Corruption and Connection: Dual Administrative Epidemic Ailing India’s Sevottam Dream

The fissure between de jure legislations and de facto implementation of the law is appallingly broad in India. And record based public services are no exception to this very truth. In the largest democracy of the world, the ease of living of more than one billion citizens is directly or indirectly affected by the public service delivery system prevalent in the country across its length and breadth, which is primarily governed by the administrative or bureaucratic channel. Further, the public service delivery system serves as the locus and focus of democratic polity and governance, and it has gained a new pinnacle particularly after inclusion of right based method of governance post-2000 in term of several legislative and administrative milestones say Right to Information (RTI), National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), Common Service Centre (CSC) and last but not the least the Sevottam Model of service delivery to citizens. Among these administrative milestones India, as a nation, has many things to cheer, however, prevalence of practice of bribe and corruption in most of the public dealing departments have not only wounded the increased expectations of Indian citizens, but also, put a big question mark before successful implementation of the Sevottam model in our country. This column has tried to present the critical dimension of the Sevottam model on its implementation front under various subheads and also suggested some panacea to eliminate these two blockades in the path of good governance. The removal of these two blockades will act as a trust rebuilding strategy among the citizens, the political executive and the interlinking channel present between these two as administration.