Governance: Issues And Challenges  (Paperback, Prof. Kuldip Narayan Dutta)

Governance has been defined to refer to structures and processes that are designed to ensure accountability, transparency, responsiveness, rule of law, stability, equity and inclusiveness, empowerment, and broad-based participation. Governance nowadays occupies a central stage in the development discourse but is also considered as the crucial element to be incorporated in the development strategy. However, apart from the universal acceptance of its importance, differences prevail in respect of theoretical formulations, policy prescriptions and conceptualization of the subject itself. Governance as a theoretical construct, separate from the theory of state, is not only in an embryonic stage, but its formulation also differs among researchers depending on their ideological convictions. E-governance applications ensure that procedures need to be re-engineered and automated to reduce the discretionary powers of civil servants, make financial or administrative transactions traceable and open to challenge by the citizens, easily identify those responsible for particular decisions or activities, provide enhanced monitoring and auditing systems that can ensure that public finances are fully open to senior managerial scrutiny. The role of governor in making and unmaking of the governments is a widely discussed subject with significant literature and judicial pronouncements available on it. However, there are many important areas in the governance of the state such as rules of business, administration of Scheduled Areas and Governor as Chancellor of the universities. This book is its strong conceptual orientation, the empirical support it provides to its analysis and the instrumental perspectives it adopts in offering realistic solutions to the prevalent problems of governance as well as development.