Department of Public Administration

The Department of Public Administration, Panjab University, Chandigarh organized the 3rd lecture of the Department’s Lecture Series titled, “Public Policy - Theory and Praxis”. Dr. Jagmohan Singh Raju, Visiting Professor delivered the lecture on the topic “Modern State and Accountability” on 16.01.2019 at 11:00 AM in the Seminar Room of the Department of Public Administration, Panjab University, Chandigarh.

Professor Ramanjit K Johal, Chairperson, Department of Public Administration, Panjab University, Chandigarh welcomed the guests and introduced the topic. Dr. Raju started his talk with a discussion on the development of the Modern State. He stressed that democracy was a default option today where people around the world want governments to be accountable, effective, time-bound and efficient. In modern state, only such governments which are accountable are legitimate. He emphasised that more accountable a government is, the higher will be the quality of its performance. He outlined the essential ingredients of accountability namely procedures, transparency, answerability and enforcement. He shared with the participants two case studies related to Chennai Floods in 2015 and the 2G Spectrum to showcase the complexity of the architecture and working of the public accountability system in India.  He concluded by saying that though India has the necessary condition of strong formal accountability structures, but procedures alone are not sufficient. Elections are necessary but not a sufficient condition to ensure public accountability. Along with formal structures of accountability, moral accountability is imperative.

The lecture was followed by a lively discussion in which students and researchers from the Department and other attendees

participated. Dr. Bhawna Gupta, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration proposed the vote of thanks.