Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governance mantra of Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency (ART) featured prominently at the 2026 conference of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA), recently held in Athens, Greece.
Held under the theme “Rethinking Governance for a Changing World – Next Generation Reforms”, the conference showcased India’s administrative reforms and governance initiatives to an international audience.
Presenting the conference theme on October 14, Voruganti Srinivas, President of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS) and Chief Secretary of Rajasthan, highlighted the relevance of these reforms to India’s vision of Viksit Bharat@2047.
Quoting Modi, Srinivas said, “Good governance cannot happen without ART”, referring to accountability, responsibility and transparency. He also highlighted the Prime Minister’s Panch Pran (Five Resolutions), announced in his Independence Day address in 2022, which include building a developed India, shedding the colonial mindset, taking pride in the country’s heritage, strengthening national unity and fostering a sense of duty among citizens.
Srinivas said these priorities, alongside citizen empowerment and last-mile delivery of government services, were central to achieving Viksit Bharat@2047, marking 100 years of India’s independence.
Highlighting the economic benefits of administrative reforms, he said improvements in civil service efficiency could contribute up to one percentage point to per capita income growth. Better management of government systems, he added, could improve decision-making and reduce pendency without necessarily requiring major policy changes.
He said reforms in the Central Secretariat had reduced hierarchical layers, encouraged technology adoption and improved administrative responsiveness.
Emphasising the role of digital governance, Srinivas quoted Modi as saying, “E-Governance is effective governance, economical governance, easy governance,” adding that mobile governance would increasingly shape the future of public administration.
He highlighted India’s initiatives in digital governance, including Smart Cities, Smart Classrooms, Smart Police Stations, digital public hospitals, modern secretariats, Aadhaar-based beneficiary services and single-window access to public services. He also noted the growing use of artificial intelligence in governance.
Explaining the principle of “Maximum Governance – Minimum Government”, Srinivas said technology had helped empower citizens, transform institutions and improve ease of living and ease of doing business.
He outlined improvements in public grievance redressal through integrated digital platforms, dedicated grievance cells, better monitoring and stronger feedback mechanisms. These measures, he said, had reduced grievance redressal timelines to 10 days and increased satisfaction levels to 80 per cent.
Srinivas also highlighted Mission Karmayogi as a key initiative to strengthen administrative capacity. Its approach involves transforming government employees from Karmacharis to Karmayogis, reforming workplaces and shifting from rule-based to role-based administration.
He stressed the importance of competency-based training, continuous learning and upskilling to improve civil servants’ behavioural and functional capabilities.
Referring to India’s governance assessment mechanisms, Srinivas said performance indicators and periodic assessments had encouraged healthy competition among states and districts. He cited the Good Governance Index and the National e-Services Delivery Assessment as key tools for evaluating governance and public service delivery.
He also highlighted the government’s saturation approach to welfare schemes, aimed at ensuring that benefits reached all eligible beneficiaries. The vision of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas”, he said, remained central to India’s inclusive development agenda.
Srinivas underscored the importance of meritocracy, citing the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration, as well as regional and national e-governance conferences that promote innovation and the exchange of best practices.
Highlighting India’s role in international capacity building, he said the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) conducted more than 47 training programmes annually for officials from 34 countries. The centre aims to train 8,000 international civil servants over the next five years, with programmes covering Latin American nations, Indian Ocean Region countries, the Forum for India-Pacific Cooperation and BIMSTEC members.
Srinivas also outlined Rajasthan’s next-generation administrative reforms, focused on citizen-centric governance, holistic development, infrastructure expansion and patriotism under the “Nation First – Citizen First” approach.
He highlighted the Rajasthan Jan Sampark platform for technology-driven public grievance redressal, along with other state initiatives aimed at improving public services and making administration more responsive to citizens.
