When election after election, power gets transferred from one set of elite to another and there is so much of existing inequality, any governance–what to say of ‘good governance’–is difficult. This inherent contradiction is at the heart of the difficulty in achieving the ideal of good governance, whatever the constitutional mechanisms for it might be. Federal instruments of inter-governmental cooperation have not been successful and effective in India because the required decentralization has not been made. This is mainly due to our administrative centralization and earlier central planning structures. A mechanism for federal cooperation can succeed if it does not have to depend on other executive organizations for getting its decisions implemented. Similarly, issues of economic planning and development cannot be settled through institutions set up by the central government. They require coordinated efforts and, for such a system of good governance, cooperated federal arrangements are needed. The need for political reforms is definitely there in the governance of the country. But it is debatable whether any blueprint of a reform of the constitution is needed or whether a code of governance is required. The constitution has provided guidelines for governance in the form of ‘Directive principles of state policy’. For implementing these directives, a proper code for good governance needs to be agreed upon.
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