Rethinking Good Governance (Holding to Account India's Public Institutions)

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The vital bond between a people and its government is that of trust, and public institutions help maintain that trust. They serve as the pillars supporting a robust and vibrant democracy.

In Rethinking Good Governance, Vinod Rai highlights the strength of each of these pillars, and analyses the circumstances that may have led to their weakening, resulting in the foundations of our democracy being somewhat shaken. From numerous occasions when parliamentarians failed to adhere to the decorum expected of lawmakers in the House, and the serious deficit of impartiality and integrity within the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), to the issue of governance that has plagued the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and the imbroglio around the perceived lack of cohesion between the government and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Rai reveals how each instance led to a gradual decline of the independence and autonomy of these institutions over the decade.

Rai takes up a range of governance issues of critical importance to India's democratic future, and provides the reform agenda to enhance accountability and transparency.

A must-read for every citizen concerned about the country.

Starting his career in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1972, Vinod Rai rose to become the eleventh Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India in 2008. He demitted office in May 2013 after a very active and illustrious tenure.

In 2016, Rai was appointed the first chairman of the newly created Banks Board Bureau (BBB). He is presently the chairman of the Supreme Court-mandated Committee of Administrators (CoA) of the BCCI.

Rai is a Distinguished Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, in the National University of Singapore. He is also on the Global Board of Trustees of the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation, London.

He has authored Not Just an Accountant: The Diary of the Nation's Conscience Keeper, and co-edited Seven Decades of Independent India.

Rai was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2016 in recognition of his services to the nation.

Global history is replete with examples where economic-development effort in countries could not be sustained over time due to the lack of a good governance platform that could incubate and nurture developmental efforts. India's experience of a vibrant parliamentary democracy is targeted at ensuring an inclusive development agenda that seeks to empower people and promote transparency in administration.

Policy formulation is certainly the prerogative of any elected government. However, what are the responsibilities and duties factored into this power? Is there total discretion, with no accountability imposed upon the persons exercising this power? Do the people who elect them not have the right to expect a certain ethical standard from those who exercise this fiduciary trust? The time has come that these questions need to be asked and have to be answered by those in positions of power. This is fundamental for the preservation of our nation and a truly democratic society. Democracy will be the loser if those in power cease to hear voices other than their own.

Our governance systems have been strengthened by democratic decentralization and the active participation of people in the process of administration. The introduction of local self-government at the grass-roots level has empowered people to ensure transparency and accountability at all levels of administration. It has introduced the element of vigilante in the devolution of public funds and projects, thereby ensuring minimum leakage.

Accountability institutions script the destiny of nations. They support good governance, which in turn promotes sustainable economic development and thereby nurtures the welfare of people. The most vital bond between a people and its government is that of trust, and it is these accountability institutions that help maintain that trust. The transparency and openness seen in any society, the readiness with which it can indulge in creative disruption, and the ease with which the rule of law is permitted to prevail are important indicators of an able administration. It is on the strength of these institutions that the distance between 'the ruler and the ruled' gets reduced and the 'ruler' is made accountable to the 'ruled: These institutions serve as the pillars supporting the foundation of any robust and vibrant democracy. Weakening the strength of any of the pillars leads to the democratic edifice being shaken.

Institutions born from the country's Constitution, or from statutes passed by the Parliament, are commonly referred to as horizontal accountability institutions. They are also known as formal institutions as they are part of the formal State apparatus whose rules and regulations are codified. They comprise the Parliament, Supreme Court, Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), among others.

**Contents and Sample Pages**