The Prime Minister of India has directed all government departments to have a fresh look at all existing processes and scrap unnecessary paperwork and compliances, as part of a special spring-cleaning exercise this month.
Background
Red tapism is the practice of requiring excessive paperwork and tedious procedures before o cial action can be considered or completed.
It also refers to official rules and processes that seem unnecessary and delay results.
These are burdensome rules, providing no added value.
It includes unnecessary paperwork, obtaining licenses, having multiple people or committees approve a decision and various low-level rules that make conducting one’s affairs slower, more difficult.
Consequence of Red-Tapism
Citizen satisfaction: Red tape indeed negatively a ects citizen satisfaction. Citizens remain dissatisfied due to delayed government processing and cost associated with it. Most of the time citizen’s problems remain unresolved due to red Tapism, leading to a sense of loss of trust in the government’s process.
Scheme implementation: Every new governmental scheme gets roadblocks in terms of red Tapism that eventually kills the larger objective by which it was launched. Delayed release of funds, lack of proper monitoring etc. are common associated issues attached to Red Tapism that make policies ineffective.
Corruption: A World Bank study found that the higher the level of red Tapism, the higher the level of corruption. Bureaucracy invariably breeds corruption and lowers growth by complicating the normal flow of businesses. Paying a bribe to speed up the handling of the procedure is a typical example of Red Tapism associated with corruption.
Increased cost of doing business: Red tape is costly, not just in time and money spent filling out forms but also in terms of reduced productivity and innovation in business. This is particularly burdensome to smaller businesses and may even discourage people from starting up a new business.
Governance: Due to Red Tapism variable enforcement of contracts and delayed administration lead to delayed justice, especially to the poor. The burden of red tape requirements prevent many to enjoy their rights due to delayed governance and delayed distribution of welfare measures. For example, delayed wage payments under MGNREGA impact timely benefits to the poor.
Need of the Hour and Measure to curb Red-Tapism
Organizational processes should be reviewed, and the steps and procedures required to perform a task should be recorded as standard operating procedures, which are convenient for employees to carry out their tasks and recognize the output of their e orts.
Reforming laws and Reducing administrative burdens should be a part of reducing Red Tapism.
Motivational seminars and workshops should be arranged at various levels to develop understanding and coordination among different ministries.
Governments also need to consider ways in which sub-national levels of government can be incorporated into the administrative simplification and regulatory quality process.
Government departments should organize more exchange programs for their employees to develop and promote inter-agency understanding and create national integration of more e ective process re-engineering required to reduce the negative impacts of red tape.
A committee at the provincial level should review and track ongoing projects/tasks and measure organizational output every quarter.
Projects that are stuck at any level within an organization can be revisited, which will improve organizational performance.
