Public-private partnership and good governance: An overview

Abstract

The concept of good governance covers a broad vision following a comprehensive approach. Its journey can be regarded as a process starting from Policy-making to Policy implementation. A government organization is considered to be successful if its actions exhibit good governance. Good Governance is an attempt to use the available manpower and financial resources to the best to respond to the societal needs not only confined to the increased public services but exhibit qualitative service delivery within a specific time period. It aims to increase people‘s participation in the decision making process directly/indirectly while framing the policies for various target groups. To achieve the objective of good governance, various combinations of Public-Private Partnership arrangements with E-Governance projects strengthen the administrative agencies at a global level. With the ‘Digital India’ initiative, Twenty first century marks the transformation of government to E-Government with various phases of governance from governance to democratic governance, good governance, spiritual governance, corporate governance, and so on. Good Governance demands transparency, responsiveness and accountability in the administrative system with E-Governance as a tool to direct the development goals towards good governance. This empowers the citizens to become creative with the digital world and enhance their knowledge about the country‘s economy and understand the working of the Indian government. The E-Governance projects were designed to make the public services available at their door steps and reduce corruption, but due to limited digital infrastructure and ever-increasing demands of the society, it has not been a success yet. The effectiveness of administrative machinery and the efficiency of the public officials are reflected by the quality of service delivery, performance of the government officials and the satisfaction level of the citizens. Without good governance, the development goals of the country cannot be achieved. The concept of E-Governance involves a well planned and multi-dimensional approach. Since independence, the different phases of the government have given new dimensions to the society. With the impact of LPG, the government has to face numerable challenges to balance public and the public services in compliance with time and the changing demands of the society. The prosperity and growth of any nation depends upon the quality of life of its citizens. The government agencies are responsible to look after the basic needs of its citizens and aim for their overall well being. But the present era reflects the mistrust and dissatisfaction of citizens on the public officials and government agencies. One major hindrance is corruption. Hence, e-government policy aims to reduce corruption and make government corruption-free. With-E-Governance, the policy makers while framing the policies should keep in mind that the public policies serve the purpose of the target groups for which they are framed. If the policy formulation and implementation are successful at both ends, this can make the administrative machinery much effective. Hence, the objective of good governance is also achieved.