Department of Public Administration, Punjabi University, Patiala organized a special lecture on governance at District level on September 14th, 2018 in Guru Granth Sahib Bhavan.
Dr. Rajbans Singh Gill, Head, Department of Public Administration, emphasized that Governance is not synonymous with government. The four major pillars against which governance can be judged are stated to be: (a) Accountability (b) Transparency (c) The rule of law (d) Participation. Good governance has much to do with the ethical grounding of governance and must be evaluated with reference to specific norms and objectives as may be laid down. It looks at the functioning of the given segment of the society from the point of view of its acknowledged stakeholders and beneficiaries and customers.
Vice-Chancellor Dr. B.S. Ghuman while addressing the students stated that they tend to focus their attention on the governance system or framework upon which the process rests - that is, the agreements, procedures, conventions or policies that define who gets power, how decisions are taken and how accountability is rendered. In principle, the concept of governance may be applied to any form of collective action. Governance is about the more strategic aspects of steering: the larger decisions about direction and roles. That is, governance is not only about where to go, but also about who should be involved in deciding, and in what capacity. There are four areas or zones where the concept is particularly relevant.
S. Shivdular Singh Dhillon,(IAS) Deputy Commissioner, Fatehgarh Sahib commented that Governments and other public sector entities raise resources from taxpayers, donors, lenders, and other suppliers for the provision of services to citizens and other recipients, as well as less visible activities, such as regulation and policy development. He emphasized that these entities are primarily accountable for their management and use of resources to those that provide the resources and those that depend on the resulting services. The resources raised are generally distributed through a network of public sector entities with specific functions that have a range of accountability mechanisms. However, the fundamentals of good governance should remain the same at all levels and stages.
Dr. Ranvinderjit Kaur Introduced the theme of the special lecture and Sh. Upkar Singh, (PCS) proposed the vote of thanks.