Good governance in India: from the World Bank definition to the Indian model

Good governance entered the policy vocabulary in 1992, when the World Bank’s report “Governance and Development” defined governance as the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development. The UNDP sharpened the idea further: governance is the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels, through the mechanisms, processes and institutions by which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise their legal rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences.

India has lived through three avatars of governance since 1947: the entitlement-based state of the Five-Year Plans, the participation-based turn that followed the 73rd and 74th Amendments and the 1991 reforms, and the rights-based era opened by the RTI Act of 2005. This article maps the definitions, the eight UNDP tests of good governance, India’s evolution, the post-2014 “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance” push, and the places where the Indian model still stumbles.

What governance means: the World Bank and UNDP definitions

The World Bank’s 1992 definition is about process, not regime type: governance is how power is exercised in managing a country’s economic and social resources for development. The UNDP’s definition is broader and citizen-centred: it is the exercise of economic, political and administrative authority to manage a country’s affairs at all levels, and it includes the mechanisms, processes and institutions through which citizens articulate interests, exercise legal rights, meet obligations and mediate differences.

The distinction examiners probe is between government and governance. Government is the actor: the ministries, departments and officials that rule. Governance is the way authority is exercised: who decides, through which institutions, under what rules, with what accountability. A good government can still produce poor governance if last-mile delivery breaks down, which is why the UNDP formulation puts citizens and institutions at the centre rather than the state alone.

The UNDP’s eight tests of good governance

India’s own shorthand compresses these into the 4Es: Ethics, Efficiency, Equity and Ethos. Any mains answer on good governance should be structured around a few of these eight, each illustrated with an Indian example, rather than reciting the list.

India’s three avatars: entitlement, participation, rights

The entitlement-based model of the post-independence era treated citizens as passive recipients of state-led development: the Five-Year Plans from 1951 and the License Raj of the 1950s to 1980s decided what the economy would produce and who would produce it. The state was the provider, and the citizen queued for entitlements.

The participation-based model of the late 20th century opened two doors at once. The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1992-1993) constitutionalised grassroots democracy, and the LPG reforms of 1991 shrank the state’s role in production while expanding its regulatory role. Citizens moved from recipients to participants, at least in design.

The rights-based model of the 21st century converted specific services into legal entitlements rather than administrative promises: the Right to Information Act (2005), the Right to Education Act (2009) and the Food Security Act (2013) made welfare enforceable through tools like the RTI. The citizen was now a rights-holder who could demand, question and litigate.

The Second Administrative Reforms Commission: India's roadmap to good governance

The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2nd ARC) is the doctrinal spine of this entire subject. Constituted on 31 August 2005 and chaired by Veerappa Moily, it worked through 2006-2009 and submitted 15 reports carrying about 1,500 recommendations, the most systematic attempt to redraw Indian administration since the first ARC of 1966. A Group of Ministers set up in March 2007 examined the recommendations and reviewed the pace of their implementation.

• 1st: Right to Information: Master Key to Good Governance (June 2006)
• 2nd: Unlocking Human Capital: Entitlements and Governance (July 2006)
• 3rd: Crisis Management: From Despair to Hope (October 2006)
• 4th: Ethics in Governance (February 2007)
• 5th: Public Order: Justice for Each, Peace for All (June 2007)
• 6th: Local Governance: An Inspiring Journey into the Future (November 2007)
• 7th: Capacity Building for Conflict Resolution: Friction to Fusion (March 2008)
• 8th: Combating Terrorism: Protecting by Righteousness (2008)
• 9th: Social Capital: A Shared Destiny (2008)
• 10th: Refurbishing of Personnel Administration: Scaling New Heights (November 2008)
• 11th: Promoting e-Governance: The SMART Way Forward (January 2009)
• 12th: Citizen-Centric Administration: The Heart of Governance (February 2009)
• 13th: Organisational Structure of Government of India (April 2009)
• 14th: Strengthening Financial Management Systems (April 2009)
• 15th: State and District Administration (April 2009)

This series is, in a sense, the 2nd ARC's afterlife. Its 1st report shaped the RTI architecture covered in the transparency article, its 4th framed the Ethics in Governance chapter of the corruption article, its 10th drove the civil-services reforms piece, its 11th gave us SMART e-governance, and its 12th supplied the citizen-centric administration ideal. Memorise the report-number-to-theme mapping; UPSC tests it directly.

The post-2014 push: Minimum Government, Maximum Governance

After 2014, the governing slogan became “Minimum Government, Maximum Governance,” extended by Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas. The pattern is the state shrinking in production and expanding in regulation, data and last-mile delivery. The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, which decriminalised 183 provisions across 42 Central Acts, is the clearest legislative expression of the minimum-government instinct: removing criminal penalties for minor procedural violations so businesses and citizens face fewer state tripwires.

The technology layer deepened the same logic. Aadhaar-linked DBT removed ghost beneficiaries, DigiLocker and UMANG moved services online, and the CPGRAMS grievance portal made complaints trackable. India’s approach has consistently been to build the infrastructure and institutions first and bring in statutory regulation later, a pattern visible from digital payments to data protection.

How governance is measured

The World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators, published since 1999, score countries on six dimensions: Voice and Accountability; Political Stability and Absence of Violence; Government Effectiveness; Regulatory Quality; Rule of Law; and Control of Corruption. Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, running since 1995, gave India a score of 38 and rank 96 of 180 in 2024, below the global average of 43.

India also measures itself. The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances introduced the Good Governance Index on 25 December 2019, ranking states across 10 sectors; in the 2020-21 edition, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Goa topped Group A. These indices are useful prelims fodder, but examiners treat them as proxies, not verdicts.

Where the Indian model still stumbles

Run the UNDP tests and the failures are specific. Participation is compromised by political criminalisation: ADR's March 2025 analysis of 4,092 sitting MLAs found 45% had declared criminal cases against themselves. The rule of law strains under more than 4.5 crore pending cases in subordinate courts, with 77% of prison inmates being undertrials. Local bodies still lack the three Fs of funds, functions and functionaries, so grassroots participation stays shallow.

Transparency is dented by opaque political funding and RTI backlogs from vacant Information Commissions. Equity is dented by the digital divide: half of rural India lacks the high-speed internet that urban governance now assumes. Effectiveness leaks through ghost beneficiaries that survive even DBT, and through the fact that, according to PRS Legislative Research, only about 37% of laws enacted between 2014 and 2019 had the required rules framed, leaving the rest unimplemented in practice. Accountability remains, in the merged-notes module’s phrase, architecturally complete but operationally weak.

What examiners keep asking

• Whether effectiveness of government and people’s participation are inter-dependent, and their relationship in India (2016).
• Whether India responded adequately to the LPG challenge since 1991 (2016).
• The Doctrine of Democratic Governance and the integrity of civil servants (2024).
• Whether transparency and accountability in governance are about controlling corruption or about creating stakeholder trust through the rule of law and participatory governance (2026, 15 marks).

Five dimensions of governance: DARPG's framework

Beyond definitions, India has an official yardstick. The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) assesses governance through five dimensions, a framework that feeds into the Good Governance Index released on Good Governance Day, 25 December 2019.

Two live hooks: trust-based regulation and a global index

The Jan Vishwas story did not end with the 2023 Act. The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2025, introduced in the Lok Sabha in August 2025, proposed amending 355 provisions across 16 Central Acts and decriminalising 288 of them, and was referred to a Select Committee. In March 2026 the Bill was withdrawn and replaced by a wider 2026 Bill covering 784 provisions, taking the trust-based governance push further.

India is also pushing to measure governance globally. Under the GIRG initiative, the government is working to improve India's standing across 26 international indices. In June 2025 India won the presidency of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS) for 2025 to 2028, with DARPG Secretary V. Srinivas as president, and an International Governance Index is on the agenda for the IIAS Annual Conference in 2026.

Behind these pushes sits the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), set up in 2014 to train civil servants and work on public policy, administrative reforms, and governance improvement.

CPI 2025: the latest reading

Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index for 2025, released in February 2026, scored India 39 and ranked it 91st of 182 countries. That is a small step up from 2024 (38, 96th of 180) and stays inside the 36 to 41 band where India has sat since 2010.

Key Terms

• Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023: The Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, notified on 11 August 2023, decriminalised 183 provisions across 42 Central Acts administered by 19 ministries and departments, replacing imprisonment for minor, technical, or procedural defaults with monetary penalties. It matters for UPSC as the centrepiece of the ease-of-doing-business and trust-based-governance reform push. Minor offences under laws such as the Patents Act shifted from jail terms to civil penalties.
• Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2nd ARC: This is a truncated fragment of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2nd ARC), constituted in 2005 under the chairmanship of Veerappa Moily to recommend reforms for a responsive and accountable administration. It submitted fifteen reports covering ethics in governance, local governance, the RTI Act, disaster management and more, and is cited in UPSC answers on administrative reform. constituted in 2005 under Veerappa Moily
• Right to Information Act, 2005: The Right to Information Act, 2005 is India's transparency law granting citizens the right to seek information from public authorities, with a 30-day response deadline and Information Commissions to hear appeals. It exempts only narrow categories like sovereignty, security, and cabinet papers, and requires proactive disclosure under Section 4. It matters for UPSC as the foundation of open government and a frequent prelims and mains topic. A student filing an RTI application to see the evaluated answer scripts of a public recruitment exam.
• Memorise the report-number-to-theme mapping: This is a study technique, not a term: aspirants are advised to memorise the report-number-to-theme mapping of key committees and commissions, so that answers can cite reports by number, such as the Second Administrative Reforms Commission's report on ethics in governance. For UPSC mains, precise report citations add authority to GS-2 and GS-3 answers on governance, policing and judicial reform.
• Ministry of Home Affairs: The Ministry of Home Affairs handles internal security, policing, border management, and centre-state relations. It oversees central armed police forces, intelligence coordination, disaster management, and the Census. For UPSC, it is central to vital questions on internal security and federalism. The ministry oversees the Intelligence Bureau and the conduct of the decennial Census.
• Right to Information Act: The Right to Information Act is the 2005 law that lets any citizen demand information from central, state, and local public authorities, with replies due in 30 days and penalties for wrongful denial. Rooted in the Article 19(1)(a) right to know, it covers records, documents, and even private bodies substantially financed by government. It matters for UPSC as the single most cited transparency statute in governance answers. An activist using the Act to obtain a municipality's road-repair contracts and exposing inflated billing.
• Food Security Act 2013: The Food Security Act 2013 is the National Food Security Act, passed in 2013, that made access to subsidised foodgrains a legal right for about 81 crore Indians. Priority households receive 5 kg per person per month and the poorest Antyodaya households 35 kg per household, while the law also mandates maternity entitlements and nutritious meals for children. For UPSC, it anchors questions on food security, buffer stocks and the public distribution system. State food commissions and district grievance redressal officers, mandated by the Act, are the accountability machinery behind PDS delivery.
• Right to Education Act: The Right to Education Act is the common name for the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which operationalised Article 21A for children aged six to fourteen. Its landmark features include the 25 percent reservation for economically weaker sections in private schools and the no-detention policy, later modified to allow detention in classes five and eight. It matters for GS-2: prelims tests these features, mains evaluates equity versus quality. the 2019 amendment reintroducing detention in classes 5 and 8
• Jan Vishwas Act, 2023: Jan Vishwas Act, 2023 is the punctuated short form of the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, the law that decriminalised 183 provisions across 42 Central Acts administered by 19 ministries. It matters for UPSC as the landmark of trust-based governance replacing criminal punishment for minor business defaults. The Act's replacement of jail terms with adjudicated monetary penalties.
• Jan Vishwas Act 2023: The Jan Vishwas Act 2023 is the same legislation as the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, notified on 11 August 2023. It decriminalised 183 provisions in 42 Central Acts, converting imprisonment for minor defaults into monetary penalties. It matters for UPSC wherever the decriminalisation and ease-of-doing-business reforms are discussed. First-time contraventions under covered laws attracting warnings or penalties instead of prosecution.
• Administrative Reforms Commission: The Administrative Reforms Commission is the expert body periodically appointed to review and reform India's administrative system. The First ARC of 1966 under Morarji Desai produced 20 reports on the machinery of government, and the Second ARC of 2005 under Veerappa Moily produced 15 reports spanning ethics in governance, e-governance, disaster management and local governance. Citizens' charters, the Lokpal demand, social audit and the Sevottam model trace to these reports, making the ARCs the backbone of UPSC governance answers. the Second ARC's recommendation of citizens' charters and the Sevottam model
• Worldwide Governance Indicators: The Worldwide Governance Indicators are a research project of the World Bank that scores more than 200 economies on six dimensions of governance: voice and accountability, political stability and absence of violence, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption. Built from over 30 underlying data sources and updated regularly, they are composite perception based measures. UPSC aspirants use them to discuss governance quality, institutional reform, and India’s standing in global governance rankings. A 2026 UPSC prelims question asked which of four listed dimensions, including rule of law and control of corruption, the World Bank uses under this framework.

Practice questions