Improving Ease of Doing Business, Reducing Compliance Burden

Improving Ease of Doing Business, Reducing Compliance Burden

 NEW DELHI : Under the aegis of ‘AzadiKaAmritMahotsav’, an initiative of the Government of India to celebrate and commemorate 75 years of progressive India and its achievements, the Ministry of Education (MoE) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) are jointly organising a National Webinar on 1st Oct 2021 during 11:00 am to 1:00 pm on the topic “Improving Ease of Doing Business, Reducing Compliance Burden”.

From the ramparts of the historical Red Fort on 75th Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined the role of good governance in implementing social reforms in the country and called on his government to “remove all obstacles” that are acting as a burden.

During the latest visit to the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has highlighted the steps taken by the government to improve the ease of doing business in the country. He also outlined the steps taken by the government including Atal Tinkering Labs and conducting hackathons to boost innovation potential and solve problems using technology.

Modi Ji talked about steps taken to ensure ‘Ease of Doing Business’ including reduction of corporate tax and labour reforms. He also outlined that the target of the government is to ensure ‘Ease of Living’. He said the unique strength of India is the availability of three Ds – democracy, demography and ‘dimaag’ (brains).

Recently, several steps have been taken towards ease of Doing Business by GOI

 

1. A big exercise is being carried out by Central Ministries & States/UTs to reduce compliance burden and the aim of this exercise is to simplify, decriminalize & remove redundant laws.
2. Implementation of the Goods and Services Tax or GST.

It is the biggest tax reform in the Indian economy and it impacts many aspects of doing business. With GST, we are moving towards a modern tax regime, which is transparent, stable and predictable.

3. The Logistic performance index have improved and currently India is at 42^nd
4. Global Innovation Index has also improved which ranked by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) at 46^th position
5. Insolvency code, bankruptcy code and creation of commercial courts has also been done to increase ease of doing business.

 

6. Scholarships being paid on time in students account through AADHAR based DBT.

 

7. Special GoI scheme PMSSS for students of J&K and Ladakh from end-to-end for 5000 students annually. Inviting applications, merit list, counselling, allotment of seats to payment of monthly scholarship on time.

 

8. Removal of distinction between Domestic and International OSP (other service provider) which will provide thrust to voice-based BPO and ITeS organizations in India.

 

9. Liberalized access to geospatial data.

 

10. Introduction of ‘Mera Ration’ mobile app.

 

11. Introduction of single step online Aadhaar validation process for 18 services associated with Driving License and Registration Certificate.

 

12. 46 penal provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and 12 offences under the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) Act, 2008 decriminalized.

 

13. Through business process re-engineering, States/UTs have reduced time for granting approvals/licenses, eliminated physical touch-points and brought transparency in inspections.

 

14. Single window clearances for new investors have reduced the time to start operations across businesses.

 

As per vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister, Ministry of Education is implementing reformsin line with NEP 2020. The aim of Higher Education in India is to provide access, equity, quality with accountability at affordable cost to all aspiring citizens with utmost transparency to ensure sustainable economic development of the nation and E-Governance division of AICTE aims to ensure the same through Technology driven policy implementation and by bringing in scalable and robust systems in place.

 

MOE and organization under MoE and specially AICTE has taken many steps towards ease of Doing Business which resulted in less compliance burden by stake holders. Such as:

 

1. Re-engineered the whole system of approval process by introducing single window system of online solution to grant of approval to technical institutes.
2. AICTE approval process is based on principle of “Light but tight” regulations. Accordingly, Grant of approval to technical institutes is based on self-disclosure of information by the institute.
3. As part of bringing quality in technical education, accredited institutions/ institutions with graded autonomy institutions will be given approval for multiple years (extended EoA)
4. Technical education Regulatory charges/ processing fees will be handled in digital mode only.
5. Reduced burden on stockholder through minimizing number of documents for grant of approval also relaxation in land requirement.
6. Verification of documents and infrastructure facilities for Grant of approval for New Institutions is simplified through online scrutiny and through virtual visit.
7. Many other Quality Initiatives undertaken are as

• Revision of Curriculum
• Teacher Training (Certification and FDP)
• Induction Program for Students
• Internship Policy and internship portal to easily access the internship opportunity
• Exam Reforms
• Margdarshan Scheme to support Accreditation of institutions.
• Promoting Innovation/Start-ups
• Twinning & Collaboration
• Digital Signature as part of Approval Process Activities
• Applications for funding under MOROBS, RPS, Seminars etc. all online including processing and sanction.
• Emphasis on Increase in GER- Online/ ODL mode
• Increased acceptability of SWAYAM courses upto  40%
• Focus on Vocational & Skill Education
• Strengthening of Grievance redressal mechanism
• Strengthening Holistic and Inclusive Education
• Flexible Entry Qualifications and Bridge Courses
• National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF
• SWAYAM is a programme initiated by Government of India and designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy viz., access, equity and quality. The objective of this effort is to take the best teaching learning resources to all, including the most disadvantaged. SWAYAM seeks to bridge the digital divide for students who have hitherto remained untouched by the digital revolution and have not been able to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy.

 

University Grant commission (UGC)  has developed Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA) user interface to enable learners andteachers across the country to access curricula of NCERT, CBSE and SCERTs online. 1.85 lakh pieces of econtenton-boarded and high traffic on portal (~2,400 crore hits since lockdown) showcases its increasedusage. Training of teachers has been enabled online on DIKSHA with about 25 lakh teachers benefitting fromit.

Incorporation of the social media tools has become an effective medium to understand & assess the new expectations, needs as well as shortcomings, if any, and effectively address, resolve and / or implement them to the extent possible & feasible within the shortest possible time.  The latest Grievance Redressal System (with automatic escalation procedures) has been a boon to all users and has helped the management in effectively resolving the grievances / complaints at the earliest.  Consequently, grievances and RTI queries have witnessed a dramatic decrease.