Haryana government going strong on path of good governance and development
New Delhi: On the solemn occasion of the Good Governance Day, I bow in reverence and pay my heartfelt respects to former Prime Minister and Bharat Ratna, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, whose ideals continue to illuminate the path of public service.
Good governance, which essentially means effective, transparent, accountable, and inclusive management of public affairs and resources to meet societal needs, has been, and remains, the mantra of the Haryana government.
Charting the e-governance route, it has taken pointed and decisive steps in the last eleven years to modernise administration, facilitate delivery of services to the people in a time-bound and hassle- free manner, and ensure inclusive growth.
Vajpayee, former Prime Minister and a great statesman, whose birthday, December 25, is observed as Good Governance Day (Sushasan Diwas), is remembered as an icon of good governance in India. His model of governance was characterised by his ability to balance ideological commitments with pragmatic, inclusive, and people-centric administration. He was of the firm conviction that the ultimate goal of governance is to improve the lives and ensure welfare of the people, especially the poor and the marginalised. Vajpayee had a special emotional connection with Haryana. He visited and stayed in Haryana on several occasions. It is notable that on December 24, 1987, he also visited the Haryana Legislative Assembly to witness the proceedings during a session. Taking a cue from the thinking of Vajpayee, and drawing inspiration from the vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who feels that good governance requires political will, transparency, accountability, and people’s participation for which e-governance is a key tool, the Haryana government has made systemic reforms.
These have been designed to ensure that the administration bends to the needs and convenience of the people; goes to their doorsteps; services are made available on-line; doors are slammed shut on graft; and touts and middlemen who would undertake to do a job for a consideration, are shown the gate. Levers have been pressed to ensure that policy matters are decided after feeling the pulse of the stakeholders. Decisions are taken to serve public interest by leveraging the principles of rule of law and participation to facilitate equitable development and empowerment of citizens.
Efforts have been made to foster an ecosystem in which all citizens, especially the vulnerable, have a voice, and get equal opportunities. The state government stands committed to serving the people; make the man in the street feel the ease of living; and industry, the ease of doing business. Multiple e-interventions have been done to realise the vision of the Prime Minister of transforming India through e-governance, and reduce the gap between people and welfare schemes to nil. Good governance reforms have facilitated the people to reap the benefits of all welfare schemes either from the comfort of their home, or by visiting the nearest Community Service Centre. Thanks to the flagship scheme Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP), gains from most schemes are now delivered to the people in an auto mode, and money is deposited directly into their bank accounts, courtesy the DBT scheme.
As one becomes a senior citizen, he gets his pension credited into his account; property deals are registered online (50,000 so far); farmers get payment for the crops procured into their accounts now in 48 hours, not 72; and all staff transfers are made online. From pioneering forensic set-up enabling the police to crack open intractable cases defying solutions for years to AI-enabled emergency response systems; and from women’s safety initiatives to result-oriented cybercrime crackdowns; the Haryana Police are setting new standards in citizen-oriented policing with a human touch. With focus on innovation, transparency, the Haryana Police have logged a perfect score of 100 in August 2025.
(The writer is the Chief Minister of Haryana, Nayab Singh Saini )
