3. Adminstrative Reforms

Administrative procedures in India today are a legacy of the British Raj.

The British were not very trusting of the natives, and hence created procedures that tended to err towards the side of caution. A fair idea, but carried too far.

In UK today, you fill in a form, sign a declaration, and that is the end of it. If you lie, law will take its course and punish you. For a vast majority of law abiding citizens, this is fine.

In India today, when you fill in a form, (you have to submit it in triplicate, and not in red ink) you are treated with suspicion carried out from the colonial times. So, you have to submit 5 other signed and attested documents merely to support who you claim you are. Land records and other such things in India are hopelessly complicated due to the lack of the use of IT.

Pre 1947, A White British ICS officer did not trust the natives.
Post 1947, a Brown Indian IAS officer does not trust his own countrymen.

For a vast number of poorer people, independence of the country has made little difference, its just that Gora Sahibs have been replaced by the Brown Sahibs. The attitude of the police officers and bureaucrats in dealing with their own countrymen carry an attitude and an air of colonial arrogance, instead of public servants whose salaries are paid by the tax payer.

We cannot change attitudes of hardened bureaucrats overnight, what can be changed (and vastly simplified) are the procedures so that such arrogance and lethargy in dealing with citizen's concerns is punished.

So, here's the idea:
1. All citizens, who eventually are the customers here, paying the taxes that run the administration, have some ID.
2. All administrative staff have a workflow based system, each case they come across is registered on some central computer system. Any slippage is tracked and flagged.
3. The Administrative staff have a bonus based incentive to resolve more cases, and are punished in career progress for failing to resolve outstanding issues.