Governance Community

Another significant decision aimed at enhancing service delivery in remote towns came on Tuesday, when the chief minister urged the group of ministers to prepare to offer governance at the doorstep. In the coming days, people living in remote locations may get the opportunity to host cabinet ministers for lunch, as Yogi has directed that officials contact directly with state residents and spend time with them to obtain feedback on the government’s performance and unmet expectations. On the basis of feedback from poor families at the bottom of the pyramid, the policy will be framed or adjusted. To ensure the success of the programme, the council of ministers has been divided into 18 groups, each led by a cabinet minister. The teams will be dispersed across the 18 divisional commissionerates. A total of 53 ministers, including the chief minister, make up the Council of Ministers. Before the next assembly session is called, the first round must be finished. The team will be required to spend three days in each division and at least 24 hours in each district. They will collect feedback from residents, elected representatives, party organisations, and affiliated outfits during their visit. During their stay, the ministers will examine the work done and milestones accomplished by their own department in the division. “Visiting some villages is a must and a major portion of the tour will be spent with the village population. Ministers will find out if benefits of welfare schemes are reaching them with complete transparency or not. Their expectations will be noted down, and a report will be prepared,” said a personal staff member of one the ministers who has been deputed in western UP. Lunch or refreshments would be served to the ministers in slums or at the home of a Dalit family. The report will be presented to the office of the chief minister for further action. Source: TNN

Telangana’s government inaugurated its first space-tech framework on Monday, April 19, with the goal of making the state a “globally recognised one-stop destination for space technology.” In keeping with the Union government’s recent reforms, the framework aims to foster private participation in the space industry. The event was the first of its kind in India, and it was hosted on Metaverse. Telangana’s Minister for IT and Industries, KT Rama Rao, noted that space technology is the state’s next emphasis area, and that with national reforms enabling increasing private sector participation in the spacetech industry, Telangana will be “supporting the innovation that is bound to occur.” For the inaugural ceremony, a space-themed metaverse setting was created, along with custom avatars of the important dignitaries. Attendees joined the event using standard avatars on the site and engaged with neighbouring participants while simultaneously watching the proceedings — exactly as they would at a physical event. The blockchain technology for the event was developed by Hyderabad-based tech firm Gamitronics, and the metaverse platform was established by PartyNite. The occasion was attended by Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog, Somanath S, Chairman of ISRO, and Dr. Pawan Goenka, Chairman of IN-SPACe. At the end of the event, an NFT collection was opened, with revenues going to support one of the state government’s technology-enabled social impact projects.

On Tuesday, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah stated that “we must all accept professionalism and embrace all principles of corporate governance in a cooperative spirit.” In his address to the national convention on cooperative policy here, he stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set the cooperative sector the goal of ‘Sahakar se Samridhi’ by creating a separate Ministry for Cooperation. “If we are able to do this, then in the coming 20-25 years, we can take the cooperative sector to new heights and create a situation in which the cooperative sector should have a large share in the country’s development,” he added. “We have to accept professionalism and embrace all principles of corporate governance with a cooperative spirit and while creating an economic model for rural development and providing employment to the poor people, so that they can live a dignified life, cooperatives to play a huge role,” the Minister said. He also stated that for a large portion of the country that is economically backward, cooperative is the only model that can make 80 crore people financially prosperous in the country. Describing that only cooperatives can achieve equitable profit distribution, where the entire profit goes to the stakeholders and management costs are kept to a minimum, cooperatives are the only way to achieve this. Shah also stated that there are many models in our country, such as IFFCO and Amul, that have maintained the cooperative spirit while following in the footsteps of corporate governance. “There are about 8,55,000 cooperatives running in the country today, 1,77,000 are credit societies, another 700,000 are cooperative societies, 17 are national-level cooperative unions, 33 are state cooperative banks, there are more than 63,000 active PACS and more than 12 crore members, and today around 91 per cent of the villages have presence of cooperatives,” he said. Describing the need for a new cooperative policy, the Minister also stated that the impediments that exist must be removed by making new provisions, new policies, and harmonisation, and this can only happen if a cooperative policy is developed to meet all of today’s needs in a holistic manner. He also stated that a completely updated cooperative policy will be prepared within the next eight to nine months. Computerisation of the entire cooperative sector and modernisation and professionalism will also have to be brought in the working of big cooperative societies, he further said, adding that after the brainstorming in this two-day discussion will make a new policy. Source: IANS

SEBI, the capital markets regulator, set up a committee on Monday to review and make recommendations for improving governance norms at stock exchanges and other market infrastructure institutions (MIIs). The news comes amid allegations of corporate governance failures at the NSE, with various issues surfacing following a SEBI order revealing the presence of a ‘Himalayan yogi’ who influenced the exchange’s previous MD and CEO Chitra Ramkrishna’s decisions. Apart from that, Ramkrishna had discussed with the yogi various internal confidential information, including as the NSE’s financial and business strategies, dividend scenario, and financial outcomes, and even consulted him on the exchange’s employee performance appraisals. According to a statement, G Mahalingam, a former whole-time member of SEBI, would chair the six-member committee. MD and CEOs of stock exchanges NSE and BSE, as well as depositories NSDL and CDSL; J N Gupta, MD of Stakeholders Empowerment Services; Aarti Nihalani, Partner, Oliver Wyman; Sandip Bhagat, Partner, S&R Associates; and Uttam Bagri, former chairman, BSE Brokers Forum are the other members of the committee. The committee’s mandate includes offering recommendations on how to increase the role of MIIs’ governing boards and committees. In addition, the panel will examine the requirements for the appointment, role, and responsibility of board directors and Key Managerial Persons (KMPs), as well as the development of appropriate metrics for monitoring various aspects of MII and KMP operations. The committee will also improve accountability and transparency, evaluate the policy on the safekeeping and sharing of information held by MIIs, and revisit the governing board’s and KMPs’ codes of conduct and ethics. Source: PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated on Tuesday that poverty can be eradicated through empowering people and aligning their power with good governance. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister virtually addressed the ‘Grih Pravesham’ of nearly 5.21 lakh Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin beneficiaries in Madhya Pradesh. “When a hardworking government and the aspirations of the common man join hands, then growth and progress always remain limitless. Poverty is eliminated when poor people get empowered while their strength is aligned with good governance,” PM Modi stated. He also said that around 5.21 lakh Madhya Pradesh families have received ‘pucca houses,’ which will “mainly empower the state’s women” and “open a world of opportunities for the poor.” “This scheme is a step toward the empowerment of the poor and gives them hope for a bright future filled with possibilities. The 5.21 lakh homes also signify empowerment of women in Madhya Pradesh,” PM Modi said. Furthermore, the Prime Minister stated that the programme to provide underprivileged people with pucca houses is not solely a government initiative. PM Modi said, “It is a commitment to give hope to the poor.” “It is the first step to give courage to the poor to come out of poverty. When poor people have a roof over their head, they can focus on educating their children,” he said adding that despite the COVID pandemic, the government has ensured that the construction of ‘pucca houses’ continues without any hindrance. “These houses are special because they include amenities like gas connection under Ujjwala Yojna, LED bulb connection under Ujala Yojna, toilets under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and water supply under the Har Ghar Jal Yojna,” PM Modi said, highlighting the key features of the houses given under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana-Gramin scheme. Traditional celebrations with conch, light, flowers, and rangoli were also held in the new houses erected under the plan in Madhya Pradesh during the ceremony. Source: ANI