Need for Reforming Indian Administrative System – Social Issue Essay, Article for Class 12, Graduation and Competitive Examination.

Need for Reforming Indian Administrative System

Scheme of The Essay

Exposition: After structural reforms in India in 1991 no thought has been given to administrative reforms.

Rising Action: During the last fifty years the situation in two areas- the political and administrative system has worsened.

Climax:

(1) The system failed to come close to the changing needs.

(2) The selection system for IAS has deteriorated.

(3) There is a need for Lok Pal for higher cadre services.

(4) Administrators must update their knowledge.

(5) Training for the administration must be comprehensive and meaningful.

(6) Posting technocrats under other administrations is not desirable.

Ending: There should be a national debate on the subject.

When the country went in for major structural reforms to usher in a new era of modernisation and globalisation in 1991, little thought was given to such reforms in the functioning of our bureaucracy.

Deplorably, in the past 50 years, the areas where the situation, instead of improving, has become worse are the (a) political system and (b) bureaucracy. This is demonstrated in the working of the liberalisation process and the hurdles that continue to persist.

When the British ruled this country, they created the ICS system of bureaucracy mainly to make the legal and administrative affairs transparent so that governance was smooth and without opposition. The British interest was not beyond strict local administration and maintenance of law and order. The ICS officers were clean, honest, and unapproachable by the politicians (in fact the politicians often held these bureaucrats in great awe and kept their distance). The officers were above corruption and nepotism.

After Independence, the IAS (or civil service) came into being on the ICS model, except that the letter ‘C’ was replaced by ‘A’ to distinguish the swadeshi brand of bureaucrats from their counterpart, the videshi brand. The overall system, however, remained the same.

The system failed to come close to the changing needs of administration in a free society. In the next five decades, a thorough review of the system to bring it to the level especially required to serve well the growing aspirations and needs of the emerging society. has not been done.

No meaningful debate on the functioning of this system has been initiated. The same traditional system of selection through examination conducted on a commercial scale followed by interviews where the standards have come down is followed. Under ICS, the standards were high and those selected possessed a high caliber. They were imparted rigorous training. The IAS did not adopt these norms.

Further, over some time, the IAS selection system has deteriorated. The loyalty of the officers, these days, leans towards their political bosses, away from the country and its people. It is well known that postings, transfers, promotions, and several other activities linked to the civil service are controlled by politicians.

It is therefore time to indulge in soul-searching to put the country’s administrative service in top gear. Here are some suggestions.

First, the current selection system needs to be drastically changed. One fails to understand why there should be a combined competitive examination, called IAS and allied services; the latter refers to a large number of other services ranging from the IFS. IPS and down to the secretarial services. The functioning of other services is quite different from the IAS which is a class apart. If this exclusive status is to be maintained, the selection of officers should be delinked from allied services. This means that a separate strategy has to be adopted. Norms should be tough and the routine examination system replaced with one that covers all the areas to ensure that the country has the best brains. Secondly, reservations should be given up. Entry should be only on merit. In fact, reservation should be scrupulously avoided in the case of IFS and IPS services too.

Thirdly, political interference should be curbed, as it has diluted the overall quality of IAS services, especially so, because there has been a steady decline in the quality of the politicians. The IAS officers have to deal directly with these leaders whose interests are widely different from those of their better-educated, more experienced, and enlightened predecessors. The standard of administration has come down and several IAS officers have to compromise with the personal interest of a new breed of politicians.

This, in fact, is the worst fall-out of the developments on the political front. Cases of high corruption, nepotism, and favouritism are often reported against the IAS officers. In fact, the more ambitious among the officers are even keen to supersede their seniors and they know that this is possible only by faithfully obeying the orders of their political masters. Little surprise that several of these officers are even prepared to face a humiliating situation before a Minister if it will serve their purpose.

There is a need for Lok Pal exclusively for the redressal of grievances of the higher cadre services where quick action should be taken to protect the interests of honest, upright, and dutiful officers. Those found guilty should be severely dealt with.

Here it might be worthwhile to emulate the Japanese example of creating an independent, non-political administrative personnel agency- the National Personnel Authority (NPA) which is basically “responsible for establishing standards of entry into public service, comprehensive qualifying exams and compensation and disciplinary action. It is an autonomous non-political central agency, which insulates the civil service from the political process and ensures its operational autonomy.”

Fourthly, the IAS officer is expected to be well-informed about current developments, especially in the field of public administration, and be conversant with the changes occurring in the economic and social system at home and elsewhere in the world. But the fact is that only a few officers qualify. Most of them bask in the protection of their political bosses who make sure that the officers get their promotions on time.

During the Nehru era, the administrators were often exhorted to update themselves with the latest developments by reading books and journals. They were often required to participate in national-level programs, seminars, and workshops, and even write papers and reports. keeping pace with the developments. This is a forgotten practice with only a handful of officers interested in

The functioning of the Indian Institute of Public Administration and the Administrative Staff College besides the administrative institutes in the States should be evaluated and made fit to meet the rising demand for training programmes. Last, every State has created a network of corporations for the promotion of industry, trade, and social development spending several hundred crores of rupees. Do these bodies play a useful role apart from offering posts to those politicians who cannot find ministerial positions? also, all of these bodies have IAS officers as their managing directors or chief executives who enjoy vast administrative, financial, and recruitment powers.

There is a virtual race among the bureaucrats to occupy such berths as can only be achieved through political pulls and favours. But then where is the need to set up these bodies which are not headed by experts?

In fact, the practice of posting bureaucrats who are not qualified in the subject and placing technocrats under them is highly unreasonable. A clear-cut policy of posting only technocrats as heads of organisations should be adopted.

It is time to launch a national debate about the reforms required in the IAS and other top services. The government should set up a high-power body with experts mainly from the non-government sector to scrutinise the issue.