BUREAUCRACY - POLITY
News:
‘IAS officers vulnerable to political pressure, affects their autonomy’
What's in the news?
● At
an event organized by a forum of civil servants in the Capital, challenges
facing the Indian Administrative Service were discussed.
● The
biggest problem the civil services is facing
is the lack of courage among bureaucrats, who also find themselves vulnerable to political pressure, an
Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer said here at an event.
Bureaucracy:
● Bureaucracy
is the backbone of the administrative
machinery of the country.
● Indian
Bureaucracy forms the permanent
executive branch of the Government.
● The
main role of bureaucracy is to preserve national
unity and integrity.
● They
also have played a crucial role in many national activities such as the conduct
of free and fair elections, disaster response, construction and maintenance of
critical infrastructures such as highways and railways.
Constitutional Provisions:
1. Article 310:
● It
enshrines that civil servants of the Union and All-India Services are appointed by the President of India and
civil servants at the state level are appointed by the Governor of the state.
● They
continue to hold office as per the pleasure of the President and Governor,
respectively. Therefore, they have the security
of tenure.
2. Article 311:
● It
mentions the procedures and conditions for removal, dismissal from service, and
reduction in rank, thus, ensuring due process of law.
● This
ensures that civil servants are protected from political interference and undue
harassment.
3. Article 312:
● This
provision lays down the All-India Services of India.
4.
Further, The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the State Public
Service Commissions are constitutional
bodies.
Significance of Bureaucracy:
1. Power division:
● This
facilitates work and fosters specialization.
2. Effectiveness:
● Competence
increases and the work is carried out efficiently under the supervision of
direct supervisors in the hierarchy.
3. Accountability and compliance:
● Ordinary
citizens may hold government officials and bureaucrats accountable for their
actions while performing their duties.
● If
anything goes wrong, the organization is held responsible.
4. Decision-making power:
● Individuals
are often assigned decision-making authority by their immediate superiors,
while managers are given authority by those above them in the hierarchy
5. Regulations and rules:
● A
collection of clearly defined rules and regulations makes compliance with them
an obligation inside the bureaucratic system, restricting the degree to which
non-adherence to the framework of rules and protocols is tolerated.
6. Ease of administration:
● Makes
administration easier by rationally structuring the organization in a
structural hierarchy.
● Because
of the organization’s size, maintaining control of management, making required
changes as needed, and adopting new rules as needed are made easier under a
bureaucratic structure
Challenges:
1. Inability to solve problems:
● Bureaucracy
has lost its shine in solving the common man’s problem.
● With
many regions still waiting for electricity, electricity connections etc.,
people consider bureaucracy as a burden which is unable to provide even basic
services and solutions to common man problems.
2. Poor accountability:
● Bureaucracy
is hamstrung by political interference and outdated personnel procedures.
● Lack
of accountability and no answerability to non-performance of one’s duty has led
to loss of faith of people in civil services.
3. Attitude:
● Some
bureaucrats behave like they are God and born to rule but not to serve.
● Their
attitude has caused people to shy away from common problems.
● Abuse
of power without being penalized has become a trend with the common man losing
faith in them.
4. Lack of empathy:
● Non-empathetic
behavior of civil servants and inability to acknowledge common problems of
people has led to development of trust deficit in civil servants as a problem
solver.
5. Corruption:
● Wide
corruption and scams like the 2G scam has eroded the faith of the general
public.
● Bureaucracy
is seen as an institution of bribery and corrupt officials exploiting public
resources.
● A
lingering view that corruption and politicization of the civil services have
become more entrenched.
6. Delays and red-tapism:
● Working
with the civil servants in India is a slow and painful process.
● Unnecessary
delays, moving from one department to the next for solutions has led to the
development of the belief that bureaucracy is inefficient and unable to cater
to the common man’s problems.
7. Lack of courage and fraternity
among civil servants to follow rules and regulations followed by our
predecessors.
8. Politicization of bureaucracy and police
by the ruling parties of the states created the tendency among officers of
holding on to their position in the state for vested interests.
9. Lack of autonomy and accountability,
and officers find themselves vulnerable to political pressure, which affects
their autonomy.
10. Favoritism in prime postings
of government officers which was forcing talented ones to go to other states on
deputation.
Vohra Committee:
● The
committee noted down bureaucratic
problems of corruption and “nexus between criminals, civil servants, and politicians"
affecting the governance structure of the nation.
WAY FORWARD:
1.
Immediate reforms should be brought about by the Government to reshape recruitment and promotion processes
of civil servants. Lateral entry is
a right step in this direction.
2.
Improving service through performance-based
assessment of individual officers is needed.
3.
Adoption of safeguards that promote accountability
while protecting bureaucrats from political meddling is a must to keep bureaucracy
clean.
4.
A bureaucracy must be an enabler and
not a hinderer that clogs the decision making pipeline.
5.
With the focus on public welfare we need bureaucrats with a new ethos, more attuned to performances
on the ground, and not just policy designs.
6.
It is time for the government to appoint
the third administrative reforms commission to institute cutting-edge
reforms in the Indian bureaucracy.
7. The transition from rules based to roles based human resource management as notified in the Mission Karmayogi.
8.
Make postings cadre neutral: The
over-emphasis on one-time examination, cadre allocation and lifelong privileges
have to be done away with. The existing civil servants can be allotted duties
in tandem with their academic expertise and practical experience gained at the
workplace.