Kill 19th Century Bureaucracy To Keep India Alive

On Independence Day this year, Indians heard Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that his Government’s motto “is to reform, perform and transform”. On September 1, the US- headquartered think-tank, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, noted: “India’s economy has grown rapidly in recent years, but the country’s bureaucratic quality is widely perceived to be either stagnant or in decline.” I think it is time to relook at overhauling the bureaucracy if we wish to realize the vision of Modi’s idea of India. Our country needs speed, efficiency and effectiveness in its entire chain of command. This is the prerequisite for realizing the vision of the greatest statesman of India.

- Rajendra Pratap Gupta

India has had a mixed bag of experience with its bureaucracy in implementing some of the key announcements by our Prime Minister, Narendra Modi and the Government’s commitments in the budget for the year 2016-17.

The reasons why our bureaucracy fails are many. Unlike politicians, who have to go to electors every five years seeking their votes as an approval for their performance in office, bureaucrats come up with their demands for “seniority-based promotions” and a defined retirement age. Hence, they are least bothered about their official performance reviews since their good Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) are “managed”.

The general approach of most bureaucrats, according to keen observers, is to “control” and “gov- ern”. They do not “work as a team” for the country’s development. The majority of these bureaucrats work for themselves. The bureaucrats have their egos, differences, grudges and dislikes for their colleagues. So there has never been a “team approach” in whatever they do and this drags the performance of the Government.

Bureaucrats are more “proce- dure-driven” than “outcome-driv- en”. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on May 9, 2016 that it took him a nine month wait for an approval for an automated parking. When this is the experience of Gadkariji, who is known for being really fast in getting things done within the bureaucracy, we can well imagine what problems other Ministers must be facing!

So the time has come for the Government to overhaul the administrative system. Our biggest failure in 2019 will be the inefficient and unaccountable bureaucracy in India.

APPRAISAL SYSTEM