Category: Political Science Notes

Here is an essay on the ‘Budgetary Process in India’ for class 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on the ‘Budgetary Process in India’ especially written for school and college students.

Budgetary Process in India

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Essay Contents:

1. Essay on the Introduction to Budgetary Process
2. Essay on the Preparation of Budget in India
3. Essay on the Enactment of Budget
4. Essay on the Execution of Budget

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Essay # 1. Introduction to the Budgetary Process:

The budgetary process in any country involves four different operations, viz.:

(i) The preparation of the budget, i.e., the formulation of estimates of revenue and expenditure for the ensuring financial year.

(ii) The enactment of the budget, i.e., its approval by the legislature in the form of finance bills and appropriation bills.

(iii) The execution of the budget, i.e., enforcement of the finance and appropriation bills; in other words, collecting the taxes and incurring the expenditure as authorised by the Parliament,

(iv) The legislative control of the budget, i.e., supervision and control of financial operation by audit on behalf of the legislature.

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Essay # 2. Preparation of Budget in India:

Preparation of the budget involves the following operations which follow in the order as given below:

1. Preparation by the Disbursing Officers

2. Scrutiny and Review of Estimates by Controlling Officers

3. Scrutiny and Review by the Accountant-General and the Administrative Depart­ment

4. Scrutiny by the Ministry of Finance

5. Approval by the Cabinet.

1. Preparation by the Disbursing Officers:

The work in connection with the prepara­tion of the Budget begins 6 to 8 months before the commencement of the next financial year. Since the Indian financial year begins from 1st of April every year, the work of budget prepa­ration starts in the month of August-September.

The Accountant-General sends prescribed form for estimates of revenue, and expenditure separately to the Heads of various departments the month of July or August.

The Heads of Departments send those forms to the disbursing officers-heads of the local offices who prepare the preliminary estimates. The task of preparing the estimates is the most important one. In the words of Mr. P.K. Wattal it is not a simple arithmetical exercise in striking out averages of previous years and putting in a safe figure which would not look exactly like repetition of the last year’s performance.

Behind figures lay insistent realities of administration. The circumstances of no one year are exactly similar to those of the previous year and yet they are not quite dissimilar. One has, therefore, to use his judgment in estimating the similarities and dissimilarities and making due allowance for each.

Every care should therefore be taken in the preparation of the estimates. While preparing the estimates the local officers are to fill in four columns of the prescribed form:

(i) Actual of the previous year,

(ii) Sanctioned estimates for the current year,

(iii) Revised estimates for the current year, and

(iv) Budget estimates for the next year.

These estimates are prepared by the Heads of offices in three parts, namely, Part I, Part II A and Part II B. Part I relates to revenue and to standing charges like permanent establishment, travelling allowances, etc. Part II A relates to continuing schemes, e.g., purchase of raw mate­rial, etc. Part II B relates entirely to new schemes of expenditure.

Sometimes there remains much difference between the budget estimates and the actual amount spent or required to be spent. This is mainly due to two important factors. Firstly, the estimates are prepared some 18 months earlier, and secondly, Indian economy is a gamble in monsoon and the estimates are prepared much before the advent of monsoons.

Besides as Mr. Ashok Chanda puts it, “the preparation of estimates on new projects at the time of their inclu­sion in the budget proves in most cases to be difficult…The estimates given have often to be based on mere expectations and on nothing more concrete and positive. Nevertheless, unless any figure is communicated to the Finance Ministry for inclusion in the budget estimates the scheme cannot be taken in hand when it matures.”

2. Scrutiny and Review of Estimates by Controlling Officers:

The local officers send the estimates to their prospective controlling officers or Heads of Departments for scrutiny and review. The scrutiny is purely of an administrative type. The controlling officer has to judge the relative importance of the proposals from the various branches and sections of his depart­ment for new expenditure in the light of the possible grant for the department as a whole.

He has, therefore, to accept some of them and reject others. Then he consolidates the estimates for the whole department and by the beginning of October, these forms go into the hands of the Budget Officers.

3. Scrutiny and Review by the Accountant-General and the Administrative Depart­ment:

After the estimate forms have left the desks of the controlling officers. Part I of the estimates which relates to revenue and to standing charges like permanent establishment, trav­elling allowance, etc., is submitted to the Accountant-General and the General Administration Departments for scrutiny and review.

The General Administration Departments exist in State Governments. Besides the general review, the Accountant-General’s Office is also required to prepare estimates under debt, deposit and remittance heads. By the middle of November, these estimates go to the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance.

4. Scrutiny by the Ministry of Finance:

The estimates received from the various de­partments are scrutinized by the Ministry of Finance and after revision and modification, are consolidated together into the Budget of the Government as a whole.

In the words of Mr. P.K. Wattal, “the scrutiny applied by the Finance Department is different in character from that applied by the administrative department. The administrative department is responsible for the policy of the expenditure or its necessity or general propriety. But the Finance Department is mainly concerned with economy and is therefore entrusted with the duty of keeping the demand of the departments, within the fund available. The unresolved differences of opinions between the administrative departments and the Finance Department are submitted to Govern­ment (Cabinet) for decision.”

The scrutiny of the estimates by the Ministry of Finance is thus from the financial point of view, i.e., of economy, or availability of funds.

The operation of the scrutiny by the Ministry of Finance in regard to new expenditure, e.g., over a new social service or the extension of an existing activity in new direction, is fully revealed from the nature of following questions it applies on them:

(i) Is the proposed expenditure really necessary?

(ii) If so, how have we so long done without it? Why now?

(iii) What is done elsewhere?

(iv) What will it cost and where from is the money to come?

(v) Who will go short as a consequenc
e of it?

(vi) Are new developments likely to render it unnecessary? And so on.

The Ministry of Finance then prepares an estimate of income and expenditure of the Government of India. On the basis of the estimated expenditure, proposals regarding fresh taxes are made in the budget. In other words, the budget is divided into two parts-the Income side and the Expenditure side.

The Budget consolidated in this form is ready by the month of December. In Britain, the Treasury and in the U.S.A., the Bureau of the Budget exercise the control over the budget estimates the control which the Ministry of Finance does in India.

5. Approval by the Cabinet:

The Finance Minister examines the budget estimates somewhere in January and in consultation with the Prime Minister prepares his financial policy with regard to taxation, etc. After that has been done, the budget is submitted to the Cabinet for joint consideration.

It is so done, because it is the Cabinet which is responsible for laying down the general course of policy. When the Cabinet has approved the budget, it is ready for being introduced in the Parliament.

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Essay # 3. Enactment of the Budget:

In the Parliament, the budget goes through five stages, namely- (i) introduction (ii) the general discussion (iii) the voting of demands for grants (iv) the consideration and passing of the appropriation bill, and (v) the consideration and passing of the taxation proposals, i.e., the Finance bill.

(i) The Introduction of the Budget:

The Budget session of the Indian Parliament commences in the mid-February. The Budget is presented to the Parliament in two parts, the Railway Budget and the General Budget. The Railway Budget exclusively deals with the receipts and expenditure of the railways and it is separately presented to the Parliament by the Railway Minister.

The General Budget deals with estimates of all the departments of the Government of India excluding Railways and is pre­sented to the Parliament by the Finance Minister. The procedure followed in the case of Rail­way Budget and the General Budget is the same.

First is presented the Railway Budget. This is followed by the General Budget which is presented by the Minister of Finance in the Lok Sabha usually at 5 P.M. on the last day of February. The copies of the Budget together with the Financial Statement are printed and circulated to all the members for their reference.

(ii) General Discussion:

According to Rule 130 of the Rules of Conduct of Business of Parliament, ‘no discussion of the budget shall take place on the day on which it is presented to the Parliament.’ The Speaker, therefore, fixes a date on which general discussion on the Budget is to take place. Such a date is generally fixed one week after the presentation of the Budget and about four days are allotted for the purpose.

Discussion covers all items of expenditure including those that are charged on the Consolidated Fund of India and are excluded from the vote of the Parliament. It relates to the general principles or policy underlying a review and criticism of the administration of the various Ministries.

The discussion is more of political rather than of fi­nancial nature and major part of the time is allowed to the opposition to review the work of the Government for the year and ventilate the grievances of the people.

At this stage, no motion is moved nor is the Budget submitted to the vote of Parliament. It may be mentioned here that the general discussion on the budget takes place in both the Houses of Parliament simultaneously. The Finance Minister makes a general reply at the end of the discussion.

(iii) The Voting of Demands:

The Demands for Grant are referred to the Standing Committee of the concerned Ministry for thorough consideration. It was in 1993 that the Parliament took decision to set up Depart­ment related Standing Parliamentary Committees to scrutinize the Demands for Grants of vari­ous ministries departments before these are discussed and voted in the House.

The functions of these committees are:

(a) To consider the Demands for Grants of the concerned ministries and make a report on the same to the Houses.

(i) To examine bills pertaining to the concerned ministries.

(ii) To consider annual reports of ministries and make reports thereon, and

(iii) To consider national basic long term policy documents presented to the Houses.

There are twenty four committees; eight are chaired by the members of the Rajya Sabha and the remaining 16 by the members of Lok Sabha. Each committee consists of 31 members 21 members from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha. After the scrutiny by the committees, the Demands come before the Lok Sabha for its consideration.

The Lok Sabha proceeds to the voting of demands for grants not charged on the Consoli­dated Fund of India. The voting of demands is the exclusive privilege of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha does not take part in it. While voting the demands for grants, the Lok Sabha sits as House and not as the Committee of the Whole House as is the practice of the House of Commons in Great Britain.

The total number of days allotted for the voting of demands is 26 as in Britain. It is evident from the short time given that many of the demands are voted without any discussion at all.

What happens is that the Speaker in consultation with the Leader of the House fixes a time limit for particular demands or group of demands and for the entire expen­diture, part of the budget and as soon as the time-limit for any demand is reached, it is immediately put to vote irrespective of the fact whether the discussion on it is complete or not.

Similarly on the last day allotted for the voting of the demands, at 5 P.M. the Speaker puts all the demands which remain outstanding to vote and disposes them whether they have been discussed or not. Due to Parliamentary system of government, the reduction of any item of the budget in opposition to the wishes of the Cabinet tantamount to a vote of no confidence.

What, therefore, happens in the House during the demands for grants is not a discussion of the heads of items of the budget from the financial point of view, but a general ventilation of grievances against the administration of particular departments of the government. As each head of expenditure comes up for discussion, some member rises and moves a token cut of one rupee or a hundred rupees in its estimates.

Then he proceeds to criticize the administration of the department to which it relates. The Minister concerned has to defend the administration against all criticism that is leveled against it by the opposition.

At the end of the discussion of each demand, the demand is put to the vote of the House in the following form “That a sum not exceeding Rs. be granted to the President (or the Governor) to defray the charges, which will come in the course of payment during the year ending March 19—in respect of—(subject of the demand)”.

A demand when duly voted becomes a grant. It may be remembered that the House can only reject or reduce a demand but cannot increase it. If more money is needed for expenditure, it is authorized by way of Supplementary grants or may be spent out of Contin­gency Fund.

(iv) Passage of the Appropriation Bill:

The next stage is the passage of the Annual Appropriation Bill into a statute. All the demands voted by the Lok Sabha and the expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India are put together and incorporated in a Bill
called the Annual Appropriation Bill.

Article 114(1) of the Constitution provides that after the grants have been made, there shall be intro­duced a Bill to provide for the appropriation out of the Consolidated Fund of India of all moneys required to meet:

(a) The grants so made by the House of the People, and

(b) The expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of India but not exceeding in any case the amounts shown in the statement previously laid before Parliament.

An Appropriation Bill is accordingly introduced in the Lok Sabha. The allotment of time for the different stages of the Bill is determined by the Speaker. The debate is restricted to those points only which have not been already discussed during the debates on estimates.

The Bill follows the same procedure in the House as any other Bill except in this that no amend­ment to the grants as voted by the House previously, or altering its destination, or to the Con­solidated Fund Charges can be proposed in either House. After being passed by the Lok Sabha, it is certified by the Speaker as money bill and sent to the Rajya Sabha.

The Rajya Sabha has neither the power of amending nor rejecting the Appropriation Bill. It can only discuss and make recommendations within 14 days to the Lok Sabha, which may or may not accept them. Even if the Lower House rejects the suggestions made by the Upper House, the bill will be considered as passed by both the Houses in the form it was passed by the Lower House.

In case the Upper House does not make recommendations within the above specified period and remains silent, even then the bill will be deemed to have been passed by the Upper House on the expiry of that period.

The Appropriation Bill is then sent to the President for his assent. It is just formality because the President cannot return a money bill for reconsideration. An Appropriation Act embodies the authority given by the Parliament with the assent of the President to the Government to withdraw money from the Public Fund and spend it as authorized in the Act.

Without such an authority, the Government cannot incur any expenditure and the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India would hold a payment as unauthorized or illegal if it were made without authorization in the Appropriation Act Article 114(3) lays down that “no money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund except under appropriation” and hence the passage of the Appropriation Act constitutes an important process in Budget enactment.

(v) Passage of the Finance Bill:

The Appropriation Act authorizes the Government to appropriate money from the Con­solidated Fund but it has not so far been provided wherefrom the money for expenditure would come. Provision is therefore made for collecting the required money by way of taxation. For this purpose a Finance Bill is placed before the House.

This bill incorporates the financial proposals of the Government for the ensuing year and is placed before the Parliament at the same time as the Budget. The procedure followed is that of money bill and it is only in Select Committee that the Bill is considered in details and amendments are moved. After the presen­tation of the Committee Report, clause by clause consideration of the bill follows.

The scope of amendments is restricted to proposals for the reduction or abolition of a tax. The financial proposal becomes operative as soon as the Budget is presented under the Provisional Collection of Taxes Act, 1931. The Finance Bill must be passed before the end of April and after having been passed, the Government is authorized to collect the taxes.

With the passage of the Appropriation Bill and the Finance Bill, the enactment of the Budget is complete. The budget contains the ordinary annual estimates which constitute the bulk of the annual receipts and charges.

To meet expenditure on circumstances unforeseen at the time of budget there are other four kinds of grants which the Lok Sabha may be asked to make, viz.:

(1) Supplementary Grants,

(2) Votes on Account,

(3) Exceptional Grants and Votes on Credit.

(1) Supplementary Grants:

If the amount authorized by the Appropriation Act of the year is found to be insufficient for any service or if expenditure on some new service becomes necessary or if expenditure incurred on any service exceeds the amount provided for in the budget the President is autho­rized under Article 115 of our Constitution to cause to be laid before the Parliament a supple­mentary financial statement embodying the supplementary grants which is passed according to the usual procedure followed for the passage of appropriation bill.

(2) Votes on Account:

Under Article 116 (1) (a) of the Constitution, the Lok Sabha has power to make any grant in advance in respect of the estimated expenditure for a part of any financial year pending the passing of the Appropriation Act.

As the voting of expenditure for a particular financial year is not completed till the month of April, it becomes necessary for the Lok Sabha to make provision for defraying the expenditure likely to be incurred till the voting is over. This provision in advance of pending the passage of the Appropriation Act is known as ‘votes on Account’.

It may, however, be mentioned that demands for grants on account are restricted to such services as have received the sanction of the Parliament. Usually, it is not used for the new services. The estimated requirements broadly represent one-twelfth of the whole year’s gross requirements except in exceptional cases where it can be more also if the expenditure is not uniformly spread over the year.

(3) Exceptional Grants and Votes on Credit:

Article 116(b) reads:

The House of the People shall have power “to make a grant for meeting an unexpected demand upon the resources of India when on account of the magnitude or the indefinite character of the service the demand cannot be stated with the details ordinarily given in an annual financial statement.” The same Article in clause (c) states.

The House of the People shall have the power “to make an exceptional grant which forms no part of the current service of any financial service”. The expenditure on such unforeseen events can be met from advances made by the President out of the Contingencies Fund of India. These ad­vances will have to be authorized by the Parliament later.

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Essay # 4. Execution of the Budget:

After the enactment of the Budget, the next step in the budgetary process is its execution. The execution of the budget is the responsibility of the executive because the grants of money are made by the legislature to it.

The two important principles involved in the execution of budget are:

(i) That it must conform to the terms of the Appropriation and Finance Acts; and

(ii) That there must be a high degree of honesty, integrity and efficiency.

The process of execution of the budget involves the following operations:

1. Assessment and Collection of Funds:

Before the taxes are collected they have got to be assessed. Assessment means the act of determining as to how much amount is to be collected from different individuals according to the authority given by the legislature. Assessment, there­fore, involves the preparation of a list of persons liable to pay the tax and also determining how much each has to pay according to the prescribed rates.

The executive has to devise a suitable machinery and procedure for assessing the amount that is due to the Government from an individual or an association. While devising such a machin
ery care should be taken to pre­vent the evasion of taxes.

Having made the necessary assessment, the officers of the Government proceed to collect the sum of money due to the Government from the various persons. The mode of collection varies according to the nature of the tax. In certain cases, for example of customs, payment has to be made on the spot. In other cases, bills may be sent to the assesse and he may be asked to pay the amount in the nearest treasury.

In some cases, deduction of the tax may be made at the sources as is done in the case of income tax which is deducted from the pay of the salaried employees. Lastly, in some cases, the agents or officials of the Government may approach the tax payer directly and demand payment from him and the collection thus made, they may subsequently deposit in the treasury.

The Department of Revenue of the Finance Ministry exercises overall control and super­vision over the direct and indirect taxes levied by the Government of India through the two statutory Boards, viz., the Central Board of Direct Taxes, and the Central Board of Excise and Customs.

Sometimes the question arises whether the tasks of assessment and collection of revenue should be entrusted to the same officials or to different sets of officials.

The supporters of the former view hold that:

(i) There would be more of honesty and fair play under the system.

(ii) It will ensure greater control over collection of money to the Government.

(iii) It will also facilitate the work of audit, because when the same service has the duty of assessing and collecting the taxes, it becomes easy to check one of these operations against the other.

But the system is defective in as much as:

(i) The two activities are different in nature and hence need different forms of organisations.

(ii) If the same officials are to do both the jobs, they shall be heavily burdened.

(iii) It will be more expensive and it shall involve unnecessary duplication of records, etc.

The best method will, therefore, be that both the functions should be concentrated in a single service, but there may be two sections in the organisation to deal with the two phases of the problem. In India this system is followed.

There is in the Centre as well as in the States a Revenue Department under the charge of the Finance Minister. There are also Boards under the Minister and they carry on the functions of assessment, supervision of collection and adju­dication of revenue disputes.

2. Custody of Funds:

All revenue that is collected has to be placed in safe custody.

This involves two main considerations, namely:

(i) There should be no possibility of embezzlement and misappropriation.

(ii) There should be ensured convenience and promptness of payment.

In former days, huge stocks of Public money were maintained in the Treasury in specially constructed strong boxes. But with the development of the Banking system, now there is little need for the Government to keep treasury for the custody of its funds.

Moreover, it is not necessary to carry on all the financial transactions through cash money as most of the work may now be done through cheques as payment by cheque minimizes the chances of foul play and embezzlement.

In most of the countries, therefore, the Central Bank carries all the money transactions on behalf of the Government as does the Bank of England in London But in a country like India where the banking facilities are not sufficient, it is not possible to have such a centralized system for receiving money and for making payments on behalf of the Govern­ment.

The Reserve Bank of India and where there is no branch or agency of the Reserve Bank, the State Bank of India, however, conduct the Treasury business of the Government of India. But since the branches of the Reserve Bank and State Bank do not yet exist at all places, the Government has still to maintain over 1,200 sub-treasuries and over 300 District treasuries to supervise over them.

3. Disbursement of Funds:

Disbursement is the process of withdrawal of money from the Treasury for payments of various liabilities. This is based on British system. Every care should be taken in the work of disbursement against illegal and inaccurate withdrawals or payments. Particular control is, therefore, exercised by the Ministry of Finance over expenditure.

The legislature makes the grants to the Government as a whole, technically to the President and not to individual departments. The Ministry of Finance designates the Head of each administrative department as a controlling officer in respect of the expenditure occurring in his department. These officers in turn allocate grants to the disbursing officers-heads of offices working under them.

The work of communicating grants to the controlling and disbursing officers is taken up immediately after the enactment of the budget. Expenditure against appropriation is controlled by dividing grants into primary units of appropriation, for example, the pay of officers, establishments, contingencies, etc.

These appropriations are sometimes further divided for purposes of financial control. The basic unit of expenditure control is the sub-head. The disbursing officer is allotted certain sub-heads of appropriations. He alone can withdraw money from the treasury.

A great responsibility falls on the disbursing officer. He has to satisfy himself before withdrawing the money:

(i) That the expenditure has been sanctioned by a general or special order of the authority competent to sanction such expenditure;

(ii) That the expenditure to be incurred is within the limits of the appropriation granted by the legislature; and

(iii) That payment of the claims is just.

(iv) That the claims have been examined from the point of view of administration and in case of engineering work also of technical sanction.

He has also to keep the accounts of the various transactions and to make a report about them to the Head of the department and to the Accountant-General. The treasurer, i.e., the officer in charge of the Treasury is also to be equally vigilant while making the payments.

He has to see whether the warrants of payment, the challan or a cheque is signed by a competent authority or not and further he has to keep a record of all receipts and payments.

The power of control of expenditure of the Head of the department is not finished with allocation of money grants to the disbursing officers. He exercises continuous control over the expenditure in his department. The disbursing officers are required to submit monthly accounts to the controlling officers of their departments.

The controlling officer gets these accounts clas­sified and consolidated under the various sub-heads and can thus get an accurate and up-to-date picture of the financial position of his department as a whole. He also sends a copy of these accounts to the Accountant General’s office and the Finance Ministry.

The departmental ac­counts are reconciled with those of Accountant General on the basis of fortnightly accounts received by him from the treasuries. All this enables the controlling officer to watch the flow of expenditure in his department against the budgetary grants and to apply the necessary con­trol over extravagance or carelessness.

It may be noted that the controlling officers are sometimes authorized by the Finance Department to allow re-appropriations from one minor head to another minor head. But the Finance Department can allow re-appropriation from one major head to another major head or to a wholly new head only with the approval of the legislature which has to be taken by way of Supplementary grants.

4. Accounting:

Accounting means keeping a sys
tematic record of financial transac­tions. A good accounting system is indispensable for adequate budgetary control. It is only through systematic accounts supported by vouchers and receipts that the legality and honesty of the transactions as also the fidelity of the officers handling the funds can be determined.

Sec­ondly, it is through accounts only that it can be ascertained whether provisions of the budget as voted by the legislature have been properly implemented or not, i.e., how much has been spent and for what purpose and whether within the budgetary limits or not.

Thirdly, accounts furnish the valuable information needed regarding financial conditions and operations for policy determining and programme making.

Francis Oakey in his book titled Principles of Govern­ment—Accounting and Reporting, rightly defines the term Accounting “as the science of pro­ducing promptly and presenting clearly the facts relating to financial conditions and operations that are required as a basis of management.”

In the words of Dr. L.D. White, “The primary functions of a system of accounts are to make a financial record, to protect those handling funds to reveal the financial condition of the organisation in all its branches, to facilitate nec­essary adjustments in rates of expenditure, to give information to those in responsible position on the basis of which plans for future financial and operating programmes can rest and to aid in the making of an audit.”

He further says, from the point of view of the department head or the chief executive early and accurate accounting reports are necessary in order to direct the course of work and future expenditures. They also provide the essential record to demonstrate the appropriate and legal use of funds making certain that each sub-division of an organisation is actually using money for the purpose for which it was appropriated.

The accounts and the supporting financial documents provide the evidence on the basis of which spending officer justifies his expenditure either to finance Director or to the auditor.

5. Audit:

The last stage in the execution of the budget is audit. The term, audit, has been defined as “the process of ascertaining whether the administration has spent or is spending its funds in accordance with the terms of the legislative instrument which appropriated the money” It is a means of enforcing accountability.

The Audit Department is headed by the Comptroller and Auditor-General. His functions are not merely to ensure that the appropria­tions made by Parliament have not been exceeded by the executive without a supplementary vote or that the expenditure conforms to rules but also to satisfy himself on behalf of Parliament as to its ‘wisdom, faithfulness and economy’.

The Comptroller and Auditor-General acts as an agent of the Parliament. The Parliament itself, too, exercises control over expenditure through its three important financial committees-The Public Accounts Committee, the Esti­mates Committee, the Committee on Public Undertakings.

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After reading this article you will learn about the defects of Indian procedure system with reforms to remove the same.

Defects of Indian Procedure System:

Following are the main defects of Indian procedure system:

(i) Red Tapism:

The time required for answering letters is too long.

(ii) Outmoded:

The administrative procedures are many and most of them are outmoded. All of them necessitate continuing scrutiny and some at least require vigorous overhauling.

(iii) Unimaginative:

According to Dr. Appleby, “the Rules of Business, Secretariat In­structions, and Office Manuals seem to me to be generally too delicate and confining, too de­tailed and unimaginative… They seem to assume and encourage that literal mindedness which damps the spirit, imagination and judgment which are important to good administration.”

(iv) Over-Emphasis on Precedents:

Too much concern is shown for precedents. The laying of too much emphasis on the precedents prolongs the process of review and causes irritation to programme agencies. Regarding this concern for precedents, Appleby rightly observes, ‘It seems a strange thing that this basic concern for precedent has not been challenged by the present government.

The primary function of political leadership—and notably of leadership in a revolutionary stage—is to incite a departure from precedent for the sake of the achievement of new values.

Even in non-revolutionary setting, concern for precedent as such, has little value. It is a dictum in professional administrative circles that the surest way to ruin your boss is to do exactly what he tells you to do—that is literally what he tells you to do without intelligence, without discrimination, without imagination.

Excessive concern for precedent’ is quite like an excessive concern for the literal… The way things have been done is known to everybody in the agencies involved; it is the easy way to go on doing things, but not always a good way to get things done.

(v) Too Cumbersome and Delaying:

The system of review is too cumbersome and delaying. In the words of Appleby, “far too many proposed actions are reviewed and that the review is far too often in the useless and frustrating fashion.”

He goes to the extent of saying “…specific decisions incident to effectuation of purpose of India are reviewed by too many persons in too many organs of the Government in too detailed, too repetitive and too negative terms.”

Reforms in Office Procedure:

In order to remove these defects, the Government of India, at the suggestion of O and M Division, effected the following reforms in the office procedure:

(a) New Type Section:

In order to avoid red-tapism and cumbersomeness of procedure, a ‘new type of section system’ has been set up in some Ministries.

According to this system, the institution of noting by Assistants has been abolished. Instead, noting is done by the section officer who decides to which level of decision making, the paper in question should go, and sends it directly to that level, thus avoiding the long journey of through proper channels.

Ac­cording to this new system, every matter is given first consideration by an officer who has authority to dispose of certain types of cases personally. In such cases, papers may not be submitted higher up.

Moreover, the direct submission of cases by the section officer to the appropriate higher level avoiding the other hierarchical steps, will result in elimination of the intermediate stages and avoidance of irrelevant and repetitive noting.

(b) Delegation to Section Officers:

With a view to bring down the decision making level, higher officers are induced to delegate more and more authority to section officers. For instance, under-secretaries and in certain cases even section officers have been empowered to sanction money for contingency expenditure up to a certain limit. Section Officers have also been authorized to sanction leave to Class IV employees.

(c) Inspections Introduced:

To enforce compliance with prescribed procedures and make people efficiency conscious, annual and quarterly inspections of every section in the Central Secretariat have been introduced. This work is done by the O and M officers of the Ministry. Each Ministry issues annual returns of inspections to the O and M Division.

(d) Financial Control System Reformed:

The Financial Officers linked with the Administrative Ministries have been re-designated as Financial Advisers and have been brought nearer to the Secretary and other senior officers of the Ministry to which they are accredited.

Administrative Officers are now required to ensure that the ‘Attached Financial Adviser’ is taken into confidence at the earliest possible opportunity and is permitted full facility of discus­sion with the senior officers of the Ministry. That will ensure that no time and labour is wasted on the preparation of schemes and proposals likely to prove financially feasible and acceptable.

Likewise the subsequent detailed examination and formulation of proposals is to be done after a close consultation with the attached Financial Adviser. This results into the emergence of a joint, agreed, well conceived and comprehensive scheme. Such a step lays emphasis on the responsibility of the financial officers to give constructive financial advice to the administrative machinery.

Moreover, to facilitate the communication between the Administrative Ministries and the Finance Ministry, certain important reforms have been effected in the pattern of distribution of work among the Financial Advisers and in the working methods of Expenditure Division.

This has been done to promote expeditious disposal. The Financial Adviser has been empowered to dispose of all the cases emanating from the Administrative Ministry.

Procedural Reforms Suggested by A.R.C.:

The Administrative Reforms Commission also has suggested organizational and certain procedural reforms.

The Commission fixed following as the criteria of their reform scheme:

(a) “The duties and requirements of each job should be defined clearly and in detail on the basis of a scientific analysis of work content.

(b) “The arrangement of various jobs or positions within administrative organisation or for purposes of staffing by a particular grade or service, may be determined primarily by the nature and content of administrative tasks and functions to be performed.

(c) “The administrative structure may be so recast as to provide adequate opportunities for self-development and self-fulfillment of each Government official.”

In an organization so structured, the distribution of work between different wings of the secretariat and between secretariat and Executive Agencies would be based on the consideration of rationality and manageability. In the scheme so envisaged, the role of the secretary has been visualized as one of the coordinator, policy guide, reviewer and evaluator.

Two-Level Formula:

Following specific reforms in procedure were suggested by the A.R.C.:

The secretariat must adhere to the principle of “two levels and no more than two levels of decision-making”. It means that no file should go to more than two levels for decision. For instance, in a case involving policy decisions the J
oint and Additional or full Secretary constitute these two levels. In a case of routine nature, under-secretary and section officer should consti­tute these levels.

1. Desk-Officer System:

The two level of decision making is organized on the line of ‘desk-officer’ system. The latter meant a procedure under which “each executive is allotted a defined area of functioning and is expected to acquire specialized experience in it. They de­scribed this system as an improvement upon officer-oriented system which was adopted by cer­tain departments and ministries in 1956.

According to this system, the work assigned to a wing of Ministry is to be so distributed that each officer is required and empowered to dispose of a substantial amount of work on his own, seeking guidance from his senior officers, where deemed necessary. Such consultations are to be oral though a brief record of these discussions is to be maintained. Cases of a simple nature will be disposed of within five days.

2. Functional File Index System:

A Functional File Index System should be maintained by the Registry wing of each Ministry. A ‘Guard File’ or ‘Card Index’ should be prepared for maintaining record of all the important precedents. Besides, modern techniques of data processing should be gradually adopted in the secretariat. This would lead to the improvement of the information retrieval system.

3. Policy Advisory Committee for Group Thinking:

The A.R.C. also suggested that the individual approach to problem solving may be replaced by Group Thinking. Hence, they suggested the establishment of a Policy Advisory Committee in each Department. The said Committee is to be headed by a secretary. Its other members comprise chiefs of the proposed offices of Planning and Policy, Finance and Personnel, heads of the various substantive work wings.

4. Avoidance of Cross-References to other Ministries:

The current practice of horizontal pushing of the files from one Ministry to another, to seek advice on technical or legal matters caused unnecessary delay in settling the cases. Hence the Commission suggested the more liberal use of telephone or oral discussions. If this practice is adopted by an officer, a gist of the telephonic conversation should be recorded on the file.

5. Office Equipment:

The office equipment’s and the use we make of mechanical devices facilitates and accelerates work. Previously, a host of clerks used to be appointed for writing fair copies of letters and office memoranda. With the discovery of inventions like typewriters and duplicators, the clerk’s work became easier and work began to be conducted with speed and efficiency.

The mechanical enumerators, accounting machines, filing cabinets and telephone and telegraph have also made office routine easier and speedier. The Americans and the Britishers have made ample use of these devices. The Government of India also is now making use of them.

6. Administrative Architecture:

The speed and efficiency in administration also depends on the nature of buildings in which the offices are located. If the departmental offices are situated at different places, co-ordination may be lacking and the system may entail huge expenditure.

On the other hand, if offices are concentrated at one place, that may cause confusion and obstruction in work. Moreover, the concentration of all offices at one place may prove detrimental to the interest of the Nation, if in the event of attack, the enemy makes it a target and thus governmental structure is toppled down.

It is advisable that the government departments may be grouped on the basis of the nature of their functions. Departments performing collateral functions, viz., Industry and Commerce, Iron and Steel and Communication may be housed in one building. Likewise public utility departments like Labour, Housing, Social Welfare, etc., should be situated in one building.

Adequate attention should be paid to internal architecture of those buildings also. The entire building should be divided into blocks, each having a link with others. Each block should have a set of halls which should house central offices like Central Registry, Record Room, etc.

The block should also have separate sections having sub-halls and offices. Sections should be connected with each other through half doors. Section Officers’ office should be situated in the central place of the section. This will enable him to supervise the work of the section easily. The offices of the higher officers should be situated at a place where they may have easy approach to all branches and sections.

Offices should be spacious enough to avoid congestion. Moreover, concentration of too many clerks in one office will develop in them a tendency of gossiping and wasting time. Even from supervision point of view, it may not be desirable to concentrate too many of them at one place. Otherwise too, provision of a congenial atmosphere adds to the efficiency of the workers.

Availability of restaurants and canteens in the secretariat building, preferably common can­teens, helps in developing personal contacts between the officers and their subordinates. It height­ens the morale of the subordinates and enables the officers to supervise the work of their sub­ordinates more effectively.

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Here is a term paper on the ‘Supervision of Employees’ for class 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short term papers on the ‘Supervision of Employees’ especially written for school and college students.

Supervision of Employees

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Term Paper Contents:

1. Term Paper on the Meaning of Supervision
2. Term Paper on the Phases of Supervision
3. Term Paper on the Methods of Supervision
4. Term Paper on the Qualities of Good Supervisors
5. Term Paper on the Training of Supervisors
6. Term Paper on the Human Relations of Supervision

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1. Term Paper on the Meaning of Supervision:

Supervision means to “oversee or superintend”. It has been defined as the authoritative direction and superintending the work of others. However, some writers feel that this is too authoritarian a definition of supervision.

Supervision is something more than the use of author­ity; it has educative aspect too. The different aspects of supervision have been explained by Margaret Williamson in a graphic story. Some new group workers were asked what came to their mind when they heard the term ‘supervision’?

The workers replied somewhat as follows:

“Being safeguarded from making mistakes. Being helped by a person who understands. Satisfaction in having a point of reference. Being made to feel inadequate and inferior because of the authority and power of the person over me. Being pushed around.”

She defines supervision “as a process by which workers are helped by a designated staff member to learn according to their needs, to make the best use of their knowledge and skills and to improve their abilities so that they do their jobs more effectively and with increasing satisfaction to themselves and the agency.” She has more a humanistic rather than technical approach to the meaning of supervision.

Supervision should be distinguished from inspection and investigation though the latter are the tools of the former. Inspection is to check compliance with instructions and investigation is to deter or detect wrong doing. Hence, both are negative in character. But supervision is more positive in character; it is consultative and advisory in nature. In fact, it has many ingredients.

In the words of Halsey, it is “selecting the right person for each job, arousing in each person an interest in his work and teaching him how to do it; measuring and rating performance to be sure that teaching has been fully effective, administering correction where this found necessary and transferring to more suitable work or dismissing those for whom this proves ineffective; com­mending whenever praise is merited and rewarding for good work; and, finally, fitting each person harmoniously into the working group—all done fairly, patiently and tactfully so that each person is caused to do his work skillfully, accurately, intelligently, enthusiastically and com­pletely.”

Thus supervision is a broader concept. It is more positive than negative. It implies consultation, advice and guidance. The employees turn to their supervisor for guidance and advice whenever they face problems in doing their job.

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2. Term Paper on the Phases of Supervision:

There are three phases of a supervisor’s job:

(1) Substantive or technical.

(2) Institu­tional, and

(3) Personal.

(1) Substantive Aspect:

A supervisor must know the technique and the ‘know-how’ of his work because he has to plan the work, assign duties to others and set standards of performance.

(2) Institutional Aspect:

A supervisor has to run the agency or unit under his charge accord­ing to the established rules and procedures and within the framework of policy. He should ensure that the work is well done and on time. He has the responsibility to see that all employ­ees are regular and punctual in their duties and that there is proper conservation of equipment and supplies.

(3) Personal Aspect:

Authority alone cannot get work out of others; hence, it is the job of the supervisor to create interest and enthusiasm among the workers. Real authority must flow from within. As Miss Follett has put it “Authority should arise within the unifying process.

As every living process is subject to its own authority evolved by, or involved in, the process itself, so social control is generated by the process itself Or rather, the activity or self-creating coherence is the controlling authority.” So that such an authority may arise from within an organization, a supervisor must be humane, sympathetic, considerate and master of the art of human relations.

H. Nissen gives a list of eleven principal duties of a supervisor which are as under:

(i) To understand the duties and responsibilities of his own position,

(ii) To plan the execution of the work,

(iii) To divide the work among the subordinates and to direct and assist them in doing it,

(iv) To improve work methods and procedures,

(v) To improve his own knowledge as technical expert and leader,

(vi) To train the subordinates,

(vii) To evaluate the performance of the employees,

(viii) To correct mistakes, solve problems of employees, and develop discipline among them,

(ix) To keep subordinates informed about policies and procedures of the organization and about the changes made therein,

(x) To cooperate with colleagues and seek their advice and assistance whenever needed, and

(xi) To deal with employees’ suggestions and complaints.

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3. Term Paper on the Methods of Supervision:

Millet suggests the following six methods or techniques of supervision:

(i) Prior Approval:

Prior approval or advance review is a very common method of supervision by the headquarters over field establishments. It means that before taking any initiative outside the framework of policy, the field establishments must get prior approval of the head­quarters. In India, prior approval of the Ministry of Finance, besides the approval of the depart­mental heads, is needed if a project has financial implications.

This arrangement of prior ap­proval benefits both the subordinate agencies in so far as they are in a position to get guidance from the headquarters and the headquarters in so far as it is able to exercise detailed control over the progress of projects. This also affords scope for removing misunderstandings and rec­tifying errors well in time.

In the words of Millett “In this way the approving level is able to obtain detailed information about the intentions of the operating unit. Management thus learns how the general plans have been interpreted and how it is proposed to carry them out. If there is some misunderstanding, it can be corrected before work is actually begun. If the general plans are inadequate to meet particular situations, modifications can be effected by approving the individual project. If instructions have not made clear the priorities and emphasis which top management wishes observed, the approval technique may be used to right the balance.”

There are, of course, disadvantages to this approval process. It is time-consuming, results in mass of paper work in the central office, interposes delays, creates diffidence on the part of operating heads and may sometimes lead to personality clashes between the operating heads and top management. In times of crisis, this system can put a premium on the efficient working of field stations.

(ii) Service Standards:

Service standards mean fixing norms for performance. The top management can lay down certain targets or standards for the operating agencies to achieve. This will not only provide guide-points to the operating agencies but shall also become a means for determining how effectively they have been doing the jobs assigned to them. In government service, these standards of performance have an added importance.

In the words of Millett “Service standards are necessary in government in order to ensure that work is done promptly and properly. In any large organisation there is likely to be a definite tendency to establish routines which becomes more important than rendering service. Only if a constant standard is set up for the performance of the work itself can the inclination to procrastination and delay be overcome.”

It may, however, be mentioned here that standards fixed must be fair, exact and concrete and must be judged objectively. In certain intellectual type of activities, these stan­dards are somewhat difficult to determine because of the immeasurable nature of work.

(iii) Work Budget:

Budget allotments are a very powerful means of exercising supervi­sion. Budget is not simply an array of figures; it is a tool of control over administration. Budget allotments fix the magnitude of the work to be done in a given time and the operating agencies have to work within these allotments.

The top management’s control becomes effective as these operating agencies are not given a free hand to spend money as and when they like.

“He who pays the piper calls the time” and this applies quite appropriately on the top-management, which is budgetary allotting authority.

“The advantage of this technique is that it enables top manage­ment to fix certain limits to the work to be done but leaves the decision about actual operations to the operating unit. The work-budget allotment is then a method of delegating authority and of encouraging local initiative while still retaining a central control over the magnitude of the work as a whole.”

(iv) Approval of Personnel:

No government agency is given complete freedom in the matter of recruitment of personnel except for recruitment of insignificant subordinate staff. Nor­mally, this work is entrusted to a central personnel department commonly known as Public Service Commission. The central agency can exercise control over subordinate operating units by providing for prior approval of certain appointments made by them.

(v) Reports:

A standard practice in supervision is to require operating units to submit periodic or ad hoc reports about their activities to the central office. Such reports provide infor­mation on the basis of which the central office can evaluate the performance of the operating units. Seckler-Hudson broadens the scope of reporting so as to include the entire field of com­munication.

According to him, “it reaches not only upward, downward, outward, and around within a given organization, it must reach across to other agencies doing similar work, and up and out to the government wide agencies and the office of the President.” Here, however, we are concerned only with internal management reporting whose purpose is to inform manage­ment.

In the words of Millett “These reports may be narrative or statistical; they may embrace the broad scope of all major activities, or they may be confined to a few essentials; they may emphasize achievement or deficiencies in performance.” It may, however, be mentioned that a report defeats its purpose if it gets unduly lengthy. Hence voluminous reports should be avoided.

(vi) Inspection:

Inspection is one of the accepted techniques of supervision. The purpose of inspection is to see whether the field agencies are doing work according to the established rules and procedures and whether their performance is up to the expectation of the central office.

It is not a fault-finding process as we might think. It is meant “to acquire information. It helps to clarify management purposes and intentions. It helps acquaint top management with the operating problems facing subordinate levels of management. It helps build personal relation­ships of mutual acquaintance and confidence.”

Inspections are generally conducted through three agencies:

(a) By the superiors of the work of subordinates. This is almost in-built in the hierarchical structure.

(b) By the headquarters’ inspection staff specially deputed for the purpose of inspection.

(c) By a separate outside Inspection Agency or Department as Inspectorate of Government Office in U.P.

What should constitute an inspection team?

What should be the periodical interval be­tween first and second inspection?

Whether inspection should be scheduled or unscheduled?

Whether it should be conducted by administrative or technical staff or by both?

These are the questions which are highly debatable and only experience must answer.

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4. Term Paper on the Qualities of Good Supervisors:

Everybody cannot be a good supervisor. Besides the fact that he should be fully equipped with the knowledge of rules and regulations of his agency, he must possess certain qualities required of a good supervisor.

Prof J.M. Pfiffner lists eight such qualities:

(1) Command of job content—expert knowledge of the work to be supervised.

(2) Personal qualifications—co-operative spirit, evenness of temper, honesty, ability to attract, to motivate, to enthuse and unite others.

(3) Teaching ability—ability to communicate with the workers and to make them under­stand management point of view.

(4) General outlook—he must love his job and inspire others.

(5) Courage and fortitude—ability to undertake responsibility and act decisively.

(6) Ethical and moral considerations—freedom from vices having social disapproval.

(7) Administrative technology—capacity to organize, coordinate and direct.

(8) Curiosity and intellectual ability—mental alertness and flexibility, responsiveness to new ideas and practices.

According to Halsey, these qualities are:

1. Thoroughness:

A supervisor should collect all the detailed information relevant to the issue.

2. Fairness:

He must be fair, considerate and truthful towards workers.

3. Initiative:

He must combine in himself courage, self-confidence and deci­siveness.

4. Tact:

It is “the ability to win the loyalty and support of others by say­ing and doing those which give them a feeling that they are play­ing an important part in whatever is being done.”

5. Enthusiasm:

It is “an intense and eager interest in and devotion to a cause, a pursuit, or an ideal.”

6. Emotional Control:

It is channelization of emotions in the right direction. An effective supervisor must provide sound leadership. His supervision should neither be too close as to defeat initiative nor too little as to lead to inefficiency. It should be employee oriented in style and produce group cohesiveness. An important problem which arises in regard to good supervisors is about their selection.

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5. Term Paper on the Training of Supervisors:

Training of supervisors has been a debatable subject. There are persons who believe that supervisors are born; they are not made. Hence supervisory skill is not teachable. But there are others who believe that supervision is a technical skill which can be acquired and developed by proper training.

In the words of Halsey, “It .has be
en demonstrated time and again that almost any person of normal intelligence and sincere desire to be of service to people, can acquire considerable skill in the art of supervising people, if he will study its principles and methods and apply them thoughtfully, conscientiously, and persistently.

The personality of the successful supervisor of people is made up of a number of qualities and these qualities are made effective through the use of certain definite techniques.

I believe, too that the qualities necessary to suc­cess in supervising people can be developed and that the required techniques can be taught and skill in their use made permanent by practice. I believe that because I have seen it done by both old and new supervisors, and seen their departments improve as they became better supervisors.

During the World War II, large-scale training of supervisors was undertaken in the U.S.A. in the three essentials of supervisor work through the so-called ‘J’ programme consisting of Job Instruction Training, Job Methods Training and Job Relations Training. Among the new training programmes, ‘work simplification’ is getting very popular both in private and business organiza­tions.

On the job training programmer through refresher courses, seminars and conferences should be started on a massive scale in India to make our supervising staff better equipped with the techniques of good supervision.

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6. Term Paper on the Human Relations of Supervision:

The quality and performance of supervision in an administrative agency depends on a large extent upon the personal relations of supervisors to employees. The days of authoritarian leadership are over and the term ‘command’ has to be replaced by the term ‘persuasion’.

As Mr. Henry Reining has put, “the days of the straw boss who shouted his orders and cracked his whip are over.” Only if employees are generally satisfied with the type of supervision which they get in an organization will they put forth their best efforts.

Professor Pfiffner has rightly summarized the importance of human characteristics of supervision in these words. “The pattern of leadership desirable in supervisory positions is based upon behaviour that emphasizes co-operation, participation, consultation, and satisfaction for the egos of the rank and the file, even though the strong leader may have to subdue his natural desire for self-assertion and self-display.”

At another place he writes, “The supervisor on the lower levels secures cooperation and production by de-emphasizing his own ego, stimulating group participation, and encouraging the maximum satisfaction of individual egos that is consistent with co-ordination.”

The Hawthorne experiments (Elton Mayo group) and Michigan Studies have proved that “employees can be most effectively motivated by people-centred and democratic leadership and by favourable institutional environment.”

The Michigan Studies have suggested the following conclusions:

(1) It appears that the closer or more exact the degree of supervision exerted by a fore­man, the lower the level of output by a work group. Conversely, the more general the degree of supervision exercised by a foreman, the higher the level of production by a work group.

(2) The kind of supervision exercised by a foreman tends to reflect the kind of supervi­sion to which the foreman in turn is subject. If a foreman is closely supervised by his own superior, he will tend to supervise closely the work of his group.

(3) The foremen who take a major interest in the individual workers—that is, are “employee-centered”—tend to be associated with groups having high levels of production output. Foremen who take a major interest in production processes as such, i.e., are “production cen­tered”—tend to be associated with groups having low output records.

Supervisors in high-pro­duction groups tend to have a considerable interest in the off-the-job problems and activities of employees.

(4) The foremen of groups with high-production outputs tend to spend more time on supervisory duties and less time on direct production work than foremen of low-production groups. In particular, foremen in the high-output groups spend a good deal of time in planning the work to be done and in performing special, skilled tasks.

On the other hand, foremen in low-production groups spend more time in doing ordinary routine tasks. In other words, a successful manager devotes more attention to “responsibility” job than to “work” job.

(5) The foremen in high-production output groups tend to encourage group participation in considering common tasks, tend to be helpful rather than punitive in dealing with those hav­ing a poor output record, and tend generally to be satisfied with their own job set-up.

(6) The foremen in groups with a high-production output are usually willing to train their personnel for job advancement, even though this means breaking up the “team.”

The above conclusions definitely suggest that effective supervision depends in the last analysis upon “supervisors who understand people not just in groups but as individuals, differ­ent from one another, with varying interests and desires.

Supervision means harnessing the pro­ductive energies of many persons into a common endeavour so that the desired output is real­ized to the fullest extent possible. No such objective can be realized without full attention to the peculiar characteristics of the people who make up any organization.”

It may, however, be mentioned that some later researches made at Ohio State University (by E.A. Fleishman, Edwin F. Harris, and Harold E. Burtt of Bureau of Educational Research) have contradicted the Michigan Studies generalizations. They have proved that extreme ‘soft’ type of supervision does not pay; rather it adversely affects the morale of employees.

Of course, they do not suggest a return to pre-Hawthorne production-oriented supervision but nor do they out rightly advocate “employee-oriented” leadership. In fact, a middle ground has to be accepted, i.e., a supervisor should be both production-oriented as well as employee-oriented.

In the words of Seashore “If a leader abdicates his interest in and responsibility for production it has an adverse effect on both productivity and morale. ‘Soft’ leadership, over-emphasis upon consider­ation, is not conducive to high morale. A moderate amount of emphasis on production is re­quired to avoid both low production and low morale….”

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Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Panchayats’ for class 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Panchayats’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Panchayats

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Essay Contents:

1. Essay on the History of Panchayats
2. Essay on the Recommendations of Congress Village Panchayat Committee, 1954
3. Essay on the Panchayats and Five-Year Plans (1954-59)
4. Essay on the Composition of Panchayats
5. Essay on the Committees of Panchayats
6. Essay on the Function of Panchayats
7. Essay on the Powers of Panchayats
8. Essay on the Working of Panchayat
9. Essay on the Sarpanch of Panchayats
10. Essay on the Panchayat Budget
11. Essay on the Control of State Government over Panchayats

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Essay # 1. History of Panchayats:

Restoration of Panchayats to their pristine glory had been accepted as an article of faith during our incessant struggle for political emancipation. With the ushering in of independence era, establishment and promotion of village panchayats was apt to be given top priority.

A permanent status was accorded to the panchayats in the political framework of the country through incorporation of the Directive Principles pertaining to panchayats in the constitution.

Article 40 of the constitution ran as follows:

“The state shall take steps to organize village panchayats and endow them with such powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government.” The significance of this article has been very well defined by Dr. Jam in the words; “It is rather an embodiment of the most cherished dream of the constitution makers and an objectification of the most widely held consensus. So long as the constitutional tradition remains alive in the mind of the citizens and is respected by their leaders, this would continue to guide the course of Panchayati Raj in this country and endow every step in the progressive realization of the idea with the necessary sanctity and sanction.”

Article 40 did not remain a mere ideal. Within four years of the framing of the Constitu­tion of India, Madras, Travancore-Cochin, Jammu and Kashmir, Hyderabad, Madhya Bharat, Saurashtra, P.E.P.S.U., Mysore, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Himachal Pradesh established village panchayats on statutory basis whereas Assam, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh intro­duced amendments to further consolidate them.

The pattern of legislation varied from state to state.

However, the basic principles-village panchayats to be popularly elected bodies with an elected President, representation to scheduled castes, vesting them with a wide range of municipal, judicial and developmental functions, as­signing them a distinct source of income and specifying a large measure of central control over them-were adopted practically by all these acts.

A trend towards increased democratization and autonomy was discernible in all the states. The structural variations were, however, quite evi­dent. The population per Panchayat varied between 500 and 10,000. The size of Panchayat membership varied between 30 and 51 in U.P. and 5 and 9 in Punjab and erstwhile Pepsu.

In most of the states, membership ranged between 5 and 15. The tenure of the Panchayats was three years in most of the cases. The term of Panchayats in Mysore and Bengal was four and five years respectively. The system of nomination was replaced by direct election. Nomination and co-option was provided only for scheduled castes and women.

The mode of election of the President of the Panchayats also differed from state to state. Rajasthan, Saurashtra, Travancore- Cochin opted for direct election by the electorates. Assam, Bihar and Delhi stood for direct election by Gram Sabha. In the rest of the states more or less indirect election by Panchas was adopted.

Another significant variation in the constitution of the Panchayats related to the pattern of Nyaya Panchayats. West Bengal did not form any Nyaya Panchayat at all. In Madras, Bombay, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Mysore, the village panchayats performed the func­tion of judicial panchayats. In Madhya Pradesh, there was one judicial Panchayat for eighteen Gram Panchayats.

In other states, the Nyaya Panchayats were distinct bodies but their jurisdic­tion and mode of constitution varied from state to state. In most of the Part C states their jurisdiction comprised of three to five village panchayats.

The general mode of constituting the judicial panchayats was through indirect election amongst the Panchas. In Travancore-Cochin, the members were nominated by the government on the basis of selection by the villagers them­selves. In Delhi, the Gram Sabha sent representatives for Panchayati adalats directly.

A considerable improvement was effected in the powers of the judicial panchayats. They could try civil suits involving a subject-matter between Rs. 50 and Rs. 200. However, this power could be increased to Rs. 500.

Punjab, Delhi, P.E.P.S.U. and Madhya Bharat enjoyed the maximum power whereas Hyderabad, Travancore-Cochin, U.P. and most of the Part C states empowered the panchayats to hear civil suits of value of Rs. 100 with a provision for extension up to Rs. 500. In Bihar and Rajasthan this power was restricted to Rs. 50 whereas in case of Bombay up to Rs. 25. The Panchayats could impose fines ranging from Rs. 25 to Rs. 100.

During this period, specific functions were assigned to the Gram Panchayats and indepen­dent sources of income were earmarked for them. The State Governments supplemented these resources by their grants.

In order to avoid confusion and disparities of standards caused due to diversities of pat­tern, the Congress Village Panchayat Committee laid down guidelines in 1954 for working out the future pattern of the panchayats.

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Essay #

2. Recommendations of the Congress Village Panchayat Committee, 1954:

The recommendations of the said committee were as follows:

(1) As far as possible, the panchayats should be kept out of politics. Unanimity of elec­tion should be encouraged by providing incentives as bestowing of greater powers and authority upon those units which return their panchas unanimously.

(2) The size of panchayat unit should be 1500 to 2000 heads of population.

(3) Adult franchise should be the basis of constituting the Panchayats. If adults are too many in a village, representation according to the family might be accepted.

(4) Panchayats must be vested with social and economic functions besides civil and judi­cial already entrusted to them.

(5) The judicial panchayats should be separate from the village panchayats.

(6) Panchayats should be allowed share of land revenue to the extent of 13 to 20 per cent of the total revenue. They should be assigned revenue collection work. They should be allowed to levy labour tax.

(7) Panchayats and village co-operatives should be kept separate.

The Local Self-Government Ministers at a meeting in Shimla endorsed all these recommen­dations. During the next five years, there was a rapid expansion of the Panchayats and creation of the conditions necessary for the proper working of the new institutions.

The question of augmentation of finance of panchayats was accorded expert attention. The Local Finance In­quiry Commission’s Report (1951) and the Taxation Inquiry Commission’s Report (1953-54) had great impact on the pattern of local finances till 1959.

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Essay #

3. Panchayats and Five-Year Plans (1954-59)
:

During this period, the panchayats were associated with the rural-community development programme. They were represented on the Block Development Committee. They were made the agencies for implementing local development works costing up to Rs. 300.

The Bombay Govern­ment, for example, made the provision of Rs. 415 lacs for water supply works to be executed through the panchayats in its first five-year plan.

The panchayats were deemed as the base agency for implementation of social and economic transformation.

According to the Draft of the first five-year plan, “Unless a village agency can assume responsibility and initiative for devel­oping the resources of the village, it will be difficult to make an impression on rural life, for only a village organisation representing the community as a whole can provide the necessary leadership.”

The second five-year plan reiterated the significance of the panchayats in bringing about a more just and integrated social structure in rural areas and in developing a new pattern of rural leadership. There is no denying the fact that the vigorous drive for increasing association and partici­pation of village panchayats in development work started bearing fruits.

However, despite rapid expansion of panchayats and marked improvement in their administrative set up and allocation of resources on a more liberal scale, the rural bodies could not be considered to be on sound footing as yet. Paucity of finances was, in particular, a serious malady of rural local bodies.

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Essay #

4. Composition of the Panchayats:

It is the lowest rung of the three-tier system and consists of the elected representatives of the people. Its structure and composition differs from state to state. Its membership varies from five to thirty-one. In U.P., the Panchayats consist of 16 to 31 members. In Orissa, the number goes up to 25.

In Gujarat, the maximum number has been 31 whereas minimum is 15. In rest of the states membership ranges between 5 and 15, depending upon the size of the Panchayats. In addition to elected members, seats have been kept reserved in the Panchayats for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled tribes and Female citizens.

These seats are filled by co-option as otherwise, on account of their small number, and other social reasons, they may remain unrepresented. Panchayat is headed by a Sarpanch who may be elected directly or indirectly.

In certain states like Rajasthan, Bihar; Assam, U.P. and Himachal Pradesh, the Sarpanch is elected directly ei­ther by the Gram Sabha through the show of hands or by the electorates through secret ballot. In others states, the Panchas elect the Sarpanch. A directly elected Sarpanch can prove more effective.

In fact, direct election of the Sarpanch is essential to enforce popular responsibility and ensure responsiveness. Moreover, direct election method is comparatively though not fully immune, from corrupt and blackmailing practices. Direct election of the Sarpanch does, however, kill the initiative and curtails considerably the controlling power of Panchas.

Size:

The average population per Panchayat on All-India basis is approximately 1,400.

Inter-State variations regarding the population, size of the village Panchayat get evident from the following table:

Kerala is at the bottom in terms of villages per panchayat whereas Orissa, Himachal Pradesh have the largest number of villages per panchayat.

Term:

The Panchayat is elected generally for a period of five years, but some variations are there. It is four years in Assam, Karnataka and West Bengal, whereas in Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Orissa it is three years and in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, it is five years.

It may be pointed out that panchayat elections are not held regularly with the result that the Panchayats far outlive their normal term. The Panchayat can also be superseded. Ashok Mehta Committee had recommended a uniform term of four years for all the elected tiers of Panchayati Raj and suggested that elections to all bodies should be held simultaneously.

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Essay # 5. Committees of Panchayats:

No doubt, a few bodies like Vikas Mandals, Youth Clubs, Mahila Mandals, co-exist with Panchayats in some of the states but they are not organically linked up with the Panchayat Structure. A sound committee system is conspicuous by its absence.

The Panchayats should evolve a functional and territorial committee system. The former should take up production programmes and social services while the latter may be ward or village development commit­tees.

These committees will have to be delegated some sources. Dr. Jain correctly opines; “The virtual absence of the committee system, however, does come in the way of the people. The situation must be remedied in time.”

A ward or village development committee appointed by the Gram Sabha, can be entrusted the function of drawing up the development plan for the ward of the village in consultation with the families and local organisations.

It can seek assistance from the Panchayat Secretary, village level worker, Patwari, teacher, block technicians and the Sarpanch concerned for coordinating the thinking on the village plan. The said committee may supervise the execution of works and serve as the proper agency for chaimelizing the grants. It may also perform conciliative function in certain disputes.

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Essay # 6. Function of the Panchayats:

Statutorily two types of functions – obligatory and optional – were entrusted to the Panchayats. With the passage of time and occurrence of new developments, such a division of functions has become obsolete.

The functions of the Panchayats can be divided into following groups:

(i) Municipal:

Municipal functions can be further subdivided into:

(a) Public Health,

(b) Social Education,

(c) Public Safety,

(d) Public construction

Thus these functions include lighting, sanitation, medical relief, refuse disposal, safe drinking water supply, street drainage, public recreation, regis­tration of birth, death, control of epidemics, registration of cattle, maintenance and repair of public roads, inns and buildings, tree plantation, celebration of public fes­tivals, providing reading rooms and other items of further education, public latrines and allotment of manure pits.

(ii) Development and Production Planning:

It comprises of two broad functions:

(a) Construction of amenities.

(b) Preparing village plans regarding the development of agriculture, animal husbandry, co-operatives, cottage industries, small savings etc. and watching their execution, maintaining grain funds and purchasing agricultural tools for common use.

(iii) Physical Planning of the Village:

Control over common land and control over the site land fall in this category of functions.

(iv) Social Welfare:

Social Welfare functions include famine or emergency relief, aid to the handicapped children women and youth welfare programmes and also welfare programmes for the backward classes. The enforcement of Early Child Marriage Prohibition Act or of simi­lar other social laws can also be included in this group.

(v) Representational:

Airing local grievances, rep
resenting constituents in Panchayat samiti through the Sarpanch, expressing opinions upon the cases of loans and grants-in-aid to be dis­tributed by the Panchayat samiti and associating in the execution of land legislation comprise this group.

(vi) House Keeping:

It includes electing up-Sarpanch, collecting Panchayat revenues, budgeting, accounting, appointing and controlling staff, maintaining records, supervising schools, managing panchayat enterprises, and disposing case work concerning municipal disputes.

(vii) Conciliative:

The Panchayats have been empowered to conciliate the disputes before they are sent to the Nyaya Panchayat, of course with the mutual consent of both the parties.

(viii) Civil Defence and Others:

The Panchayats may undertake the organisation of village volunteer force and also the maintenance of watch and ward services.

(ix) Agency Functions:

They may be entrusted agency functions such as small savings, insurance and revenue collection. It will not be out of place to point out that some of the development functions have also been entrusted to Panchayat Samiti. This overlapping of functions has caused confusion to the voters regarding area of responsibility.

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Essay # 7. Powers of the Panchayats:

In order to enable the Panchayats to perform these functions, they have been given some specific powers which are as follows:

(i) Regulatory:

(a) The Panchayat may prevent the use of water from a well or a tank which is consid­ered unhealthy by it.

(b) It may order the resident or the owner of a house to remove a nuisance from a public road or drains or remove a danger arising from the bad conditions of a house.

(c) It may regulate the refuse disposal and deepen a water channel.

(d) It may punish the defaulter by imposing a fine not exceeding Rs. 15 which may further rise by Re. 1 per day for continued defiance.

(e) It may reserve a well or a tank exclusively for drinking purposes.

(ii) Judicial:

Where Nyaya Panchayats have not been kept separate from the Vikas Panchayats, Panchayats hear civil and criminal suits:

(a) They can impose fines up to Rs. 50.

(b) The power to hear civil suits to a certain extent varies from state to state. The panchayats in Rajasthan for instance hear civil suits up to Rs. 250.

(c) They can impose fines up to Rs. 15 for committing the breach of their execution regulation.

(d) In some states they have other powers of a court of law as well viz., summoning witnesses, calling for records, maintaining dignity of court, judicial immunity, etc.

(iii) Fiscal:

Panchayats can levy taxes prescribed under the statute with due regard for rules and regu­lations framed by the State Government.

(iv) Administrative:

(a) The Panchayat appoints its own secretary in concurrence with the panchayat samiti, conforming with the standards of the qualifications laid down by the State Govern­ment.

(b) It may take disciplinary action against the secretary.

(c) It has full control over class IV staff.

The separation of Nyaya Panchayats from panchayats has very adversely affected the capacity of the Panchayats in obtaining local contributions though it has helped in removing the feeling of suspicion and distrust against the panchayats equipped with too many coercive powers.

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Essay # 8. Working of Panchayat:

Panchayat holds its meeting once a fortnight at a fixed place. One-third of its members constitute the quorum. Sarpanch or in his absence, up-Sarpanch presides over the Panchayat meetings. A Secretary maintains the records of the decisions and communicates the agenda along with other relevant information.

Decisions are arrived at by majority vote, though a spe­cial majority of 2/3 of the members is required when some decision regarding the construction of amenities is to take place. The village level worker usually attends its meetings. He commu­nicates to the members a new scheme transmitted to him by the Block headquarters.

He can suggest fixing of targets for the various items of village plan or place before them the progress of work for review or point out shortfalls against the planned targets. There is a lot of informality regarding the transaction of business.

The order of business generally is reading of minutes; municipal case work; forwarding of some loan application or application for grants-in-aid; discussion of some circular sent by the Block or a matter initiated by the village level worker; approval of some housekeeping matter, such as panchayat budget accounts or an application from a Panchayat employee.

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Essay # 9. Sarpanch of Panchayats:

Sarpanch holds a pivotal position in the panchayat. He combines in himself the functions of a chairman, executive, chief judge and representative. He presides over the meetings of Panchayat and announces decisions on behalf of the Panchayat. He serves as a spokesman of the panchayat in the panchayat samiti. He is responsible for the safe custody of panchayat funds.

Accounting for all receipts and payments is authenticated by him. He main­tains panchayat records under his safe custody and gets all reports prepared as required by the various lawful authorities. He supervises and controls the employees of panchayat and discharges duties as authorized by the State Government.

He is the ex-officio member of the Panchayat samiti. He participates in the election of the Pradhan and the members of the other standing committees. As a member of the Panchayat samiti he participates in decision-making.

The multifarious functions of the Sarpanch have not only made the Sarpanch very dominant but have resulted in the apathy and inactivity of panchas. The process of his removal in most of the states has also contributed a great deal in strengthening his position.

Three-fourth majority of total members of Gram Sabha, is required to remove him from the office of Sarpanch. Such a majority is not easily obtainable. Hence practically speaking, he is not removable till of course the State Government itself takes the initiative of ousting him for the gross misuse of powers.

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Essay # 10. Panchayat Budget:

The Panchayat Acts allocate large number of taxes, and other sources of income for the panchayats.

The sources of income of panchayats can be classified as follows:

(i) Raised by Panchayats:

(a) Taxes:

They include house tax, land cess, sanitary cess, lighting rate, vehicle tax, grazing tax, labour tax, octroi, water tax, and marriage tax, tax on trade and callings and tax on commercial crops.

(b) Fees and Fines:

Proceeds or share of fees and fines from case work, registration of animals and cattle pond.

(c) Other Revenues:

Income is derived from the management of common land, dis­posal of panchayat property, fruit trees, fisheries, tanks and sale of Abadi land.

(ii) Government and Panchayat Samiti Grants:

Matching grants, ad hoc lump sum grants or per capita grants constitute this source of income.

(iii) Other Sources of Income:

Income from agency functions, donations and other types of voluntary contributions comprise this source of income. It will be relevant to point out that in some states certain taxes are obligatory whereas in others, they are optional. For example, Professional tax is compuls
ory in Andhra, Madhya Pradesh, Madras, Mysore and Kerala.

Likewise House tax is compulsory in all the above States as well as in Maharashtra and Punjab. In Gujarat, Assam, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kash­mir, all taxes are optional.

The income of the Panchayat varies from state to state and from panchayat to panchayat within the same state. The average income of Panchayats in Bihar and U.P. is about 25 paise per capita whereas in Gujarat it is Rs. 3 and Rs. 4 per capita.

The highest per capita income was recorded at Rs. 17.86 per capita in Takhatgarh Panchayat of Rajasthan whereas the lowest per capita income was recorded at Rs. 0.80 in some panchayats of Bihar.

Heads of Expenditure:

The paucity of funds leads to incurring of low expenditure on obligatory and discretionary functions and high ratios of administration costs to the total expenditure. The expenditure level also varies from state to state, from year to year and from panchayat to panchayat. The heads of expenditure are administration, civic amenities, social welfare, construction, maintenance and miscellaneous.

A study team on Panchayati Raj finances recommended an expenditure of Rs. 5 per capita as an immediate target. Keeping in view the civic developmental functions of the Panchayats this is hardly an ambitious target. The Panchayats are apt to lose prestige, if they do not per­form all these functions satisfactorily.

At present, the highest chunk of the panchayat income is spent on administration. Less than 5% is spent on education, social welfare and public safety. Only one-ninth of the total expenditure is incurred on public health, sanitation and water supply.

Public works receive approximately one-fourth of the total. It is estimated that in majority of the Panchayats not more than 60% of the total (Panchayats) expenditure is devoted to municipal and developmental functions.

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Essay # 11. Control of State Government over Panchayats:

(1) It can annex, separate or transfer a particular area under the Panchayat according to due process of law.

(2) It can frame rules and bye-laws in pursuance of the provision of the Panchayati Raj Acts particularly regarding creation of Panchayats, administration, maintenance and control of public property; appointment and control of panchayat personnel; mainte­nance of records; case work procedures; panchayat election; settlement of assets and liabilities in case of merger or dissolution of the panchayats; accounting and audit­ing procedures and other such matters.

(3) If a Panchayat fails to execute any legal obligation the State Government after get­ting its explanation in writing gets it done by an official appointed for the purpose and charge the cost to the Panchayat fund.

(4) The State Government might direct the Panchayat to carry out lawful duty under an emergency and charge the expenses from the panchayat fund.

(5) In the event of gross misuse of powers, illegal excesses, or persistent neglect of duties, the State Government after giving an opportunity for hearing supersedes a panchayat. However, a superseded panchayat is to be reconstituted within six months from the date of supersession.

(6) The government may ask for records and reports. It may inspect panchayats when­ever it likes.

(7) Panchayat accounts are to be audited by the Government auditors.

(8) It can suspend or restrain the implementation of a Panchayat’s resolution which endangers public life, health or property or hinders or annoys a lawfully appointed person. ‘

(9) Some of the State Governments are empowered to suspend and remove a sarpanch or panch after proper enquiry. If the Sarpanch or panch has already retired, the State Government might declare him ineligible for election for three years after recording the adverse findings against him.

(10) While extending grants to the Panchayats, the State Government can impose restric­tions upon the Panchayats as to the utilization of these grants.

It may, however, be said that the State Governments have been vested with rather exces­sive controlling authority over the Panchayats. The power of reconstitution, supersession and suspension is liable to be politically misused.

No doubt such an action can be taken after proper enquiry and consultation with Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad. Yet a revengeful politician at the helm of affairs can play havoc with local autonomy. Hence it is suggested that an impartial machinery may be devised to conduct enquiry against Panchayats for gross misuse of power, before any action is taken against them.

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Here is an essay on ‘New Public Administration’ for class 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘New Public Administration’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay # 1. Meaning of New Public Administration:

The 1960s and early 1970s were periods of turbulence, instability and confusion in the West, particularly in the United States. Like other social sciences such as psychology, sociology and political science, public administration was shaken by this revolutionary period.

The earlier dogmas of public administration ‘economy’ and ‘efficiency’ were found inadequate and incomplete objectives of administrative activity. it began to be said that efficiency is not the whole of public administration. Man is the centre stage of all administrative activity who cannot be subjected to the mechanical test of efficiency.

The impact of administration on human character is more important than its efficiency and economy. Public administration cannot be ‘value free’, it is to be ‘value-oriented’ as certain human values are to promote in the society.

The term New Public Administration was used to describe this new trend in the field of public administration. The two books “Towards a New Public Administration, The Minnow-brook Perspective” edited by Frank Marini and published in 1971 and “Public Administration in a Time of Turbulence” edited by Dwight Waldo and published simultaneously gave currency to the concept of New Public Administration.

These two books edited the ideas of an academic get together of younger age-group on public administration called the Minnow-brook Conference held in 1968. This conference expressed dissatisfaction with the state of the discipline of public administration and sought to give it a new image by discarding traditional concepts and making it alive to the problems presented by the “turbulent times”.

Essay # 2. Anti-Goals of New Public Administration:

Robert T. Golenbiewski mentions three “anti-goals” (what they reject) and five “goals” (what they want to approach) of the New Public Administration.

These are:

(1) The literature of the New Public Administration is anti-positivist which means:

(a) They reject the definition of public administration as ‘value-free’,

(b) They reject a rationalist or perhaps deterministic view of humankind,

(C) They reject-any definition of public administration that was not properly involved in policy.

(2) The New Public Administration is anti-technical—that means they decry the human being sacrificed to the logic of the machine and the system.

(3) The New Public Administration is more or less anti-bureaucratic and anti-hierarchical.

Essay # 3. Goals of New Public Administration:

From a positive perspective, the five goals of New Public Administration are:

(1) The New Public Administration considers mankind as having the potentiality of be­coming perfect. Humans are not static factors of production.

(2) It stresses the central role of personal and organizational values or ethics. There is an essential relationship between the structures and processes of administrative efforts and their ends and goals.

(3) Social equity should be the guiding factor for public administration. Social equity means that public administrators should become champions of the underprivileged sections of the society. They must become active agents of economic and social change.

(4) The New Public Administration advocates a client-centered approach. It wants admin­istrators to provide the people a major voice in how and when and what is to be provided.

” In the words of Nigra and Nigra, “Client-focused administration is recommended along with de-bureaucratization, democratic decision-making, and decentralization of administrative process in the interest of more effective and human delivery of public services.”

(5) The New Public Administration places emphasis in innovation and change.

The key-note of New Public Administration is an intense sensitivity to and concern for the societal problems of the day. Its parameters are relevance, post-positivism, morals, ethics, and values, innovation, concern for clients, social equity, etc. In this background, new forms of organization be carved out to suit the fast-changing environment.

In the words of Frederickson “The essence of New Public Administration is some sort of movement in the direction of normative theory, philosophy, social concern and activism. It is less generic and more public, less descriptive and more perspective less institutional oriented less mental and more normative” Nigro and Nigro observe”….In the past public administration has neglected the question of values in relation to the social purposes of government and that public officials have emphasized efficiency and economy of execution often at the expense of social equity. These officials profess neutrality but in fact have been far from neutral even catering to special interests”.

Essay # 4. Evaluation of New Public Administration:

The critics of the doctrine of New Public Administration hold that the New Public Ad­ministration possesses only a kind of difference by definition. For example, Campbell argues that it “differs from the ‘old’ public administration only in that it is responsive to a different set of societal problems from those of other periods.” 

Robert T. Golembiewski holds that New Public Administration must be counted a partial success, at best and perhaps only a cruel re­minder of the gap in the field between aspiration and performance. He describes it “revolution or radicalism in words and (at best) status quo in skills or technologies.”

The critics also fear that the advocates of New Public Administration are trying to arrogate to themselves what falls within the domain of political institutions. Further, the concept of social equity is vague. What it means, what it requires in public programmes, opinions vary greatly.

The New Public Administration has not yet developed a theory of its own. It was the product of the social ferment of the 1960’s and early 1970s in the United States. The Minnow-brook Conference was a youth conference which felt that old public administration had failed to solve the current social problems.

According to James C. Charlesworth, “Public Administration theory has not caught up with emerging problems, like the huge military industrial complex, riots, labour unions and strikes, public school conflicts, slums, the impingement of sciences and developing countries.”

“Accordingly Robert T. Golembiewski considered New Public Administration as a temporary or transitional phenomenon, and thought that wisdom might be to simply allow its memory to further fade away.” But New Public Administration continues to endure as witnessed by the book published in 1980 by H.

George Frederickson. Nigro and Nigro are of the view that the New Public Admin­istration has certainly broken fresh ground and seriously jolted the traditional concepts. It has imparted new substance and a large perspective to the discipline of public administration by linking it closely to society.

To quote Nigro and Nigro, “Clearly, advocates of the New Public Administration have stimulated constructive debate and their emphasis upon the positive, moral goals of administration should have a lasting impact. Since the New Public Administration emerged, questions of values and ethics have remained major items in pub
lic administration.”

Some of the major landmarks in the evolution and emergence of New Public Administration are worth mention:

(1) Honey Report on Higher Education in Public Service 1967;

(2) The Philadelphia Conference on the Theory and Practice of Public Adminis­tration 1967.

(3) The Minnow-brook Conference 1968.

(4) Publication of a New Public Admin­istration: The Minnow-brook Perspective (1971)

(5) Publication of Public Administration in a Time of Turbulence (1977).

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Here is an essay on ‘Justice’ for class 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Justice’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Justice

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1. Essay on the Introduction to Justice in Indian Constitution:

Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy aim at the fulfillment of aspirations, ideals and objectives of the constitutional fathers enshrined in the Preamble to the Constitution. The Preamble of the Constitution promises the Indian people social, economic and political justice, liberty to thought, expression, belief, faith and worship and the equality of status and opportunity.

Fundamental Rights mainly guarantee ‘Equality’ and ‘Freedom’ to the Indian citizens, the Directive Principles of State Policy aim at establishing a social system in which they may get social, economic and political justice. The ultimate aim of both is to achieve the ideas of justice, liberty and equality fixed by the Indian Constitution.

Fundamental Rights, Directive Principles of State Policy and Justice:

Justice is an essential condition for the all-round development of the personality of an individual. According to Salmond, “Justice means to distribute the due share to everybody.” Provisions have been made for the attainment of social, political and economic justice for Indian people after the political independence of the country in 1947.

2. Essay on the Social Justice:

Social justice means to abolish social inequalities and to provide equal opportunities to everybody in social life. Before 1947, there were so many social inequalities in India. The framers of the Indian Constitution were determined to end all such inequalities. In order to put an end to social inequalities following provisions have been made in the Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy.

They are:

(a) Equality before Law:

In order to provide social justice, it is essential that those who live in the society should be equal before law. Article 14 of Fundamental Rights of the Indian Constitution provides that the State shall not deny to any person equality before law or equal protection of a law within the territory of India. It means that in India, laws do not discriminate between rich and poor, high and low.

(b) Prohibition of Discrimination:

It is essential for social justice that in the society all discriminations should end and there should be no privileged class. Article 15 of the Indian Constitution provides for a ban on discrimination based on caste, color, race, religion, sex etc. Every individual has been given the right to freely visit all shops, public restaurants, hotels, and places of public entertainments, wells, tanks, public bath, roads and other places of public utility.

(c) Equality of Opportunity in Public Appointments:

In order to establish social justice, it is essential that there should equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to appointment to any office. Article 16 of the Fundamental Rights provides for equal opportunities to all the Indian citizens in the matter of public appointments. The government will not discriminate against the Indian people in the matter of public appointments on the basis of caste, color, race, religion, sex and place of birth etc. But the State can keep some seats reserved for the members of scheduled and backward classes in the matter of public appointments.

(d) Abolition of Untouchability:

Article 17 of Fundamental Rights provides for the abolition of centuries old social evil of untouchability. Untouchability has been declared as a punishable offence under the laws.

(e) Abolition of Titles:

In order to bring about social justice, under Article 18 of the Fundamental Rights, the State has been restrained from conferring any title, except military and academic titles.

(f) Prohibition of Exploitation:

Social justice demands that there should be no exploitation of man by man. Article 23 and 24 of the Indian Constitution provides for the abolition of all sort of exploitation. Article 23 provides for a ban of human trade, ‘Begar’ or work without any wages and getting work done against the will of the individual. Similarly Article 24 provides for a ban on dangerous work being got done by children below the age of 14 years. The aim of these Articles and provisions is to end slavery and bonded labor.

(g) Promotion of the Interests of Backward and Weaker Section of Society:

Through the provisions of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy, the State has been given directions for the protection of the interests of backward and weaker sections of the Indian society. It is the sacred duty of the State to protect the people from exploitation and social injustice.

(h) Protection of the Interests of Minorities:

In order to protect the interest of minorities and to save them from the exploitation of majority community. Article 24 of the Indian Constitution gives the right to protect and preserve the language, script and culture to the people living in any part of the country. According to Article 30, the minorities have been given the right to establish and administer their own educational institutions.

(i) Special Facilities for Weaker Sections of Society:

Social justice demands that special facilities should be provided by the State to improve the conditions of weak and backward classes of society. There is provision both in the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy that the State shall promote the educational and economic interests of weaker sections, especially of backward classes, scheduled costs and scheduled tribes and protect them from social injustice and exploitation.

In short it can be concluded that with the provision of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy almost all the arrangements have been made for the establishment of social justice in the country.

3. Essay on the Economic Justice:

Economic justice means that the individual is provided with the bare necessities of food, clothes and shelter, the abolition of the unequal distribution of wealth and the provision of equal and appropriate opportunities for the earning of his livelihood. The provision of economic justice is essential for the attainment of social justice and the success of democracy. The chapters of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy make the following provisions for the attainment of economic justice in the country.

They are:

(a) Right to Property is made Legal Right:

According to the 44th Constitutional Amendment, the Right to Property has been made merely a legal right. For the fulfillment of this objective Article 300 (A) has been inserted into the Constitution. The aim of this amendment was to remove the obstacles in the path of the establishment of economic justice.

(b) Adequate Means of Livelihood:

In order to give economic justice, it is essential to fulfill the basic needs of the public. Article 39 (a) of the Directive Principles says that the State shall direct its economic policy in such a way that all citizens have the right to an adequate means of livelihood. According to Article 41, the State shall within the limits of its economic capacity and development, make provision for work to all citizens.

(c) To Check the Concentrat
ion of Wealth and Means of Production:

For the establishment of economic justice it is essential to check the concentration of wealth and the means of production in fewer hands. The Indian Constitution makes a provision for the acquisition of property of the people by the State for the furtherance of the public interest. Article 39 (b) provides that the ownership and control over the material resources would be conducted in such a manner as to do public welfare. According to Article 39 (c), the economic organisation in the country would be controlled in such a manner that wealth is not concentrated in the hands of fewer people and the means of production are not used against the interests of Indian people.

(d) Equal Pay for Equal Work:

Economic justice requires that men and women should get equal pay for equal work. Article 39 (d) of the Indian Constitution provides that the State shall endeavor to secure equal pay for men and women for equal work.

(e) Protection against Economic Exploitation:

For the establishment of economic justice, it is essential that there is no economic exploitation of one class by another class. Under Article 23 of the Fundamental Rights, traffic of human beings, beggar and bonded labor are prohibited. Besides, in Article 39 (e) of the Directive Principles of State Policy, it has been provided that the State shall see that health and strength of workers, men and women and the tender age of children are not abused. The workers will not be forced by economic necessity to enter vocations unsuited to their age or strength.

(f) Social Security:

Economic justice demands that arrangements should be made to give economic assistance to those who are unemployed, old age and sick. Article 41 of the Directive Principles of State Policy provides that the State working within its resources and the limits of its progress and development, shall made available public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age and sickness.

(g) Participation of Workers in the Management of Industries:

Workers participation in the management of industries ensures economic justice. Article 43A of the Indian Constitution provides that the State shall take steps by suitable legislation or in any other way to secure participation of workers in the management of industries.

4. Essay on the Political Justice:

By the term political justice it is implied that the citizens equally share the use of political power in the State so that they may be able to associate themselves with the administration and also fully enjoy all types of political freedom. Article 326 of the Indian Constitution entitles every Indian citizen above the age of 18 years to exercise his right to vote to elect his representatives without any sort of discrimination or limitations. In addition to this, the following provisions have been made for the attainment of political justice through the operation of Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles of State Policy.

They are:

(a) Right to Hold Public Office:

Political justice can be established if all the people are given equal rights to occupy public offices. Article 16 of the Constitution provides that there should be equality of opportunities for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State. No citizen shall be discriminated against on ground of religion, race, caste, sex and place of birth.

(b) Right to Criticise the Government:

Article 19 of the Indian Constitution empowers the citizens of India with the freedom to express his views. In this way every Indian citizen gets the right to criticise the Government and thus plays his role in making the government a responsible one.

(c) Right to form Political Organisations:

According to Article 19 of the Indian Constitution, the Indian citizens are empowered to form political organisations for the protection of their interests.

(d) Right to Protest:

The Indian citizens have also been given the right to protest. They can demonstrate their protest against the government by means of observing strikes, processions, rallies and public meetings etc.

(e) Protection of Rights:

In order to get political justice it is essential that the rights of all citizens should be equally protected. Article 32 of the Fundamental Rights in the Indian Constitution clearly states that citizens can appeal to the High Courts and the Supreme Court for the protection of their Fundamental Rights. The Courts can issue writs for the protection of fundamental rights.

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