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Open Forum
New Delhi, 27 April, 2017
Civil Services
TIME FOR
REDEDICATION
By Dr S Saraswathi
(Former Director,
ICSSR, New Delhi)
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi speaking to civil servants on the Civil
Services Day (21st April), reminded them that the sooner the
government would change from being a regulator to an enabler, the faster the
challenge of competition would turn into an opportunity.
The function this year, described as a day for
“rededication” of civil servants for honest service to the nation and its
people, raised more than the usual enthusiasm among the participants and higher
than normal expectations among the general public in view of the great
importance currently placed on good governance.
It was also an occasion for the government and people to re-orient the
system to suit changing requirements and priorities. The system has to keep evolving so that it
does not degenerate as an irrelevant colonial relic that has outlived its
utility.
Even in this era of professional experts and technological
giants, there is need for generalists to approach public issues in a holistic
manner. Generalists are like general practitioners of medicine and family
doctors catering to varied situations
and ailments and retaining their place in this age of specialisation.
Prime Minister’s speech on this day contains some
thought-provoking advice, which can help re-orient the civil service
organisation to move with the times.
“Make excellence a habit”, he said, and conveyed his faith in the maxim
that, “we have to change our working style”.
Change is emphasised as a principal tool for good governance when the PM
stated: “It is important to make ourselves relevant in changing times or else,
we will become irrelevant”.
The administrative culture that is being imposed on the
civil service is “outcome-centric vision of governance”. Hence, the PM was not
enamoured of achievements quoted in terms of statistics which he described as
“jugglery”.
Five motivational factors are to be cultivated by political
and bureaucratic chiefs. Transformation
from being a regulator to an enabler, effective
qualitative improvement along with quantitative jump, push
for reform from political angle and performance from officials, promotion of spirit of ownership, and removal of
restrictions of hierarchy in the
interest of performance are recognized
as necessary for reinventing the
civil service.
Responsibilities of government officials have grown in terms
of challenges they face in every aspect of life. Human progress has not simplified life, but
on the contrary, introduced very many complexities.
Good governance is committed to enhancement of the quality
of life – a goal that can be achieved only with integration of knowledge,
abilities, and ethical make up of persons vested with the responsibility for
governance. Therefore, constant trimming of the role and responsibility of the
civil service stands on top of the agenda in establishing good governance.
Max Weber has pointed out that bureaucracies are central to
emergence and growth of modern capitalism. He considered impersonality and
impartiality as the special virtues of bureaucracy. But in course of time, these same virtues
have led to certain serious deficiencies like “red tape”, lack of initiative
and innovation, disinterestedness, and poor service delivery, and corruption.
Civil Service – the generic term used to designate servants
of the State or the government employed as civilians – is a sub-division
grouped with the “executive”. All employees of the government are not civil
servants. There are only about 60,000 civil servants in the country
constituting a rank-based system manning a vast bureaucracy. At the top is the
Indian Administrative Service (IAS) followed by Central Services. There is also a police service (IPS). Senior civil servants may be called to
account by Parliament.
The guiding principle of civil service remains unchanged as
given by Queen Elizabeth I to her Secretary over 400 years ago that: “you will not be corrupted by any
manner of gift, and that you will be faithful to the State and that without
respect of my private will ,you will give me that counsel which you think
best”.
A certain standard of ethics is required of civil servants
in India.
Principal among these are : to discharge official duty with responsibility,
honesty, accountability, and without discrimination; ensure
effective management, leadership development, and personal growth; avoid
misuse of official position or information; and to serve as instruments of good
governance and foster social-economic development.
The Indian civil service has been modelled on the British
system and independent India
accepted it as “the steel frame that
holds this country together”. Recruited by a centralised authority, civil
servants are posted in all parts of the country.
Several studies have pointed out the need to reform the
civil service in India.
We may brush aside the Carneige study (2011) as over-emphasising corruption and
politicization in the Indian civil service which plague bureaucracy all over
the world. But, we cannot ignore the
findings of the Second Administrative Commission of India (2005) on undue
political interference, inadequate accountability mechanisms and capacity
building. Rajiv Gandhi, referring to rampant corruption in administration
through several levels is reported to have confessed that only 16 paise out of
every rupee reached the actual beneficiaries who were poor.
Modi’s assurance on the Civil Services Day that he
would stand by them if they took decisions
with honest intentions and in public
interest is undoubtedly needed in the
present age of widespread corruption in numerous forms. It was reiteration of
his advice to Secretaries of central government departments soon after assuming
office in 2014 to get in touch with him directly whenever required to resolve
issues and expedite decision-making. He stressed the importance of collective
action and team spirit. Simplifying and
streamlining procedures formed important part of his agenda for good governance.
Misuse of official machinery mostly results from
political-administrative collaboration and occurs at every level of
governance. The Supreme Court said in a
case in 2013 that much of the deterioration of the standards of probity and
accountability with the civil servants was due to political influence and
directed Central and State governments to free the bureaucracy from political
stranglehold by constituting civil services board. The Bench considered
that recording of instructions and directions was necessary for fixing
responsibility and ensuring accountability in the functioning of civil servants
and upholding institutional integrity.
Today, the bureaucracy enjoys enormous powers as
technological revolution demands and facilitates greater delegation and
decentralisation. Public perception of civil servants, however, is not very
favourable as expectations are rising and administrative performance does not
keep pace. Public awareness has also risen and is able to sense the
deficiencies in delivery of services.
Emboldened by media support, people are ready to respond and react to
decisions of governing authorities. The
Right to Information and easy access to government information are bound to
keep the entire bureaucracy with the top civil servants on their toes.
At the same time, the positive role of civil servants in
many States in carrying on administration when political bosses are fighting
for power and positions cannot be belittled.
Wholesale reform of civil service is not easy. Nor is it
necessary. Difficulties highlight a
Catch 22 situation wherein the very things we want to change make change
impossible, however, intense our efforts may be. All we need is a high ethical standard
combined with pragmatic and human approach to public issues. –INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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