Editorial | Connecting to the ground

Governance is most effective when there is a close contact between those who manage and supervise the affairs in the administration, on the one end, and those whose affairs are being managed, on the other end. Put simply the administration and the people must have an active inter face, and also occasional direct contact to make the institution of governance effective and result oriented. In the modern day technology these things have become possible in a never before way. But there are still areas where unless you go to the actual ground and talk to the people directly, results are not forthcoming. When the officers who are responsible for various matters of governance meet the actual stakeholders, that too on their own home turf, it is an entirely different thing. That is why the initiatives like Back To Village (B2V) can yield wonderful results if executed in letter and spirit. In its latest phase of this programme the government in J&K decided to once again connect to the people at the grassroots level and listen to their grievances, and look into the matters closely. It does give a sense of importance and belonging to the people of the villages, the remote edges of the governance spectrum, when different officers with their teams visit them and present themselves for the redress of grievances.

It even cuts a whole lot of clutter by directly talking to the people. It is this gap between the people and the bureaucracy that results in inefficient and unproductive governance. Besides breeding discontent and distress in the population the gap between the people and the officialdom manifests in myriad forms of corruption and malpractices. So these are good initiatives and if executed with dedication and honesty can yield huge results. At this time we must remind our administration that all other means of getting closer to people and listening to their problems should be used to the hilt. And in this age of technology you are as close to the people anywhere as the keyboard is from your fingers. In a nutshell, a good initiative that needs application in all spheres possible, and through all means available.

   

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