The IAS: Corroding Steel Frame

The IAS are often considered as the backbone of the Indian administration. But are they?

I have a personal axe to grind here, which I will.

I'm the son of a capable govt officer who got 3 promotions in nearly 30 years of service, that's right just 3! This when she (my mother) got her 1st promotion from assistant to section officer in just 5 years by clearing the Section Officer exam.

Well, first let me elaborate the various scales in central govt service for babus.
The hierarchy first starts from the peons, then comes the lowermost babu, the LDC (Lower Divisional Clerk) to the UDC, then the Assistant/ Stenographer, Section Officer (the post for which you have to clear an exam), Under Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Director, Joint Secretary, Assistant Secretary and then Secretary.
There are many variations of these posts including specialized and technical positions but these according to my knowledge are the basic ones.

My grouse and that of lakhs of government officers is that the upper echelons of administration are dominated by the IAS, and the to a lesser extent by the other allied services. These are basically the people who have cleared the civil services examination.

There is not a chance in heaven or hell that a meritorious candidate from the lower echelons can be promoted to these posts; you would need political backing for that.

No wonder, Indian bureaucracy is staid and laid back. Even now you can see males playing cards and females stitching clothes in the grounds of govt offices.
Even lower in the hierarchy are the temporary and contract staff such as data center operators,etc. who live in fear of their job every day and dare not protest against their service conditions

Now coming back to my main grouse, an employee who has been recruited by the government through the SSC exam or other modes, can realistically aim to reach the post of Deputy Secretary and if they are lucky, maybe become a Director.
One of the main impediments is a rule which I will try and recall from memory.
In the shortlist of people eligible for promotions, all employees irrespective of the fact whether they are retired or even dead will be included!
This was justified by saying that it would give a lot of pride to the retired govt employee or family of the dead employee! They might not get promoted as you need to take specific training to assume the higher post but their presence on the list makes life more difficult for people who are presently employed and deserve promotion.
The govt in its infinite wisdom decided to implement this rule and even the courts have upheld it. This has completely caged the lower bureaucracy and reduced their incentive to work.

The IAS/IPS lobby and their hunger for power is such that all seats of power related to govt are reserved for them. This can include positions in which they have no specialization such as the heads of PSU's, members of govt bodies such as SEBI and RBI, etc.
D Subba Rao was an IAS officer appointed as governor of RBI, and this was his primary qualification
And even if by one in a million chance some eligible person applies for the post; the selection committee will  not select him or her; as it is invariably dominated by this lobby.

So ruling political parties come and they go, but this lobby remains in power for ever.  They think that by clearing one exam and it must be admitted that it is a hard one, makes the govt their 'baap ki jagir'!

The solution to this merit problem may lead to a massive improvement of govt services at all levels but absolutely no attention is paid to this; such is the power of this lobby.

So, the govt needs to take a strong decision and this govt can do it if it so desires.
The thing that needs to be done is to pass the message through all levels of the administration that it is only merit which will work; not which service you belong to.

For higher posts, an examination and an interview must be held; similar to that for Section Officers. Due weight must be given to the average performance of the employees; though this is another place where the bosses can screw up the chances of the ones lower down.

Performance can be measured through metrics such as the no of files cleared, grievances solved or even the benefits accrued to govt through the employee's efforts. This will reduce subjective bias and political interference. With the govt moving to a paperless system; this is achievable.

Another thing which has been recommended by many committees and think-tanks but never implemented by govt is lateral entry. We've done it for the highest posts in the land such as the RBI governor where we got in Rajan; but it is in the upper and middle levels that they can make a difference. For example, the ministry of finance can hire from the top universities in the country and also from corporate finance honchos; many of who would be willing to join.

Once, the stranglehold is broken, I think you'll find that the govt would become more agile, flexible to ideas and more responsive to citizen needs; all features that any modern state must have.

Let's hope our govt and PM can look at this facet of governance and administration, which can bring heavy dividends.

War with Pakistan?

After the Uri attack yesterday, 'some' people (Arnab?) have gone on overdrive advocating a fight to the finish with Pakistan

What I would say to them is 'Mitron, thodi thand rakho!'

A frenzied reaction is just what the perpetrators of this attack want.

As everyone is giving advice how we should react to this attack, here are my two pennies worth..

First of all, never forget. We as a nation  make a big outrage about such events but forget them all too soon. We must make a detailed investigation of the attack and the persons behind it and ensure that these people face justice at the place and time of our choosing. But face justice they must, even if means an encounter or a missile attack which expedites their meeting with the 72 hoors in Jannat!

This timing of this attack shows that there is a bigger threat before important bilateral or multilateral events featuring India and Pakistan. So our security arrangements must always keep this in mind, esp. in bases, posts, etc. which are near the LoC.

Second, regarding the broad strategy with which to tackle Pakistan. What I would advocate here is for us to follow Deng Xiaoping, arguably the greatest leader in the last 50 years of any nation.

What he advocated for China was to patiently build its own capacities and wait for its time to come. An important example is how they 'peacefully' got back Hong Kong. Have a look at this diagram via South China Morning Post: https://www.scmp.com/sites/default/files/2014/08/22/dengxiaoping-grpahic-0822-net.jpg

Our focus must be only on economic development and our diplomats must allow this to happen, by buying time on all issues including Kashmir.
If after 15-20 years, India grows as it is expected to grow; we will find it much easier to resolve issues with Pakistan and even China. A strong economy gives us more headroom to negotiate and capable of causing more damage to our adversaries. 

Whatever provocations either country poses before us, and there will be many; should be diplomatically and tactically handled. Revenge is a dish best served cold and should be had at the time and place of our choosing.

We must also remember the Berlin Wall incident. If the differential between the 2 countries on economic indices becomes too wide. and we manage to control the communal hotheads in our country; then there is a solid chance that there will be a demand inside Pakistan to reunite with India. We must covertly start aiding the groups or people who might be sympathetic to such a demand right from now as these will demoralize the Pak military establishment.

Thirdly, there must be a focus on development of covert assets in all our enemy countries. This must be primarily targeted at Pakistan. We must know a lot more about them than we do already.

But choosing our friends is also important. For instance, arming the TTP is not a good idea. If they gain sway within the country, it would be highly detrimental for India. Thus, the Baloch rebels must be our primary focus.. The decision by previous leaders to dismantle our covert assets in Pakistan should never be repeated.

One of the keys to Pakistan lies through Afghanistan. If we can strengthen the self sufficiency of the Afghans and they emerge victorious over the Taliban, then most problems for us would be solved.

But that possibility looks distant with the Taliban gaining ground. It must be remembered that even the US military was not able to subdue them even after spending hundreds of billions of dollars. So direct intervention is not a solution. We must try to build on current efforts with Iran, Russia and the US. 

Another way of controlling Pakistan is by cozying up to China; but the Chinese are way too clever to be fooled by this strategy but we must try. The border dispute must be resolved soon by taking some bold calls even if that means losing some territory. I'm not calling for the surrender of Arunachal Pradesh by any means but for proper demarcation of the land border. Increase in trade esp. exports to China must be done at a war footing so as to make the relationship more equal. We must also facilitate the big investments announced by China in Indian manufacturing and infrastructure.

To conclude, the way to deal with Pakistan lies mainly in internal dynamics of India and clever foreign  policy, and nuclear or other weapons do not have any role at all!