TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

This study examines the relationship between transparency, accountability, and administrative performance in Indian public administration. The central argument is that transparent procedures, accessible information, answerable public officials, and responsive grievance systems together improve citizen trust and institutional legitimacy. The study adopts a descriptive and analytical research design and uses both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 82 respondents drawn from urban, semi-urban, and rural settings. Secondary information was drawn from official reports, legislation, policy documents, and academic literature on governance reform in India. The analysis focuses on awareness of transparency laws, experience with grievance redressal, perceptions of administrative openness, and trust in public institutions. Three research objectives guide the inquiry: first, to assess the effect of transparency mechanisms on citizen perception of administration; second, to evaluate the effectiveness of accountability instruments in public service delivery; and third, to examine the role of citizen participation in building trust in governance. The statistical treatment combines descriptive percentages, chi-square analysis, a one-sample t-test, and one-way ANOVA. The findings indicate that awareness of transparency tools is associated with more positive perceptions of openness, while weak follow-up systems continue to limit accountability. The study concludes that India’s reform agenda must move beyond legal compliance and strengthen ethical administration, public communication, timely disclosure, and citizen-centred monitoring for sustainable democratic governance. It further underlines that transparency becomes effective only when information access is combined with enforceable responsibility and visible corrective action.