Recently, the Indian Express organised the second edition of it's 'Excellence in Governance Awards' initiative in New Delhi. The event was held on Tuesday this week. The Union Home Minister, Amit Shah attended the ceremony as chief guest and he also presented the award to the winners at the event.
Excellence in Governance Awards essentially honours District Magistrates from across all the districts in the country for innovations implemented by them in their areas. The innovations especially which had a positive impact on the governance, welfare of citizens, and efficiency of government.
The awards were given out in 18 categories, including things such as agriculture, social welfare, education, and technology. From the 29 states, some 401 entries were received from 182 districts. Subsequently, the winners were selected from among them.
Senior civil servants, lawmakers, ambassadors, and other notable figures from the capital praised the award winners for their efforts to bring about a change from the scratch.
Amit Shah added, 'The Prime Minister of our country believes that the key to good governance is people-centric development policy. A good policy is something that should be organic and should not be an imported concept. We need to make models that fit the needs of people and suit their temper. Imposing a particular foreign model will always lead to some counter-productive results. The Top-Down approach should be discarded rather bottom-up should be substituted in its place. There should be space for healthy criticism and recommendations and suggestions should be open for discussion.
The Director of the Express Group, said, 'These awards are significant at two levels. It is somewhere connoting the idea of good journalism. Due to this substantial shift, the Express has helped to draw the government's focus on questions and flagging problems. It's also about finding solutions to these problems and throwing some light on such issues. Just ahead a year, the General Elections are scheduled. The political competition will soar high in the sky. Amidst this, it is the responsibility of the government that it doesn't compromises the demand for public services. Transformative politics should remain a ball in their court only. It shouldn't disrupt the public interest at large.'
The winners were chosen by a panel that included Wajahat Habibullah, a former chair of the National Commission for Minorities and the country's first Chief Information Commissioner, Nirupama Rao, India's Foreign Secretary, KM Chandrashekhar, a Former Cabinet Secretary, and Amarjeet Sinha, member of Public Enterprises Selection Board, under the direction of former Chief Justice of India, RM Lodha.
PWC, the awards knowledge partner, examiner each entry's performance in terms of innovation, impact, implementation, and participation of people.
The reporters and editors then used field trips and an audit to confirm the shortlist and the jury further decided which candidates would win.
Good governance is that very pillar of the country which if is strong will give strength to country's development. Otherwise, it can crumble the existing structures.
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References:
- bestmediainfo.com
- twitter.com