The situation in many countries emerging from the second wave of Corona virus is alarming. The number of people affected by the virus is all time high. Death toll is steadily increasing. Several governments and other agencies are miserably failing in tackling the situation in favour of the people’s lives and livelihood. In India the situation seems to be startling. The increased spread of virus is a concern for all. It is not only the rising number of Covid victims but also the increased number of loss of life is a real time concern. The implication of these is going to affect multiple sectors like the economy, health, education, social and psychological well-being of people. 
 
Actually, all must ask seriously the question, what went wrong in India and how to get back to the track? Why even after a year of experiencing the Virus no adequate preparation done for effectively controlling the second surge by the government? Why they have not prepared sufficiently based on the experience and prediction of WHO and other experts? Why the vaccine distribution is taking long time to reach the people? Why there is Oxygen shortage in the country? What is lacking in India to face such a calamity?

My reflection tells me that mis-governance or mal-governance is the real cause. Last year, when around 500 people got the signs of the virus the Central government unilaterally declared complete lockdown in the country. Now with 20 lakh and above virus-affected people in the country the same Central government is clueless and shifting the responsibility of controlling the virus to the state governments! Many state governments too seem to be callous in their approach. This shows that the governments then and now have no clue of what to do in a crisis situation.

In the light of this prevailing situation let us reflect on ‘good governance’ that is of paramount importance for any nation to face the challenge and ensure the well-being of its citizens. ‘Governance’ is the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). We have governance at various levels. Here we focus on the national and local governance by democratically elected governments. 

The World Bank in its 1992 report titled “Governance and Development” set out its definition of Good Governance. It defined Good Governance as “the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development”. The ultimate purpose of this is the welfare and well-being of its citizens. 

According to the well accepted UN definition on Good governance it has 8 major characteristics. ‘It is participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. These eight characteristics are the criterion to see whether a government fulfils efficient and able governance.
 
(8 Principles of Good Governance By United Nations) 

Participation

By Participation it is meant that people should be able to voice their opinions through legitimate organizations or representatives. In a democracy, people elect their representatives. There cannot be domination of one class, religion or caste over the others in a democracy. Men and women, vulnerable sections of society, backward classes, minorities, tribals and other weaker sections of the society and all marginalised sections of the nation must have a say in the affairs of the nation’s governance. Participation also implies freedom of association and expression of people. Any control or suppression on the people to criticise the government/s of the day is against the principle of participation. 

Rule of Law

In India the Fundamental rights (Articles 14 to 32) are those which are essential for intellectual, moral and spiritual development of citizens. These include individual rights common to most, such as equality before the law, freedom of speech and freedom of expression, religious and cultural freedom, Freedom of assembly (peaceful assembly), freedom of religion (freedom to practice religion), right to constitutional remedies for the protection of civil rights by means of writs such as Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Writ of Prohibition, Certiorari and Quo Warranto.

Fundamental rights apply universally to all citizens, irrespective of race, birthplace, religion, caste, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity. The Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and other laws prescribe punishments for the violation of these rights, subject to the discretion of the judiciary. Though the rights conferred by the Constitution other than fundamental rights are also valid rights protected by the judiciary, in case of fundamental rights violations, the Supreme Court of India can be approached directly for ultimate justice as per Article 32. 

There are six fundamental rights recognised by the Indian Constitution:

• Right to equality (Articles. 14-18)
• Right to Freedom (Articles. 19-22)
• Right Against Exploitation (Articles. 23-24)
• Right to Freedom of Religion (Articles. 25-28)
• Cultural and Educational Rights (Articles. 29-30), and
• Right to Constitutional remedies (Articles. 32)

Legal framework based on the Fundamental Rights should be enforced impartially. Without rule of law, no country can progress. Government must therefore ensure that the Rule of Law must be practiced in letter and spirit. 

Consensus-Oriented 

This principle is so important in a country like India. India is diverse in nature. Any attempt to reduce it as one uniform nation is going to be disastrous. Consensus-oriented decision-making ensures a common minimum progress is achieved by everyone. It will not leave anyone unattended. In a democracy consensus is the best way to administer.

Accountability 

The goal of Good governance is the overall well-being of the people irrespective of their differences of religion, culture, ethnicity, language and language. This needs greater accountability from the part of governments.  Every agent of government in a democracy is accountable to the public and institutional stakeholders.

Equity and Inclusiveness 

Good governance assures an equitable society. Equity seeks to ensure fair treatment, equality of opportunity, and fairness in access to information and resources for all. We believe this is only possible in an environment built on respect and dignity. Inclusion builds a culture of belonging by actively inviting the contribution and participation of all people. A government’s responsibility is to make sure that equity and inclusiveness is ensured to all.  

Effectiveness and Efficiency 

If responsible people in position to rule the nation are free from selfish attitude; ideological blindness; and religious, linguistic or ethnic extremism, then the government and its institutions will be able to produce results that meet the needs of the nation. They are supposed to be primarily loyal to ONLY the Constitution of the nation. All the resources of the nation (GDP) are supposed to be used effectively and wisely for the benefit of the progress of the people. To do it efficiently it takes the opinion of experts from all sections of the society. It also values the opinion of the Opposition parties. In a democracy, both the ruling parties and the opposition parties are important. To set priorities for the nation’s progress all need to work in consensus. 

Transparency 

Governments in a democratic nation must ensure that there is transparency in governance. Information should be accessible to the public and understandable and monitored. It also means free media and access of information to them. 

Responsiveness 

Authorities in the government must listen to people and their representatives for better governance. All the pillars of democracy, including media, must be proactive and constructive in building the nation. Governments must not be afraid of criticism. Judiciary must be free from political interference, executive must be impartial, legislature must be people-oriented. Media must be independent and committed to truth. Any sign of media surrendering to political forces is going to destroy the nation in the long run. History proves that any attempt to put down criticism is detrimental to the nation and its development.  The best way of governance is through empowering the people through decentralization of powers. Panchayati Raj concept and local self-rule in the scheduled areas are attempts made towards decentralisation. The National Institution for Transforming India (NITI Aayog) is a step towards this.

There are several challenges to Good Governance in India. Among them we see lack of political education of the masses, biased mass media, social media control by political parties, blind belief of people in their leaders, criminalization of politics, corruption, gender disparity, growing incidence of violence, communally divided society, authoritarian rulers, delay in delivering justice, centralisation of administrative system, myopic vision of our leaders, marginalization of socially and economically backward class people, growing disparity among people, and lack of proper planning and execution are the causes of the failure of governance. The result will be more suffering for common lives, especially the daily labourers, unorganized sectors and migrants of the nation. If not controlled, the situation in the coming days is going to be disastrous both in human lives and livelihood.

In short, in the light of COVID-19 surge, governments across the world must think of the 8 characteristics of good governance by the UN. They are the visible signs of any effective governance. If there is a failure in governance, we must see which characteristic is missing in the governance. A good government will rectify the mistakes and improve upon, rather than repeating the mistakes and blaming the past for the commissions and omissions of the present. All must realise the preciousness of human lives over everything else.

(Sunny Jacob is the Assistant for Mission and Identity of the Secretariat for Education for the Society of Jesus & Jesuit Education Specialist for Educate Magis, Galway, Ireland)