Bureaucracy: A Matter Of Propreity

Adhering to norms and protocols is the only way civil servants can protect themselves from political pressures

- Kaushik Deka

The recent unsavoury public spat between the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the West Bengal government of chief minister Mamata Banerjee over an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer is not the first such episode in the history of Centre-state relations. There have been numerous such face-offs between the central and state governments over the posting, reward or punishment of a civil servant. Often, these are fuelled by political motives.

However, if public administration experts are to be believed, the latest conflict over Alapan Bandyopadhyay, the now-retired chief secretary of West Bengal—triggered by an incident on May 28 when the prime minister visited the state—has highlighted a worrisome trend in the country’s governance structure. While the founders of the Constitution envisaged the bureaucracy as an apolitical institution, civil servants are increasingly getting embroiled in political conflicts involving the leaders of different parties and governments and, often, even within the same party and government.

They are forced into these conflicts because of their vulnerability to the political executive. At times, they are also driven to please their political masters by desperation for career advancement. The result is the increasing politicisation of civil servants, dividing the service vertically along lines of ideology or political allegiance. “Politicians often use this fragility of civil servants to seek better or cushier postings to break their resilience,” says Ajay Dua, a former secretary in the Union ministry for industry and commerce. “The younger bureaucrat will observe who gets the reward—those adhering to the rulebook or those showing allegiance to their political masters.”