A recent demand of Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh that two officers -- Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, D. S. Guru, and Director General of Police P. S. Gill -- should resign as they are “hobnobbing” with the ruling Akali Dal for party tickets, has kick-started an important debate ahead of the Assembly polls.
Should a bureaucrat resign if he hobnobs with political parties or their masters? And if that happens, then how many babus would actually be able to save their jobs?
Ideally, the bureaucrat and the politician are supposed to work together as a team. In a democracy like ours, the agenda is ultimately set by the politicians, who represent the people, and the bureaucrats are supposed to work for the government -- regardless of the party in power. That doesn’t seem to be happening.
Over the years, what ought to have been teamwork has degenerated into cronyism. Only a small handful of IAS and IPS officers are known for their integrity and devotion to duty. Most others are known for their devotion to particular politicians.
These bureaucrats take full advantage of their proximity with politicians, cutting across party lines. In public life, they try to give an impression that they are not biased and remain committed to the Constitution of India and nation building. In private, though, the same officers have no problem in boasting of their closeness with certain politicians.
A former Punjab chief secretary once remarked: “In olden days, if a bureaucrat hobnobbed with politicians, he was labelled a black-sheep. Today, those who don’t are called black sheep.”
No one can sense the mood of the electorate better than these officers. For instance, ahead of the 2002 polls in Punjab, one could see how the bureaucrats started making a beeline before the Patiala palace where then Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh lived.
Some bureaucrats appointed themselves as self-styled advisers and got busy at the Palace with preparing the list of probable candidates for important positions in the next government. Even before Capt Singh took oath, the civil servants got their name-plates pasted in the Chief Minister’s Office. And they occupied the chairs before the CM issued formal orders.
In early 2007, the state Intelligence Bureau (IB) got a survey conducted on how would the political parties fare during the elections. A DGP-rank officer allegedly worked for the ruling Congress and played a key role in the allotment of tickets. To his credit, some of these candidates won the polls and the Sacha Sauda support almost brought the ruling party back to power.
However, within hours of the results getting out on the television channels, bureaucrats close to capt Singh lost hope, but for this ‘distinguished’ DGP. He kept reiterating till the end: “We’ll win”.
Many bureaucrats who could be seen around the Patiala Palace in 2002 were now making a beeline in front of the Sector 9 house of the Akali chief, Sukhbir Singh Badal in 2007. History was repeating itself. Soon after the formation of the Badal government, the bureaucrats assembled at the Sector 9 house, and even “acted” like the Principal Secretaries to the new CM, Parkash Singh Badal for over a week till the CM actually chose his Principal Secretary.Politicians do have regard for those who are efficient and don’t believe in wrongdoings. But over the years, the hunger for more and more power seems to have made the officers vulnerable. Often, it is seen that senior officers, including the Chief Secretary and the state DGP surrender themselves to their masters for personal gains. The ‘greed’ for more power in terms of getting party tickets, post-retirement jobs in different commissions and boards or government advisory bodies render some of the babus so flexible that they appear ‘boneless’.
A young officer enters service with a lot of vigour and zeal to serve the society and the nation, but the rot in the system dissuades them till they fall in line. When he sees he is getting no support from seniors who have fallen in line long ago, he also takes the easy way out. In the past, some young officers tried to set examples but then some of their own bosses coerced them to prove themselves ‘more loyal than the king’ before the political masters.
Many a times, it is the bureaucrat who teaches the master how to circumvent rules and it’s not always the other way around. So here is a question for the top bureaucracy: How many chief secretaries in the past 25 years have taken a stand to the extent of quitting their positions in support of their bureaucratic brethren and so as to support their own cadre to be vigilant and steadfast in their honesty of purpose?
Until reforms are brought about to make transfers and postings in the IAS more transparent, the situation is unlikely to improve. The hiring process, rule books, powers of exemptions, Acts, training methodology and the system of appraisal of bureaucrats also need to be reformed.It’s time all these are changed if the country wants an accountable and vibrant bureaucracy committed to serve the society and the nation.
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COURTESY:Manish Tiwari- EDITOR-IN-CHIEF,DAILY POST CHANDIGARH-AUG13,2011,
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