New Delhi, Feb 11: Calling governance “a moral contract between the State and its people,” Congress MP and author Dr. Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday urged public institutions to anchor reform in dignity, trust and ethical courage rather than mere procedural efficiency.
Delivering the keynote address at the 24th edition of Reimagining Governance: Discourse for Excellence (RGDE), Tharoor pressed for a governance model that is technologically capable but fundamentally humane.
The session marked the second anniversary and conclusion of Season One of RGDE — an institutional dialogue platform of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), hosted under the aegis of the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya National Academy of Social Security (PDUNASS). Members of the Central Board of Trustees, EPFO officers from field and zonal offices across the country, and officials from the Ministry of Labour and Employment participated in the commemorative event.
Tharoor argued that transparency, accountability, participation and rule of law must operate alongside empathy and institutional integrity.
“Governance is not merely administration. It is a moral contract,” he said, warning that reform must go deeper than cosmetic digitisation.
“We must not merely digitise inefficiency; we must redesign it,” he remarked, advocating sustained Government Process Re-engineering and simplification of procedures.
Highlighting what he described as a paradox of modern administration, Tharoor observed that even in an era of advanced digital systems, citizens are frequently asked to repeatedly prove their identity and eligibility across platforms. Governance, he suggested, must evolve toward integrated, seamless service delivery that reduces procedural hardship.
Grievance redressal mechanisms, he emphasised, are not instruments of favour but expressions of democratic respect. Public service delivery, he said, must be rooted in dignity and empathy.
He also stressed the importance of scientific temper in policymaking — evidence-based review, data-driven monitoring and reasoned judgment — while cautioning that knowledge without ethics risks alienating institutions from the very citizens they serve.
His concluding observation drew strong resonance among participants:
“When governance becomes truly just, citizens cease to feel governed; they begin to feel cared for.”
Launched on Good Governance Day in December 2024, RGDE was envisioned as a reflective forum to examine governance beyond routine compliance frameworks. Over two years, its discussions have translated into concrete institutional initiatives within EPFO.
These include the introduction of a “Compassion in Governance” training module inspired by Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi; process simplification exercises emerging from public policy dialogues; strengthened ethics training; and a forthcoming joint diploma programme in Labour Law and Social Security in collaboration with Gujarat National Law University.
Central Provident Fund Commissioner Ramesh Krishnamurthy reaffirmed EPFO’s commitment to citizen-centric and technology-enabled service delivery, while Kumar Rohit, Director PDUNASS, noted that RGDE has helped deepen reflective leadership and ethical capacity within the organisation.
The session concluded with an interactive exchange moderated by Uttam Prakash, Regional PF Commissioner and curator of RGDE. In a lighter moment, responding to a question on whether Artificial Intelligence might one day replace politicians, Tharoor quipped that while AI can analyse data and process trends, it cannot replicate human judgment, moral choice or democratic accountability — prompting laughter from officers joining nationwide.
With the anniversary session, RGDE formally concluded Season One. Organisers indicated that Season Two will return with a renewed format and expanded engagement, continuing its effort to shape governance that is accountable, technologically adept and rooted in human values.
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