Governance Reforms & Commissions — Sarkaria, Punchhi, 2nd ARC & Police Reforms

Introduction

Governance reform has been a persistent theme in India's post-independence political discourse. From restructuring Centre-State relations to reforming the police, judiciary, and civil services, numerous commissions and policy initiatives have produced recommendations aimed at making governance more efficient, accountable, and citizen-centric. For UPSC GS-II, this is a high-yield area -- questions regularly appear on the Sarkaria and Punchhi Commissions, the Second ARC, police reforms, and judicial reforms.

Part I -- Centre-State Relations Commissions

1.1 Sarkaria Commission (1983--1988)

Key Recommendations:

1. Inter-State Council (Article 263): The Commission recommended constituting an Inter-State Council with the Prime Minister as chairman and Chief Ministers as members to collectively address governance friction between Centre and States. The Inter-State Council was subsequently established in 1990 by a Presidential Order.

2. Article 356 (President's Rule):

• Use Article 356 sparingly and only as a last resort
• All possibilities of forming an alternative government must be explored before imposing President's Rule
• The State Assembly should not be dissolved unless Parliament approves the proclamation

3. Governor Appointments:

• The Commission rejected demands for abolition of the Governor's office
• Rejected the idea of selection from a panel given by State governments
• Recommended that active politicians should not be appointed as Governors
• Where different parties rule the Centre and State, the Governor should not belong to the ruling party at the Centre

4. All-India Services: The Commission strongly affirmed that All-India Services remain as essential as when the Constitution was framed and opposed any move to disband the AIS or allow States to opt out.

5. Concurrent List Legislation: Active consultation with State governments should precede all Central legislation on Concurrent List subjects, except in emergencies.

Implementation: In January 1999, the Inter-State Council accepted 124 of the 247 recommendations. Many remain unimplemented.

1.2 Punchhi Commission (2007--2010)

Key Recommendations:

1. Emergency Provisions (Articles 355 and 356):

• Limit interventions to localised areas rather than entire States
• Restrict duration of Central intervention to a maximum of three months

2. Communal Violence:

• Central forces should be allowed to temporarily deploy in a State without prior consent in cases of communal violence
• The National Integration Council should hold at least one annual meeting
• A delegation of five members should visit any communally affected area within two days

3. Governor:

• Governors should be appointed from outside the State to ensure impartial governance
• Fixed tenure of five years, removable only through a resolution of the State legislature

4. Concurrent List:

• Before introducing Bills on Concurrent List matters, the Centre should consult States through the Inter-State Council

5. Cooperative Federalism: The Commission concluded that "cooperative federalism" is essential for sustaining India's unity, integrity, and development.

1.3 Comparative Analysis: Sarkaria vs. Punchhi

Part II -- Administrative Reforms

2.1 Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2005--2009)

The 15 Reports:

Key Recommendations:

• Ethics in Governance (Report 4): Recommended a code of ethics for ministers, legislators, and civil servants; strengthening of the Lokpal institution
• Local Governance (Report 6): Devolution of functions, functionaries, and finances to panchayats and municipalities
• e-Governance (Report 11): Mission Mode approach to e-governance; establishment of State and National e-Governance Plans
• Personnel Administration (Report 10): Lateral entry at middle and senior levels; domain specialisation for civil servants; performance-based career progression

2.2 Mission Karmayogi (2020)

Core Shift: From rule-based to role-based and competency-driven capacity building.

Key Components:

1. iGOT Karmayogi Platform: Digital learning platform launched in 2022, offering anytime-anywhere training. As of 2025, it has achieved 3 crore+ course enrollments, 2.2 crore+ course completions, and a library of 1,600+ courses in multiple languages.

2. Capacity Building Commission (CBC): Established in 2021 to help ministries formulate and implement Capacity Building Plans.

3. Karmayogi Bharat SPV: Set up in 2022 to own and operate the iGOT platform.

2.3 Lateral Entry into Civil Services

Lateral entry involves appointing specialists from the private sector or non-government organisations into middle and senior government positions (Joint Secretary, Director, Deputy Secretary).

Reservation controversy (2024): In August 2024, UPSC withdrew recruitment for 45 senior lateral entry posts after opposition over the absence of reservation. Each post was treated as a "single post cadre," exempting it from reservation policies. The scheme was placed on hold pending resolution of the reservation question.

2.4 Civil Services Reform Committees

Part III -- Police Reforms

3.1 Prakash Singh vs. Union of India (2006)

The Seven Directives:

Compliance Status: As of 2020, not a single State was fully compliant with all seven directives. While 18 States passed or amended their Police Acts, none fully matched the Supreme Court's legislative models.

3.2 Model Police Act, 2006

Drafted by the Soli Sorabjee Committee, the Model Police Act recommended:

• Democratic accountability of police through State Police Boards
• Functional autonomy of police leadership
• Merit-based appointments
• Community policing
• Professional standards

Only a few States (Kerala, Rajasthan, Meghalaya, Punjab, among others) adopted new police Acts drawing on this model, with varying degrees of compliance.

3.3 Other Police Reform Committees

Part IV -- Judicial Reforms

4.1 Pendency Crisis

India's judiciary faces a massive backlog of cases:

• Supreme Court: approximately 80,000+ pending cases
• High Courts: approximately 60 lakh+ pending cases
• District Courts: approximately 4.5 crore+ pending cases

The sanctioned strength of judges remains far below international standards -- India has approximately 21 judges per million population, compared to 50+ in most developed countries.

4.2 Key Judicial Reform Measures

4.3 All India Judicial Service (AIJS)

The proposal for an All India Judicial Service, analogous to the IAS/IPS, has been debated since the First Law Commission recommended it. The AIJS would enable centralised recruitment for district judges, ensuring uniformity in standards.

Arguments for: Address vacancies (approximately 5,000+ in district courts), ensure quality, improve diversity. Arguments against: Encroaches on State domain (judiciary is a State subject for subordinate courts), may not account for regional legal systems and languages.

The Supreme Court has endorsed the idea, but it requires agreement from State High Courts and State governments.

Part V -- Lokpal and Lokayukta

5.1 Legislative Journey

5.2 Key Features of the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013

• Jurisdiction: Prime Minister (with safeguards -- bench of full Lokpal required), Union Ministers, Members of Parliament, Group A/B/C/D officers, and board members of government-aided societies
• Composition: Chairperson (who is or has been a Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court judge) + up to 8 members (50% judicial)
• Prosecution wing: Independent prosecution director
• Declaration of assets: Public servants covered must declare assets within 30 days of appointment

5.3 Lokayukta at State Level

The Act mandates States to set up Lokayuktas within one year. However, implementation varies widely -- some States had pre-existing Lokayuktas (Karnataka since 1984, Maharashtra since 1971), while others were slow to establish them.

Part VI -- Citizens' Charter, Social Audit & Grievance Redressal

6.1 Citizens' Charter

A Citizens' Charter is a document that represents a commitment by the organisation towards standard, quality, and time frame of service delivery, grievance redressal mechanism, and transparency.

Limitations in India: Many charters are poorly drafted, not updated, lack penalties for non-compliance, and are unknown to citizens.

6.2 Social Audit

Social audit is the process of reviewing official records and determining whether expenditures reported by the State or local authorities reflect actual work done on the ground. It is mandated under:

• MGNREGA (Section 17): Gram Sabhas must conduct social audits of all MGNREGA works
• National Food Security Act, 2013: Social audit of PDS operations
• Meghalaya Community Participation and Public Services Social Audit Act, 2017 -- India's first law dedicated to social audit

6.3 Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS)

An online platform (pgportal.gov.in) developed by DARPG and NIC for lodging and monitoring public grievances against government departments. It enables citizens to file complaints, track status, and receive time-bound resolutions.

Part VII -- Governance Reforms -- Contemporary Initiatives

7.1 National e-Governance Plan (NeGP)

Launched in 2006 with 31 Mission Mode Projects across Central, State, and integrated categories. Aimed at making all government services accessible at common service points.

7.2 Digital India Programme (2015)

Three vision areas: digital infrastructure, digital governance, and digital empowerment. Key achievements include Aadhaar-linked service delivery, DigiLocker, UMANG app, and e-Office.

7.3 Good Governance Index (GGI)

Published by DARPG, the GGI ranks States across 10 sectors including agriculture, commerce, human resource development, public infrastructure, and judicial and public security. It incentivises competitive federalism in governance quality.

Key Terms and Vocabulary

Exam Strategy Tips

For Prelims: Memorise the chairpersons, years, and number of recommendations for Sarkaria, Punchhi, and 2nd ARC. Know the seven Prakash Singh directives and key judicial reform initiatives.

For Mains GS-II: Frame answers around the gap between recommendations and implementation. Use specific examples -- e.g., not a single State fully complied with the Prakash Singh directives by 2020.

For Essay: Governance reforms as the bridge between constitutional promise and ground reality; the challenge of reforming institutions that resist reform.