Reforming the civil services

Reforming the civil services

News:
1. Amitabha Bhattacharya, retired IAS officer, discussed his views on reforming the civil services and also discussed pros and cons of lateral entry into civil services.

Important facts:

1. Recently, the centre’s decision to seek applications from outstanding individuals to fill posts of Joint Secretary has raised many issues.
2. Retired bureaucrat has filed a petition in the Supreme Court against this decision.
3. The move was critized for the following reasons:
⦁ Many serving bureaucrats see this move as threatening their hegemony.
⦁ For some retiring officers the move is the beginning of the end of a “neutral and impartial” civil service with the likely induction of loyalists to the current dispensation.
⦁ It has also been argued that this marks the “privatization of the IAS”.
⦁ Private people may plant their people for influencing government policies.
1. The author discussed the functioning of the secretariat as follows:

⦁ In Cabinet system of government with collective responsibility, the secretariat plays a crucial role.
⦁ Higher bureaucracy in the secretariat examines proposals received from specialized departments/corporations and in consultation with other ministries and departments.
⦁ This is a complex consultative process for which detailed procedures have been formulated.
⦁ A Joint Secretary to the government has crucial “line” function to perform in policy formulation and its implementation.
⦁ The original proposal is often prepared by technical experts and sent to the “government”, the final decision rests with the Joint Secretary/ Additional Secretary, the Secretary and finally the Minister/Cabinet.
1. Generalist v. specialist
⦁ Terms like “professionalism”, “specialisation”, and “technical expertise” are often used vaguely and inter-changeably.
⦁ Specialists like engineers, doctors, agricultural scientists, lawyers have always had a substantial say in the decision-making process.
⦁ Besides, Secretaries to the Departments of Atomic Energy, Science & Technology, Scientific and Industrial Research, Health Research, and Agricultural Research have always been scientists of eminence.
⦁ Similarly, in departments like the Railways, Posts, etc., all senior positions are manned by Indian Railway or Postal Service officers.
Demerits of lateral entry:
⦁ Such lateral entrants may be increased with time and that the political leadership, by creating a ‘divide and rule’ mechanism, would further demoralise the ‘steel frame of governance’.
⦁ In the garb of recruiting outstanding individuals, politically indoctrinated persons will be inducted into the system.
⦁ These fears could have been allayed by letting the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) handle the recruitment process, after defining the job requirements more explicitly.

Way ahead:
⦁ The government must ensure that only candidates, the likes of whom are not available in the existing system, are appointed.
⦁ If they turn out to be truly outstanding, there should be provisions to induct them permanently in the government, with approval of the UPSC, and consider them for higher postings.
⦁ Ideas have also been advanced for IAS and other officers to gain work experience, for a limited period, in the private sector.
⦁ The automatic mode of every member of the higher services reaching the top echelons requires a hard look.
⦁ The lateral entry scheme, if implemented properly, may foster more competitive spirit, break the complacency of the higher civil servants and eventually prove to be a pioneering initiative in public interest.