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�Good governance key to a nation�s progress�

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Dec 22 - Good governance is the key to progress of a nation and the Centre and all the States must work towards integrating the system for redressal of public grievances to bring about greater transparency and make public administration more people-friendly.

This was stated by KV Eapen, Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India, during his address at the inaugural session of the two-day long �Regional Conference on Good Governance and Replication of Best Practices� which began here today.

The event, which is being attended by officials from all over the country, is being organised by DARPG in collaboration with the Department of Administrative Reforms of Assam.

Eapen said the purpose of holding the seminar in Guwahati is to facilitate exposure of the Public Reforms departments of the North-eastern States to the best practices in the field of public grievances.

He said in recent years a lot of steps have been initiated by the Central government for simplification of procedures and practices so as to make the entire process of governance more transparent and faster. Expansion is use of technology is acting as a major source of empowerment, he added.

�Digital India is transformational in nature and would ensure that government services are available to citizens electronically. The effort to usher in an era of �sushasan� has already begun,� he said, pointing out to adoption of e-procurement method and other such practices. Eapen said the DARPG is keen to work closely with various State governments.

�Provision of citizen-centric online services is the foundation of an efficient public administration system. It leads to transparency and accountability in governance and fosters equitable growth. There is need to integrate the public grievances redressal system. We want the State governments to integrate their public grievance redressal system with our own,� he added.

He further said the number of grievances received by the government is increasing every year and the quantum of disposal has also gone up.

In 2017, from January to November, the government received over 17 lakh grievances and of them, 93 per cent of grievances have been disposed. In 2016, there were over 14 lakh receipts and the rate of disposal was 83 per cent.

Speaking on the occasion, State Chief Secretary Vinod Kumar Pipersenia said certain measures will have to be taken to ensure that the concept of good governance gets realised in the true sense.

He said there is a need to make the structure of the government as flat as possible for vertical interaction in the bureaucratic system which will, in turn, promote innovation and create a congenial atmosphere for progressive administration.

Pipersenia said the structure of the administration should be such that it enables and empowers everybody.

�We will have to demolish feudal thinking in our present system of functioning,� he said, adding that there is an urgent need to put in place an ongoing skill improvement system.

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