Organisational Structure of Government of India: Summary | Indian Polity for UPSC CSE PDF Download

Second ARC views on Organisational Structure

The Commission in this Report has examined the organizational structure and functioning of the Government of India with a view to making it more pro-active, responsive, accountable and efficient. The Commission, has, therefore, attempted to redefine the role of various Ministries/Departments in order to meet new and emerging challenges of governance which necessitate a much greater degree of collaboration and coordination among them. Besides, the Commission has analysed the procedures as well as the internal structures of different Ministries and Departments with a view to make the Departments function in a more innovative and effective manner.
The Commission recognizes that structural reforms are necessary but are not sufficient in themselves to improve governance and, therefore, need to be complemented by a series of other reform measures. The Commission has dealt with such measures in its other Reports. It is essential that all these reform initiatives are implemented in a synchronized way to achieve better governance.

Summary of Recommendations of ARC on organizational Structure

• Rationalising the Functions of Government: The Government of India should primarily focus on the core functions. Government at all levels should be guided by the principle of subsidiarity- include decentralization/delegation or hiving off activities.
• Rationalising and Reorganising the Ministries and Departments: The concept of a Ministry would have to be redefined. A Ministry would mean a group of departments whose functions and subjects are closely related and is assigned to a First or Coordinating Minister for the purpose of providing overall leadership and coordination. The structure of the Government of India should be rationalised by grouping together closely related subjects in order to reduce the number of Ministries to 20-25.
• Focus on Policy Analysis: Ministries/ Departments should concentrate on the following:
  • Policy analysis, planning, policy making and strategic decisions o Budgeting and Parliamentary work
  • Monitoring of implementation through systems and procedures o Appointments of key personnel
  • Coordination
  • Evaluation
• Policy Evaluation– Each Department should introduce a system of policy evaluation to be carried out at the end of prescribed periods. All relevant policies should be updated in the light of the findings of such evaluations.
• Creation of Effective Executive Agencies: The right balance between autonomy and accountability needs to be struck while designing the institutional framework of executive agencies.
• Reorganisation of Ministries:
  • Each Department should lay down a detailed scheme of delegation at all levels so that the decision making takes place at the most appropriate level.
  • The scheme of delegation should be updated periodically and should also be (audited at regular intervals. The audit should ensure that the delegated authority is actually exercised by the delegatee. The scheme of delegation should be placed in the public domain.
  • The number of levels through which a file passes for a decision should not exceed three.
  • In cases where the Minister’s approval is required, the file should be initiated by Deputy Secretary/Director concerned and should be moved through the Joint Secretary (or Additional Secretary/Special Secretary) and the Secretary (or Special Secretary) to the Minister.
  • For addressing cross cutting issues, the Secretary of the concerned Department should have the flexibility to create inter-disciplinary teams.
• Coordination Mechanisms: There is need to ensure that the existing coordination mechanisms like the Group of Ministers, and Committee of Secretaries function effectively and help in early resolution of issues. Selective, but effective use of GOMs with clear mandate and prescribed time limits, would be helpful.
  • Unresolved issues concerning States which require inter-Ministerial coordination in Government of India, should be placed before the Committee of Secretaries (COSs) and then to the Union Cabinet for resolution.
• Creating an Effective Regulatory Framework:
  • Setting up of a Regulator should be preceded by a detailed review to decide whether the policy regime in the concerned sector is such that a Regulator would be better placed to deliver the policy objectives of the department concerned.
  • Management Statement outlining the objectives and roles of each regulator and the guidelines governing their interaction with the government should be developed. This would guide both the government department and the Regulator.
  • There is need for greater uniformity in the terms of appointment, tenure and removal of various regulatory authorities considering these have been set up with broadly similar objectives and functions and should enjoy the same degree of autonomy.
  • Legal provisions regarding removal of Board Members should be made uniform while at the same time ensuring sufficient safeguards against arbitrary removal.
  • Parliamentary oversight of regulators should be ensured through the respective Departmentally Related Standing Parliamentary Committees.
  • A body of reputed outside experts should propose guidelines for periodic evaluation of the independent Regulators.