IAS POSTINGS Officers in sensitive posts, such as a district collector, a head of a major department and an apex post like that of the chief secretary work under the tenure of insecurity.
This is with reference to the article “Hyderabad blues,” by Md. Shafiquzzaman (June 27, 2012). I would suggest that the primary woe of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is illegal arbitrary tenures in the States. This defeats the very purpose of the service as intended by the Constituent Assembly and its greatest champion, Sardar Patel, which is to provide stability and a uniform standard of administration across the Union and the States.
Senior government positions in the States are reserved for the IAS alone and posting others to these positions is not allowed. However, posting and tenure is mostly a matter of pleasure and convention. Officers in sensitive posts, such as a district collector, a head of a major department and an apex post like that of the chief secretary work under the tenure of insecurity.
N.C. Saxena who studied the performance of various centrally run developmental schemes, found that the prime administrative factor in ensuring that they work well is a rational tenure for the implementing and supervising officers. His efforts to convince the States to adopt a statutory minimum tenure did not wash with the compulsions of real politic. The late Home Minister Indrajit Gupta recollected that his cabinet colleagues laughed off his suggestion of this reform.
After the Supreme Court ordered the States to give a statutory minimum term to all police officers in the country to reduce arbitrary transfers, as in the Prakash Singh case, the same was argued before the court for the IAS. However the court was not convinced that successful implementation of important development schemes needs planning, continuity in office and accountability during tenure.
At the Centre, all IAS officers on deputation serve tenure posts. As a result, the administration of central departments is more organised. No officer is taken into the central service without a tenure of at least four years. It is extendable to seven years. The Supreme Court held in the Debesh Chandra Dass case that removal from central deputation before tenure is bad in the absence of proven misconduct or gross inefficiency. Besides the case for tenuring all positions in the IAS, both at the State and Centre, is bolstered by the fact that some key central positions such as home secretary, cabinet secretary and defence secretary have been tenured in relaxation of retirement rules. Here, posted officers serve for a minimum tenure of two years irrespective of their date of superannuation.
Progressive move
There is a world of difference between when an officer is posted as district collector or head of department with a minimum two-year term, and posting him on pleasure. If arbitrary removal is made a bit difficult in key positions, by providing for a process of hearing by a board comprising a retired judge, chief secretary and the minister-in-charge and making all appointments via cabinet notes and not “out of agenda,” the reasoning for making a posting and effecting a removal will be transparent. Nefarious casteist and communal interest, apart from the “my man” syndrome can be checked or at least documented. While the government must have the flexibility to effect personnel policy, its gross abuse can be reduced if not eliminated. Efforts to place such a minimal term in the rule book have so far been unsuccessful for obvious reasons and there is no hope they can be effected unless there is judicial insistence. This could be the single most effective progressive step in the management of the IAS in the States.
The other key weakness is the mad rush among retiring senior personnel to grab, post retirement, a constitutional or statutory position. Bureaucrats, especially from the IAS, have so far monopolised most constitutional and statutory commissions and organisations. The prospect of getting such an assignment numbs the higher echelons into submission. Even serving judges are snared into quid pro quo situations by dangling these assignments before them. A rule needs to be introduced to bar any public or constitutional employment for a period of three years, post superannuation. This would encourage officers to seek work with non-government employers rather than oblige political masters who make the statutory appointments. Currently, chairmen of public service commissions are prohibited from public employment after their tenure. It is a pity that higher judges and high executives are free to fish for post retirement jobs while trading quid pro quos that malaise the system.
Other steps
There are several other steps that can streamline the conditions in which the IAS serves. For instance higher positions in government of India can be advertised and filled by open screening rather than following the opaque procedure now. Empanelment as joint secretaries and higher do not involve the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) or a transparent procedure, which is required. When such selections without openness, personal suitability, in service training and domain experience are given the go by.
Except for punishment, there is no counselling or a chance for self improvement offered for delinquencies or misconduct detected early. There is no weeding out of those who are corrupt. In many cases, such officers, in tandem with corrupt politicians, rule the roost and determine the careers of the rest.
The result of all this is a beeline to political masters to ensure plum postings from them. In the final count it is pusillanimity and a moral crisis in the senior ranks which is responsible for the current jam. As Stephen Crane says in his “The Open Boat,” when engulfed by the raging sea, they tend not to know the “color of the sky.” The IAS needs to raise its head and see the colour of the sky — an intimidating grey — to realise the crisis it finds itself in.
(B. Ashok is a civil servant. The views expressed are personal.)
With (i) half the country living in abject poverty (when people
literally sell their children & wife for money, is it any wonder their
votes can be bought? - and the electoral bribe has “outpaced all
inflation and national growth rates”!) (ii) the political classes
turned rogue - almost beyond redemption (iii) sections of judiciary
without any moral compass - the citizens of India face huge problems.
That the babus’ own children are, or will be, living outside India and
be little affected by what happens in India, only exacerbates this
problem!
Against this pathetic background, CITIZENS HOPE against all odds that
there will be at least a small but significant minority of babus
willing to rise above their base instincts & stop further destruction.
SO, THE ISSUE IS NOT JUST ABOUT saving the civil services from
ignominy, avarice and servitude.
WHAT IS AT STAKE is saving India for current and future generations!
The nation expects – will the sons and daughters prove their worth?
A fine analysis. Unless the administrative heads are assured of a minimum tenure of, say 3 years, in any post their contribution cannot be truly evaluevated and this will naturally affect their career growth. Again there should not be any political interference, once the policy decision has been taken. This is a far cry now.
(1) In Western democracies the various local civic bodies & local
sections of national bodies take care of local services, education,
health, policing, etc. It beggars belief, therefore, that in the "so
called largest democracy in the world", "babus", as proxies for
politicians, still "rule" India. (2) It is astonishing that so much of
Indian Industry is still "managed" by the govt, ie the "babus"! What
is their experience and skill set? What is their motivation, as they
are not the owners, other than "looting those industries"? There is no
continuity, no succession planning, laughable strategic thinking or
long-term planning! Result = AI/IA etc.
The article makes clear today the "babus" exist to be at the beck and
call of the politicians to collect bribes (hence collector?) and carry
out their wishes!
To salvage their "services" [to the Nation!], "babus" should (i)
reduce size (ii) withdraw from admin of "industry and routine local
services" (iii) focus on strategy/policy/monitoring.
We can place our faith in serving and retired bureaucrats manning all
key positions and create more statutory bodies.We can wish that the
higher judiciary provides solutions to our problems.But it will not be
alternative to political leadership being effective.The governance is
function of elected representatives in a democracy.A tall order but it
is here that an overhaul is needed through series of constitutional and
statutory reforms.
Even the CAG of Britain has said that PPP propjects work well when
these are evolved properly and managed well. Britain is also sending
its civil servants to the Said School of Business of Oxford University
on how to contend with private sector. Here we do ‘babu bashing’.While
the media in western countries critically examine projects, here the
analysis is barely minimal, if anything absent. Our country will reach
a higher trajectory of growth if we take care of our civil servants
and give them the full liberty nd opportunity to function well. One
example: 56 eyars back, 243 insurance companies were merged into a
single corporation. All these were achieved in just four years.
Becasuse there was good minisiterial leadrerhip, civil service
sustenance and management and employes were all ad idem on the
success. Now, two airlines could not be merged properly even after
five years. Why? Fine minisiterial leadership and civil service
cooperation are the two eyes of good governance.
Good this article has focused for public attention the travails of
civil servants. A reasonable tenure would do a lot for good
governance. Ultimatley, it is left to the wisdom of ministers.
Hopefully, they should understand that they cannto achieve much unelss
they get the best out of the civil servants. However, prescribing a
machienry consisting of a judge for adjudicating on needless transfers
would be a cumebrsome process. The role and importance of civil
servants is all the more needed since astronomcial amounts are
earmarked for infrastructure propjects. Even with the best of public
debate, public cannot do much to ensure good projects. The main
resonsibility for PPP projects to be successful falls heavily on civil
servants. It is they who have the facts and figures before them and
who can formulate contracts properly, ensure that the projects are
managed well and fully. It is they who ca n prevent ripping of public
aassets and draining of public revenues.
A frank and timely analysis: "[corrupt] officers, in tandem with
corrupt politicians, rule the roost and determine the careers of the
rest." As "pusillanimity and a moral crisis in the senior ranks"
continue to "defeat the very purpose of the service as intended by the
Constituent Assembly", serious questions need to be asked about (i)
whether the senior services can be turned around (ii) by whom exactly,
and how (iii) how deep and extensive is the rot - can a 'critical
mass' be salvaged, etc? IF the answers are not too encouraging, the
present patterns of administration will have to be changed! This need
not be a doomsday scenario!
There may be opportunities to 'update the colonial pattern of admin in
line with the needs of tomorrow’s India', including (a) emerging
centre/region balance (b) devolution of political decision making
closer to the people, while retaining central control of a few areas
(c) ensuring greater accountability/transparency/efficiency through e-
governance, etc.
The author has exposed the rot in the IAS and most of the Senior officers show their allegiance to the Government of the day to grab plum postings. Most of the District Collectors today are from state services, promoted to IAS after having served a minimum of 20years tenure and with the help of their political masters they prevent the direct IAS from serving at the District level. Officers like Arun Bhatia of Pune had to see frequent transfers for his uprightness. Thorough cleanup is the need of the hour.
Civil servants posted in highly volatile political milieu should be
given autonomy and security of tenure.such changes be introduced by the
Union executive in the states often marked by large administrative
transfers and reshuffles after the regime change.
In the view of common man most of the IAS have become and subservient to corrupt politicians.
IAS, IPS and similar roles must be given a security of tenure of atleast 2-3 years. The Supreme Court must force the executive to frame such guidelines. The practise of 'dedicated and like-minded bureaucracy' started by one of our Prime Ministers in 70's is killing our governance systems.
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