New Delhi : Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, Government of India (DARPG), in collaboration with Government of Arunachal Pradesh organized a two-day Regional Conference on ‘Bringing Citizens and Government Closer through Administrative Reforms’ during 18-19 August, 2022 at Itanagar.
Inaugurating the two-day Regional Conference along with Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Shri Pema Khandu, Dr Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent charge) of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Earth Sciences, Minister of State for PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, MoS Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space, said that, prior to 2014, the North Eastern Region suffered economically due to myopic policies of the successive central governments, but soon after the Modi government took over in 2014, the Prime Minister had stated that every effort would be made to bring the region at par with the more developed areas of the country. Under Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the work culture of Northeast has got revolutionary transformed in the last 8 years.
As a result, the Minister said, now the projects in Northeast are getting completed within a fixed timeline and the utilisation of Central funds is almost 100 percent. Every State is connected to the union capital by railway and each of the eight States is coming up with its airport whereas Guwahati has turned into an important international airport.
Dr Jitendra Singh said that it is only after Shri Narendra Modi took over as Prime Minister that such conferences are held in the farthest North Eastern States like Arunachal Pradesh as well as other hilly and backward areas to empower them in every walk of life. He said, the Itanagar Conference being organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances comes after the National Conference on e-Governance held in Meghalaya in August, 2019, when ‘Shillong Declaration’ on e-Governance was adopted to share best practices, latest technology developments and leveraging them for achieving effective governance and public service delivery.
Dr. Jitendra Singh informed that the Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances in collaboration with Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh and Centre for Good Governance, Hyderabad has developed a District Good Governance Index, a first for North Eastern States, on the lines of the National Good Governance Index for improving the efficiency of Governance across Districts.
He said, DARPG also plans to collaborate with the Government of Arunachal Pradesh to develop a District Good Governance Portal for monitoring the Rankings of each District of Arunachal Pradesh on a monthly basis and help in benchmarking performance within the State of Arunachal Pradesh. It is pertinent to mention that it is desirable to build an online good governance index for the North East Region that tracks annual improvements on the lines of District Good Governance Index of Arunachal Pradesh, which is then monitored through a digital portal.
Dr. Jitendra Singh said, Prime Minister Modi is working to make Arunachal a major gateway to East Asia. Modern infrastructure is set up, seeing Arunachal’s role regarding national security. Nature has endowed Arunachal with a lot of its treasures and the Centre is also trying to take the tourism potential of Arunachal to the whole world.
Dr. Jitendra Singh, announced that the DARPG, as per the MoU, will collaborate with the state government to develop a ‘district good governance portal’ for monitoring the performance of each district on a monthly basis and help in benchmarking performance, besides helping the state in upgrading the e-office Version 5.6 to e-office Version 7.0 in a phased manner. Further, the National Centre for Good Governance under the DARPG will organise mid-career building programmes in governance for 500 officers of the Arunachal Pradesh Administrative Services over the next five years.
Dr. Jitendra Singh complimented Shri V. Srinivas, Secretary, DARPG for conducting the two-day Regional Conference in Itanagar.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a two-day regional conference, Chief Minister Shri Pema Khandu said that administrative reforms are a must for bringing change in governance and bringing it closer to the people and the Arunachal Pradesh Government is constantly adopting reforms for transparency, accountability and speedy disposal of files.
On the occasion, Shri Pema Khandu said that “the conference holds much significance as it aims to facilitate and equip government officers to bridge the gap between the government and the people to all possible extent. Terming the e-office system one of the best technological interventions for efficient and transparent governance, Khandu informed that Arunachal is “committedly on-boarding its offices on the digital platform.”
“He also said that, we have declared 2022-23 as the year of e-governance and have already implemented 100 percent e-office in the state civil secretariat, besides adopting e-assembly and e-cabinet modules. Till date we have conducted 17 e-pragati review meetings, in which we have reviewed and fast-tracked more than 200 projects and schemes with deputy commissioners and line departments,” he informed.
Shri Khandu further informed that the government has identified 22 sectors for on-boarding on the e-office platform while the rest of the offices, including those in the districts, have been directed to get on board by October this year.
“Till date we have electronically moved 8,10,350 files through e-offices and I must say file movement has become transparent as well as fast. It has also pushed in accountability as it is now easy to locate in which department or on whose table a particular file is pending,” he said. The CM expressed gratitude to the DARPG for entering into an MoU with the state government to collaborate on good governance.
Shri V. Srinivas complimented Hon’ble Chief Minister and Chief Secretary to holding the Regional Conference at Itanagar. He said that a Citizen first governance model is the best manifestation of the Government’s policy of Maximum Governance- Minimum Government. This can be achieved by Digital Transformation of Institutions. Administrative Reforms need to facilitate the creation of agile, collaborative and connected Government. He further said that DARPG collaborated with Government of Arunachal Pradesh for development of the District Good Governance Index – the first ever for NE States. It is almost in its final stages of data reconciliation and would be ready for launch shortly. The Government of India is formulating Vision India@2047. Dr. Jitendra Singh ji heads DARPG’s Advisory Group on Governance and the focus in on young officers. Dr. S. N. Tripathi ji has done a lot of work in IIPA as the knowledge partner for DARPG in formulating Vision India@2047. Shri V. Srinivas gave a message to the all young officers, the District Collectors that we have heard the Hon’ble Prime Minister from the rampants of Red Fort on August 15, 2022. The Hon’ble Prime Minister has enunciated the vision of “Jai Anusandhan” – Mission Innovation. District collectors must respond to this call for innovations in governance by formulating digital governance models to transform the Nation.
The Regional Conference was also addressed by Shri Chowna Mein, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh; Shri Dharmendra, Chief Secretary of Arunachal Pradesh; Shri Lok Ranjan, Secretary, DoNER; and Shri NBS Rajput, Joint Secretary, ARPG. The vote of thanks was given by Ajai Chagti, Secretary (AR), Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh during the inaugural session.
The Regional Conference has 5 technical sessions with Reforms in Governance; Public Grievances Redressal and e-Office in N.E. States; Good Governance Practices in North Eastern States; District Good Governance Index and Good Governance Practices.
On the day 1, Shri S. N. Tripathi, DG, IIPA chaired the session –I on the topic “Reforms in Governance”, Presentations were made on Vision India@2047; Reforms in Personnel Administration; Mission Karamyogi and Reforms in Arunachal Pradesh.
During post lunch sessions, Chaired by Shri K D Vizo, Principal Secretary (IT), Govt. of Nagaland presentations was made on the topic Redressal of Public Grievances and e-Office in Nagaland, CPGRAMS Redressal of Public Grievances, “Public Grievances Redressal and e-Office in N.E. States”, ‘e-Office in Sikkim; Citizen Centric Planning in Arunachal Pradesh; Redressal of Public Grievances in Tawang’ respectively.
In the Session – III on the topic Good Governance Practices in N.E. States Chaired by Dr. Sarat Chauhan, Pr. Secy. (Health / Finance), Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh, presentations were made on Ethical Governance through Climate Change Mitigation, Process Re-engineering in Government – Revamped CPGRAMS, Plastic Shredding Unit in Changlang, Tourism in Namsai; Water Conservation in North Eastern Hill Sites – Lessons from Sialsir Village and Covid Management in Kokrajhar”.
On Day 2 in the session IV on the topic District Good Governance Index, chaired by Shri NBS Rajput, Joint Secretary, DARPG, Presentations were made on DGGI Index for Arunachal Pradesh and DGGI portal of J&K.
On Day 2 in the session V on the topic Good Governance Practices, chaired by Shri Sriram Taranikanti, Additional Secretary, Inter State Council, MHA, Presentations were made on “National Rural Livelihood Mission in Nalbari; Education Initiatives in N.E. States’; “Technology in Administration”; “e-Office in Meghalaya”; Mission Indradhanush in East Siang.
The Conference is an effort to create a common platform to share experiences in the formulation and implementation of best practices in administrative training, capacity building to facilitate citizen centric governance, improved public service delivery through e-Governance, transparent, accountable and citizen-friendly effective administration.
The Conference has concluded with valedictory remarks of Shri V Srinivas, Secretary, DARPG and Shri Dharmendra, Chief Secretary, Gov. of Arunachal Pradesh.
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