SMART government
Topic: Transparency, Accountability and e-Governance · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
SMART government stands for government that is Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent. The 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission (2nd ARC) set out this ideal in its 11th Report, Promoting e-Governance: The Smart Way Forward (2008). The report's main lesson was to redesign how work is done first, and only then computerise it. Putting a bad process on a computer just makes the bad process faster.
Example
Suppose an office needs five signatures for a simple certificate. Under the SMART approach, the office would first cut the steps it does not need, and only then build an online service. Later, e-Kranti (2015) made this idea a rule by making process redesign mandatory.
Don't confuse with
- Minimum government, maximum governance: a slogan used since 2014 about a smaller direct role for government with better delivery. SMART is the 2nd ARC's list of qualities for e-governance.