Open Forum

New Delhi, 27 August 2014

Three Months On  

IS IT ALL WORK, NO PLAY?

By Dr S Saraswathi

(Former Director, ICSSR, New Delhi)

The BJP-led NDA Government will be completing three months in office. While it’s uncertain whether ‘achievements’ would be advertised by various Ministries, like in the past, the performance so far would be under close scrutiny, at least by the PMO. More so in the backdrop that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to be seen as a man of action. So was the case in Gujarat, but would it hold good at the Centre, is the big question. 

Recall that soon after assuming office Modi gave a 10-point Framework for Good Governance to his team of Ministers in the very second Cabinet meeting. This was followed by instructions on certain practical steps to the bureaucracy to spruce administration and facilitate operation of the ‘Plan of Action.’ A set of 11-point directives were issued to all departments for improving the work culture in the Union government that has hardly experienced a shake up for efficiency, speed and integrity.

These two were clearly pin-pointed plans for the future, coherent and consistent with one another. They sought to represent the earnestness of the Modi Government to fulfil its electoral promises and meet the rosy imaginations about and great expectations of the “achche din” (good days ahead) of the common citizens.

However, what matters to the common man is the price rise, which is showing no signs of ebbing. And at present, he would have little concern about Modi’s ‘10 commandments’ to his ministerial team. These include: building up confidence in the bureaucracy; giving priority to education, health, water, energy, and roads; setting up a mechanism to deal with inter-ministerial issues; addressing concerns about economy; maintaining stability and sustainability in government policy; encouraging innovative ideas and giving independence to bureaucrats to work without pressure; providing transparency in governance and promoting e-auction in tendering and government works; reforming infrastructure and investments; implementing programmes in time-bound manner and putting in place people-oriented system and giving stress on addressing people’s problems.

Giving this framework that seems to be already on his fingertips even before the General elections, Modi, asked all the Ministers to prepare a 100-day agenda for follow up. Truly, a model of good task master style! However, will he be seeking a report card to assess whether the ‘suraaj’ (good governance) agenda is on track? More importantly, what would be the criteria to measure a true following of the path which has been set ahead? 

A re-look through this 10-point agenda, however, makes it clear that it has not been an altogether new policy document. It is an outline of action plan to meet the commitments in the party election manifesto as well as in some lavish promises made in election speeches of its leaders. The points are but an absolute minimum requirement for “good governance” which any good government must be familiar with. If it succeeds in pushing these, it can boast of a being what it claims-- ‘government with a difference’, distinct from the previous regime in work ethics and management style. A good beginning indeed, but the end result is what counts. 

And for the agenda to bear fruit, the Ministers would be keeping their own record of having got the cooperation and good advice of the bureaucracy. Recall that a circular issued to them by the Cabinet Secretary carried an 11-point directive which emphasized the importance of efficient and speedy decision-making in a transparent manner. In fact, while these do not contain any novel ideas or imply radical administrative reforms, these demand a new work ethics.

Has the bureaucrat changed tack? Points pertaining to repeal of outdated laws, weeding out files, simplifying procedures, and physical reorganization of offices are not policy innovations waiting for change of guards. These are routine job of administration of offices left undone by sheer lethargy and indifference. The importance of this apparently simple directive can be evident if one goes to government offices at any level of Union and State governments. In these past three months, it would be a worthwhile exercise to share an experience on social media.     

It would also be important to see whether the paper work has been cut drastically as suggested. The babus have specifically been asked to identify forms that are in vogue and shorten them wherever possible, in one page and avoiding unnecessary or irrelevant information; reduce decision-making to a maximum of four layers; weed out files and papers in accordance with rules including digitization wherever necessary; use IT and e-governance for effective functioning; work out modalities for fulfilling promises made to the people, and ensure effective and timely resolution of public grievances, etc.

For a bureaucracy caught in politics that cripples freedom of thinking and destroys ability for initiatives and encourages sycophancy and corruption for status elevations, the commandments clearly suggest a new opening. Faith in the efficiency and sincerity of the bureaucracy, team work, bureaucratic independence, and people-friendly administration has been stressed.

One only hopes that these have led to a New Public Management (NPM) era that is Indian in content and style. Many countries have been going through a wave of NPM since the 1980s mostly under severe financial problems to redefine and restructure government functioning.  The object is to strengthen democratic principles in governance and improve government performance – toward a regime of “less government and more governance”. And, it should not be a mere slogan.

The NPM must also keep changing with changing needs and technology of service delivery and not remain stagnant. It must keep its momentum and be an intellectual force combining responsibility, accountability, and transparency. The traditional lessons of economy and efficiency, and speed, of course, continue to be the core values of good governance.

Above all, the receivers of the 10-point agenda who are elected political appointees, and the receivers of 11-point administrative directives who are civil servants and senior officials have to accept to work with missionary zeal to show results. Remember, the Government has been elected for a five-year term. Will the enthusiasm get bogged down with time?    

At the same time, we do realize the hard fact that decades of cobwebs in the set up of the public sector cannot be removed overnight. Any change will produce chain reactions. However ideal the directives may be, the practical part will encounter a number of obstructions. Even a simple question of clearing the corridors of offices may get blocked over space constraint and demand enquiry into usage of government buildings. Reform of public administration has been set into motion alright, as it was long overdue. Hope the Modi Team will meet the expectations of what has been rolled out-- a period of “all work, and no play”. 100 days in office or a year should not be a benchmark. --- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)