Benefits reaching people in remotest villages litmus test of good governance: Union Minister Jitendra Singh

Union Minister Jitendra Singh Monday said the ultimate litmus test of good governance is that its benefits should reach people living in the remotest villages of India.

Inaugurating the good governance week with a nationwide 'Prashasan Gaon Ki Ore' campaign here, he said the ''rural regeneration'' vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi entails an outcome-based approach to assess real development on the ground.

Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, said for sustainable development of rural India, schemes must take into account the needs and wishes of the people in the true bottom-up approach and should be implemented through the latest technological tools in a transparent, effective and accountable manner.

''The ultimate litmus test of good governance is that its benefits should reach the remotest citizen living in the remotest village of India,'' he said.

Singh said the big dream of India becoming a USD 5 trillion economy cannot be achieved without taking villages into account. He underlined that the development of rural and neglected areas has been one of the main priorities of the Modi government besides bridging the gap between urban and rural India.

Offering his homage to India's former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in whose memory the good governance day and good governance week are celebrated, Singh said Modi has translated the vision of Vajpayee into action by adopting the policy of ''maximum governance, minimum government''.

He said this year, on the directions of Prime Minister Modi, an innovative and far-reaching step has been taken to involve a retired district collector or district magistrate in the preparation of a vision document of the district for the year 2047 when India completes 100 years of Independence. Singh said the nation can only develop when all the districts of the country, leveraging their inherent strengths, aim to develop with a focused approach.

'Prashasan Gaon Ki Aur 2022' is a nationwide campaign for the redressal of public grievances and improving service delivery which will be held in all districts, states, and Union Territories of India. Over 700 district collectors are participating in the 'Prashasan Gaon Ki Ore 2022' campaign, according to a statement by the Personnel Ministry.

Singh said the emphasis during the campaign will be to take administration directly to the people. The Modi government has strived to bring thousands of citizen-centric services to the doorsteps of people through a comprehensive digitisation policy so that the fruits of development are equally distributed without a rural-urban divide, he said. Grievance redressal is at the core of good governance. The citizens' voices must be heard and their grievances redressed, Singh said, adding district collectors will organise special camps and events at tehsil and panchayat samiti levels to resolve public grievances and for improved service delivery.

Secretary in the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances V Srinivas said this is the second time in the 'Amrit Kaal' period that the government will conduct a national campaign at the tehsil level to address public grievances and improve service delivery.

''Prashasan Gaon ki Ore campaign will create a national movement for good governance that will inspire the future generation,'' he said.

Traditionally, district collectors have had a strong governance model in implementing special campaigns at tehsil, panchayat samiti and panchayat levels, Singh said, adding, ''Under the 'Prashasan Gaon ki Ore' campaign, a strong digital platform and social media outreach can enable the district collectors to reach every citizen in India. Technology is a huge force multiplier.'' He also inaugurated an exhibition on good governance practices and launched the dedicated campaign portal for 'Prashasan Gaon Ki Aur' 2022 (www.pgportal.gov.in/GGW22) for online updation of progress by District Collectors and state governments.

Good governance week is being observed from December 19 to 25.