New Delhi:  In a missive to all ministries, the Cabinet Secretariat has asked them to factor in "equity", "public accountability" and "innovation" into all proposals which are sent for the approval of the Union Cabinet.

In a letter, sent by Additional Secretary (cabinet secretariat) Mrutyunjay Sarangi on June 23, the Cabinet Secretariat has attached a one-page "specimen format" on the statement on "equity, public accountability and innovation", which is to be signed by an official not below the rank of Joint Secretary in the sponsoring ministry.

The missive is in lieu of the announcement in the President's address, where she had said, "An area of major focus for my government would be reform of governance for effective delivery of public services... as part of process reform, all proposals to the Cabinet will have to report on how the proposal under consideration will enhance the goals of equity or inclusion, innovation and public accountability." So, to ensure that the three "overarching public policy objectives" of the government are achieved, the ministries have been asked to submit their proposals taking into account these factors.

"Equity", the letter says, could include "geographical considerations, particularly for backward and special category regions, socio-economic equity in the context of disadvantaged communities, gender, poverty etc".

Similarly, the dimension of "public accountability" could include "increased stakeholder participation", "awareness campaigns", "cost benefit analysis", "social audit", "independent evaluation" and the "provision for greater transparency or information disclosure". The proposal should detail how it is using information tools for ensuring transparency and accountability as well as reporting in the public domain.

As regards "innovation", the letter says, there could be "improvements in the existing schemes/ structures/ practices/ procedures". In this context, there could be "innovations in policy, in institutional arrangements, management or technological innovations". Innovation, it says, could be conceived in the scheme design itself or room could be left for innovation during actual implementation at the state-level by in-built flexibility in the scheme for local innovations. Innovation could also include "documentation, dissemination and implementation of the best practices".

The missive says it may not be possible that every proposal being put up for consideration by the Cabinet or Cabinet committee or Group of Ministers would necessarily be able to respond to these three criteria or be amenable to this format of reporting. In those cases, the reason for this may be briefly specified in the note.