Need for plugging leakages in service delivery systems: Ansari

Vice President Hamid Ansari today made a strong pitch for plugging the leakages in the service delivery systems of the government especially those aimed at the welfare of the poor and deprived sections of society.
Addressing the 59th Annual Meeting of the General Body of the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA) here, Ansari also underlined the need to address other issues like the role of "excessive discretion" in decision making that promotes corrupt practices and finding more effective and efficient ways to implement socio-economic welfare schemes.
Appreciating the efforts of IIPA, the Vice President said that it has taken the first steps towards reaching out to the private sector, not for developing management skills but in the field of governance.

"The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has appreciated IIPA's initiative on familiarising industry and its officials with administrative laws and procedures at the panchayats, district, state and central levels. This is a laudable initiative and can contribute to a building a transparent, efficient and accountable system of governance," Ansari said.
The Vice President opined that the IIPA faculty should also endeavour to keep up with the new and emerging public concerns of the day.
"The focus should be on serious research and analysis of new processes and systems, including the use of technology, that can be adopted at all levels of administration to improve delivery of services to the citizens," he said.

Ansari also presented IIPA Annual awards and released a few important IIPA publications on the occasion.
He said that there is is a need for the IIPA to raise resources from all possible quarters and not depend solely on the government or the public sector. It must be kept in mind that public administration is a comprehensive and evolving concept, involving the people and their governance, which has not remained a monopoly of the government in this age.