Governance: Good governance, transparency and charters

Both statements are incorrect. The Santhanam Committee (1962–64) recommended the Central Vigilance Commission, which was set up in 1964; the Lokpal was recommended by the First ARC in its 1966 report. Lateral entry means appointing outside experts, for example from the private sector, academia or State services, directly to posts such as Joint Secretary or Director, usually on contract. The Union Government advertised such posts in 2018. The CVC was first set up by an executive resolution in February 1964; it became statutory only under the Central Vigilance Commission Act, 2003, after the Supreme Court's directions in Vineet Narain (1997). On lateral entry, the UPSC selected nine professionals for Joint Secretary posts in 2019 against the 2018 advertisement. The Second ARC's report on personnel administration had supported opening some senior posts to outside talent. In August 2024 an advertisement for forty-five posts was withdrawn at the Government's request amid a debate on reservation.

Good Governance Day has been observed on 25 December since 2014, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. On this day the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances has released the Good Governance Index and run campaigns on grievance redress. The other dates mark other occasions: 2 October is Gandhi Jayanti, 21 April is Civil Services Day, and 31 October is National Unity Day, Sardar Patel's birth anniversary. The day was announced in December 2014, the same month in which Vajpayee was named for the Bharat Ratna. Since 2021 DARPG has also run a Good Governance Week around the day, with the 'Prashasan Gaon Ki Ore' campaign, which takes grievance redress and service delivery to the district and block level. The Good Governance Index released on the day in 2019 and 2021 ranked States and Union territories on a common set of sectors, so the day is used to showcase governance results rather than only to remember a leader.

The Good Governance Index was developed by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) and first released on Good Governance Day, 2019. It compares States and UTs across ten sectors, such as agriculture, commerce and industry, human resource development, public health, judicial and public security and citizen-centric governance. The States are grouped into categories, such as larger States and north-eastern and hill States, so that similar States are compared. The first index in 2019 used fifty indicators, and the 2021 edition, again released on Good Governance Day, widened this to fifty-eight indicators across the same ten sectors. DARPG then applied the same method at the district level in Jammu and Kashmir, releasing a District Good Governance Index in early 2022. The department also runs a separate assessment of e-governance service delivery. An index is only as good as its data, so rankings are best read as a mirror for States rather than a final verdict.

Statement 2 is correct: in a social audit, records such as muster rolls, bills and work details are read out in a Gram Sabha or public meeting, and beneficiaries confirm or contest them; this exposes ghost workers and inflated bills. Statement 1 is incorrect: a citizen's charter is a department's advance promise of service standards, while a social audit is an after- the-fact check by the community. One sets expectations; the other verifies performance. The two tools work at different ends of service delivery. A charter is published by the department, states standards in advance and has no legal force on its own. A social audit is carried out by the community after the work is done, and its findings are discussed in public. Report cards, another tool, are surveys by civil-society groups. A good system uses all three: promise, feedback and verification. Mixing them up is like confusing a restaurant's menu with its customer reviews.

Only one. The Worldwide Governance Indicators measure six dimensions: voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law and control of corruption. They measure the quality of governance, not economic or social outcomes. So GDP growth, literacy and foreign exchange reserves are not among them, even though good governance may influence them. The World Bank has published the indicators since 1996, first every two years and annually since 2002, for over two hundred countries and territories. They are built from perception data drawn from surveys of households and firms, NGOs and expert assessments, and are reported as estimates and percentile ranks. The indicators are designed for broad comparison, so the World Bank itself warns against reading small year-to-year changes as real improvement. Think of them as a weather report on governance, not a medical test.

Statement 2 is correct: the Second ARC, set up in 2005 under the chairmanship of M. Veerappa Moily, submitted fifteen reports, on subjects such as the Right to Information, Ethics in Governance, Local Governance, Citizen-Centric Administration and e-Governance. Statement 1 is incorrect: 1966 is the year of the First ARC, first chaired by Morarji Desai and later by K. Hanumanthaiya. The two Commissions are nearly forty years apart. The Second ARC was constituted on 31 August 2005 by a Government resolution. Its first report, in 2006, was titled 'Right to Information: Master Key to Good Governance', and its fourth, 'Ethics in Governance', recommended a national ombudsman with constitutional status and the ethics framework often quoted in GS papers. Other reports covered public order, crisis management, capacity building for conflict resolution, social capital, refurbishing personnel administration and State and district administration. DARPG tracks how far each recommendation has been accepted.

Section 26(1) of the VB–G RAM G Act, 2025 (Act 36 of 2025) lets the Central Government, by rules made in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor-General, provide for audit of the accounts of the Schemes at all levels; section 26(2) leaves the form of the accounts to the State Government. This carries over section 24 of the repealed MGNREGA, 2005, under which the Audit of Schemes Rules, 2011 were made. Social audit is a separate track: section 20 makes the Gram Sabha audit all works. The CAG's role fits Articles 148–151 on the auditing of public accounts. The CAG's duties are set out in the Comptroller and Auditor- General's (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971, which covers audit of expenditure from the Consolidated Funds and of bodies substantially financed by government grants. Under Article 151, the CAG's reports on the Union go to the President and those on a State to the Governor, to be laid before the legislature, where the Public Accounts Committee examines them. NITI Aayog evaluates schemes through its Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office, which is evaluation, not audit.

Both statements are incorrect. Mission Karmayogi was approved by the Union Cabinet in September 2020 as an executive programme, not created by statute. Its structure includes a Prime Minister's Public Human Resources Council, an independent Capacity Building Commission with its own chairperson and members, the iGOT Karmayogi online learning platform run by a special purpose vehicle, and a Cabinet Secretariat Coordination Unit headed by the Cabinet Secretary. The aim is to move from rule-based to role-based training. The Cabinet approved the programme on 2 September 2020. The iGOT platform is owned and run by Karmayogi Bharat, a not-for-profit company set up as the special purpose vehicle. The Capacity Building Commission was constituted in 2021 and helps ministries prepare annual capacity building plans. A Karmayogi Prarambh module was later added for new recruits. Because all of this rests on executive decisions, it can be reshaped by the Government without amending any law, which is both its flexibility and its weakness.

Only statement 2 is correct (b). Statement 2 is right: the Revamped RGSA aims to build the governance capacity of Panchayati Raj Institutions to deliver on the SDGs. Statement 1 is wrong: it was approved in 2022 to run from 2022-23 to 2025-26, not from April 2021. Statement 3 is wrong: funding is shared 60:40 with States (90:10 for north-eastern and hill States); only Union Territories get 100%. So options (a), (c) and (d) fail.

Notice the link: the RGSA uses the Localisation of SDGs approach through nine themes, such as poverty-free and healthy villages. The 73rd Amendment (1992) gave Panchayats constitutional status. 24 April is National Panchayati Raj Day.

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Creating autonomous regions is not a PESA objective (c). PESA (1996) extends Part IX on panchayats to Fifth Schedule areas, with changes that give tribal communities self-governance through the Gram Sabha (a), respect their customary and traditional rights over resources (b), and protect them from exploitation such as land alienation and money-lending (d). Option (c) is wrong: autonomous district councils belong to the Sixth Schedule areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, not PESA.

Notice the coverage: PESA applies to Fifth Schedule areas in ten states, including Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha; Jharkhand notified its PESA rules only in January 2026. The Bhuria Committee (1995) recommended the law. Trap: Fifth and Sixth Schedules are easily mixed up.

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Directive Principles of State Policy is correct (c). Article 37 says the Directive Principles are not enforceable by any court, but they are 'nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country', and the State must apply them in making laws. (a) is wrong: Fundamental Rights are enforceable but are not described in these words. (b) and (d) are wrong: Fundamental Duties (Article 51A) apply to citizens and are not called fundamental for governance.

Notice the balance: in Minerva Mills (1980), the Supreme Court held that harmony between Fundamental Rights and DPSPs is part of the basic structure. DPSPs were borrowed from the Irish Constitution, and B.R. Ambedkar called them 'novel features'. Trap: the word 'fundamental' appears in all options, but the phrase belongs to Article 37.

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Statements 2, 3 and 4 are correct (c). Inclusive governance means planning and services reach everyone, especially the poor. Effective District Planning Committees bring local participation into planning (2). More public health spending widens access to care (3). A stronger Mid-day Meal Scheme improves nutrition and school attendance (4). Statement 1 is wrong: letting NBFCs do banking is a financial-sector reform, not essentially an inclusion measure. So (a), (b) and (d) fail.

Notice the current versions: Mid-day Meal is now PM POSHAN (2021), and the National Health Policy 2017 targets public health spending of 2.5% of GDP. Small Finance Banks and Payments Banks (2015) are the inclusion-focused route for non-bank players. Trap: 'banking' sounds inclusive but the measure as stated is not.

Answer as per the official UPSC answer key.

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