PM’s 60-Point Action Plan | 20 Oct 2021
Why in News
Recently, the Centre has prepared a comprehensive 60-point action plan.
- The action plan is targeted at specific ministries and departments, but a closer analysis suggests they fall under broadly three buckets: leveraging IT and technology for governance, improving business climate, and upgrading the civil services.
Key Points
- Leveraging IT and Technology for Governance:
- There are several actionable inputs for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology from streamlining disbursement of scholarships to bridging digital divide for underprivileged students by developing indigenous tablets and laptops.
- Digitising all land records by 2023 under the central database called ‘Matribhumi.’ Integration with e-Courts system will provide transparency on title/possession related issues.
- Citizenship may be linked to birth certificates through technology and mainstreamed.
- Improving Business Climate:
- It includes doing away completely with certain permissions, reducing the cost of starting a business in 10 sectors and bringing it on a par with Vietnam and Indonesia, automatic notification of clearances, single-point access to all government services.
- Incentives to states for timely land acquisition and forest clearances, one comprehensive Environment Management Act that subsumes various laws in the sector.
- Mentoring platform for start-ups and skilling programmes for emerging sectors.
- Using Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping for decision making to increase the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product).
- Pushing for jobs while negotiating trade pacts.
- Upgrading the Civil Services:
- Capacity building (Mission Karamyogi) - training of officers on various aspects of infrastructure in both the Centre and states, infusion of expertise and exposure to latest technologies for higher civil services.
- Performance-based working, clear and specific targets for ministries and departments just like that for public sector undertakings, institutional mechanisms for addressing issues of states given their limited capacities and restructuring of departments through Government Process Re-engineering (GPR) every 10 years.
- GPR is undertaken to address ‘problems’ or ‘needs’ of the organization or its customers with an objective to improve the overall quality of the services.
- Appointment of more Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Chief Technology Officers (CTOs) as data is not being used efficiently. All government data should be made accessible to all ministries.
- Other Agendas:
- NITI Aayog has also been asked to target poverty eradication within five years.
- Asks the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to ab initio plan residential facilities for service staff engaged in construction to prevent formation of slums.
- Using Aadhaar for “bringing together beneficiary oriented schemes of different ministries” and also adds that a ‘family database design’ has been developed by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and “may be promoted like Aadhaar.”
- Directs the culture and tourism ministries to identify and develop 100-200 iconic structures and sites.
- “Centres of excellence” may be set up in rural areas through PPP (Public Private Partnership), taking a cue from such centres in Singapore.