Honourable Prime Minister Sir,
Date:28/05/2012
In my previous letter, I mentioned the critical
state of bureaucracy.In this letter I am going to discuss at length the
innovative measures which we need to adopt to infuse vitality in bureaucratic
system .The reforms need to be all-encompassing.They must change everything
right from recruitment procedure,interviews,service conditions,promotions,performance
appraisal.I am going to discuss the important and urgent ones.This exercise
needs an intense research.One letter is not enough.
1)The civil service recruits for any particular year must be a diverse
group.Candidates can also be taken from other systems of education.In the
present system almost all the recruits come from UPSC examination system.The
government needs to bring in lateral entry system.There are many Indian
students who after doing their undergraduate studies go to places like Harvard,
Cornell, Fletcher school etc to do their Graduate courses(Masters).They do
their graduate courses in public policy(M.P.A and M.P.P,(Masters in public
affairs and public policy).They can be brought in civil services.There is no
need to make them write civil service exams as they are already
specialised in public affairs.I have seen their profiles and course
structures.Their courses include latest things like conflict
resolition,international development,international trade policy,food,public
health, nutrition and agricultral studies,middle east studies, NGO management
etc.These students have a good work experience with civil society,global NGOs
like Oxfam, international organisations like U.N, IFC, African Union, ASEAN.They
are equipped with latest trends in technology, public policy and have the
potential to work with a progressive mindset which does not get influenced with
factors like caste,communal attitudes etc in decision-making.They have a good
exposure to different cultures and countries which gives them a broad and
liberal mindset.Apart from this they are highly motivated and passionate for
their work.They have the potential to become leaders in their fields.They have
a democratic and modern style of functioning which makes them more suitable to
work with a productive and healthy co-operation with private sector and civil
society.These students are very sensetive towards issues like human
rights,gender equality so they will effectively implement new government
legislations like those on domestic violence,human rights issues,female
feoticide etc.They will be more comfortable with globalising trends and their
style of functioning will be very smooth for private sector.
They
can be made to write simple Statement of Purpose in which they can be asked to
mention the reasons for joining civil services or diplomatic services or
revenue services etc and then candidates can be shortlisted who, be subjected
to a rigourous interview.The finally selected candidates can be given an
orientation course and sent to their field postings.In revenue services most of
the people are those who do not get IAS,IPS or IFS.It is not out of
choice.Sometimes the scene becomes quite funny.A person passing UPSC exam with
Hindi literature and sociology is made a tax official or a candidate scoring
400(out of 600) in Pali literature and performing poor in other papers get IFS
just because of his rank.I have personally known seniors from my college who
had a strong bent of mind for foreign services.Many of them had international
exposure and some of them were Rhodes finalists but they got I.P.S just because
they had one or two marks less than than the required.They are hardly intrested
but they join because the perks ,power and monetary charms are terrific.One can
not resist them.We can do one simple thing.UPSC can invite applications from
people who have some background in finance,taxation(like CAs),management,law
etc for the following services:
a)Indian Revenue Services(IT)
b)Indian Revenue services (customs and central exice and service
tax)
c)Indian Audit and Accounts Services
d)Indian Trade Service
e)Indian Corporate Law Service
Then the officers can be selected on the
basis of SOP and interview.
Similarly,
in railways government can hire best management graduates from
Stanford,Yale,Wharton etc.This can also be done on the basis of SOP and
interview.
The
recent measure of introducing a seperate exam for entry into IPS ,for state
police officers,CPOs,Military officers is a welcome step.
One more
thing which government can do is that those Indian students who get admissions
in MPA and foreign policy courses in Harvard,Cornell,Georgetown etc can be made
to sign a bond to join IAS,IFS in lieu of government sponsoring their
studies.It will be a great attraction and they will be back to india with their
talent.Most of them get placement in think tanks like Brookings Institution or
with international organisations like world bank,U.N,IFC or with multinational
organisations.So we need to bring in something to lure them.This will also
solve the problem of brain drain.Most of these students work abroad because
they have no work here.Some of them do work with NGOs but they are like
internships or volunteerships for work experience.The are an ambitious lot so
things like opportunites of learning,financial rewards chances of progress are
also an important criteria for them.Some of my friends who wanted to work in
public services dropped the idea when they found that after doing public policy
they will have to go through a rigorous and tedious 2 years-long examination process.So they
preferred lucrative jobs abroad which were easily gettable.Recently Fareed
Zakaria wrote that a small nation like New zealand has 11000 diplomats and
India has little more than 600 diplomats.This is India's age in IR.If we
wish to play a leader's role, a game changer's role then we need to improve the
quality of our diplomats and raise their numbers too.Similarly in IAS also
there is a shortage of 1700 officers so I believe that this is the right time
and we just need to think beyond customs,conventions and history.
In
Rajasthan, I saw a Tribal Research Institute is headed by an IAS.It is almost a
defunct body, where no research takes place.We can get some good academician to
head the body.It can have it's fellows,invite scholars from foreign
universities and come out as a great think tank in our policy making but for
that the bureaucrats need to say good bye to it.NRHM Rajasthan is headed by an
IAS,who is just a graduate,with hardly 10 yrs of experience with no background
in public health.NRHM has become just one of the laid back government departments
stuffed by lazy and unscruplous clerks, and a boss who is hardly
intrested.Should'nt we get someone who is an expert in public health,sociology,management
and public policy and has a good record of working with global non-profit
organizations or with U.N relief works or with local civil society..He could
either be a local official with good experience in public health or some
public health professional from some place like LSHTM or John Hopkins
university(which has an outstanding public health department).In tourism also
we can hire professionals as secretary tourism or directors.We can get people
from management ,advertisement world.Infact a policy making body including
leading hoteliers,professionals from the field of culture and tourism and
government officers can be created.
When
United States can appoint its professors as policy advisors like Vali Nasr,
Francis Fukuyama,Madliene Albright etc then why can't we do it.Recently USA
appointed Brett Mcgurk as envoy to Iraq just because he is on friendly
terms with Noori-Al-Maliki .He is an attorney and is not from the
diplomatic service.Why can't we do the same thing?We can appoint Mr Ved Pratap
Vedic as envoy to Afghanistan.We can send Brahma chellaneys,Narayan Murthys and
other eminent and able luminaries as our ambassadors and consul-generals.When
private institutions like ORF and Reliance Foundations can get best professionals
from Harvard and Cambridge then our government also can and must do it.Just a
good leader who can think beyond set procedures and protocols is needed.
A very
important benifit of this exercise will be that it will put an end to cadre
based loyalties which is a major cause of present infighting among the
bureaucracy.It will also deal a major blow to mindset which prevails now in the
babuworld i.e the mindset based on strict heirarchy.We can get CEOs of Indian
MNCs and development sector executives on deputation in government and send
government officers on deputation in private sector and non-profit organisations.It
will help in cross-fertilisation of ideas.If these dynamic professionals from
lateral entry are brought in civil services then the candidates who come
through UPSC exam will get a chance to interact and share ideas,wisdom and
experiences with people with diverse skills and diverse backgrounds.It will
make bureaucracy vibrant and dynamic.
2) The 2nd
domain of change should be the examination system.The CSAT is a great
respite but still a lot needs to be done in General Studies paper.The idea
should not be to make the paper tough and inconvinient for candidates but the
paper should make sure that whoever comes has a good understanding of Indian
history,geography,culture,ethnic groups,environment,international relations etc.Regarding
the mains exam I will not comment because UPSC is already changing the pattern.But
still I personally feel that the duration of the whole examination process is
bit too long(about 2 years)The process is such that the candidate can not even
seek other employment in this duration.And at the end of it if the candidate
passes two stages i.e prelims and mains and does not succeed in the interview
he has to repeat the whole process again.If after giving 2 or 3 interviews the
candidate fails to make it in the list of successful ones than at 26 or 28
years of age he has nothing in his hand.So, a)The duration of the whole process
should be reduced.
b)If a
person appears for the interview then atleast he should be exempted from the
prelims in his remaining attempts.He should be exempted from prelims and mains
exam for his state civil services and allowed to appear directly for interview
in his state civil services.
c)If an
aspirant who appears for the interview even once then he should be awarded a
Masters degree in Government,administration and public policy so that he can
fetch a good employment elsewhere in private sector,media or non profit sector
on the basis of this degree.He will have some satisfaction.
d)There is
no point in continuing languages as optional.It creates a lot of disparities
and even otherwise it does not make much sense to carve diplomats,admistrators
and police officials from language experts.
e) Infact
the idea of separate optionals in this age of multi-disciplinary courses is
redundant.There must be a set of commen papers like public
administration,economics,portions of law,history,geography and
culture,political theory,philosophy,science and technology and situational analysis
etc.In mains papers the intention should be to know the conceptual
understanding and practical applications of knowledge.If this is the idea while
setting question papers then candidates with coaching notes and rote learning
will never be able to qualify.
f)The
interview should carry a higher weightage in final selections.It should be much
more detailed and rigourous process lasting for month(subjecting candidates to
different kinds of tests and exercises and keeping them under observation.The
idea is to find out the real intention for joining the civil services and test
the candidate’s abilities like his reaction and behaviour in crisis
situations,his skills in public relations,his ability to work in a team and his
temperament etc)Finally the interview board should recommend candidates for
different services in accordance with their calibre.
g)UPSC
should include members from the private sector and civil society also apart
from academicians and civil servants
h)The maximum age limit for writing this
exam should be made equal for all categories i.e SC,ST,OBC and General.The
upper limit for writing the exam should not be more than 30.
Another
factor which produces worst kind uncertainities and disasters is the scaling
system.I have come across people scoring 70% in paper 1 and 20% in paper too
after performing brilliantly.If we have a common paper system this ill can can
be cured.
Something more
radical:
Sir,few years back you sujjested that civil service exam should be
conducted after class 12th.I fully agree with you on this.Then they should be
made to go through 5 yr training.I am going to add one more thing to this.With
this post 12th class exam, the exam should also be allowed to be taken after
graduation,Just like we have NDA and CDS for army.Those who write after
graduation should be made to undergo 2 year training(one year foundation course
and one year specialised concentration coursework)The training modules should
be designed keeping in mind international developments and domestic
requirements.The training must have some compulsory internships with N.G.Os
working at grassroot level,private sector,media groups,international organizations
and think tanks.The services should be alloted after the foundation course(1st
year)on the basis of candidate's performance in 1st year,his intrests and
recommendation made by the interview board at the time of the
interview.(Interview board should be asked to recommend candidates for
different services).At the end of the training the recruits should be made to
write an exam.It should be made compulsory to get certain basic level in those
exams.
Age limit for writing the civil services exam
should not be more than 30 for all the categories and number of attempts should
be not more than 4 for all categories so that students don't waste their life
in shacks of mukarjee nagar(Delhi
3) The 3rd
domain of change should be service conditions and organisational structure.The
idea of life long security of tenure should be put to an end immediately.There
must be 7 yearly review of performance of the bureaucrats and status quoism
should be punished by throwing the no-workers and other black sheep out.The
creativity,dedication,honesty and innovation should be rewarded by
promotions,fellowships and awards.Merit should replace the system of time bound
promotions.
Something
more radical:
In states, I have seen that IAS/IPS officers
after spending 2 years of probation get posted as collectors and S.P or DCPs
These days i come across 23- 25 years old district heads who behave like
teenagers from bollywood movies.They work as bosses of officers from state
services(police and administrative) who are 50 plus in age and have vast
experience,wisdom and ability. They are totally dependent on subordinates.In
such a state how can we expect them to provide good leadership.Leadership
requires both knowledge with some amount of expertise and experience.These new
recruits have none.These new recruits come out as failures in field
postings.Recent communal killings in Gopalgarh(Rajasthan) are an example of
this.The SP who mismanaged the situation has a record of failure in every
district,even facing departmental inquiries for corrouption within 5 yrs of
service.These young officers when posted as bosses of experienced state service
officials feel that they are devinely chosen autocrats and power is what they
are meant to enjoy and they have nothing to learn.They carry this arrogance and
ignorance up the ladder when they are appointed as secretaries.The nation will
benifit if these young officers work in the field as subordinates of state
service officials as they will gain from their experience.The must be made to
work in mofussil areas for atleast 7 years and then only appointed as
collectors and SPs
Something
revolutionary:
In fact, we should just put an end to this
ridiculous system of recruitment at two levels i.e in state civil services and
Indian civil services.In the long run this system needs to be out as it breeds
hierarchy,inefficiency and frustration.UPSC can be transformed into Federal
Civil Service Commission(FCSC) and we can name the services as Federal civil
service,Federal Police service etc.In administration all officers should be recruited
as SDMs and in police services they should be appointed as Deputy Suprintendent
of police.(It includes their probation as Tehsildars,BDOs and Sub inspectors
and Inspectors in Police)Below these posts all recruitments should be done by
state public service commissions.In the promotions the merit should be given
it's due importance so that if one gets recruited as S.I can rise to S.P.We
should do away with the system of time bound promotions .In secretary level
appointments in administrative services,revenue and diplomatic services the
lateral entry system should be adopted with a generous heart.
Our nation can afford
coalition tremors,lack of consensus over lokpal,black money, but the poor
people of this country can not afford a bad ground level governance.If we get
people who are bright ,honest and passionate in civil services then atleast we
assure good governance to people.While putting a final fullstop to my ranting
two names come to my mind :.Mr V.P Menon who began his career as stenographer
and went on to become home secretary of India and Mr K.R Narayanan, who,recommended
by Harold Laski was appointed in Indian Foreign Service.Can we see this
happening in India in near future? I hope we will have more Menons and
Narayanans in future.
With a request to take a big leap forward, I end this letter.
Yours sincerely
Abhinav Pandya
MPA,Cornell
University
St.Stephens’ college
No comments:
Post a Comment