The Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) in India made several key recommendations to promote ethics in governance.
*Key Recommendations:*
– *National Ombudsman*: The Commission suggested establishing a National Ombudsman, renamed ‘Rashtriya Lokayukta’, with constitutional status to investigate corruption cases against ministers, MPs, and public officials.
– *Lokayukta*: It recommended making it obligatory for state governments to establish Lokayukta institutions to deal with corruption-related cases.
– *Local Bodies’ Ombudsman*: A local ombudsman should be constituted to investigate cases of corruption or maladministration against local body functionaries.
– *National Judicial Council*: The Commission proposed setting up a National Judicial Council to recommend appointments of Supreme Court and High Court Judges, and to investigate alleged misconduct.
– *Corruption*: Citizens should be empowered to file cases to recover public money lost due to corruption, and the Prevention of Corruption Act should be amended to include private sector providers of public utility services.
– *Office of Profit*: The law should be amended to define ‘office of profit’, and legislators should not hold offices involving executive decision-making or control of public funds.
– *Election Commission*: A collegium headed by the Prime Minister should recommend the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.
– *Election Expenditure*: A system for partial state funding should be introduced to reduce illegitimate funding of election expenditure.
– *Anti-Defection Law*: Constitutional amendments should bar mid-stream alignment of parties in a coalition, and empower the President and Governors to disqualify MPs and MLAs for defection.
These recommendations aim to promote transparency, accountability, and ethical behavior in politics, judiciary, and administration in India.