India’s bureaucracy needs new ideas and talent

Remember, with great power, comes great responsibility,” says Uncle Ben to Spiderman — who later reflects, “This is my gift, my curse.”

These lines from the Spiderman film came to mind when reflecting on a recent Indian government move to bring in some “lateral” movement into the once-hallowed and still powerful Indian Administrative Service (IAS, earlier in British times it was called the ICS, or Indian Civil Service). At present, IAS and IFS (Indian Foreign Service, that is Indian Diplomatic Service) officers are selected every year. The candidates are all in their early 20s, fresh out of university. Hundreds of thousands young men and women take the exam, but less than 200 are selected annually. After a year’s training, they are sent all over India and abroad, to take up key administrative and diplomatic positions.

Believe it or not, a little less than 5,000 IAS officers are administering India’s 1.3 billion population. There are other affiliated services like the Indian Police Service and the Indian Revenue Service (in charge of excise matters and the Customs). But that is the broad picture of how the Indian administration is run.

The Modi government plans to loosen this very rigid structure by bringing 10 highly qualified experts from outside, at the Joint Secretary level, which is just one step below the senior-most rung. The proposal has caused a needless furore.

Before independence, the ICS was all-powerful. It was admiringly called “The Steel Frame”, and if truth be told, it unified the country and gave a degree of law and order that had not existed earlier. India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and his deputy, Vallabhai Patel, appreciated the worth of an independent, strong and honest civil service to run the nation, and hence the same system of administration was retained. Only the name was changed.

For the first three decades or so after Indian independence in 1947, the IAS attracted the brightest and best individuals, full of idealism, as well as integrity. The relatively low pay of a civil servant did not deter them. The chance to serve the country in a meaningful

How about Ratan Tata or Narayan Murthy being offered ambassadorship to the USA or the UK?

way was incentive enough. Then, the rot began to set in. Power brings responsibility, but it can also bring wealth, undreamt of riches. The IAS started to get corrupted. IAS officers, instead of keeping a safe distance from politicians, especially corrupt ones, began cosying up to them. Many of the administrative officers also used their positions of power to accumulate illegal assets. A few were caught, convicted, and sent to prison, or dismissed from service. But many got away, too. Instead of an admired Steel Frame, the civil service began to be mockingly called an “Iron Cage”, honest officers rendered helpless against venal politicians, even against their own corrupt colleagues.

Another crucial factor crept in. As India modernised its industry and services, it became a more complex economy, needing specialists and technical personnel, not the generalists that mainly comprised the IAS. This realisation had already dawned upon other nations, such as the UK, France, and Italy. They, too, had a socialist-style system, along with a similar bureaucracy. But they started dismantling it fast, whereas in India, the process has barely begun. Likewise, Indian career diplomats dominate the diplomatic service. Except for the occasional politically appointed Ambassador and High Commissioner, the top diplomatic posts are almost entirely occupied by IFS personnel. Why not put some respected and retired businessmen in those positions? They would be able to interact with businessmen and entrepreneurs in the countries where they are posted, thereby help to attract much-needed investment into India. How about business tycoon Ratan Tata or Narayan Murthy (the main founder of Infosys) being offered ambassadorship to the US or the UK? They could do a world of good for India.

Clearly, the entire Indian administrative system needs a radical overhaul to rid it of mounting corruption and bringing it more in tune with the changing, modern world. A “lateral” movement of senior people in key administrative posts, though a beginning, is not good enough. Otherwise, as with Spiderman, power and responsibility will become a curse, not a gift.

Rahul Singh is former Editor of Khaleej Times