A two-day Regional Conference on “Good Governance and Replication of Best Practices” involving 12 States and 4 UTs of Northern, Western and Central Region of India was inaugurated by Shri C. Viswanath, Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India and Shri Avanendra S. Nayal, Director Uttarakhand Academy of Administration (UKAA), Government of Uttarakhand, at Nainital today. The Conference is being organized on July 7-8, 2017, by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India, in collaboration with the Government of Uttarakhand & Administrative Training Institute (ATI), Nainital.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri C. Viswanath, Secretary, DARPG, Government of India mentioned that this is the 26th such Regional Conference being organised by the Department on diverse themes pertaining to Best Practices. These Conferences provide an opportunity to learn from each other. While the needs of the states may vary, the experiences and lessons learnt are invaluable. He also emphasized the importance of Good Governance and sharing best practices among peers. Good Governance is crucial in maintaining Security of the country, ensuring comfort of common citizens. He also said that DARPG is developing a Good Governance Index (GGI) and the results will soon be published. This will assess the various States and Districts on ten parameters and it is hoped that this will trigger States lagging behind to work vigorously and achieve higher grade. Many States have done tremendous work to bring about Good Governance reforms and getting more and more State delivery Services on the online platform will result in improved efficiency and transparency. He said that 21 States have adopted the Right to Services Act and hoped more States will follow. 21 Departments in the Central Government have become paperless, having switched over to the e-Office platform.
Shri Avanendra S. Nayal, Director UKAA, gave a presentation on Women Empowerment Schemes and programs of Govt. of Uttarakhand State. Shri Nayal highlighted Uttarakhand Mahila Samekit Vikas Yojana (UMSVY) and several other schemes which have been successfully implemented by the State Government. Women in the hill region lead a tough life and they have to do a lot of hard word for their common daily household requirements. While highlighting Uttarakhand Mahila Samekit Vikas Yojna (UMSVY) Shri Nayal mentioned that “Total 69 projects (Developments Blocks) have been sanctioned for self-employment to women SHGs. Under this self-employment schemes, it focused on Daliya Units of Almora, Bageshwar, Dairy Units of Dehradun and food items such as ready-to-eat (Soyabeans, wheat Puffs). He further informed that under this scheme marketing support through Aganwari under “Take Home Ration Schemes”, Trade Fairs and Consortiums is also facilitated.
Four presentations on (i) Exemplary initiatives in the State of Uttarakhand, (ii) the status of Ease of Doing business and IT adoption in his state governance work, (iii) e-Vidhan: Paperless Himachal Legislative Assembly & (iv) Good Governance Index- Introduction & Methodology of Preparation, Key Governance Sectors & Areas, Indicators and Data Availability were made on the first day.
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