Essay, Paragraph or Speech on “Challenges before a Civil Servant Today” Complete Essay, Speech for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

Challenges before a Civil Servant Today

In the plethora of problems afflicting the body politic in India, the role of bureaucracy poses a grave challenge to democracy. In the present state of criminalisation of politics; bureaucrats are always at the receiving end. In countries like Mexico, the administrators virtually live in fear; we are fast reaching that stage if the present-day pressures on civil servants are not eased.

That sums up about the major challenges that a civil servant faces today. In any democracy, the bureaucracy has to be strong enough to withstand changes in the political hierarchy in order to make the institution survive. Politicians, at the helm of affairs, come and go with alarming regularity. It is only the bureaucracy that holds the nation together by formulating long-term policies and implementing them. Regrettably, no political party in the country is prepared to concede even a modicum of independence to its civil servants—called the steel frame of administration. How does one possibly expect them to uphold their cherished ambitions and values of serving the nation to the best of their ability ?

The essential functions of a civil servant are counseling the political bosses in their need for making the right decisions for the general good and common welfare. It comprises laying down the policy guidelines and then implementing them without fear or favour. A civil servant has to be objective, fair and dispassionate in the discharge of his duties. A civil servant, imbued with zeal and enthusiasm, soon finds, however, that all his sincere efforts of being useful to the society come to naught on account of political interference in his day-to-day working. His enthusiasm wanes. Either he works in tandem with his ever-changing political bosses or treats his job as a routine one. In both the cases, the people at large suffer.

Another major challenge that a civil servant faces today is in the context of fast-expanding role of the Government in the economic, social and scientific spheres. A civil servant is up against the handicaps and inbuilt structural flaws in the system. Since he works under anonymity, most of his problems are not known to the people. His code of conduct also prohibits him from airing his feelings, disappointments and the resultant frustration. The system, as it exists today, fails to tap the full potential of the civil servants.

Then, there is the issue of excessive centralisation. Ministers sit tight on vital policy matters. As a result, their implementation is slow and tardy; sometimes, there is no implementation at all. Autonomy of the civil servants, as it prevails in the United Kingdom (from where we have inherited our bureaucratic system) and other countries, is conspicuous by its absence in India. Our civil servants are greatly handicapped in the discharge of their day-to-day functions as political intervention, even in minor cases, makes their job unenviable. Our civil servants are subservient to the Executive, which is not the case in other countries. A civil servant today has to work in conditions which make his work burdensome and unbearable.

A newly-recruited civil servant is full of dynamism and hope. In the course of time, he gets discouraged and bogged down by irritating details. There is yawning communication gap between him and his bosses. When he attains seniority, he finds his subordinates lacking in commitment and zeal. He find them indifferent and indolent. So, he keeps marking time till the day of his retirement or superannuation. If he has kept his political bosses pleased, he may get a plum assignment in India or abroad. Otherwise he just slips into anonymity.

The rare few who can overcome the inbuilt inadequacies and bottlenecks in the system, definitely do leave a mark in the civil services. They are remembered long after they have laid down the reins of office. This is what should inspire our present-day civil servants to put their best foot forward in tackling the challenges facing them. More than anything else, they should keep the good and welfare of the masses as their sole objective in discharging their responsibilities, if they are to be of any use to the society.