New Delhi, (The Telegraph): Good governance day on December 25 remained on the government's calendar despite the furore last year over what was seen as an attempt to eclipse the Christmas celebrations associated with the day worldwide.
Events organised - albeit sans fanfare - indicated that there had been no rollback in the decision taken last year to celebrate Christmas as good governance day, or "Surajya", also to mark the birthday of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
But it was so low-key that it drew a snide remark from Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Twitter: "No references to 'Happy Good Governance Day' this year, unlike last. That's because Christmas is visible everywhere & good governance is not."
Members of the Modi government's online platform for citizen engagement - MyGov.in - were invited to participate in an open forum discussion to celebrate the "spirit of Surajya". An email addressed "Dear MyGov Members" encouraged them to contribute their experiences of success stories in government schemes during the year and suggest improvements for next year.
The 10-hour-long open forum discussion drew 480 submissions. A cursory look at the submissions revealed that the one government campaign that seemed to have found some resonance among the respondents was the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
Detailing the priorities of good governance, minister of state for personnel, public grievances and pensions Jitendra Singh summed it up for reporters as " saral avedan, sugam prakriya, swachh prashasan" (easy application, smooth processing and clean administration).
Unlike last year, when all educational institutions, including the IITs, were asked to organise events on good governance day and send back reports on participation, no such circular was issued this time round. The CBSE did organise an essay competition on Vajpayee ahead of December 25 but it was voluntary.
The decision to celebrate December 25 as good governance day and organise events that would necessitate attendance of students and employees in 2014 had drawn considerable flak as it was billed an affront to the Christian community.
In Pakistan, the holiday on December 25 is essentially on account of the birthday of founding father M.A. Jinnah. Christians are given an additional holiday the following day; a long-standing decision that has been questioned as it "otherises" a minority community.
