Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister's letter to Chief Ministers on accountability in public services

"Let me take this opportunity to greet you and affirm my commitment to working with you to redeem the pledge that we have made to accelerate the pace of social and economic development in our county. The people of this country require us to pay concentrated attention to development issues, ensure that growth and distributive justice go together, bring back compassion into our ways of thinking and restore to public life the waning spirit of idealism and sacrifice.

Our challenges appear formidable. Our opportunities are also unique. We are a country of one billion opportunities if we begin to see people as our strategic resource. We are a country with enormous potential. Some of our industries are setting global standards of excellence. We are a much more connected nation than we were a few decades ago. We have a vibrant democracy that has deepened and broadened over the years and today it commands global appreciation. Our democracy, our pluralism, our cultural heritage of tolerance and compassion are values that inspire the world. However, despite the growth momentum generated over the past two decades and all its attendant successes, we are still to realise our full potential. Achieving this requires determined concerted action on many fronts.

Our unfinished tasks include some that Jawaharlal Nehru flagged for us at the time of our Independence - to end poverty, illiteracy, disease and inequality of opportunity. The agenda that we have placed before ourselves recognises that despite impressive all round progress that the country has registered since Independence, we face a situation of uneven development, between regions and between people. We need to make our process of economic reforms inclusive, both at the Centre and in the States.

The process of inclusive reforms involves greater focus on agriculture through increased public investment and effective strategies for employment generation. It will mean ensuring equal opportunities for vulnerable sections like scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes, women and minorities. It will entail targeting investment towards backward areas of the country. It must take into account the interests of labour in the organised and unorganised sectors. It should aim at improving the policy regime for the private sector to create wealth in the country as well as provide space for non-governmental and citizen action groups to contribute to the development process and the well being of our people. It should strengthen an architecture of governance that enhances the scope and effectiveness of collective action.

We have a large number of development programmes the implementation of which leaves much to be desired. Some of them entail sub-optimal use of our resources and energies. We need to identify them and rationalise them. We need to give specific timelines for delivery on key development goals and be held publicly accountable for them. We need to collectively identify the bottlenecks in our systems and procedures that limit the utilisation of our potential.

Even as we refocus priorities, it is equally important that we pay attention to reforming the public institutions we work with. Reforms in the processes of governance should engage the immediate attention of both the Central and State Governments. It will involve energising institutions of governance and ensuring accountability in the provision of public services, transparency in handling of public funds, and aligning incentives with desired outcomes.

Maintenance of law and order is critical in providing an atmosphere conducive to economic development and social harmony. Challenges of law and order as well as development require stability of tenure of officials in key positions. Frequent transfers of public servants have a debilitating impact not only on their performance and morale but also on the whole process of governance. Development administration also involves learning that to a large extent depends on the regularity of tenure. Therefore, I urge you to ensure stability of tenure to officials in key positions in order to ensure effective administration and proper delivery of public services. We need to redesign our public systems to make officials accountable for delivery of public services by giving rights to citizens and duties to officials.

The agenda of our government reflects our commitment to the concerns of the common man. In the Union Budget presented a few days ago, we have substantially increased allocations for the areas mentioned earlier in this letter, particularly for agriculture, water harvesting, education, health, employment, nutrition and rural industries. As I had mentioned at the recently held Chief Minister' Conference, while our government at the centre can generate funds for development programmes, their success is dependent on the efficacy of implementation which is entirely in your hands. Hence, success is contingent on our collective endeavours in the true spirit of an abiding partnership in the best traditions of cooperative federalism. I appeal to you, therefore, to play the role of visionary leaders working towards transforming the socio-economic conditions of millions of our countrymen who are looking up to us for enhancing the quality of their lives.

I hope to be in touch with you regularly and look forward to your constructive suggestions and whole-hearted support in making a success of our collective efforts for the benefit of the common man."