Long-Term Action Plan

Long-Term Action Plan

LONG-TERM ACTION PLAN

Action Point No. /
Action Point
/
Department to submit Action Taken Report
1 /

Role of Civil Society

Civil society organizations, including voluntary and non-profit making organizations, corporate bodies, cooperatives and trusts, which are actively involved in economic and social development, to be recognized as equal partners as well as stakeholders in development and good governance. / All Departments

Judicial Reforms

2 /
The administrative staff and system in the courts should be professionalised and resources should be optimally used. Individual competencies of judges needs to be improved and the Case Management Systems and tools should be improved.
/ Home/Law Department
3 /
The Central Government will take the leadership to ensure full computerization of courts up to the district level in a phased manner and take measures to rationalize and standardize court buildings, court staffing pattern and judges residences.
/ Home / Law Department
4 /
Management exercises should be carried out in all courts to reduce arrears on priority basis by working out a “judge-case ratio” instead of a “judge-population ratio”.
/ Home / Law Department
5 /
The Fast Track Courts scheme should be continued for a five-year period beyond 2005 and new fast track Magisterial Courts be created.
/ Law Department
6 /
In-house Mechanism may be developed for the resolution of disputes in litigation to which Government, PSUs or Government bodies are parties.
/ All Departments
7 /
Simplification of procedure for registration, investigation and trial of offences including use of digital signature and online facilities for accepting application, evidence, etc. so as to drastically cut down delay and costs.
/ Law Department /IT Department/ Home Department
8 /
The systems of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) should be encouraged.
/ All Departments
9 /
The settlement of cases through Lok Adalats should be encouraged not only in the States and Districts but also at the Taluka levels.
/ All Departments
10 /
The legal aid mechanisms should be strengthened.
/ Law Department
11 /
Award of exemplary costs be given in appropriate cases of abuse of process of law.
/ Law/Home Department
12 /
The resolutions passed in the Chief Justices’ Conferences shall receive the attention at the highest level in the Govts.
/ Home Department
Civil Service Reforms
13 / Autonomous Civil Service Boards to recommend placement, promotion, transfer and career advancement of civil servants. / G.A. Deptt.
14 / Social audit of official working to be done for developing accountability and answerability. / G.A. Deptt.
15 / Revisiting the issue of constitutional safeguards under Article 311 to ensure that the honest and efficient officials are given the requisite protection but the dishonest are not allowed to prosper in office. A comprehensive examination of entire corpus of administrative jurisprudence to be undertaken to rationalize and simplify the procedure of administrative and legal action and to bring theory and practice of security of tenure in line with the experience of the last more than 50 years. / G.A. Deptt.
16 / Enactment of a comprehensive law to provide for recovery of damages sustained by the State by the malafide actions or omissions of civil servants. / G.A. Deptt.
17 / The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 be amended to provide for confiscation of the property of a civil servant, found to be in possession of property disproportionate to his/her known sources of income and convicted for the said offence. / G.A. (Vigilance)
18 / Performance Management System to measure, monitor and evaluate performance of civil servants backed by a performance and accountability law. / G.A. Deptt.

Administrative Reforms

19 / Repeal of all outdated laws as already identified by the Commission on Review of Administrative Laws. / All Departments
20 / Promoting the use of information and communications technology for bringing about efficiency in governance. / IT Deptt. / G.A (Administrative Reforms)
21 / Reviews of systems / procedures impacting on internal government processes and re-engineering of these processes in a systematic manner. Each state should immediately set up an Administrative Reforms Commission / Committee for the aforesaid purpose. / G.A. Deptt.
22 / Documentation and dissemination of best practices available with the Ministers / Departments / Agencies of both Union and State Governments with a view to encourage their replication. / G.A. (Administrative Reforms)

Legislative Reforms

23 / Each State Government should have well equipped referral library containing copies of all relevant laws, rules, regulations, notifications etc. A nodal officer for this exercise should be identified by the State Government. / All Departments
24 / Computerized monitoring of the recommendations of Parliamentary Committees / Committees of the State legislatures especially the PAC with a view to strengthen accountability of the executive to the legislatures. / All Departments
25 / Reforms under G-B: Growth Friendly Government
Economic Reforms
Reforms to ensure equity, inclusiveness and quality of life particularly to the disadvantaged groups. / All Departments
26 / Strengthening legal and regulatory framework; ensuring quality management and productivity improvement and undertaking industrial restructuring and upgrading for sustained industrial growth. / Labour & Employment/Revenue/Finance/Industries/Forest/PE Deptt.
27 / Increasing Research and Development spending for sectors like IT, Biotechnology and Agro Processing, etc. / Higher Education/Science & Technology /IT/Agriculture /FARD Deptt.
28 / Promoting industries of distinct comparative advantage like manufacturing, especially to be in tune with the latest developments around the globe. / Industries & IT Deptt.
29 / Investors to be assured of dynamism and efficiency in overall governance, stability in rates of taxation and tariff rates in tune with other developing countries. / Finance/P & C/Steel & Mines
30 / Sustainable development of agriculture by adopting new technologies for crop rotation, water management including rational use of ground water, prevention of biodiversity and protection of fragile ecological areas for sustainable growth model. / Agriculture/W.R. Deptt./FARD Deptt.
31 / More emphasis to be given to promote the proven cost-reducing micro-irrigation technology of drip irrigation, which helps conserve water, reduces fertilizer inputs and ensures higher productivity. / Agriculture/W.R. Deptt.
32 / Integrated agriculture markets in private and cooperative sectors. / Co-operation / Agriculture/IT Deptt.
33 / Strategy consisting of direct action against poverty and effective investment in the social sectors in rural areas using programmes such as PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) to be followed. / Panchayat Raj / ST & SC Development /W & C. D. Deptt.
34 / Achieving higher levels of literacy through clear mobilization of new IT approaches, better school attendance, and other policies, all with a clear focus on inclusion of girls and other traditionally disadvantaged groups. / School & Mass Education / IT/ST & SC Development Deptt.
35 / Integrating the educational system with the economic needs of the people (especially focusing on most backward areas and inaccessible segment of the population) and of the nation to begin at the primary school stage itself. / School & Mass/ST & SC/IT Deptt.
36 / Proper attention be paid to modernization of school syllabi, examination reforms, use of IT in education, governance of universities and colleges. For generating resources and funds, universities and colleges to take new market oriented initiatives. / S & M.E/ST & SC Dev./IT/H.E/Science & Technology Deptt.
37 / Mid-day meal programme to cover tribal and backward areas as there the need for extra nutrition is more urgent; also to increase supply of trained teachers and doctors and their availability in these areas along with a package of special incentives. / S & M.E./ST & SC/IT /W & C.D/ H & F.W. Deptt
38 / Undertaking aggressive public health campaigns to address major communicable diseases (tuberculosis, encephalitis, diarrhea and malaria), AIDS and family planning. / H & F.W. Deptt.
39 / Improving the access to and utilization of health, family welfare and nutrition services with special focus on underserved and underprivileged segments of the population. / H & F.W. Deptt.
40 / State Governments should strengthen their Directorates of Statistics by inducting experts besides taking officers of Indian Statistical Service on deputation. The database should be updated and strengthened through continued field studies and computerization. The date so compiled should be published periodically. / P &C Deptt.
41 / States should codify and computerize all the schemes to ensure larger clarity regarding quantum of resource transfers to particular areas and proper utilization thereof. This would eliminate any duplication of schemes and booking of expenditure against the same. / All Deptt.

Fiscal Reforms

42 / The New Public Management (NPM) should be adopted to assess performance in terms of the macro-economic stabilization and economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of public funds. / Finance Deptt.
43 / Computerization of accounting system in States; creating a system of Controller of Accounts in each State on the pattern of the Union Government. / Finance Deptt.
44 / Improvement of Tax/GDP ratio of Center and States through inclusion of services in the tax base, removal of tax exemptions and concessions, harmonization of tax rates, tightening of tax administration, and implementing of an integrated VAT regime. / Finance Deptt.
45 / Better targeting of all subsidies, specially for the disadvantaged sections of the society. / Finance Deptt.
46 / Improvement in the internal resources of States’ PSUs, implementing power sector reforms and reducing the burden of contingent liabilities on State budgets. / Energy/Finance/P.E Deptt.
47 / Raising of user charges to cost recovery levels. / All Deptts

Labour Market Reforms

48 / Developing strategic alliances and networks – the forces during globalization (trade liberalization, new transport systems and communication technology) creating new production and market structures. / Finance/ Labour & Employment/ Industries Deptt.
49 / Implementing focused special programmes for creating additional employment and enhancing income generation from existing activities aimed at helping weaker sections / vulnerable groups. Pursuing suitable policies for capacity building of the labour force and making it capable of supporting a growth process which generates high quality jobs. / All Departments
50 / Making the labour laws more rationalized i.e. making them more consistent with the context, more consistent with each other, less cumbersome, simpler and more transparent. / Labour & Employment Deptt.
51 / Revamping of National Renewal Fund (NRF) and expanding its scope considerably to include retraining and redeployment of displaced persons not only from the PSUs but also from private sector. / Labour & Employment /P.E. Deptt.
52 / Providing social security to the vast unorganized labour force in the country. / L & E./W & C.D./ P.R Deptt.
53 / Industrial sickness and its resultant consequences to be handled carefully to ensure that its adverse impacts fall least on workers and on society. / L&E/Industry Deptt.
54 / Exit policy with adequate compensation and social security measures like health care, maternity and child care, provident fund benefits, family benefits, pension and safety at work place need to be designed for the unorganized sector. / Labour & Employment/P.E Deptt.
55 / Proper implementation of no discrimination against workers on gender aspects at all levels, equal pay for equal work to be followed both for men and women. / L & E. Deptt.

Reforms under G-C: Citizen-Centric Government

(Redefining the cutting edge)

Citizen-Centric Reforms

56 / Transparency in administrative systems, which enables the citizen to assert his rights and accountability mechanisms in the government to establish strong client focus in service delivery by public agencies. / All Departments
57 / Value for money and efficiency and productivity in operations through bench marking of services and quality certification. / All Departments
58 / Involvement of citizens in the design and delivery of services through consultation, focus groups, citizen boards and feedback. / All Departments
59 / Citizen empowerment through capacity building programme for the civil society organizations and through co-partnership between the government and the citizens. / All Departments
60 / Setting up of effective institutional mechanisms like Call Centers for time bound disposal of requests, applications etc. of citizens along with grievances redress mechanism. / All Departments
61 / Formulation of Citizen’s Charters / Service Charters by all the Government organizations including PSUs which should be continuously acted upon, monitored and sustained. / All Departments
62 / Guaranteeing Right to information through enactment and providing access to the citizens to Government records. / All Departments
63 / Introducing change management across various levels so that different structures of the government can cope up with the changes needed for good governance. / All Departments
64 / Governments can develop a gateway, which can connect to the departments on one side and to service access providers on the other side to enable competition among government service providers (e.g. e-seva has to compete with other players). / I.T.Deptt.

Rural Decentralization

65 / Devolution of functions, funds and functionaries to Panchayati Raj Institutions to be expedited, as per the provisions of 73rd Constitution Amendment Act. / P.R. Deptt.
66 / Provision be made to vest Gram Sabha with approving and sanctioning powers as well as monitoring functions to allow Panchayats to become vibrant and dynamic institutions. / P.R. Deptt.
67 / All institutions including DRDAs, Women’s Development Corporations etc., which come in functional conflict with the structures envisaged under 73rd Constitution Amendment Act to be merged to ensure harmonious integration of different agencies in the district level structure in the service of the common objective of / P.R./ W &C.D/H & U.D Deptt.
68 / Centrally Sponsored schemes pertaining to the 29 subjects listed in the Eleventh Schedule of the Constitution should be transferred to the Panchayats. / P.R. Deptt.
69 / The State Finance Commissions constituted should work within a fixed timeframe. Larger tax assignments and provisions for raising non-tax revenue through remunerative enterprises should be given to the Panchayats (and Municipalities); these bodies should have independent tax imposing powers. / P.R. Deptt / Finance/ H & U.D Deptt.
70 / Service Cadres should be set up to work in Panchayats; Recruitment through Panchayat Service Commission to be set up in each State. / P.R. Deptt.
71 / The District Planning Committees (DPCs) being the link between the Panchayats and the Municipalities have to play a very important role in preparing a draft plan for the whole district by integrating plans prepared by Panchayats and Municipalities, their composition and functioning becomes very essential. / All Departments
72 / Community involvement in improving public service delivery be encouraged. / All Departments
73 / As recommended by NCRWC, efforts to be made to give all the States in the North-Eastern region the opportunities provided under the 73rd and the 74th Constitution Amendment Acts, with due regard to the unique traditions of the region and the genius of the people without tampering with their essential rights. All other recommendations made by NCRWC in this regard for the NE region be considered on priority. / N.A.

Urban Sector Reforms

74 / Constitution of the District and Metropolitan Planning Committees, as per the provisions of 74th Constitution Amendment Act, to ensure formulation of realistic and effective integrated development plans incorporating resource mobilization plan. / H & U.D. Deptt.
75 / Devolution of appropriate taxes, as well as powers to levy innovative taxes, to municipal governments and autonomy to the governments for deciding their own tax rates and user charges so as to ensure a proper match between the devolved functions and sources of revenue. / H & U.D. Deptt.
76 / Tax reforms to be introduced Self-Assessment of Property tax to be implemented by assigning a unique property tax identification number to all properties and creating a computerized database of all taxable properties. / H & U.D/ I.T. Deptt.
77 / Adoption of innovative techniques for land development such as concepts of land swaps, land pooling, town planning schemes, accommodation reservations and transfer of development rights. / Revenue/H&U.D./GA Deptt.
78 / Adoption of a three tier urban planning system – 20-25 year Perspective Plan, 5-yeasr Development Plan and Annual Action Plan – that integrates the physical, economic and social development components. / H & U.D. Deptt.

E -Governance

79 / To formulate a National Action Plan and facilitate implementation of e-governance initiatives at the National and State level, the following policy interventions are required.
  • Overall Vision, Mission, Strategy and approach (e-governance as a reform process, e-readiness in terms of government’s willingness to share information with public and across government agencies.
  • E-Governance Technology architecture, framework and guidelines – Meta-data framework standards & operational specifications for identification, classification, structuring and management of information available with the government;
  • Defining a Multipurpose National Identity Card for every citizen at national level and each state to arrange its database with one field earmarked for this code for easy retrieval of data and integration of databases;
  • Funding Strategies (business models BOO, BOOT etc., budgetary resources-2-3% of departments’ budget should be should be earmarked for e-governance);
  • Core Infrastructure (telecommunication infrastructure, national e-government intranet, state wide intranets, security infrastructure, national e-government data center, state data centers, resource center for e-governance, language resource center,
  • Support infrastructure (Integrated service delivery front ends, service delivery infrastructure at state, district, block and village levels);
  • Human Resource Strategy and Capacity Building – for project leadership, implementation and operation, team performances, collaboration among agencies, networking with stakeholders, motivations / participation issues, use of local language solutions;
  • Security Policy, Framework and Guidelines (Legislation and other matters);
  • Policy on front end facilitation counters, kiosks, integrated service centres - ownership, funding/ subsidy, types of service charges;
  • Policy on Middleware (Portals, Data Centers);
  • Policy on back-ends- department automation, role of private sector, role of government, safeguards, right to information, privacy:
  • Policy on integrated services (ownership, responsibility);
  • Process Re-engineering – (change from computerization of individual activities per se to simplifying procedures, rationalizing processes, restructuring government and use IT to institutionalize such changes);
  • Policy and guidelines on Geographic information System;
  • Policy and guidelines on electronic payment mechanisms;
  • Prioritization policy for selection of project interventions - Identifying a model E-department, E-district, E-municipality and E-Panchayat in every state where every government-activity has been on on-line mode;
  • Policy on content management;
  • Policy on monitoring mechanism and timeframe.
/ IT/G.A.(AR) Deptt.
80 / Horizontal replication of some of the successful e-governance projects like e-Seva, CARD and P-Track of A.P., Tamil Nilam of Tamil Nadu, CICP of Gujarat, Bhoomi of Karnataka, CIC of N.E. states and FRIENDS of Kerala in all the States. / I.T. Deptt.
81 / Setting up of a National Centre of Good Governance for collection, collation and effective sharing of good governance including e-governance initiative between the Union and State Governments. / N.A
Special Issues (Border Management)
82 / Time Bound and holistic improvement in infrastructure including communication, roads, railway lines, bridges, schools, colleges and basic amenities for the people etc, in the border districts through long term perspective planning and special allocation of funds under the plan. / R.D./Health/Higher Education/S &. M.E/PR Deptt.
83 / Strategic infrastructure development; in border areas and particularly for deployment of armed forces i.e. fencing lighting, effective warning systems, communication network, hospitals, blood banks, etc. / N.A
84 / Constitution of a separate Frontier Administrative Service which should serve as a specialized instrument of governance in these areas; preference could be given to local people and ex-service officers in this Service. / N.A
85 / Harnessing of; river water potential in border-states through considered policy initiatives and implementation of well-designed schemes for power generation, irrigation, drinking water, etc. / W.R. Deptt.
Special Issues (Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes)
86 / Developing and monitoring of marketing network for handicrafts and other items produced by ST people in the tiny and unorganized sector. / Industry/W & C.D./ST & SC Dev./P.R./Textiles & Handloom Deptt
87 / Focus on vocational education for economically viable and sustainable skill development for SC/ST people. / Industry/W & C.D./ST & SC Dev./P.R./H.E Deptt
88 / Redesigning of the management information system for effective monitoring of the efficiency, efficacy of the delivery mechanism for the targeted population. / W & C.D./ST & SC Dev. /I.T/P.R. Deptt.

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