Civil Service as Agent of Change and Progress:
The civil service is the linchpin of our parliamentary system of democracy based on executive accountability to legislature. As the implementing agency of the Government, it is looked upon by people, political parties and all stakeholders of our governance system to deliver services with speed, efficiency and honesty. In a country like India where multiple loyalties of a civil servant to family, religion, caste, state, language, etc., come on the way of his or her conduct, it becomes exceedingly difficult to respond to the call of duty with an impartial attitude. It has been said that, “It demands of the good bureaucrat an almost superhuman indifference to all his old connections, an almost superhuman capacity to stand apart from the old differences of society around him, and the pleasure of family and friends and group”.
In fact, generations of civil servants deserve compliments for having upheld the legacy of service to the nation, society and people with reasonable degree of fairness and competence. There are of course aberrations. Departure from principles and ethics and compromises made by some of the civil servants has brought disrepute to the tradition of civil service. In spite of the isolated examples of ethical deficit, the civil service merits admiration for its assigned role for carrying forward the task of nation building. There is no hesitation in saying that a civil servant driven by the spirit of service and sense of purpose and probity can do much more for people than the politician. It is, therefore, extremely important to underline the significance of civil service as an agent of change and progress. There is imperative need to focus on its positive role and highlight its constructive dimensions.
The founder of the civil service structure of independent India Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel while pacifying the anger of the Members of the Constituent Assembly towards civil servants of that time, thoughtfully stated, “Do not quarrel with the instrument with which you want to work. It is a bad workman who quarrels with the instrument. Nobody wants to put in work when he is criticized and ridiculed in public.” Our first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, referring to the civil servants had said, “It is necessary for public servants to fit in respect of larger policies. It is further necessary for them to participate imaginatively in the process and objectives of national construction.”
Civil Servants as Managers and Facilitators:
I think the imaginative exercise of the responsibilities by the civil servants is the call of the hour. The protection to the civil servant enshrined in our statutes and laws is meant to enable the civil servant to be more imaginative and forward looking. In the twenty first century India, the civil servants are expected to be both managers and facilitators. Our Twelfth Five Year Plan is all set to provide a blueprint for our progress and development based on public-private partnership model. This does not mean that the state is withdrawing. Rather the state is creatively engaging itself in enlisting the participation of other players in nation building. It is shedding its monopoly and providing space to many other capable and efficient stakeholders.
Restoration of Moral Momentum will Strengthen Civil Service:
The functioning of the governance system gets severely crippled in the absence of probity and integrity on the part of all those engaged in the task of nation building. Of late the issue of ethical and governance deficit is exercising all concerned. It is important for all of us including civil servants to boldly face this challenge. What is required is the restoration of the moral momentum. The exemplary conduct of one civil servant quite often inspires the whole nation. Look at the way in which people of the Malkangiri district of Orissa came to the streets spontaneously demanding the release of the district collector who was kidnapped by the naxalites. The good work done by the civil servant made an impact on the national consciousness. Just imagine if a critical mass of civil servants set up such examples of efficiency and ethical conduct, then what a transformation it would cause positively impacting the attitude of people to civil service and executive.
Corruption will be out one day:
Corruption must be checked. It hinders our accelerated growth, dilutes social inclusion, tarnishes our image and causes harm to ordinary citizens of our country. It is foolish to think that unethical practices resorted to behind the scenes would remain under wraps for all time to come. Public has an uncanny sense of knowing what is happening. Civil servants must remain tuned to the ever rising and asserting public opinion for a society free of corruption.
As early as 1928, Mahatma Gandhi had written that corrupt practices would eventually be brought to the public knowledge and any attempt to cover them would meet with failure. Writing in Young India on 6 December 1928, he prophetically stated, “Corruption will be out one day, however much one may try to conceal it: and the public can, as it is its right and duty in every case of justifiable suspicion, call its servants to strict account, dismiss them, sue them in a law court, or appoint an arbitrator or inspector to scrutinize their conduct, as it likes”.
Stress on Lokpal and Lokaukta institutions:
The Government is engaged in dealing with ethical deficit in a more determined manner. Apart from relying on the Group of Ministers which has been set up to look into legal and administrative matters to tackle the menace of corruption, it has entered into a dialogue with civil society as part of wider consultation process to finalise the Lokpal Bill. Several legislative proposals have been set in motion to address the challenge of corruption. If the Judicial Accountability Bill and the protection of Whistle Blowers Bill are made laws, these will strengthen our efforts to fight the menace of corruption. The Government is proposing to introduce a new Bill on Civil Service very soon. In nineteen States and Union Territories of our country, the institution of Lokayuktas is already functioning. This is quite a heartening trend. It important for other States and Union Territories to have such mechanisms to deal with corruption with an iron hand.
Scientists and Administrators took forward Green Revolution:
Let us recall the examples of great civil servants whose roles in transforming our country are written in golden letters. We would not have been able to reap dividends from Green Revolution without harmoniously blending the leadership qualities of our administrators and agricultural scientists. The late C. Subramaniam, who became Agriculture Minister in Lal Bahadur Shastri’s Cabinet, first summoned the agricultural scientists after he took oath of office. Usually, the Ministers on resuming their work first meet the Secretaries and other bureaucrats. But, he departed from the set tradition and instead chose to give preference to agricultural scientist over bureaucrats. After gaining the firsthand knowledge from the scientists, he wanted a particular bureaucrat, who was Chief Secretary of Orissa then, as Agriculture Secretary.
The combined leadership of both, civil servants and agricultural scientists, set in motion the historic Green Revolution which helped us to achieve self-sufficiency in food grain production just in five years. All these accounts are part of late Shri C. Subramaniam’s memoirs which every civil servant must read. In fact, it has been said that India’s achievement in ensuring self-sufficiency in food grain production in 1971 was more important than man walking on the moon in the same year.
Such bright spots from our history of nation building must form part and parcel of our curricula for training civil servants. The best practices from history and the present day life need to be carefully studied to make civil service more result oriented and ethically correct.
At a time when we are growing at an impressive 8.5 per cent, in spite of the bottlenecks caused by the international financial crisis and inflationary pressure, we need pool our talents from among civil service, the private sector and the civil society to forge ahead to scale new heights.
Even as India commands attention from the rest of the world as a rising power, we have to be mindful of the fact that at least 33 per cent of our population is afflicted with poverty. When we got independence, our population was around 33 crores. This means the number of people, who are poverty stricken now, equal the size of the population at the time of independence. Due to our democracy, free press and a dynamic civil service, we have provided a framework of stability so that we could grow and attain higher stature.
Few days back, i.e., on 14 April the country celebrated the birth day of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who was the Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Constituent Assembly. In one of his insightful interventions in the Assembly, he had prophetically said that whether the Government did provide good governance or not, whether the Government did address the grievances of the people or not, it would have to provide a stable Government without which the unity and integrity of India would be compromised. Our hard owned freedom cannot be put at stake by encouraging instability and festering corruption. This is a big challenge both to the civil service and to the entire system. We cannot hide the problems of people under the cover of stability. In fact, if aspirations of the people are met, we will enlist their willing cooperation and participation which is the strength of this great nation.
Civil Servants must Innovate themselves:
It is in this context that we need to carry forward the task of decentralization which is an antidote to corruption. Simplification of law and adoption of appropriate technology go a long way in reaching out to people and establishing a clean society. The decade beginning with 2010 and ending with 2020 is dedicated to the cause of innovation. At every sphere of our nation building, we need to innovate ourselves for achieving faster rate of growth which would benefit all. The civil service has to adopt itself to the evolving and changing ethos of innovation. In performing their multiple roles as administrators, managers and facilitators they can be of immense help to the whole system.
Steel Frame and Moral Momentum:
Long years back, while fighting for our freedom, Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of our Nation, had written an article on Civil Servants under the caption, ‘The Steel Frame’. He satirically observed in that article that the civil servants dealt with people without any feeling, emotion or concern. He observed that they were as hard and unmoved as steel to understand the problems of people and thereby living by the literal meaning of the phrase “steel frame”. Over the years the situation has changed. We have today a relatively responsive civil service. While reaching out to people and ensuring the stability of governance it is adjusting to the new conditions generated by globalization, market economy and the culture of transparency. It is important, therefore, for the civil servants to exhibit exemplary honesty in their public and private life. The ethical deficit which the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh referred to while interacting with the editors of Television News Channels can be greatly addressed if the civil servants remain honest and clean.
It is exceedingly difficult to bring about the change in the instrument which is meant to change society. It can be done in suitably modifying the pre-service and in-service training programmes. More than anything else, it is the moral and ethical orientation of the civil servants which can make the civil service more bold and result orinted.
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# The author was OSD and Press Secretary to the late President of India Shri K.R.Narayanan and served as Director in the Prime Minister’s Office. He is currently Joint Secretary in the Rajya Sabha Secretariat. The views expressed by the author are his personal views.
–Source: Facenfacts.com