First 100 Days Programme of Govt of India
President Pratibha Patil while addressing the joint session of the two houses of Parliament on Thursday (04/06/09) also outlined the priorities of new government for the next 100 days:• Early passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill providing for one-third reservation to women in state legislatures and in Parliament.
• Constitutional amendment to provide 50 percent reservation for women in panchayats and urban local bodies.
• Concerted efforts to increase representation of women in central government jobs.
• A National Mission on Empowerment of Women for implementation of women-centric programme in a mission mode to achieve better coordination.
• A voluntary national youth corps which could take up creative social action for river cleaning and beautification programme beginning with the Ganga.
• Restructuring the Backward Regional Grant Fund which overlaps with other development investment, to focus on decentralised planning and capacity building of elected panchayat representatives. The next three years would be devoted to training panchayat raj functionaries in administrating flagship programmes.
• A public data policy to place all information covering nonstrategic areas in the public domain.
• Increasing transparency and public accountability of National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) by enforcing social audit and ensuring grievances redressal by setting up district level ombudsmen.
• Strengthening Right to Information Act by suitably amending the law to provide for disclosure by government in all non-strategic areas.
• Strengthening public accountability of flagship programmes by the creation of an Independent
Evaluation Officer at an arm’s distance from the government catalysed by the Planning ommission.
• Establishing mechanisms for performance monitoring and performance evaluation in government on a regular basis.
• Five annual reports to be presented by government as Reports to the People on Education, Health, Employment, Environment and Infrastructure to generate a national debate.
• Facilitating a voluntary technical corps of professionals in all urban areas through Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission to support city development activities.
• Enabling non government organisations in the area of development action seeking government support through a web-based transaction on a government portal in which the status of the application will be transparently monitorable.
• Provisions of scholarships and social security schemes through accounts in post offices and banks and phased transaction to smart cards.
• Revamping of banks and post offices to become outreach units for financial inclusion complemented by business correspondents aided by technology.
• Electronic governance through Bharat Nirman common service centres in all panchayats in the next three years.
• A model Public Services Law, that covers functionaries providing important social services like education, health, rural development etc and commit them to their duties, will be drawn up in consultations with states.
The President outlined a paradigm shift in governance, to be effected through:-
• One, ongoing, independent evaluation and public reporting of progress in implementing schemes;
• Two, big strides in e-governance;
• Three, decentralisation and empowerment of panchayats and non-government organisations to implement and monitor government schemes;
• Four, breaking barriers between departments and schemes to achieve synergy and integration;
• Five, innovative regulation of health, education and provision of public services;
• Six, liberal use of technology in welfare transfers and achieving public awareness; and
• Seven, institutionalisation of the government’s basic commitments by requiring all cabinet notes to specify how their proposals would enhance the goals of equity or inclusion, innovation and publicaccountability
