Day 56 – Q 3.Do excessive measures to ensure accountability and transparency handicap decision making? Critically examine.

3. Do excessive measures to ensure accountability and transparency handicap decision making? Critically examine. 

जवाबदेही और पारदर्शिता सुनिश्चित करने के अत्यधिक उपाय क्या निर्णय लेने में अवरोधक बनते हैं? समालोचनात्मक जांच करें।

Introduction:

Civil servants in public administration have to face many conflicts of interests during policy making, policy implementation and decision making. Transparency and Accountability have great importance in the decision-making process of bureaucrats, civil servant and administrators.

Body: 

Transparency in civil services refers to the work of civil servant be available in public domain as per requirement and open for scrutiny. 

Accountability can broadly be defined as the obligation of those holding power to take responsibility and be held answerable for their behaviour, actions and responsibility.

Excessive Accountability and Transparency Hindrance to decision-making:

• Undue scrutiny demotivates civil servants and instigates the fear of unwanted prosecution. 
• Fear of judgment in a certain dilemma like between ethical and rule-based decision, environment and public concerns etc. 
• Accountability might act as a deterrent. The fear of consequences might lead to inactivity from decision-makers.
• Promote red-tapism and leads to time delays which ultimately affects decision making.
• Excessive Accountability affects free will. Free will gives space of innovative or creative decision-making ability without the interference of the state.
• Degraded ethical standards and values such as integrity, compassion, empathy, which are essential for decision making, cannot be answered with just transparency and accountability.

Not a hindrance:

• They help in creating institutional checks and balances. Ex. CAG
• They improve the quality of decision making. 
• They promote public welfare and not personal gain in decision making. Increased accountability assures that public resources are used for welfare.
• Decisions became more sensitive and inclusive Ex. Accountability created through Environmental impact assessment (EIA) provisions.
• Decision-makers are more answerable to superiors and the public. Ex. Code of conduct, RTI.
• They provide courage, dedication, determination and commitment to do work effectively and efficiently.

• Issues like conflicts of interests, partisanship etc. get addressed in a better manner. 
• Facilitates dispute resolution mechanism after the decision has been made. 
• They give moral satisfaction to those who exercise power and takes decisions.

• Transparency creates a system of confidence and trust among the stakeholders and builds the faith of the public in the administration and the decision taken.

• Transparency leads to objectivity in decision making. 

Conclusion: 

Accountability and transparency is an important tool for improving service delivery. However, precaution must be taken by making enough safeguards that it does not become an obstacle in the efficient working of the administrative system.

Citizen charters, Code of conduct and code of ethics which are based on ethics are the tool of any government institution to ensure transparency and accountability and which prevents transgression of decision-making capacity.