Good Governance Week 2023: Date, Event, History and Significance

Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the Good Governance Week Celebrations 2023 in New Delhi on 19 December. Good Governance Week is being organised this year from 19 December 2023 to 25 December. It is the third Good Governance Week to be celebrated in 2023.

• Senior government officials from Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Secretaries to the Government of India participated in the event.
• On this occasion, representatives of state governments and district collectors from all the districts across the country participated in the function through the virtual medium.

Organiser of Good Governance Week Celebration 2023:

• Good Governance Week 2023 was organised by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India.
• DARPG is organising the week-long celebrations for the third consecutive year.

Major events to be organised in Good Governance Week 2023:

• On this occasion, the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances presented the initiative 'Enhancing Efficiency in Decision-Making' results in the Central Secretariat.
• Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh launched the e-Office Advanced Analytics Dashboard to facilitate deep data analysis and strengthen decision-making.
• The mobile app Centralised Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System was launched for citizens to lodge public complaints.
• Dr Jitendra Singh released a special booklet on travel to 25 regional conferences from 2014 to 2023. Besides, the Annual Report 2023 of the Centralised Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System was also released.
• Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated an exhibition on best practices by Ministries/Departments during Special Drive 3.0.
• The states of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are presenting their good governance practices in this week-long event.

History of Good Governance Week:

• On 23 December 2014, it was decided to honour former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the late Madan Mohan Malviya with Bharat Ratna.
• The government declared December 25, the birthday of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as Good Governance Day.
• In this sequence, organising Good Governance Week was started in the year 2021. The first Good Governance Week was organised from 20 to 26 December 2021.

Benefits of organising Good Governance Week:

• Many good results are obtained from the events of Good Governance Week. This creates a greater sense of commitment and solidarity in the government's firm objective of promoting administrative reforms.
• Administrations at the states, union territories and district levels share the platform with the Government of India. Emphasis is laid on adopting best practices in administration.

About Good Governance:

• It is an approach to government that is committed to creating a system based on justice and peace. Good governance protects the human rights and civil liberties of the individual.
• Good governance is the process of decision-making and by which decisions are implemented.
• In 1992, the World Bank defined good governance in its report titled ‘Governance and Development’. The World Bank has defined good governance as ‘the way power is used to manage a country's social and economic resources for development’.
• There are eight main pillars of good governance, which mainly include the following: 
  • Participation
  • Rule of law
  • Consensus Oriented
  • Accountability
  • Transparency
  • Responsiveness
  • Effectiveness and Efficiency
  • Equity and Inclusiveness