. 269-283.
- Pattanaik, B. K. and Madan Mohan Singh (2010). SarvaShikshaAbhiyan and Inclusive Education, Kurukshetra [Ministry of Rural Development], Vol.58, No.11, September. pp 6-9.
- Paul, Samuel (2008). India’s Citizen’s Charters: In Search of a Champion, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 43, No. 7 (Feburary 16 – 22), pp. 67-73.
- Roy, Anupama,( 2005). The Nation and its Constitution: The text and Context of Citizenship in Gendered Citizenship: Historical and Conceptual Explorations, Orient Longman, Delhi.
- Roy, Jaytilak Guha (2009). The Right to Information: Some Emerging Issues of Public Concern, The Indian Journal of Public Administration, Vol.LV, No.3. July-September. pp 406-412.
- Shamshad, Ahmad (2009). Right to Information: Issues of Administrative Efficiency, Public Accountability and Good Governance in India, The Indian Journal of Public Administration, Vol.LV, No.3. July-September. pp 562-577.
- Sharma, Brij Kishore ( 2012), Introduction to the Constitution of India, PHI Learning (Pvt) Ltd, New Delhi. (Hindi edition is also available).
- Siwach, Raj Kumar and Sunil Kumar (2009). Implementing NREGS in Haryana: A Study of Social Audit, Kurukshetra [Ministry of Rural Development], Vol.57, No.6, April. pp.41-44.
- Swamy, Raju Narayana (2013). Social Legislation and Social Security: A Case Study of MGNREGA, Kurukshetra [Ministry of Rural Development], Vol.61, No.4, February. pp 33-40.
- What is a Social Audit, Kurukshetra [Ministry of Rural Development], Vol.57, No.6, April 2009. p.40.
Web Sources:
- A note on Good Governance: http://www.img.kerala.gov.in/docs/downloads/gg.pdf
- Citizen Charter: An Indian Experience: http://www.goicharters.nic.in/ccinitiative.htm
- Good Governance: Origin, Concepts and Components by NayanaRenukumar:www.slideshare.net/nayanarenu/good-governance-6268274
- Grievance Redressal in Bihar: http://india.gov.in/check-details-grievance-petition-bihar
- Good Governance: An Overview: http://www.ifad.org/gbdocs/eb/67/e/EB-99-67-INF- 4.pdf
- Good Governance and Human Rights:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/GoodGovernance/Pages/GoodGov ernanceIndex.aspx
- HimanchalPradesh: http://admis.hp.nic.in/esamadhan/Citizen/SubmitGrievance.aspx
- Impact of Mobile Technology on Government:http://www.mgovservice.ru/upload/uploadfiles/Impact%20of%20Mobile%2 0Technologies%20on%20Government.pdf
- Orissa:http://sanjoghelpline.in/website/RegistrationOnline_RWSS.aspx?SchemeId=9&sr cPage=gen
- Social Audit: http://www.nregs.kerala.gov.in/index.php/social-audit
- Social Audit by Kurien Thomas: http://www.idgnet.org/pdfs/social%20audit.pdf
- Towards Good Governance: http://reform.gov.bb/page/GOOD_GOVERNANCE.pdf
- What is Good Governance?: http://www.unescap.org/pdd/prs/ProjectActivities/Ongoing/gg/governance.asp
