Citizen Centric Administration | Famous Books for UPSC Exam (Summary & Tests) PDF Download

 Page 1


1 INTRODUCTION
“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We 
are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He 
is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
1.1 The Second Administrative Reforms 
Commission (ARC) was set up with a 
wide mandate to prepare a blue print for 
revamping the public administration system 
and to suggest measures to achieve a pro-
active, responsive, accountable, sustainable 
and e?  cient administration for the country 
at all levels of government. 
1.2 One of the terms of reference of the 
Commission relates to Citizen Centric 
Administration. Speci? cally, the ARC has been asked to examine the following aspects of 
this issue:
• Accountable and Transparent Government
o Issues of delegation, accountability and transparency.
o Move from Processes Accountability to Productivity Accountability and from 
Transactional to Transformative Governance.
o Reduce delays and ensure promptness in delivery of services.
• Progressive interventions to make administration more result-oriented. These 
interventions, inter alia, include:
o Process Simpli? cation.
xiv
PAC Public A? airs Centre 
PSU Public Sector Undertaking
RTO Regional T ransport O?  ce
RBI Reserve Bank of India
RTI Right to Information 
SWC Single Window Cell 
SCW State Commission for Women
SCDRF State Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum 
SHRC State Human Rights Commission
VEC Village Education Committee 
VEMB Village Electricity Management Board
VHC Village Health Committee
Box 1.1: Jawaharlal Nehru on  
Citizen Centric Administration
“….Administration is meant to achieve something, 
and not to exist in some kind of an ivory tower, 
following certain rules of procedure and, Narcissus-
like, looking on itself with complete satisfaction. 
 e test after all is the human beings and their 
welfare.” (March 29, 1954)
Source: From the Address delivered at the Inaugural 
Meeting of the Institute on 29th March, 1954, 
extracted from Public Administration Vision and 
Reality by U.C. Agarwal, IIPA.
Page 2


1 INTRODUCTION
“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We 
are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He 
is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
1.1 The Second Administrative Reforms 
Commission (ARC) was set up with a 
wide mandate to prepare a blue print for 
revamping the public administration system 
and to suggest measures to achieve a pro-
active, responsive, accountable, sustainable 
and e?  cient administration for the country 
at all levels of government. 
1.2 One of the terms of reference of the 
Commission relates to Citizen Centric 
Administration. Speci? cally, the ARC has been asked to examine the following aspects of 
this issue:
• Accountable and Transparent Government
o Issues of delegation, accountability and transparency.
o Move from Processes Accountability to Productivity Accountability and from 
Transactional to Transformative Governance.
o Reduce delays and ensure promptness in delivery of services.
• Progressive interventions to make administration more result-oriented. These 
interventions, inter alia, include:
o Process Simpli? cation.
xiv
PAC Public A? airs Centre 
PSU Public Sector Undertaking
RTO Regional T ransport O?  ce
RBI Reserve Bank of India
RTI Right to Information 
SWC Single Window Cell 
SCW State Commission for Women
SCDRF State Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum 
SHRC State Human Rights Commission
VEC Village Education Committee 
VEMB Village Electricity Management Board
VHC Village Health Committee
Box 1.1: Jawaharlal Nehru on  
Citizen Centric Administration
“….Administration is meant to achieve something, 
and not to exist in some kind of an ivory tower, 
following certain rules of procedure and, Narcissus-
like, looking on itself with complete satisfaction. 
 e test after all is the human beings and their 
welfare.” (March 29, 1954)
Source: From the Address delivered at the Inaugural 
Meeting of the Institute on 29th March, 1954, 
extracted from Public Administration Vision and 
Reality by U.C. Agarwal, IIPA.
3
o T arget Group Consultations.
o Flexibility to implementing agencies customized to local needs.
• Strengthening Citizen Centric decision making:
o To further empower the citizen through Citizens’ Charter etc.
o To facilitate accessibility of user groups to decision making processes. Th e operational 
details, inter alia, may include:
? Setting up of Information Facilitation and Solution Centres.
? Augmenting facilities for submission and redress of grievances and providing 
replies thereto.
? Setting up consultative mechanism for receiving suggestions.
• Freedom of Information:
o To review the con? dentiality classi? cation of government documents specially with 
reference to the O?  cials Secrets Act.
o To encourage transparency and access to non-classi? ed data.
o Disclosure of information and transparency as a supplement to the Right to 
Information of the citizens.
Besides, one more term of reference pertains to citizen centric administration:
• Social Capital, Trust and Participative public service delivery.
 . . .
o Increase the people-centric ness of the administrative approaches.
o Ensuring greater involvement of people ’s representatives and community at large in 
the conceptualisation and execution of programmes.
1.3 Governance in order to be citizen centric should be participative and transparent. It 
should be e? ective, e?  cient and responsive to the citizens. Furthermore, an ethos of serving 
the citizens should permeate all government organizations. Last but not the least, government 
organisations should be accountable to the people. As one of the primary functions of 
the State is to promote the welfare of its citizens, an evaluation of the functioning of the 
institutions of governance will ultimately have to be based on the satisfaction they provide 
to the common man. In this regard, prominence would need to be attached to the voice 
of the citizens themselves. 
1.4 Past Initiatives
Th ere have been a large number of reform measures - some at the macro level and others 
at the micro level - which have sought to bring administration closer to the people. Th ese 
include (i) enacting laws giving certain rights to people, (ii) setting up of new institutional 
mechanisms to redress citizens’ grievances, (iii) improving accessibility to citizens by 
setting up units closer to people, (iv) simplifying procedures to reduce bureaucratic delays, 
(v) using technology to improve internal e?  ciency, (vi) rewarding government employees 
who perform well, (vii) improving discipline within the organization, (viii) reducing 
regulatory control (ix) holding public contact programmes etc. Some of the generic reform 
initiatives are described in the following paragraphs.
1.4.1 Santhanam Committee Report - Th e Central Vigilance Commission
On the basis of recommendations made by the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, 
popularly known as the Santhanam Committee, the Central Vigilance Commission 
(CVC) was set up by the Government of India in 1964. It was accorded statutory status, 
consequent upon the judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Vineet Narain v. Union 
of India (1998) 1 SCC 226, through the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003. Th e 
CVC advises the Union Government on all matters pertaining to the maintenance of 
integrity in administration. It exercises superintendence over the working of the Central 
Bureau of Investigation - the principal investigating agency of the Union Government in 
anti-corruption matters - and also over the vigilance administration of various Ministries 
and other organizations of the Union Government.
1.4.2 First ARC - Lok Pal and Lokayukta
Th e ? rst Administrative Reforms Commission had recommended the setting up of the Lok 
Pal. Th e Lok Pal Bill has been introduced several times in Parliament, but due to various 
reasons it has not been enacted into a law. Th e Lok Pal is supposed to be a watchdog over 
the integrity of Ministers and the Members of Parliament. Th e Lok Pal Bill provides for 
constitution of the Lok Pal as an independent body to enquire into cases of corruption 
against public functionaries, with a mechanism for ? ling complaints and conducting 
inquiries etc. 
After the recommendations of the ? rst Administrative Reforms Commission, many States 
have constituted ‘Lokayuktas’ to investigate allegations or grievances arising out of the 
conduct of public servants including political executives, legislators, o?  cers of the State 
Government, local bodies, public enterprises and other instrumentalities of Government. 
A member of the public can ? le speci? c allegations with the Lokayukta against any public 
servant for enquiry. Th e Lokayukta can also initiate suo-motu inquiry into the conduct of 
public servants. Th e Commission has dealt with this subject extensively in its Report on 
‘Ethics in Governance’ and has made substantive recommendations.
Introduction Promoting e-Governance – Th e SMART Way Forward
Page 3


1 INTRODUCTION
“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We 
are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He 
is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
1.1 The Second Administrative Reforms 
Commission (ARC) was set up with a 
wide mandate to prepare a blue print for 
revamping the public administration system 
and to suggest measures to achieve a pro-
active, responsive, accountable, sustainable 
and e?  cient administration for the country 
at all levels of government. 
1.2 One of the terms of reference of the 
Commission relates to Citizen Centric 
Administration. Speci? cally, the ARC has been asked to examine the following aspects of 
this issue:
• Accountable and Transparent Government
o Issues of delegation, accountability and transparency.
o Move from Processes Accountability to Productivity Accountability and from 
Transactional to Transformative Governance.
o Reduce delays and ensure promptness in delivery of services.
• Progressive interventions to make administration more result-oriented. These 
interventions, inter alia, include:
o Process Simpli? cation.
xiv
PAC Public A? airs Centre 
PSU Public Sector Undertaking
RTO Regional T ransport O?  ce
RBI Reserve Bank of India
RTI Right to Information 
SWC Single Window Cell 
SCW State Commission for Women
SCDRF State Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum 
SHRC State Human Rights Commission
VEC Village Education Committee 
VEMB Village Electricity Management Board
VHC Village Health Committee
Box 1.1: Jawaharlal Nehru on  
Citizen Centric Administration
“….Administration is meant to achieve something, 
and not to exist in some kind of an ivory tower, 
following certain rules of procedure and, Narcissus-
like, looking on itself with complete satisfaction. 
 e test after all is the human beings and their 
welfare.” (March 29, 1954)
Source: From the Address delivered at the Inaugural 
Meeting of the Institute on 29th March, 1954, 
extracted from Public Administration Vision and 
Reality by U.C. Agarwal, IIPA.
3
o T arget Group Consultations.
o Flexibility to implementing agencies customized to local needs.
• Strengthening Citizen Centric decision making:
o To further empower the citizen through Citizens’ Charter etc.
o To facilitate accessibility of user groups to decision making processes. Th e operational 
details, inter alia, may include:
? Setting up of Information Facilitation and Solution Centres.
? Augmenting facilities for submission and redress of grievances and providing 
replies thereto.
? Setting up consultative mechanism for receiving suggestions.
• Freedom of Information:
o To review the con? dentiality classi? cation of government documents specially with 
reference to the O?  cials Secrets Act.
o To encourage transparency and access to non-classi? ed data.
o Disclosure of information and transparency as a supplement to the Right to 
Information of the citizens.
Besides, one more term of reference pertains to citizen centric administration:
• Social Capital, Trust and Participative public service delivery.
 . . .
o Increase the people-centric ness of the administrative approaches.
o Ensuring greater involvement of people ’s representatives and community at large in 
the conceptualisation and execution of programmes.
1.3 Governance in order to be citizen centric should be participative and transparent. It 
should be e? ective, e?  cient and responsive to the citizens. Furthermore, an ethos of serving 
the citizens should permeate all government organizations. Last but not the least, government 
organisations should be accountable to the people. As one of the primary functions of 
the State is to promote the welfare of its citizens, an evaluation of the functioning of the 
institutions of governance will ultimately have to be based on the satisfaction they provide 
to the common man. In this regard, prominence would need to be attached to the voice 
of the citizens themselves. 
1.4 Past Initiatives
Th ere have been a large number of reform measures - some at the macro level and others 
at the micro level - which have sought to bring administration closer to the people. Th ese 
include (i) enacting laws giving certain rights to people, (ii) setting up of new institutional 
mechanisms to redress citizens’ grievances, (iii) improving accessibility to citizens by 
setting up units closer to people, (iv) simplifying procedures to reduce bureaucratic delays, 
(v) using technology to improve internal e?  ciency, (vi) rewarding government employees 
who perform well, (vii) improving discipline within the organization, (viii) reducing 
regulatory control (ix) holding public contact programmes etc. Some of the generic reform 
initiatives are described in the following paragraphs.
1.4.1 Santhanam Committee Report - Th e Central Vigilance Commission
On the basis of recommendations made by the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, 
popularly known as the Santhanam Committee, the Central Vigilance Commission 
(CVC) was set up by the Government of India in 1964. It was accorded statutory status, 
consequent upon the judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Vineet Narain v. Union 
of India (1998) 1 SCC 226, through the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003. Th e 
CVC advises the Union Government on all matters pertaining to the maintenance of 
integrity in administration. It exercises superintendence over the working of the Central 
Bureau of Investigation - the principal investigating agency of the Union Government in 
anti-corruption matters - and also over the vigilance administration of various Ministries 
and other organizations of the Union Government.
1.4.2 First ARC - Lok Pal and Lokayukta
Th e ? rst Administrative Reforms Commission had recommended the setting up of the Lok 
Pal. Th e Lok Pal Bill has been introduced several times in Parliament, but due to various 
reasons it has not been enacted into a law. Th e Lok Pal is supposed to be a watchdog over 
the integrity of Ministers and the Members of Parliament. Th e Lok Pal Bill provides for 
constitution of the Lok Pal as an independent body to enquire into cases of corruption 
against public functionaries, with a mechanism for ? ling complaints and conducting 
inquiries etc. 
After the recommendations of the ? rst Administrative Reforms Commission, many States 
have constituted ‘Lokayuktas’ to investigate allegations or grievances arising out of the 
conduct of public servants including political executives, legislators, o?  cers of the State 
Government, local bodies, public enterprises and other instrumentalities of Government. 
A member of the public can ? le speci? c allegations with the Lokayukta against any public 
servant for enquiry. Th e Lokayukta can also initiate suo-motu inquiry into the conduct of 
public servants. Th e Commission has dealt with this subject extensively in its Report on 
‘Ethics in Governance’ and has made substantive recommendations.
Introduction Promoting e-Governance – Th e SMART Way Forward
2
o T arget Group Consultations.
o Flexibility to implementing agencies customized to local needs.
• Strengthening Citizen Centric decision making:
o To further empower the citizen through Citizens’ Charter etc.
o To facilitate accessibility of user groups to decision making processes. Th e operational 
details, inter alia, may include:
? Setting up of Information Facilitation and Solution Centres.
? Augmenting facilities for submission and redress of grievances and providing 
replies thereto.
? Setting up consultative mechanism for receiving suggestions.
• Freedom of Information:
o To review the con? dentiality classi? cation of government documents specially with 
reference to the O?  cials Secrets Act.
o To encourage transparency and access to non-classi? ed data.
o Disclosure of information and transparency as a supplement to the Right to 
Information of the citizens.
Besides, one more term of reference pertains to citizen centric administration:
• Social Capital, Trust and Participative public service delivery.
 . . .
o Increase the people-centric ness of the administrative approaches.
o Ensuring greater involvement of people ’s representatives and community at large in 
the conceptualisation and execution of programmes.
1.3 Governance in order to be citizen centric should be participative and transparent. It 
should be e? ective, e?  cient and responsive to the citizens. Furthermore, an ethos of serving 
the citizens should permeate all government organizations. Last but not the least, government 
organisations should be accountable to the people. As one of the primary functions of 
the State is to promote the welfare of its citizens, an evaluation of the functioning of the 
institutions of governance will ultimately have to be based on the satisfaction they provide 
to the common man. In this regard, prominence would need to be attached to the voice 
of the citizens themselves. 
1.4 Past Initiatives
Th ere have been a large number of reform measures - some at the macro level and others 
at the micro level - which have sought to bring administration closer to the people. Th ese 
include (i) enacting laws giving certain rights to people, (ii) setting up of new institutional 
mechanisms to redress citizens’ grievances, (iii) improving accessibility to citizens by 
setting up units closer to people, (iv) simplifying procedures to reduce bureaucratic delays, 
(v) using technology to improve internal e?  ciency, (vi) rewarding government employees 
who perform well, (vii) improving discipline within the organization, (viii) reducing 
regulatory control (ix) holding public contact programmes etc. Some of the generic reform 
initiatives are described in the following paragraphs.
1.4.1 Santhanam Committee Report - Th e Central Vigilance Commission
On the basis of recommendations made by the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, 
popularly known as the Santhanam Committee, the Central Vigilance Commission 
(CVC) was set up by the Government of India in 1964. It was accorded statutory status, 
consequent upon the judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Vineet Narain v. Union 
of India (1998) 1 SCC 226, through the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003. Th e 
CVC advises the Union Government on all matters pertaining to the maintenance of 
integrity in administration. It exercises superintendence over the working of the Central 
Bureau of Investigation - the principal investigating agency of the Union Government in 
anti-corruption matters - and also over the vigilance administration of various Ministries 
and other organizations of the Union Government.
1.4.2 First ARC - Lok Pal and Lokayukta
Th e ? rst Administrative Reforms Commission had recommended the setting up of the Lok 
Pal. Th e Lok Pal Bill has been introduced several times in Parliament, but due to various 
reasons it has not been enacted into a law. Th e Lok Pal is supposed to be a watchdog over 
the integrity of Ministers and the Members of Parliament. Th e Lok Pal Bill provides for 
constitution of the Lok Pal as an independent body to enquire into cases of corruption 
against public functionaries, with a mechanism for ? ling complaints and conducting 
inquiries etc. 
After the recommendations of the ? rst Administrative Reforms Commission, many States 
have constituted ‘Lokayuktas’ to investigate allegations or grievances arising out of the 
conduct of public servants including political executives, legislators, o?  cers of the State 
Government, local bodies, public enterprises and other instrumentalities of Government. 
A member of the public can ? le speci? c allegations with the Lokayukta against any public 
servant for enquiry. Th e Lokayukta can also initiate suo-motu inquiry into the conduct of 
public servants. Th e Commission has dealt with this subject extensively in its Report on 
‘Ethics in Governance’ and has made substantive recommendations.
Introduction Promoting e-Governance – Th e SMART Way Forward
Page 4


1 INTRODUCTION
“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We 
are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He 
is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
1.1 The Second Administrative Reforms 
Commission (ARC) was set up with a 
wide mandate to prepare a blue print for 
revamping the public administration system 
and to suggest measures to achieve a pro-
active, responsive, accountable, sustainable 
and e?  cient administration for the country 
at all levels of government. 
1.2 One of the terms of reference of the 
Commission relates to Citizen Centric 
Administration. Speci? cally, the ARC has been asked to examine the following aspects of 
this issue:
• Accountable and Transparent Government
o Issues of delegation, accountability and transparency.
o Move from Processes Accountability to Productivity Accountability and from 
Transactional to Transformative Governance.
o Reduce delays and ensure promptness in delivery of services.
• Progressive interventions to make administration more result-oriented. These 
interventions, inter alia, include:
o Process Simpli? cation.
xiv
PAC Public A? airs Centre 
PSU Public Sector Undertaking
RTO Regional T ransport O?  ce
RBI Reserve Bank of India
RTI Right to Information 
SWC Single Window Cell 
SCW State Commission for Women
SCDRF State Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum 
SHRC State Human Rights Commission
VEC Village Education Committee 
VEMB Village Electricity Management Board
VHC Village Health Committee
Box 1.1: Jawaharlal Nehru on  
Citizen Centric Administration
“….Administration is meant to achieve something, 
and not to exist in some kind of an ivory tower, 
following certain rules of procedure and, Narcissus-
like, looking on itself with complete satisfaction. 
 e test after all is the human beings and their 
welfare.” (March 29, 1954)
Source: From the Address delivered at the Inaugural 
Meeting of the Institute on 29th March, 1954, 
extracted from Public Administration Vision and 
Reality by U.C. Agarwal, IIPA.
3
o T arget Group Consultations.
o Flexibility to implementing agencies customized to local needs.
• Strengthening Citizen Centric decision making:
o To further empower the citizen through Citizens’ Charter etc.
o To facilitate accessibility of user groups to decision making processes. Th e operational 
details, inter alia, may include:
? Setting up of Information Facilitation and Solution Centres.
? Augmenting facilities for submission and redress of grievances and providing 
replies thereto.
? Setting up consultative mechanism for receiving suggestions.
• Freedom of Information:
o To review the con? dentiality classi? cation of government documents specially with 
reference to the O?  cials Secrets Act.
o To encourage transparency and access to non-classi? ed data.
o Disclosure of information and transparency as a supplement to the Right to 
Information of the citizens.
Besides, one more term of reference pertains to citizen centric administration:
• Social Capital, Trust and Participative public service delivery.
 . . .
o Increase the people-centric ness of the administrative approaches.
o Ensuring greater involvement of people ’s representatives and community at large in 
the conceptualisation and execution of programmes.
1.3 Governance in order to be citizen centric should be participative and transparent. It 
should be e? ective, e?  cient and responsive to the citizens. Furthermore, an ethos of serving 
the citizens should permeate all government organizations. Last but not the least, government 
organisations should be accountable to the people. As one of the primary functions of 
the State is to promote the welfare of its citizens, an evaluation of the functioning of the 
institutions of governance will ultimately have to be based on the satisfaction they provide 
to the common man. In this regard, prominence would need to be attached to the voice 
of the citizens themselves. 
1.4 Past Initiatives
Th ere have been a large number of reform measures - some at the macro level and others 
at the micro level - which have sought to bring administration closer to the people. Th ese 
include (i) enacting laws giving certain rights to people, (ii) setting up of new institutional 
mechanisms to redress citizens’ grievances, (iii) improving accessibility to citizens by 
setting up units closer to people, (iv) simplifying procedures to reduce bureaucratic delays, 
(v) using technology to improve internal e?  ciency, (vi) rewarding government employees 
who perform well, (vii) improving discipline within the organization, (viii) reducing 
regulatory control (ix) holding public contact programmes etc. Some of the generic reform 
initiatives are described in the following paragraphs.
1.4.1 Santhanam Committee Report - Th e Central Vigilance Commission
On the basis of recommendations made by the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, 
popularly known as the Santhanam Committee, the Central Vigilance Commission 
(CVC) was set up by the Government of India in 1964. It was accorded statutory status, 
consequent upon the judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Vineet Narain v. Union 
of India (1998) 1 SCC 226, through the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003. Th e 
CVC advises the Union Government on all matters pertaining to the maintenance of 
integrity in administration. It exercises superintendence over the working of the Central 
Bureau of Investigation - the principal investigating agency of the Union Government in 
anti-corruption matters - and also over the vigilance administration of various Ministries 
and other organizations of the Union Government.
1.4.2 First ARC - Lok Pal and Lokayukta
Th e ? rst Administrative Reforms Commission had recommended the setting up of the Lok 
Pal. Th e Lok Pal Bill has been introduced several times in Parliament, but due to various 
reasons it has not been enacted into a law. Th e Lok Pal is supposed to be a watchdog over 
the integrity of Ministers and the Members of Parliament. Th e Lok Pal Bill provides for 
constitution of the Lok Pal as an independent body to enquire into cases of corruption 
against public functionaries, with a mechanism for ? ling complaints and conducting 
inquiries etc. 
After the recommendations of the ? rst Administrative Reforms Commission, many States 
have constituted ‘Lokayuktas’ to investigate allegations or grievances arising out of the 
conduct of public servants including political executives, legislators, o?  cers of the State 
Government, local bodies, public enterprises and other instrumentalities of Government. 
A member of the public can ? le speci? c allegations with the Lokayukta against any public 
servant for enquiry. Th e Lokayukta can also initiate suo-motu inquiry into the conduct of 
public servants. Th e Commission has dealt with this subject extensively in its Report on 
‘Ethics in Governance’ and has made substantive recommendations.
Introduction Promoting e-Governance – Th e SMART Way Forward
2
o T arget Group Consultations.
o Flexibility to implementing agencies customized to local needs.
• Strengthening Citizen Centric decision making:
o To further empower the citizen through Citizens’ Charter etc.
o To facilitate accessibility of user groups to decision making processes. Th e operational 
details, inter alia, may include:
? Setting up of Information Facilitation and Solution Centres.
? Augmenting facilities for submission and redress of grievances and providing 
replies thereto.
? Setting up consultative mechanism for receiving suggestions.
• Freedom of Information:
o To review the con? dentiality classi? cation of government documents specially with 
reference to the O?  cials Secrets Act.
o To encourage transparency and access to non-classi? ed data.
o Disclosure of information and transparency as a supplement to the Right to 
Information of the citizens.
Besides, one more term of reference pertains to citizen centric administration:
• Social Capital, Trust and Participative public service delivery.
 . . .
o Increase the people-centric ness of the administrative approaches.
o Ensuring greater involvement of people ’s representatives and community at large in 
the conceptualisation and execution of programmes.
1.3 Governance in order to be citizen centric should be participative and transparent. It 
should be e? ective, e?  cient and responsive to the citizens. Furthermore, an ethos of serving 
the citizens should permeate all government organizations. Last but not the least, government 
organisations should be accountable to the people. As one of the primary functions of 
the State is to promote the welfare of its citizens, an evaluation of the functioning of the 
institutions of governance will ultimately have to be based on the satisfaction they provide 
to the common man. In this regard, prominence would need to be attached to the voice 
of the citizens themselves. 
1.4 Past Initiatives
Th ere have been a large number of reform measures - some at the macro level and others 
at the micro level - which have sought to bring administration closer to the people. Th ese 
include (i) enacting laws giving certain rights to people, (ii) setting up of new institutional 
mechanisms to redress citizens’ grievances, (iii) improving accessibility to citizens by 
setting up units closer to people, (iv) simplifying procedures to reduce bureaucratic delays, 
(v) using technology to improve internal e?  ciency, (vi) rewarding government employees 
who perform well, (vii) improving discipline within the organization, (viii) reducing 
regulatory control (ix) holding public contact programmes etc. Some of the generic reform 
initiatives are described in the following paragraphs.
1.4.1 Santhanam Committee Report - Th e Central Vigilance Commission
On the basis of recommendations made by the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, 
popularly known as the Santhanam Committee, the Central Vigilance Commission 
(CVC) was set up by the Government of India in 1964. It was accorded statutory status, 
consequent upon the judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Vineet Narain v. Union 
of India (1998) 1 SCC 226, through the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003. Th e 
CVC advises the Union Government on all matters pertaining to the maintenance of 
integrity in administration. It exercises superintendence over the working of the Central 
Bureau of Investigation - the principal investigating agency of the Union Government in 
anti-corruption matters - and also over the vigilance administration of various Ministries 
and other organizations of the Union Government.
1.4.2 First ARC - Lok Pal and Lokayukta
Th e ? rst Administrative Reforms Commission had recommended the setting up of the Lok 
Pal. Th e Lok Pal Bill has been introduced several times in Parliament, but due to various 
reasons it has not been enacted into a law. Th e Lok Pal is supposed to be a watchdog over 
the integrity of Ministers and the Members of Parliament. Th e Lok Pal Bill provides for 
constitution of the Lok Pal as an independent body to enquire into cases of corruption 
against public functionaries, with a mechanism for ? ling complaints and conducting 
inquiries etc. 
After the recommendations of the ? rst Administrative Reforms Commission, many States 
have constituted ‘Lokayuktas’ to investigate allegations or grievances arising out of the 
conduct of public servants including political executives, legislators, o?  cers of the State 
Government, local bodies, public enterprises and other instrumentalities of Government. 
A member of the public can ? le speci? c allegations with the Lokayukta against any public 
servant for enquiry. Th e Lokayukta can also initiate suo-motu inquiry into the conduct of 
public servants. Th e Commission has dealt with this subject extensively in its Report on 
‘Ethics in Governance’ and has made substantive recommendations.
Introduction Promoting e-Governance – Th e SMART Way Forward
1.4.3 Review of Administrative Laws
One of the principal causes for the inordinate delay in providing services to citizens was the 
existence of a complex system of rules, regulations and procedures which had outlived their 
utility. Government therefore set up a Commission on the Review of Administrative Laws 
in May, 1998.  is Commission submitted its report on 30 September, 1998. Some of its 
important recommendations include (i) compilation of up-to-date information about rules, 
regulations etc. by all Ministries/Departments under di? erent Central Laws administered 
by them; (ii) expeditious amendments to various Acts, (iii) uni? cation and harmonization 
of Statutes, Laws etc.; and (iv) repeal of 1382 Central Laws of di? erent categories out of 
about 2500 Laws in force on the ground that these Laws have become irrelevant.
1
1.4.4 Citizens’ Charters
 e Citizens’ Charter is based on the premise that the Citizen is “King” and government 
organizations exist not to rule but to serve the citizens. Citizens’ Charters are merely 
re? ections of this principle. In order to ensure that both the service provider as well as citizens 
realize that public agencies are meant to provide service, each organization should spell 
out the services it has to perform and then specify the standards/norms for these services. 
Once this is done then the organisation can be held to account if the service standards are 
not met. Government of India commenced the exercise to formulate Citizens’ Charters 
in 1996.  e Scheme of Citizens’ Charters has been reviewed several times and these have 
lead to the ? nalization of Quality Management System Standard – IS 15700: 2005 and 
also the new assessment-improvement model ‘Sevottam’.
 1.4.5 e-Governance
 e revolution in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has the potential 
of elevating the governance process to new levels.  e reason why countries around the 
world are increasingly opting for ‘e-Governance’ is that governance per se has become more 
complex and varied in the last few decades and more importantly citizens’ expectations 
from government have increased manifold. ICT facilitates e?  cient storing and retrieval of 
data, instantaneous transmission of information, processing information and data faster 
than the earlier manual systems, speeding up governmental processes, taking decisions 
expeditiously and judiciously, increasing transparency and enforcing accountability. It also 
helps in increasing the reach of government – both geographically and demographically. 
Recognising the increasing importance of electronics, Government of India established 
the Department of Electronics in 1970.  e subsequent establishment of the National 
5
Informatics Centre (NIC) in 1977 was the ? rst step towards e-Governance in India as it 
brought ‘information’ and its communication in focus.  e advent of personal computers 
brought the storage, retrieval and processing capacities of computers to Government o?  ces. 
By the late 1980s, a large number of Government o?  cers had computers but they were mostly 
used for ‘word processing’. Gradually, with the introduction of better software, computers 
were put to other uses like managing databases and processing information. Advances in 
communication technology further improved the versatility and reach of computers, and 
many Government departments started using ICT for a number of applications like tracking 
movement of papers and ? les, monitoring of development programmes, processing of 
employees’ pay rolls, generation of reports etc. However, the main thrust for e-Governance 
was provided by the launching of NICNET in 1987 – the national satellite based computer 
network.  is was followed by the launch of the District Information System of the National 
Informatics Centre (DISNIC) programme to computerize all district o?  ces in the country 
for which free hardware and software were o? ered to the State Governments. NICNET 
was extended via the State capitals to all district headquarters by 1990. Several important 
initiatives were undertaken by the Union and the State Governments in the nineties. All 
these culminated in the launch of the National e-Governance Programme in 2006. ( e 
Commision has examined various aspects of e-Governance in its Eleventh Report).
1.4.6 Computerised Grievances Redressal Mechanisms
A Computerized Public Grievances Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) 
developed by the Department of AR&PG in collaboration with the National Informatics 
Centre (NIC) was installed in the Department on 5 September, 2001. All the grievances 
received are entered in this system and processed.  e internet version of this software was 
launched on 31.05.2002 which facilitates the citizen to lodge and monitor the progress 
of his/her grievance on internet. A comprehensive website of Citizens’ Charters in the 
Government of India was also launched the same day.  e CPGRAMS has been further 
improved by adding several other services.
1.4.7 Right to Information
Right to information has been seen as the key to strengthening participatory democracy and 
ushering in people centred governance as access to information can empower the citizens 
to demand and get information about public policies and actions, thereby leading to their 
welfare. T ransparency in government organisations makes them function more objectively, 
predictably and also enables citizens to participate in the governance process e? ectively. 
In a fundamental sense, right to information is a basic necessity of good governance. In 
recognition of the need for transparency in public a? airs, the Indian Parliament enacted 
Introduction Promoting e-Governance – Th e SMART Way Forward
Page 5


1 INTRODUCTION
“A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We 
are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He 
is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
1.1 The Second Administrative Reforms 
Commission (ARC) was set up with a 
wide mandate to prepare a blue print for 
revamping the public administration system 
and to suggest measures to achieve a pro-
active, responsive, accountable, sustainable 
and e?  cient administration for the country 
at all levels of government. 
1.2 One of the terms of reference of the 
Commission relates to Citizen Centric 
Administration. Speci? cally, the ARC has been asked to examine the following aspects of 
this issue:
• Accountable and Transparent Government
o Issues of delegation, accountability and transparency.
o Move from Processes Accountability to Productivity Accountability and from 
Transactional to Transformative Governance.
o Reduce delays and ensure promptness in delivery of services.
• Progressive interventions to make administration more result-oriented. These 
interventions, inter alia, include:
o Process Simpli? cation.
xiv
PAC Public A? airs Centre 
PSU Public Sector Undertaking
RTO Regional T ransport O?  ce
RBI Reserve Bank of India
RTI Right to Information 
SWC Single Window Cell 
SCW State Commission for Women
SCDRF State Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum 
SHRC State Human Rights Commission
VEC Village Education Committee 
VEMB Village Electricity Management Board
VHC Village Health Committee
Box 1.1: Jawaharlal Nehru on  
Citizen Centric Administration
“….Administration is meant to achieve something, 
and not to exist in some kind of an ivory tower, 
following certain rules of procedure and, Narcissus-
like, looking on itself with complete satisfaction. 
 e test after all is the human beings and their 
welfare.” (March 29, 1954)
Source: From the Address delivered at the Inaugural 
Meeting of the Institute on 29th March, 1954, 
extracted from Public Administration Vision and 
Reality by U.C. Agarwal, IIPA.
3
o T arget Group Consultations.
o Flexibility to implementing agencies customized to local needs.
• Strengthening Citizen Centric decision making:
o To further empower the citizen through Citizens’ Charter etc.
o To facilitate accessibility of user groups to decision making processes. Th e operational 
details, inter alia, may include:
? Setting up of Information Facilitation and Solution Centres.
? Augmenting facilities for submission and redress of grievances and providing 
replies thereto.
? Setting up consultative mechanism for receiving suggestions.
• Freedom of Information:
o To review the con? dentiality classi? cation of government documents specially with 
reference to the O?  cials Secrets Act.
o To encourage transparency and access to non-classi? ed data.
o Disclosure of information and transparency as a supplement to the Right to 
Information of the citizens.
Besides, one more term of reference pertains to citizen centric administration:
• Social Capital, Trust and Participative public service delivery.
 . . .
o Increase the people-centric ness of the administrative approaches.
o Ensuring greater involvement of people ’s representatives and community at large in 
the conceptualisation and execution of programmes.
1.3 Governance in order to be citizen centric should be participative and transparent. It 
should be e? ective, e?  cient and responsive to the citizens. Furthermore, an ethos of serving 
the citizens should permeate all government organizations. Last but not the least, government 
organisations should be accountable to the people. As one of the primary functions of 
the State is to promote the welfare of its citizens, an evaluation of the functioning of the 
institutions of governance will ultimately have to be based on the satisfaction they provide 
to the common man. In this regard, prominence would need to be attached to the voice 
of the citizens themselves. 
1.4 Past Initiatives
Th ere have been a large number of reform measures - some at the macro level and others 
at the micro level - which have sought to bring administration closer to the people. Th ese 
include (i) enacting laws giving certain rights to people, (ii) setting up of new institutional 
mechanisms to redress citizens’ grievances, (iii) improving accessibility to citizens by 
setting up units closer to people, (iv) simplifying procedures to reduce bureaucratic delays, 
(v) using technology to improve internal e?  ciency, (vi) rewarding government employees 
who perform well, (vii) improving discipline within the organization, (viii) reducing 
regulatory control (ix) holding public contact programmes etc. Some of the generic reform 
initiatives are described in the following paragraphs.
1.4.1 Santhanam Committee Report - Th e Central Vigilance Commission
On the basis of recommendations made by the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, 
popularly known as the Santhanam Committee, the Central Vigilance Commission 
(CVC) was set up by the Government of India in 1964. It was accorded statutory status, 
consequent upon the judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Vineet Narain v. Union 
of India (1998) 1 SCC 226, through the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003. Th e 
CVC advises the Union Government on all matters pertaining to the maintenance of 
integrity in administration. It exercises superintendence over the working of the Central 
Bureau of Investigation - the principal investigating agency of the Union Government in 
anti-corruption matters - and also over the vigilance administration of various Ministries 
and other organizations of the Union Government.
1.4.2 First ARC - Lok Pal and Lokayukta
Th e ? rst Administrative Reforms Commission had recommended the setting up of the Lok 
Pal. Th e Lok Pal Bill has been introduced several times in Parliament, but due to various 
reasons it has not been enacted into a law. Th e Lok Pal is supposed to be a watchdog over 
the integrity of Ministers and the Members of Parliament. Th e Lok Pal Bill provides for 
constitution of the Lok Pal as an independent body to enquire into cases of corruption 
against public functionaries, with a mechanism for ? ling complaints and conducting 
inquiries etc. 
After the recommendations of the ? rst Administrative Reforms Commission, many States 
have constituted ‘Lokayuktas’ to investigate allegations or grievances arising out of the 
conduct of public servants including political executives, legislators, o?  cers of the State 
Government, local bodies, public enterprises and other instrumentalities of Government. 
A member of the public can ? le speci? c allegations with the Lokayukta against any public 
servant for enquiry. Th e Lokayukta can also initiate suo-motu inquiry into the conduct of 
public servants. Th e Commission has dealt with this subject extensively in its Report on 
‘Ethics in Governance’ and has made substantive recommendations.
Introduction Promoting e-Governance – Th e SMART Way Forward
2
o T arget Group Consultations.
o Flexibility to implementing agencies customized to local needs.
• Strengthening Citizen Centric decision making:
o To further empower the citizen through Citizens’ Charter etc.
o To facilitate accessibility of user groups to decision making processes. Th e operational 
details, inter alia, may include:
? Setting up of Information Facilitation and Solution Centres.
? Augmenting facilities for submission and redress of grievances and providing 
replies thereto.
? Setting up consultative mechanism for receiving suggestions.
• Freedom of Information:
o To review the con? dentiality classi? cation of government documents specially with 
reference to the O?  cials Secrets Act.
o To encourage transparency and access to non-classi? ed data.
o Disclosure of information and transparency as a supplement to the Right to 
Information of the citizens.
Besides, one more term of reference pertains to citizen centric administration:
• Social Capital, Trust and Participative public service delivery.
 . . .
o Increase the people-centric ness of the administrative approaches.
o Ensuring greater involvement of people ’s representatives and community at large in 
the conceptualisation and execution of programmes.
1.3 Governance in order to be citizen centric should be participative and transparent. It 
should be e? ective, e?  cient and responsive to the citizens. Furthermore, an ethos of serving 
the citizens should permeate all government organizations. Last but not the least, government 
organisations should be accountable to the people. As one of the primary functions of 
the State is to promote the welfare of its citizens, an evaluation of the functioning of the 
institutions of governance will ultimately have to be based on the satisfaction they provide 
to the common man. In this regard, prominence would need to be attached to the voice 
of the citizens themselves. 
1.4 Past Initiatives
Th ere have been a large number of reform measures - some at the macro level and others 
at the micro level - which have sought to bring administration closer to the people. Th ese 
include (i) enacting laws giving certain rights to people, (ii) setting up of new institutional 
mechanisms to redress citizens’ grievances, (iii) improving accessibility to citizens by 
setting up units closer to people, (iv) simplifying procedures to reduce bureaucratic delays, 
(v) using technology to improve internal e?  ciency, (vi) rewarding government employees 
who perform well, (vii) improving discipline within the organization, (viii) reducing 
regulatory control (ix) holding public contact programmes etc. Some of the generic reform 
initiatives are described in the following paragraphs.
1.4.1 Santhanam Committee Report - Th e Central Vigilance Commission
On the basis of recommendations made by the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, 
popularly known as the Santhanam Committee, the Central Vigilance Commission 
(CVC) was set up by the Government of India in 1964. It was accorded statutory status, 
consequent upon the judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in Vineet Narain v. Union 
of India (1998) 1 SCC 226, through the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003. Th e 
CVC advises the Union Government on all matters pertaining to the maintenance of 
integrity in administration. It exercises superintendence over the working of the Central 
Bureau of Investigation - the principal investigating agency of the Union Government in 
anti-corruption matters - and also over the vigilance administration of various Ministries 
and other organizations of the Union Government.
1.4.2 First ARC - Lok Pal and Lokayukta
Th e ? rst Administrative Reforms Commission had recommended the setting up of the Lok 
Pal. Th e Lok Pal Bill has been introduced several times in Parliament, but due to various 
reasons it has not been enacted into a law. Th e Lok Pal is supposed to be a watchdog over 
the integrity of Ministers and the Members of Parliament. Th e Lok Pal Bill provides for 
constitution of the Lok Pal as an independent body to enquire into cases of corruption 
against public functionaries, with a mechanism for ? ling complaints and conducting 
inquiries etc. 
After the recommendations of the ? rst Administrative Reforms Commission, many States 
have constituted ‘Lokayuktas’ to investigate allegations or grievances arising out of the 
conduct of public servants including political executives, legislators, o?  cers of the State 
Government, local bodies, public enterprises and other instrumentalities of Government. 
A member of the public can ? le speci? c allegations with the Lokayukta against any public 
servant for enquiry. Th e Lokayukta can also initiate suo-motu inquiry into the conduct of 
public servants. Th e Commission has dealt with this subject extensively in its Report on 
‘Ethics in Governance’ and has made substantive recommendations.
Introduction Promoting e-Governance – Th e SMART Way Forward
1.4.3 Review of Administrative Laws
One of the principal causes for the inordinate delay in providing services to citizens was the 
existence of a complex system of rules, regulations and procedures which had outlived their 
utility. Government therefore set up a Commission on the Review of Administrative Laws 
in May, 1998.  is Commission submitted its report on 30 September, 1998. Some of its 
important recommendations include (i) compilation of up-to-date information about rules, 
regulations etc. by all Ministries/Departments under di? erent Central Laws administered 
by them; (ii) expeditious amendments to various Acts, (iii) uni? cation and harmonization 
of Statutes, Laws etc.; and (iv) repeal of 1382 Central Laws of di? erent categories out of 
about 2500 Laws in force on the ground that these Laws have become irrelevant.
1
1.4.4 Citizens’ Charters
 e Citizens’ Charter is based on the premise that the Citizen is “King” and government 
organizations exist not to rule but to serve the citizens. Citizens’ Charters are merely 
re? ections of this principle. In order to ensure that both the service provider as well as citizens 
realize that public agencies are meant to provide service, each organization should spell 
out the services it has to perform and then specify the standards/norms for these services. 
Once this is done then the organisation can be held to account if the service standards are 
not met. Government of India commenced the exercise to formulate Citizens’ Charters 
in 1996.  e Scheme of Citizens’ Charters has been reviewed several times and these have 
lead to the ? nalization of Quality Management System Standard – IS 15700: 2005 and 
also the new assessment-improvement model ‘Sevottam’.
 1.4.5 e-Governance
 e revolution in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has the potential 
of elevating the governance process to new levels.  e reason why countries around the 
world are increasingly opting for ‘e-Governance’ is that governance per se has become more 
complex and varied in the last few decades and more importantly citizens’ expectations 
from government have increased manifold. ICT facilitates e?  cient storing and retrieval of 
data, instantaneous transmission of information, processing information and data faster 
than the earlier manual systems, speeding up governmental processes, taking decisions 
expeditiously and judiciously, increasing transparency and enforcing accountability. It also 
helps in increasing the reach of government – both geographically and demographically. 
Recognising the increasing importance of electronics, Government of India established 
the Department of Electronics in 1970.  e subsequent establishment of the National 
5
Informatics Centre (NIC) in 1977 was the ? rst step towards e-Governance in India as it 
brought ‘information’ and its communication in focus.  e advent of personal computers 
brought the storage, retrieval and processing capacities of computers to Government o?  ces. 
By the late 1980s, a large number of Government o?  cers had computers but they were mostly 
used for ‘word processing’. Gradually, with the introduction of better software, computers 
were put to other uses like managing databases and processing information. Advances in 
communication technology further improved the versatility and reach of computers, and 
many Government departments started using ICT for a number of applications like tracking 
movement of papers and ? les, monitoring of development programmes, processing of 
employees’ pay rolls, generation of reports etc. However, the main thrust for e-Governance 
was provided by the launching of NICNET in 1987 – the national satellite based computer 
network.  is was followed by the launch of the District Information System of the National 
Informatics Centre (DISNIC) programme to computerize all district o?  ces in the country 
for which free hardware and software were o? ered to the State Governments. NICNET 
was extended via the State capitals to all district headquarters by 1990. Several important 
initiatives were undertaken by the Union and the State Governments in the nineties. All 
these culminated in the launch of the National e-Governance Programme in 2006. ( e 
Commision has examined various aspects of e-Governance in its Eleventh Report).
1.4.6 Computerised Grievances Redressal Mechanisms
A Computerized Public Grievances Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) 
developed by the Department of AR&PG in collaboration with the National Informatics 
Centre (NIC) was installed in the Department on 5 September, 2001. All the grievances 
received are entered in this system and processed.  e internet version of this software was 
launched on 31.05.2002 which facilitates the citizen to lodge and monitor the progress 
of his/her grievance on internet. A comprehensive website of Citizens’ Charters in the 
Government of India was also launched the same day.  e CPGRAMS has been further 
improved by adding several other services.
1.4.7 Right to Information
Right to information has been seen as the key to strengthening participatory democracy and 
ushering in people centred governance as access to information can empower the citizens 
to demand and get information about public policies and actions, thereby leading to their 
welfare. T ransparency in government organisations makes them function more objectively, 
predictably and also enables citizens to participate in the governance process e? ectively. 
In a fundamental sense, right to information is a basic necessity of good governance. In 
recognition of the need for transparency in public a? airs, the Indian Parliament enacted 
Introduction Promoting e-Governance – Th e SMART Way Forward
1.4.3 Review of Administrative Laws
One of the principal causes for the inordinate delay in providing services to citizens was the 
existence of a complex system of rules, regulations and procedures which had outlived their 
utility. Government therefore set up a Commission on the Review of Administrative Laws 
in May, 1998.  is Commission submitted its report on 30 September, 1998. Some of its 
important recommendations include (i) compilation of up-to-date information about rules, 
regulations etc. by all Ministries/Departments under di? erent Central Laws administered 
by them; (ii) expeditious amendments to various Acts, (iii) uni? cation and harmonization 
of Statutes, Laws etc.; and (iv) repeal of 1382 Central Laws of di? erent categories out of 
about 2500 Laws in force on the ground that these Laws have become irrelevant.
1
1.4.4 Citizens’ Charters
 e Citizens’ Charter is based on the premise that the Citizen is “King” and government 
organizations exist not to rule but to serve the citizens. Citizens’ Charters are merely 
re? ections of this principle. In order to ensure that both the service provider as well as citizens 
realize that public agencies are meant to provide service, each organization should spell 
out the services it has to perform and then specify the standards/norms for these services. 
Once this is done then the organisation can be held to account if the service standards are 
not met. Government of India commenced the exercise to formulate Citizens’ Charters 
in 1996.  e Scheme of Citizens’ Charters has been reviewed several times and these have 
lead to the ? nalization of Quality Management System Standard – IS 15700: 2005 and 
also the new assessment-improvement model ‘Sevottam’.
 1.4.5 e-Governance
 e revolution in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has the potential 
of elevating the governance process to new levels.  e reason why countries around the 
world are increasingly opting for ‘e-Governance’ is that governance per se has become more 
complex and varied in the last few decades and more importantly citizens’ expectations 
from government have increased manifold. ICT facilitates e?  cient storing and retrieval of 
data, instantaneous transmission of information, processing information and data faster 
than the earlier manual systems, speeding up governmental processes, taking decisions 
expeditiously and judiciously, increasing transparency and enforcing accountability. It also 
helps in increasing the reach of government – both geographically and demographically. 
Recognising the increasing importance of electronics, Government of India established 
the Department of Electronics in 1970.  e subsequent establishment of the National 
4
Informatics Centre (NIC) in 1977 was the ? rst step towards e-Governance in India as it 
brought ‘information’ and its communication in focus.  e advent of personal computers 
brought the storage, retrieval and processing capacities of computers to Government o?  ces. 
By the late 1980s, a large number of Government o?  cers had computers but they were mostly 
used for ‘word processing’. Gradually, with the introduction of better software, computers 
were put to other uses like managing databases and processing information. Advances in 
communication technology further improved the versatility and reach of computers, and 
many Government departments started using ICT for a number of applications like tracking 
movement of papers and ? les, monitoring of development programmes, processing of 
employees’ pay rolls, generation of reports etc. However, the main thrust for e-Governance 
was provided by the launching of NICNET in 1987 – the national satellite based computer 
network.  is was followed by the launch of the District Information System of the National 
Informatics Centre (DISNIC) programme to computerize all district o?  ces in the country 
for which free hardware and software were o? ered to the State Governments. NICNET 
was extended via the State capitals to all district headquarters by 1990. Several important 
initiatives were undertaken by the Union and the State Governments in the nineties. All 
these culminated in the launch of the National e-Governance Programme in 2006. ( e 
Commision has examined various aspects of e-Governance in its Eleventh Report).
1.4.6 Computerised Grievances Redressal Mechanisms
A Computerized Public Grievances Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) 
developed by the Department of AR&PG in collaboration with the National Informatics 
Centre (NIC) was installed in the Department on 5 September, 2001. All the grievances 
received are entered in this system and processed.  e internet version of this software was 
launched on 31.05.2002 which facilitates the citizen to lodge and monitor the progress 
of his/her grievance on internet. A comprehensive website of Citizens’ Charters in the 
Government of India was also launched the same day.  e CPGRAMS has been further 
improved by adding several other services.
1.4.7 Right to Information
Right to information has been seen as the key to strengthening participatory democracy and 
ushering in people centred governance as access to information can empower the citizens 
to demand and get information about public policies and actions, thereby leading to their 
welfare. T ransparency in government organisations makes them function more objectively, 
predictably and also enables citizens to participate in the governance process e? ectively. 
In a fundamental sense, right to information is a basic necessity of good governance. In 
recognition of the need for transparency in public a? airs, the Indian Parliament enacted 
Introduction Promoting e-Governance – Th e SMART Way Forward
1
Source: Adapted from the website of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances