Transparency and Accountability: Pillars of Ethical Governance

Transparency: It can be translated as the state when the information is available to the public. There isn’t any effectiveness where the policy or decision being made by the government does not have to be explained to the citizens. Where information is accessible, the public understands how the government functions, officials are responsible to the people and the public play an active role in their democratic rights.

-Accountability: Accountability as a concept imply that some individuals have duties to explain their actions or decisions to others. It requires an accountability structure that allows performance to be audited and particular actors held to account for its quality, for triumphs and for disasters.

That brings to the question of why are they important to Ethical Governance?

-Sends A Message of Desisting Corruption: Publicizing the information is anti-corruption since it checkmate corrupt individuals. Such actions make people to understand that certain behaviors are prohibited such as bribery, nepotism and favoritism.
-Creates Trust among Citizens: Transparency and accountability in governance make people to have confidence in the government. The government can easily work on the citizenry when the citizens have faith in their government to work for them.
-Ensures Fairness and Equity: The government is promoting transparent and accountable governance so that its policies and decision-making are for the benefit of all people in the society without consideration of their status in society.
-Promotes Effective Service Delivery: Thus, availability of information due to transparency enables citizens to check on the delivery of public services and call the officials to order in the event…

Some Specific Case Studies of India with Regard to Governance Failure due to Lack of Transparency

-2G Spectrum Scam: This scam included the sale of telecom licenses at below-market prices, thus causing huge revenue losses to the government. The scale of the scam was due to the lack of transparency in the process of allocation and the opacity regarding the beneficiaries.
-Coal Block Allocation Scam: The allocation of coal blocks to private companies through an opaque process led to allegations of favoritism and corruption. The lack of transparency in the selection process and the absence of clear criteria for allocation contributed to this scandal.
-Vyapam Scam: This was a massive recruitment examination scam for government jobs in Madhya Pradesh. The lack of transparency in the examination process and the involvement of high-ranking officials contributed to the massive scale of the scam.

Conclusion: Transparency and accountability are not desirable qualities in governance; they are necessary for the effective and ethical public administration. The absence of these principles has led to corruption, mismanagement of resources, and loss of public trust in government institutions.