Who will bell the cat?

At the heart of the controversy over the Lokpal Bill is the question of accountability, or ensuring that the state delivers on its mandates without infringing citizens' rights, says Swarna Rajagopalan. But who is to enforce accountability -- state, society, civil society? Or citizens themselves? More...

Governance : Background & Perspective

Governance is the new buzzword in development discourse. The World Bank and other international financial institutions identify public sector management, transparency, legal framework, accountability and information as the key components of governance. In a country like India, which has the largest number of poor people in the world and also ranks high on the list of most-corrupt nations, good governance involves fighting corruption, improving bureaucratic and political accountability and promoting people's participation and public-private partnerships More...