Day 11 – Q.2 In what ways does the lack of interministerial coordination affect governance quality? Is there a mechanism in place to deal with this issue? Examine. 

In what ways does the lack of interministerial coordination affect governance quality? Is there a mechanism in place to deal with this issue? Examine. 

अंतर-मंत्रालयी समन्वय की कमी किस तरह शासन की गुणवत्ता को प्रभावित करती है? क्या इस मुद्दे से निपटने के लिए कोई तंत्र मौजूद है? जांच करें।

Approach-

In this question candidates need to write about ways in which lack of inter ministerial coordination affect governance quality .in second part of answer write about mechanism by which this issue will be solved .

Introduction-

Coordination is the mechanism through which policies, strategies, plans, peoples, systems, and tools are brought together to achieve a particular goal. Government services are often cross-sectional, interlinked and complementary particularly in the areas of agriculture, education, trade, and mining. One particular service or service provider functioning improperly will affect the entire system

Body –

Governance is a collaborative effort that requires disconnectedness between the government and various institutions of civil society, as well as within the various departments of the government. Absence of the latter has plagued administration for a long time.

• The penchant of departments to work in silos, and the absence of a holistic outlook has led to failure in regularly sharing information between different arms of the government. This can cause the following problems:
• Delay in decision making leading to a reactive rather than proactive government. (cross border attacks despite credible information warning so )
• Duplication of effort (multiple department and govt schemes working on same lines, eg Ministry of Panchayat Raj and District Rural Development Agencies). These government initiatives are costly where the blame of problem is put on another department. Such attitude leads to loss of faith in governance and ineffective policy management for benefits of people.
• Wastage of resources (multiple agencies, middle heavy bureaucracy) .
• Failure to institutionalize expertise (Investigative agencies deal with different crimes and doesn’t share info, opposition to National Counter Terrorism Centre etc)
• Capacity building efforts are often duplicated and/or inconsistently applied across ministries. One state employee may receive two or three similar training while another employee receives none.
• Delay in delivery: There is overlapping of procedures like clearances, approvals etc. which takes time and delays delivery of services. Confusion regarding jurisdiction is considered an important bottleneck in enforcement agencies.

Mechanism to deal with the issue –

• Problems today are multidimensional in nature (Eg swach bharat has MoRD, MoWR and MoUD involved) that require collaboration to succeed.Poor coordination is a major obstacle to the effective administration of government services. The steps like
• PARIVESH –for single clearance of projects related to the environment,
• PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance And Timely Implementation)- a unique integrating and interactive platform.
• The platform is aimed at addressing common man’s grievances, and simultaneously monitoring and reviewing important programmes and projects of the Government of India as well as projects flagged by State Governments.
• PRAKASH (Power Rail Koyla Availability through Supply Harmony), with a view to improving coordination between the power, coal and railway ministries to ensure coal supplies to power plants.
• Information sharing mechanisms, that ensure two way communication as a matter of routine rather than the norm are required. This will greatly help governance as ,
• It will ensure more transparency as information will be accessible from any point.
• It will bring more participative governance where every advice from various ministry would be looked after.
• sharing of information reduces delay in implementation of projects.
• It will reduce red tapism and corruption.
• It will lead to more effective implementation of government initiatives.
• It will ensure a sense of team work and co-operation among ministries.

Conclusion –

Poor coordination is a major obstacle to the effective administration of government services. The steps like PARIVESH,PRAGATI,PRAKSH,for single clearance of projects related to the environment are stepped in the right direction.