Administrative Reforms Commission
Encyclopedia
The Administrative Reforms Commission or ARC is the committee appointed by the Government of India for giving recommendations for reviewing the public administration system
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....

 of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. The first ARC was established on 5 January 1966. The Administrative Reforms Commission was initially Chaired by Morarji R Desai
Morarji Desai
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai was an Indian independence activist and the fourth Prime Minister of India from 1977–79. He was the first Indian Prime Minister who did not belong to the Indian National Congress...

, MP, and later on K.Hanumanthaiah
Kengal Hanumanthaiah
Kengal Hanumanthaiah was the chief minister of the old Mysore State in India from 30 March 1952 to 19 August 1956...

, MP became its chairman when Morarji R Desai, MP, became the Deputy Prime Minister of India.
The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) was constituted on 31.08,2005, as a Commission of Inquiry, under the Chairmanship of Veerappa Moily
Veerappa Moily
Moodbidri Veerappa Moily is the current Minister of Corporate Affairs in the Indian government. Moily was elected as MP of the Chickballapur district by a wide margin in 2009. He currently serves as the All India Congress Committee General Secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh...

 for preparing a detailed blueprint for revamping the public administrative system.

First Administrative Reforms Commission

The first ARC was constituted by the Ministry of Home Affairs under Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

 by resolution no. 40/3/65-AR(P) dated 5 January 1966.
In the resolution, the composition of the ARC, the mandate of the commission and the procedures to be followed were described.

Mandate

The Commission was mandated to give consideration to the need for ensuring the highest standards of efficiency and integrity in the public services, and for making public administration a fit instrument for carrying out the social and economic policies of the Government and achieving social and economic goals of development, as also one which is responsive to the people. In particular the Commission is to consider the following:
  1. The machinery of the Government of India and its procedures of work;
  2. The machinery for planning at all levels;
  3. Center-State relationships;
  4. Financial administration;
  5. Personnel administration;
  6. Economic administration;
  7. Administration at the State level;
  8. District administration;
  9. Agricultural administration; and
  10. Problems of redress of citizens grievances.

Exclusions

The Commission may exclude from its purview the detailed examination of administration of defence
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

, railways, external affairs, security and intelligence work, as also subjects such as educational administration already being examined by a separate commission. The Commission will, however, be free to take the problems of these sectors into account in recommending reorganization of the machinery of the Government as a whole or of any of its common service agencies.

Recommendation Reports

The Commission submitted the following 20 reports before winding up in mid-1970s:
  1. Problems of Redress of Citizens Grievances (Interim)
  2. Machinery for Planning
  3. Public Sector Undertakings
  4. Finance, Accounts & Audit
  5. Machinery for Planning (Final)
  6. Economic Administration
  7. The Machinery of GOI and its procedures of work
  8. Life Insurance Administration
  9. Central Direct Taxes Administration
  10. Administration of UTs
    Union Territory
    A Union Territory is a sub-national administrative division of India, in the federal framework of governance. Unlike the states of India, which have their own elected governments, union territories are ruled directly by the federal government; the President of India appoints an Administrator or...

     & NEFA
    North-East Frontier Agency
    The North-East Frontier Agency was one of the political divisions in British India and later the Republic of India till 1972, when it became the Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh...

  11. Personnel Administration
  12. Delegation of Financial & Administrative Powers
  13. Center-State Relationships
  14. State Administration
  15. Small Scale Sector
  16. Railways
  17. Treasuries
  18. Reserve Bank of India
  19. Posts and Telegraphs
  20. Scientific Departments

The above 20 reports contained 537 major recommendations. Based on inputs received from various administrative Ministries, a report indicating implementation position was placed before the Parliament in November,1977.

Second Administrative Reforms Commission

The Second ARC was setup with a resolution no. K-11022/9/2004-RC of the Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

 as a committee of inquiry to prepare a detailed blueprint for revamping the public administration system.

Composition of the Second ARC

  • V Ramachandran - Chairperson
  • Dr. A.P. Mukherjee - Member
  • Dr. A.H. Kalro - Member
  • Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan - Member
  • Vineeta Rai
    Vineeta Rai
    Vineeta Rai is a former Indian Administrative Service officer and Revenue Secretary in the Government of India. Rai was voted one of The 25 Most Powerful Women in Business in India in 2003.-Early life:...

     - Member-Secretary


Veerapaa Moily resigned with effect from 1 April 2009.
V. Ramachandran was appointed chairman.
Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan resigned with effect from 1 September 2007.

Mandate

The Commission was given the mandate to suggest measures to achieve a proactive, responsive, accountable, sustainable and efficient administration for the country at all levels of the government. The Commission was asked to, inter alia
Inter Alia
-Track listing:# Inter Alia# Outfox'd # Righteous Badass # The Altogether feat. Bix, Apt, UNIVERSE ARM and Cal# The Day-to-Daily# Trouble Brewing # The Prestidigitator# The Force...

, consider the following :
(i) Organisational structure
Organizational structure
An organizational structure consists of activities such as task allocation, coordination and supervision, which are directed towards the achievement of organizational aims. It can also be considered as the viewing glass or perspective through which individuals see their organization and its...

 of the Government of India
(ii) Ethics in governance
(iii) Refurbishing of Personnel Administration
(iv) Strengthening of Financial Management Systems
(v) Steps to ensure effective administration at the State level
(vi) Steps to ensure effective District Administration
(vii) Local Self-Government/Panchayati Raj Institutions
(viii) Social Capital, Trust and Participative public service delivery
(ix) Citizen-centric administration
(x) Promoting e-governance
(xi) Issues of Federal Polity
(xii) Crisis Management
Crisis management
Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a major event that threatens to harm the organization, its stakeholders, or the general public. The study of crisis management originated with the large scale industrial and environmental disasters in the 1980's.Shrivastava, P....


(xiii) Public Order
Exclusions

The Commission was to exclude from its purview the detailed examination of administration of defence
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

, railways, external affairs, security and intelligence, as also subjects such as Centre-state relations, judicial reforms etc. which were already being examined by other bodies. The Commission was, however, be free to take the problems of these sectors into account in recommending re-organisation of the machinery of the Government or of any of its service agencies.

Working of Second ARC

The Commission will devise its own procedures (including for consultations with the State Government as may be considered appropriate by the Commission), and may appoint committees, consultants/advisers to assist it. The Commission may take into account the existing material and reports available on the subject and consider building upon the same rather than attempting to address all the issues ab initio
Ab initio
ab initio is a Latin term used in English, meaning from the beginning.ab initio may also refer to:* Ab Initio , a leading ETL Tool Software Company in the field of Data Warehousing.* ab initio quantum chemistry methods...

.
The Ministries and Departments of the Government of India were to furnish such information and documents and provide other assistance as may be required by the Commission. The Government of India entrusted the State Governments and all others concerned to extend their fullest cooperation and assistance to the Commission.

Recommendation reports

The commission has presented the following 15 Reports to the Government for consideration:-
  1. Right to Information-Master Key to Good Governance (09.06.2006)
  2. Unlocking Human Capital - Entitlements and Governance-a Case Study (31.07.2006)
  3. Crisis Management-From Despair to Hope (31.10.2006)
  4. Ethics in Governance (12.02.2007)
  5. Public Order-Justice for each..... peace for all. (25.06.2007)
  6. Local Governancehttp://arc.gov.in/6-2.pdfhttp://arc.gov.in/6-3.pdf (27.11.2007)
  7. Capacity Building for Conflict Resolution - Friction to Fusion (17.3.2008)
  8. Combating Terrorism (17.9.2008)
  9. Social Capital - A Shared Destiny (8.10.2008)
  10. Refurbishing of Personnel Administration - Scaling New Heights (27.11.2008)
  11. Promoting e-Governance - The Smart Way Forward (20.01.2009)
  12. Citizen Centric Administration - The Heart of Governance (30.3.2009)
  13. Organisational Structure of Government of India (19.5.2009)
  14. Strengthening Financial Management Systems (26.5.2009)
  15. State & District Administration (29.5.2009)

Implementation of recommendations

The Government constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) on 30 March 2007 under the Chairmanship of the then External Affairs Minister to consider the recommendations of the Second A.R.C. and to review the pace of implementation of the recommendations as well as to provide guidance to the concerned Ministries/ Departments in implementing the decisions. It has since been reconstituted under the Chairmanship of Union Finance Minister on 21.08.2009. Core Group on Administrative Reforms under the Chairmanship of Cabinet Secretary has finished examination of all the 15 reports. This Group of Ministers has so far considered eleven reports, namely (i) Right to Information: Master Key to Good Governance (First report), (ii) Unlocking human capital: Entitlements and Governance – a Case Study relating to NREGA (Second Report), (iii) Crisis Management From Despair to Hope (Third report), (iv) Ethics in Governance (Fourth Report), (v) Local Governance (Sixth Report), (vi) Capacity Building for Conflict Resolution (Seventh Report) (vii) Citizen Centric Administration – The Heart of Governance (Twelfth Report) (viii) Social Capital-A Shared Destiny (Ninth Report) and (ix) Organisational Structure of Government of India (Thirteenth Report) (x) Promoting e-Governance – The Smart Way Forward (Eleventh Report) and (xi) State and District Administration (Fifteenth Report). The decisions of GoM on these reports are at various stages of implementation. The report on "Combating Terrorism (Eighth Report)” has been handled by the Ministry of Home Affairs and it is understood that necessary action has already been taken on this report. Thus, in all 12 Reports have been considered, so far. Remaining 3 Reports (Report No.V, X, and XIV ) are also shortly being put up for consideration of GoM.
The Cabinet in its meeting held on 3.12.2009 had taken note of the progress of action taken in respect of 2nd report (Unlocking human capital: Entitlements and Governance – a Case Study) relating to NREGA and in its meeting held on 29.12.2009 has taken note of the progress of action taken in respect of the 1st report (Right to Information Mater Key to Good Governance) and 3rd report (Crisis Management: From Despair to Hope).

External links

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