Bangalore, March 2000
Issues Relating to Interfacing State, Civil Society and Administration
SOG members met at Bangalore, India, to discuss issues
relating to interfacing state, civil society and administration
from 22-24 March 2000. Organised under the auspices of SOG by
Bangalore University, the Conference was attended by more than
35 delegates. The Conference focussed on six major themes and
20 papers were presented during the Conference.
The Conference was held at The Capitol, located in the heart
of Bangalore and was inaugurated by Mr H.K. Patil, the Karnataka
Minister for Irrigation. In his inaugural address the Minister
underscored the importance of linking state, society and government
to ensure better governance. He traced the efforts made in India
to secure greater transparency in administration. In his presidential
remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University, Dr K. Siddappa,
welcomed the delegates to Bangalore and hoped that the Conference
deliberations would go a long way in enriching the quality and
content of the debate on state-civil society relations and help
provide better governance.
In the First Panel on State-Civil Society Relations: A Framework
for Analysis, five papers were presented. Graham Wilson (University
of Wisconsin) presented a paper on 'Internationalization, Globalization
and Policy Making: The Case of United States Agriculture Policy'.
The paper assessed the impact of Globalization and Internationalization
on the United States Agriculture Policy especially in the light
of recent developments in the WTO. Valerian Rodrigues (University
of Mangalore) focussed on 'Changing Contours of Civil Society:
Capital, Communities and Identities'. The paper highlighted the
major issues in the state-civil society debate in India in the
context of multiple identities and diverse communities.
Marina Pinto (University of Mumbai) in her paper 'Civil Society
in India' emphasized the politico-administrative dimensions of
the civil society discourse in India and high-lighted the significant
landmarks in this narration in the post-independence period. In
his paper 'Importance of State
and Civil Society Discourse in India', P.L. Dharma (University
of Mangalore) focussed on recent changes in Indian politics and
economy and its impact on the state-civil society. K. Raghavendra
Rao (Institute for Advanced Study, Shimla) intro-duced the Gandhian
perspective to the State-Civil society debate in his paper, 'The
Civil Society and Administration: A Gandhian perspective'. M.J.
Vinod (University of Bangalore) was the discussant for the first
two papers and Valerian Rodrgiues (University of Mangalore) was
the discussant for the remaining three papers. K.H. Cheluva Raju
(University of Bangalore) and C.E.S. Franks (Queens University)
chaired the sessions.
The second panel focussed on Negotiating Spaces: Public
vs Private Administration. Three papers were presented in
this panel chaired by H.M. Rajasekhara (University of Mysore).
The first paper by Bert Rockman (University of Pittsburgh) and
Joel Aberbach (University of California, Los Angeles), titled
'Shrinking the State: A Smaller State? A Bigger Bill?', examined
the impact of the reform of government in a variety of settings
focussing on common issues including customer satisfaction, flexibility
and adaptability. In her paper 'Private Action for Public Good?
The Public Role of Voluntary Organizations', Ledivina Carino (University
of Philippines) examined the role of voluntary sector organisations
in catering to citizen needs and producing public gain. The third
paper in the panel titled 'Same Ideas, Different Results : Welfare
Reform in the Third Way in Britain and Germany' presented by Robert
Cox (University of Oklahoma) and Helen Fawcett (University of
Strathclyde) compared the impact of the welfare reforms in Britain
and Germany. Graham Wilson (University of Wisconsin) initiated
the discussion as the discussant.
The Third Panel was titled Decentralisation, Transparency
and Accountability in Administration: Emerging Trends and
was chaired by Ulrich Klöti (University of Zurich). The
first paper by C.E.S. Franks (Queens University) titled 'The Head
of the Civil Service: Linking the Political to the Bureaucratic',
examined the Canadian approach to responsibility and accountability
for personnel administration in the backdrop of the functioning
of parliamentary democracy, the party system and the role of the
civil service. D. Jeevan Kumar (University of Bangalore) drew
attention to the insensitivity of the government on issues of
sustainable development in his paper, 'A Critique of the Responsiveness
of the Politico-Administrative System in India to Sustainable
Development'. Sitaram Kakarala (National Law School of India,
Bangalore) spoke of the ineffectiveness of the administration
in dealing with human rights violations in his paper 'State Civil
Society Relations and its Impact on the Administration of Justice:
A Case of Human Rights Protection Mechanism'. Devaki Jain (Singamma
Foundation, Bangalore) and R.B. Jain (University of Delhi) were
the discussants for the session.
Panel Four on the theme Citizen Participation in Administration:
The Contemporary Debate was chaired by P.S. Jayaramu (University
of Bangalore). The first paper in this panel was by Ulrich Klöti
(University of Zurich) on the theme 'Citizen Participation in
Administration', where the focus was on recent developments in
Switzerland aimed at ensuring more effective citizen participation
in administration. Gopa Kumar (University of Kerala) made a presentation
titled 'Identifying Grey Areas in Citizen Participation in the
Indian Administration' in which he outlined the major reforms
that need to be initiated in the Indian administration system
with a view to improving its responsiveness and providing avenues
for citizen participation. The last paper in this panel was presented
by G.K. Prasad (University of Madras), who highlighted the recent
initiatives in Tamil Nadu to ensure more effective citizen participation
through the use of information technology. M.G. Krishnan (University
of Bangalore) initiated the discussion.
Values and Ethics in Administration was the focus of
Panel Five. Bert Rockman (University of Pittsburgh) chaired this
session and there were three presentations. J.S. Sadananda (Kuvempu
University) presented a paper titled 'Reservation Policy and its
Implications for Administrative Responsiveness in India'. The
paper assessed the impact of the reservation policy on the administrative
system in India. R.B. Jain (University of Delhi) and R.L.M. Patil
(University of Bangalore) focussed on the need to reassert the
ethical foundations of the Indian administration system in their
separate papers titled 'Promoting Ethical Behavior Among Administrators'
and 'Ethics and Administration' respectively. Ledivina Carino
(University of Philippines) was the discussant.
The last panel was on the theme Globalisation, Liberalisation
and the Indian Administration System and was chaired by Marina
Pinto (University of Mumbai). The first paper in this session
was by Dietrich Kebschull (Indo-German Institute) who spoke on
the interface between the administrative system and the economic
system in India in the light of economic reforms. Speaking from
the perspective of protest movements, Muzaffar Assadi (University
of Mysore) elaborated on the debate in India on administering
the challenges of globalisation. The last paper was by G. Haragopal
(University of Hyderabad) on the theme 'Administrative Responsiveness
to Transformative Movements in India', who analysed the response
of the administration to various transformative movements. Gopa
Kumar (University of Kerala) was the discussant.
The Conference also had a panel discussion on the theme Linking
Society, Business and Administration chaired by M. Umapathy (University
of Mysore). S. Ramesh (Secretary, Karnataka Chamber of Commerce
and Industry), L.C. Jain (Former Member, Planning Commission)
and Sandeep Shastri (University of Bangalore) participated in
the panel discussion. Helen Fawcett (University of Strathclyde)
initiated the discussion.
The valedictory address at the conference was delivered by
Dr M.S. Thimmappa, Registrar, Bangalore University who highlighted
the importance and significance of the theme of the Conference
and hoped that the proceedings of the Conference would be published
early and contribute significantly to enriching the debate on
this important subject.
The Conference organisers received funding support from the
Ministry of Information and Publicity of the Government of Karnataka,
Indian Council of Social Science Research, Konrad Adenauer Foundation,
Karnataka Land Army Corporation, Federation of Karnataka Chamber
of Commerce and Industry and the Rashtriya Nava Nirmana Vedike.
The success of the Conference had much to do with the tireless
efforts of the Conference Convener, Sandeep Shastri who ensured
that the Conference deliberations were of a high academic caliber
and every effort was made to meticulously plan the conference
arrangements.
M. J. Vinod
University of Bangalore .
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