Trust-based governance is a concept and a transformative approach in Indian administration that shifts the government's interaction with citizens and businesses from one of suspicion to one of mutual respect and good faith. The traditional governance model, which assumed the need for stringent oversight and control to prevent misuse, was largely an inheritance from the British colonial administration, which relied on suspicion and control. This colonial legacy led to a system where mandatory document attestation by a Gazetted officer and multiple layers of oversight reflected a deep-seated distrust.
The shift towards this new model was formally articulated by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Union Budget 2022-23 with the advent of Amrit Kaal, following the idea of 'trust-based governance' to improve productive efficiency. The core mechanism involves reducing regulatory burdens and replacing punitive measures with civil alternatives. Key provisions include replacing affidavits with self-certification and eliminating many attestations by Gazetted officers.
A major recent change is the enactment of the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2023, which decriminalized 183 provisions across 42 Central laws by replacing criminal penalties for minor procedural lapses with monetary fines and other administrative solutions. This legislative action is part of a broader effort that has seen the government decriminalize 3,400 legal provisions and cut over 39,000 compliances. This concept is closely connected to the government's goal of achieving Ease of Doing Business and Ease of Living, and is seen as a practical implementation of the principle of 'Minimum Government, Maximum Governance'. An earlier step in this direction was the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments of 1992, which exemplified trust by decentralizing power to local bodies like panchayats and municipalities.