Public Administration Mains 2017 : Model Question and Answer - 34
Public Administration Mains 2017 : Model Question and Answer
(Public Administration Paper I / Chapter: Accountability and Control)
(Current Based) Question : Do you think there should be control to ensure the accountability ? (25 Marks/350 Words)
Model Answer :
In a contemporary polycentric model of governance several actors are vested with powers to undertake public administration. However, this model requires necessary checks and balances between the different actors to ensure mutual accountability. L D White has stated that Power in a democratic society requires control and higher degree of power needs equal amount of control.
In the case of Indian Public Administration, there must be accountability to the different actors and stakeholders- Parliament/Legislature, Judiciary, Executive ,Customers and the Media. Each of these actors employs necessary statutory and regulatory tools to exercise control over the Administrative machinery and hold them accountable.
1) Legislative exercises control through different measures like question hour, zero hour, adjournment motion, parliamentary committees, budget, public accounts committees and no-confidence motion. In addition the legislature has created statutory bodies to exercise independent control over the Administration e.g. Comptroller and Auditor General, Central Vigilance Commission with the Central Bureau of Investigation.
2) Executive exercises control through appointments, budget, rules and codes of conduct.
3) Judiciary exercises control over the administration by upholding the Rule of Law (A.V Dicey). Judicial Review and Judicial activism in the wake of the national emergency have been measures taken by the Judiciary to hold the administration accountable to the Rule of Law. The Constitution endows the Supreme Court under Article 32 and High Court under Article 226 to issue writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, certiorari, quo warranto and prohibition.
4) Media has always played a critical role in mobilizing public opinion and serves as a critical informer of the inadequacies of the administration.
5) Customers have been endowed with the power of information post 2005. In earlier times the Administration operated under the Officials Secrets Act, 1923. However with the right to Information Act, the ordinary citizen is empowered to know the functioning of the administration and can hold it accountable through suitable grievance redressal mechanisms. The Lokpal must also be institutionalized in the same spirit of exercising control and ensuring accountability of the administration.
6) Accountability to God and your own conscience, even though a very personal value system, is being encouraged by the Department of Personnel Training by facilitating a distance learning programme on Values in Administration. (DoPT & UNDP Project) (Total Words- 371)
(Linkages : Control and Accountability, Legislative Control and Accountability, Executive Control and Accountability, Judicial Control and Accountability, Media, Customers, Own Conscience and Accountability)