Bureaucracy in crisis - II
Source: By Swapan K Chattopadhyay: The Statesman
Excessive political interference in the administration has led to a state of dichotomy. Faced with a complex situation, many officers cannot choose between the imperatives ~ “to do” and “whether to do.” The most helpless victim of this situation is the police. Most of the officers, with high academic credentials but little courage and sense of values play it safe by not going against the political masters. They prefer to serve as their “yes” man. This has created impediments to effective governance, indeed a sharp decline in public administration.
Some officers are only too anxious to stay close to the power-centre. To achieve this goal, they do not bother to go out of the way to get a job done they satisfy their political bosses even in violation of existing rules. This attitude leads to unhealthy competition among officers, thus harming the system.
For all its faults, dependence on the bureaucracy is unavoidable. To quote Laski, it is still the permanent strength of the public service.
According to JS Mill, the bureaucracy, which performs the government’s actual work, is responsible for providing policy and decision-making feedback to representatives and citizens so they can make better-informed policy choices. But after independence, no serious thought had been given by the government or civil society to identify the reasons for the failure of bureaucracy and to reform the system to make it people-oriented and adaptive to the changed circumstances.
The Indian bureaucracy largely consists of highly educated persons with a middle-class background. It has willy-nilly become a victim of an elitist temperament. This has led to a psychological chasm between the bureaucracy and the people.
Equally, routine criticism without appreciating the good work done by the officers and the problems the bureaucracy faces in discharge of their day-to-day work has only destroyed the confidence of the administration. The crisis of bureaucracy has seldom received the public attention that it deserves.
Debates or discussions on the problems of bureaucracy have rarely been held either at the national level or at the regional level. It is good that the recent cases of Durga Shakti Nagpal and Pankaj Choudhary have deservedly received media coverage throughout the country.
Public opinion needs to be built up against the actions of the government. There are many lower-level whistleblowers who have led the crusade against unethical activities of politicians and superiors. Their efforts have received no recognition at all.
Steven Rathgev Smith has argued in his treatise, Street-level Bureaucracy and Public Policy, that traditional public management has been criticized as rigid, inflexible, ineffective, and unresponsive to the needs of citizens. To restore the legitimacy and effectiveness of the government, Smith has emphasized the need for a new public management paradigm, which is based on performance, outcomes and greater responsiveness to citizens and their needs.
The growing aspirations of the citizens of an independent country on the one hand and the active role of the civil society to generate public awareness about their rights on the other, need to be addressed with utmost sincerity and promptness. Otherwise there may be a mass upsurge against the corruption, partisan approach, and inefficiency of the government machinery.
Is the Indian bureaucracy sufficiently geared to respond to the challenge?
A glaring example is the West Bengal state bureaucracy which appears to be in a tizzy ever since the present government assumed power. The laidback bureaucracy was not familiar with the work-style that the new government has introduced. The periodic monitoring of the performance of various departments and the bar on bureaucrats to ride roughshod over the public were long overdue. Other states and the Union government may take the cue.
Many former civil servants are not particularly optimistic about the future of Indian bureaucracy unless there is an overhaul of the system. Some are also of the opinion that there is no point blaming the bureaucracy alone for its predicament; it cannot be insulated from the socio-political and socio-economic milieu.
A respected former civil servant is in favour of reducing excessive dependence on the bureaucracy. The services of NGOs with a good track record can be utilised at the field-level. The recommendation merits serious consideration.
We have already entered a digital ambience empowered by the Information Technology Act. Given the increasing trend towards paperless offices, we should not expect much of the Indian bureaucracy in its traditional form.
The complex rules and regulations, procedures, noting pattern upon which the bureaucracy thrives need to be simplified and made people-friendly.
These tasks ought not to be the exclusive privilege of the elitist few. The Right to Information Act should help the people to challenge the actions of the government on any public issue. Transparency and a humane approach to the complaints of citizens should be the hallmark of the system.
To achieve this bureaucrats, especially the front-rank public service staff and the clerical employees, should be brought within the Human Resource Development (HRD) framework. It may sound paradoxical, but only a strong and considerate political will can lead to a digital, active, apolitical, transparent and democratic administrative system.
Excessive political interference in the administration has led to a state of dichotomy. Faced with a complex situation, many officers cannot choose between the imperatives ~ “to do” and “whether to do.” The most helpless victim of this situation is the police. Most of the officers, with high academic credentials but little courage and sense of values play it safe by not going against the political masters. They prefer to serve as their “yes” man. This has created impediments to effective governance, indeed a sharp decline in public administration.
Some officers are only too anxious to stay close to the power-centre. To achieve this goal, they do not bother to go out of the way to get a job done they satisfy their political bosses even in violation of existing rules. This attitude leads to unhealthy competition among officers, thus harming the system.
For all its faults, dependence on the bureaucracy is unavoidable. To quote Laski, it is still the permanent strength of the public service.
According to JS Mill, the bureaucracy, which performs the government’s actual work, is responsible for providing policy and decision-making feedback to representatives and citizens so they can make better-informed policy choices. But after independence, no serious thought had been given by the government or civil society to identify the reasons for the failure of bureaucracy and to reform the system to make it people-oriented and adaptive to the changed circumstances.
The Indian bureaucracy largely consists of highly educated persons with a middle-class background. It has willy-nilly become a victim of an elitist temperament. This has led to a psychological chasm between the bureaucracy and the people.
Equally, routine criticism without appreciating the good work done by the officers and the problems the bureaucracy faces in discharge of their day-to-day work has only destroyed the confidence of the administration. The crisis of bureaucracy has seldom received the public attention that it deserves.
Debates or discussions on the problems of bureaucracy have rarely been held either at the national level or at the regional level. It is good that the recent cases of Durga Shakti Nagpal and Pankaj Choudhary have deservedly received media coverage throughout the country.
Public opinion needs to be built up against the actions of the government. There are many lower-level whistleblowers who have led the crusade against unethical activities of politicians and superiors. Their efforts have received no recognition at all.
Steven Rathgev Smith has argued in his treatise, Street-level Bureaucracy and Public Policy, that traditional public management has been criticized as rigid, inflexible, ineffective, and unresponsive to the needs of citizens. To restore the legitimacy and effectiveness of the government, Smith has emphasized the need for a new public management paradigm, which is based on performance, outcomes and greater responsiveness to citizens and their needs.
The growing aspirations of the citizens of an independent country on the one hand and the active role of the civil society to generate public awareness about their rights on the other, need to be addressed with utmost sincerity and promptness. Otherwise there may be a mass upsurge against the corruption, partisan approach, and inefficiency of the government machinery.
Is the Indian bureaucracy sufficiently geared to respond to the challenge?
A glaring example is the West Bengal state bureaucracy which appears to be in a tizzy ever since the present government assumed power. The laidback bureaucracy was not familiar with the work-style that the new government has introduced. The periodic monitoring of the performance of various departments and the bar on bureaucrats to ride roughshod over the public were long overdue. Other states and the Union government may take the cue.
Many former civil servants are not particularly optimistic about the future of Indian bureaucracy unless there is an overhaul of the system. Some are also of the opinion that there is no point blaming the bureaucracy alone for its predicament; it cannot be insulated from the socio-political and socio-economic milieu.
A respected former civil servant is in favour of reducing excessive dependence on the bureaucracy. The services of NGOs with a good track record can be utilised at the field-level. The recommendation merits serious consideration.
We have already entered a digital ambience empowered by the Information Technology Act. Given the increasing trend towards paperless offices, we should not expect much of the Indian bureaucracy in its traditional form.
The complex rules and regulations, procedures, noting pattern upon which the bureaucracy thrives need to be simplified and made people-friendly.
These tasks ought not to be the exclusive privilege of the elitist few. The Right to Information Act should help the people to challenge the actions of the government on any public issue. Transparency and a humane approach to the complaints of citizens should be the hallmark of the system.
To achieve this bureaucrats, especially the front-rank public service staff and the clerical employees, should be brought within the Human Resource Development (HRD) framework. It may sound paradoxical, but only a strong and considerate political will can lead to a digital, active, apolitical, transparent and democratic administrative system.
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