The recent lateral recruitment at the joint secretary level by the Centre may be the beginning of a paradigm shift in governance at the top. Though lateral entry into the civil service is not new, the recent induction signals a change that could be the harbinger of more shake-outs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by coining the alliterative mantra ‘Reform, Perform and Transform’, was perhaps giving a clarion call to the steel frame to shed its characteristic incrementalism and imbibe the spirit of reform. For India to catch up with the rest of the developed world and finally emerge as a world power, it has to change its ways by ushering in transformative reforms speedily in every field of governance. Poverty has to be completely eliminated within the shortest possible time.
If we are to embark on such an exercise, the country needs to give itself a revitalised bureaucracy that is not only highly reform-friendly but also performance-oriented. Given the fact that the IAS is one of the least reformed institutions in the country, there remains a question mark over its capacity to spearhead transformative reforms on an extensive scale. While the IAS excels in short-term crisis management and firefighting, visionary long-term thinking has not been its forte. Today India lags behind miserably in various fields and a major share of the blame has to go to the steel frame that should have set a long-term developmental agenda for the political masters. Preoccupation with one’s journey up the ladder, angling for cushy jobs and post-retirement sinecures perhaps leave little time for those at the top level to reflect on the country’s transformation. It may be argued that short tenures and a hot political environment with cold short-term perspective thwart long-term thinking, but the bureaucracy cannot absolve itself of its share of the blame because it is the permanent primary think tank of the government.
Status quoism being the default mode of the bureaucracy, reforms are often resisted and the odd reformer finds himself isolated. And the sad truth is that one can easily be on business-as-usual mode without troublesome reforms and no one is held accountable.
The challenge before the government is to mould the bureaucracy into a powerful instrument of national transformation. At the highest levels of policymaking, the government needs to create a large pool of talent, the best the country can muster from diverse sources. While the IAS and other All India/civil services could be one of the major sources for this, access to the top levels needs to be given only to known performers who are endowed with visionary thinking, initiative, commitment, integrity, dynamism, passion for work—which together we can call the X-factor.
The generalist nature of the IAS that attracts many aspirants due to the exciting variety of assignments the career offers could at best aid the learning process of officers at the lower levels, but this has to give way to specialisation as one ascends the ladder. The increasing complexities of policymaking demand a high level of expertise and the generalist is bound to be out of depth. The government needs to evolve a stringent, professionally managed system of empanelment of the officers endowed with the X-factors and draw up a career path based on the officers’ experience. The pool of talent should be diversified by sourcing outstanding individuals from various fields outside the civil services including the private sector, Armed Forces and the like. Thus lateral entry at the top of the bureaucracy needs to get institutionalised.
The civil services need professional handling right through recruitment, training, performance appraisal, promotions and assignment of tasks. Passing one of the toughest competitive exams does not necessarily mean that the recruits will display the X- factors as they progress in their career. So the recruitment process, including the exams, need to be revamped imaginatively.
Disclosure requirements laid down by many court orders have virtually made a farce of performance appraisal. Frank appraisal has become difficult due to the discord it creates. It’s high time this process is reviewed and honest reporting facilitated. Secrecy is necessary when the suitability of an officer for higher policymaking is assessed on the basis of certain parameters. The report on integrity is so cumbersome that no one takes the trouble of giving adverse entries.
The reform of the system should concomitantly include creation of an environment conducive to innovation and initiative. Despite the bias of our polity towards socialist ideals, India has to harness the private sector for most of its development needs. A large section of the bureaucracy views the private sector with suspicion on account of ideology or the tendency to play it safe by engaging the public sector. A prime example is the defence sector where the continued patronage of an inefficient public sector has stunted the growth of a world-class defence industrial ecosystem in the country. The bureaucracy needs to be suitably oriented and enabled to work with the private sector. The fear of scrutiny by the CBI, CVC and the CAG inhibits the bureaucracy. So financial rules and procedures will have to be drastically amended to suit the needs of transformative decision-making.
To lay down the pathway to revitalise the steel frame for transformational reforms, the government needs to think of setting up a Civil Services Reforms Commission comprising professionals of repute drawn from diverse fields taking care to see that its deliberations are not biased by the overawing presence of the defenders of the establishment.
G Mohan Kumar
Former Defence Secretary
Email: gmkumar1955@gmail.com