Que : Accountability is an important part of public administration. Explain the importance of accountability and state the institutional steps to implement it.

 In public administration, the foundation of good governance can be laid through honesty, accountability and transparency. In which accountability makes the public servant more duty-oriented. Through it, the public servant is always responsible to the public for his every decision and action and always keeps himself ready for scrutiny.

•  Why is accountability important?
  

•  It is essential that every decision process and implementation of the plan should be people-centered and the public servant should be committed to his duties. So that the welfare plan can be successfully implemented by reaching the last person.
  
•  There will be transparency in the governance system and the action will be completed in a time-bound manner. So that the problem of delay in the governance system will be eliminated and a goal-based system will be established.
  
•  Through accountability, the work culture will become healthy and the distribution and fulfillment of tasks will be better. For example; every employee will work keeping in mind the accountability towards his superior, so that the work culture will become progressive.
  
•  Through accountability, transparency will come, so that proper utilization of resources will be ensured.
  
• In public appointment processes, qualities like attitude towards institutions and neutrality will be seen in every decision.
  
•  Accountability establishes good governance as well as a people-centered moral rule.
  
• Institutional measures to implement accountability
  

•  Charters that meet the objectives of the Citizen Charter should be established in every office where all aspects of accountability can be ensured through a grievance redressal system.
  
•  Provision of social audit can be made at the institutional level in a structured and time-bound manner based on specific criteria.
  

• Provision of ethical code of conduct and its strict adherence to it.
• The head of the organization should establish his own leadership on the basis of the quality of accountability. By doing so, the inclination of other employees towards accountability will also increase.
  

• In the P.C. Hota Committee Report (2004), it was recommended that how the civil services should be made more responsive, impartial, accountable and ethical. Efforts should be made to implement these recommendations.
  
•  The employees who fulfill their responsibilities should be publicly honored by the institutional system from time to time.
  
•  The accountability of all departments can be ensured by giving more powers to the CAG.
  
• Accountability can be ensured in the institutional sector through e-governance by using Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
  
•  More emphasis should be given on accountability in the training provided by the organization and the attributes of accountability should be more integrated in the criteria related to promotion of employees.
  

                  Thus, accountability plays a role as an effective medium in the successful implementation of ethical governance and people-centric policies through good governance. So that accountability can be established through more vigilance, provisions and incentives in the institutional field.