Good Governance Cell

About the Cell

The concept of "governance" is not new. It is as old as human civilization. Simply put "Governance" means: the process ofdecision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented). Governance can be used in several contexts such as corporate governance, international governance, national governance and local governance.

Good governance has 8 majorcharacteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitableand inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society.

Good governance is not optional:

Good governance underpins and supports the mission and the purpose of the institution. Good governance creates a sound, ethical and sustainable strategy, acceptable to the institution as a whole and other key stakeholders. Good governance oversees the implementation of such strategy through well-considered processes and procedures in an open, transparent and honest manner. Good governance is essential to the grant or assertion of autonomy. Officers by embracing good governance approaches accept, unequivocally, their own collective and individual responsibilities.

Subjects under the cell:

Legal awareness on women and child rights:

While it is widely accepted as Justice delayed is Justice denied, but the more need of the time is to seek justice, many women and child issues are simply neglected and no power seeks justice, the right to approach for justice itself is missing in the minds of the concerned people. They take whatever happens as their fate and accept it. Under such circumstances, it is very vital for us to make the people aware of the legal rights for women and children. This forms the basis that they go ahead and seek justice. This foundation is more important to be aware and to seek, the speed of justice can be later fast tracked to suit the needs of the hour, also there may be other modes of justice for the victims and that should also be looked into. The core remains awareness of their rights.

Child Labour:

The problem of child labour continues to pose a challenge before the nation. Government has been taking various pro-active measures to tackle this problem. However, considering the magnitude and extent of the problem and that it is essentially a socio-economic problem inextricably linked to poverty and illiteracy, it requires concerted efforts from all sections of the society to make a dent in the problem. Based on the recommendations of Gurupadaswamy Committee, the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Act was enacted in 1986. As per the Act, employment of children was prohibited in certain specified hazardous occupations and processes and regulates the working conditions in others. The list of hazardous occupations and processes is progressively being expanded on the recommendation of Child Labour Technical Advisory Committee constituted under the Act. Subquitently the act was amended in 2016 with the enactment of the Child Labour (Prohibition & Regulation) Amendment Act 2016 prohibiting the employment of Children below 14 years in all employment and also with the provisions for prohibition on employment of adolescents(14-18 Years) in the scheduled hazardous occupations and processes . Government has accordingly been taking proactive steps to tackle this problem through strict enforcement of legislative provisions along with simultaneous rehabilitative measures. State Governments, which are the appropriate implementing authorities, have been conducting regular inspections and raids to detect cases of violations. Since poverty is the root cause of this problem, and enforcement alone cannot help solve it, Government has been laying a lot of emphasis on the rehabilitation of these children and on improving the economic conditions of their families.