Good governance

We have seen many write ups on the issue of good governance. Whilst I fully subscribe to the eight laid-down cardinal principles, of IGRD, viz., accountable, transparency, equitable and inclusive, responsiveness, effectiveness and efficiency, the rule of law, participatory and consensus-oriented, which are accepted universally in the civilised world, in accordance with the criteria laid-down by the institute of regional good governance, based in Djarkata Indonesia.
I personally feel that good academics with professionalism is equally essential clubbed to execute a project under the PSDP-allocated funds, (basically tax payers) or the donors' money. The conditionalities of audit, by donors, must be accepted for the prudent distribution of funds to cater to the development of our poor infrastructure, poverty elevation, health and education.
Indians have realised that and in spite of good academics the government has started refinement courses, in collaboration with Speakfast of UK, so that fresh graduates can be groomed and turned into productive human resources. There is a dire need to improve our human resource potential, as our median age is said to be 21 and we have a young pool available to utilise locally and fill the human resource slots abroad too.
I fully subscribe to Colin Powell, who said that when you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative-thinking and negative-acting people. Unfortunately, my experience, serving the government, was of its obsolete management and that the majority of human resource needed capacity building, redesigning of employment induction and market compatible remuneration.
I learned, with experience, if you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, but a prevailing attitude. I subscribe to the wise words on media for Pakistan's civil service, by my intellectual friend Danishmand Ex. Director IBA and presently with Islamic University. His views were not critical, but productive recommendations for induction on the merits of the Pakistan's civil service.
The present-day recession has taught us the necessity of an excellent regulatory regime in the public and private sector, but those in control of such institutions must be first-class professionals to keep a vigil on the fly-by, night operators and swindlers. Alan Greenspan, ex. Fed Chief, has publicly admitted that laxity in the regulatory regime has lead to the recession and failures.
Accountability is a key requirement of good governance, be it government or private institutions and civil society organisations, must be made accountable to the public and to their institutional stake holders. In general, an organisation or an institution, is accountable to those who will be affected by its decision or actions.
Accountability can only be enforced with transparency and rule of law. Transparency means that decisions and their enforcement are done as per rules and regulations. It also calls for freedom of information freely available and directly accessible to those who may be affected by decisions and enforcement. Enough information be provided, which is in easily understandable forms and media.
A society's well-being depends largely on ensuring that its members feel that they have a stake in it and may not feel excluded from the mainstream. It requires all groups, particularly the most, vulnerable, have opportunities to their well-being, thus be equitable and inclusive both. Good governance needs that institution and process to try serve all stakeholders within a reasonable time frame, thus be responsive.
It also calls on effectiveness and efficiency, which means that process and institutions produce results that meet the needs of society, whilst making the best use of resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good governance also covers the sustainable use of natural resources and the protection of environment. To follow the rule of law requires a fair legal framework that enforces impartiality, full protection of human rights, particularly those of minorities. Impartial enforcement of laws requires an independent judiciary and an impartial, incorruptible police force.
Needless to mention that participation could be either direct, or through legitimate intermediate institutions or representatives. Representative democracy, traditionally, does not necessarily mean that the concerns of the most vulnerable in society are taken into consideration in decision-making.
Ours is a living example. Participation needs to be informed and organised, which means freedom of association and expression on the one hand and an organised civil society on the other hand. We cannot rule out that good governance requires the mediation of the different interests in society, to reach a broad consensus on what is in the best interests of the whole community and how this can be achieved.
You may plan a policy, guidelines, but if you do not have the right tools to execute, the ultimate result is bad and poor governance. The media is pinpointing to no avail, thus representative democracy is dysfunctional and not different from the past. It is humbly suggested that government and its institutions must induct people on strict merit and contracts should be performance-based to achieve the results.
It is high time that the government takes note of poor governance and gives due credit to the print and electronic media is unbiased reporting, which are investigative and free of any vested interest. The performance of local government at the grass root level, in particular in Karachi, has yielded positive results, thus the process may be improved with more checks and balances. We may amend the shortcomings, but may not scrap the local government to please any vested interest. Let us develop a consensus, ensuring the participation of all vulnerable stakeholders for the sake of good governance at the grass root level, as our representatives in parliament have yet to perform.