Public Administration Mains 2017 : Solved Paper Question Paper-1 (Question-5)
Public Administration Mains 2017 : Solved Paper Question Paper-1 (Question-5)
(Section B)
Q5) Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
a) “Budgeting is apolitical process” – (Aaron Wildavsky) 10 marks (Financial Administration)
ANSWER:
The budget process often suffers from a ‘democratic deficit’ due to the limited
accountability provided by parliamentary scrutiny which is hindered by lack of
information but also Politics. Politicians are always self-interested,
short-sighted, politically motivated individuals with little sympathy for
technical analysis and fiscal prudence. As a political tool, budget is value
ridden signalling the government’s ideological commitment, political philosophy
and policy platform. It is a political statement of government policy expressed
in fiscal terms.
Budgets are also political documents, resulting from a bargaining process that
reflects the balance of power among different actors and interests within the
government and in the country as a whole. The ritualistic nature of the budget
formulation process serves the purpose of keeping taxpayers and donors happy,
while during the budget execution phase the attention shifts to maintaining
political support, for example through the payment of civil service salaries to
the detriment of developmental expenditures.
b) “Development Administration and Administrative Development have a chicken and egg kind of relationship”.-(Riggs) . Elaborate (10 marks) (Development Dynamics)
ANSWER:
Administrative Development i.e. Administration of development and Development
Administration i.e. development of administration are dependent concepts.
Administration of development is as important as development of administration.
Superiority of one concept over the other cannot be established.
To achieve development goals it is essential that there should be adequate
assessment and planning of resources, its evaluation and. implementation,
adequate involvement of people, emphasis on strong administrative machinery,
developed bureaucracy, integrity in administration, innovativeness, and
decentralized decision-making etc.
Both the concepts support each other and development of administration is needed
for administration of development. As per F. Riggs 'development administration'
and 'administrative development' have a chicken and egg kind of relationship.
c) “Digitalization provides great impetus to E-governance.” Discuss (10 marks) (Techniques of Administrative Improvement)
The Digital India provides for e-Governance and would promote inclusive
growth that covers electronic services, products, devices, manufacturing and job
opportunities. Digital India aims to create a seamless ecosystem across multiple
government departments to make services available on both online and mobile
platforms.
The government department has taken a number of initiatives like MyGov(Citizen
participation platform) , Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System, Jeevan
Pramaan, e-Greetings, e-Sampark, National Digital Literacy Mission etc to
promote e-Governance Competency Framework in the country.
As part of the initiative, financial transactions would be made cashless and
entitlements would be available on the cloud. It will provide universal digital
literacy to enable citizens to use the digital platform. The government services
can be even accessed in vernacular languages to help users participate in the
new digital mechanism to spur growth in areas of governance and service
delivery.