Civil services, which were once looked upon as a fortuitous opportunity to serve the country, have seen a deterioration of values over a period, former Chief Election Commissioner T. S. Krishnamurthy said here on Friday.
Addressing the launch of the second edition of former civil servant G. Sundaram's autobiographical critique of the civil services, ‘Plight of Honesty,' at Landmark, Mr. Krishnamurthy noted that it was said that the nexus between bureaucracy, politicians and businesses was worse than that between criminals and politicians. “And, after six decades of Independence, the state of governance in India was not something to be entirely proud of,” Mr. Krishnamurthy said.
He pointed out that the common man still could not access several services, even though several innovations could be implemented in reaching governance to the masses.
Noting that working in a government job was not easy and working in New Delhi even more difficult, the former CEC said the author was an exception to the ilk of bureaucrats who, over a period, do not maintain poise and simplicity and turn arrogant and indifferent.
S. Gopalakrishnan, history professor, said the book, in essence, could be described as free-flowing, frank and fearless.
Mr. Sundaram said it was enthusing that the book, which had evoked mixed response from bureaucrats, was going into a second edition. This was a rarity for books written by civil servants.
The second edition incorporates a preface and excerpts from a few reviews.
