Open Forum-I
New Delhi, 27 August 2013
Civil Servants &
Politicians
DANGEROUS CHANGING
EQUATION
By Dr S Saraswathi
(Former Director,
ICSSR, New Delhi)
The suspension of Durga Shakti Nagpal, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate
in Gautam Buddha Nagar district, Uttar Pradesh, has come before the cry over multiple
transfers (said to be over 40) of Ashok Khemka of Haryana batch has subsided.
These cases, whatever be the truth and justifications for actions taken by
respective parties, necessitate reopening of debates on the role and relation
between the executive authority and the high level bureaucracy. Doubtless, in the
present context, changes are needed in concepts and attitudes governing this
relationship vital for good governance.
The two cases have also brought into limelight several other
cases of suspected victimization of civil servants by political bosses for
reasons supposed to be not any administrative wrong doing. UP is on top of the
list of suspensions served on civil servants in recent decades.
Reports since published reveal the variety and frequency of
punishments meted out to civil servants in different States in the form of
frequent transfers, and demotion in posts.
Such “punishment postings”, as they are dubbed, are forms of coercion
and harassment of civil servants, who are or who become “persona non-grata” for
their political bosses. This phenomenon
has been recorded in the reports of Civil Service Survey also. However, their permanent removal is not in the
hands of the State political bosses.
In the business of running the Government, four wings are
involved – a legislature to make laws as expressed by the elected members, an
executive to implement the will of the people expressed in Parliament, a
judiciary to interpret and review the law and its implementation, and a civil
service to operationalise the will of
the executive in day-to-day business.
The civil servant, as the name indicates, is mainly
concerned with purely civil and non-technical affairs of the State. His/her
responsibility is to administer the law of the land in letter and spirit. The
executive and the civil service directly interact with each other and together
form what is looked upon as the Government by people. The former has limited
tenure while the latter, which works under the former, is permanent and does
not change with the change of the executive.
The Indian Civil Service was established in 1911 by the
British. After independence, it was reorganized to include the Indian
Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), the Indian Police
Service (IPS), and the Central Services grouped in four categories. The groups have
expanded in course of time with addition of several services.
Finer has succinctly described civil servants as a body of
officials, permanent and skilled.
Selected impartially through a tough competitive all-India test, trained
for administrative competence, given orientation to be politically neutral and
non-partisan in dealing with people, and expected to evince a spirit of service
to the community in functioning, civil servants constitute the most vital
pillar of good governance. They have to remain committed to the law of the land
under all circumstances.
The concept of neutrality and impartiality in public office
regardless of the person and Party in power is central to the British civil
service system adopted in India.
However, Karl Marx rejected the concept of neutrality of civil servants. He
regarded the service as an instrument of the ruling party. This idea has been
adopted by single party authoritarian regimes whereas democratic countries like
the UK
and US put faith in the neutrality of civil service. Unfortunately, some
comments heard in the Durga episode sound like coercing civil service to be
meekly obedient to the executive.
Tampering with independence and neutrality will seriously
undermine the very object of a civil service which is to professionalise the
functioning of the Government. Political interference in the bureaucratic
administration will exactly do this unless we infuse and enforce healthy norms
to govern executive-bureaucracy relation.
In the early decades after Independence, the role civil servants played
was actually crucial for establishing sound norms and precedence in
politics-administration interface. For,
they had necessary qualifications, adequate knowledge of the subject matter,
abundant information and proper skill in application of knowledge to
situations. Ministers in those days
depended on the permanent civil servants for advice and information necessary for
policy-making. In that stage, civil servants were expected to point out the pros
and cons of a policy to the political head on the basis of their knowledge,
specialization, and experience to help him take a decision.
Determination of the policy, however, was the function of
the Ministers. Once a decision had been taken, the civil servants had to abide
by it and carry it out even if they were not fully in agreement. Sometimes,
executive-bureaucracy differences marred smooth functioning of the Government.
Ministers at times had expressed a general grievance of
non-cooperative attitude of civil servants. Perhaps, the legacy of the pride of
the old ICS bred in colonial mind-set was still lingering. Gulzarilal Nanda
(twice Interim Prime Minister and Home Minister for some time in Nehru’s
Cabinet) had mentioned of not getting adequate secretarial assistance and that
his appeals had failed. He said civil servants didn’t toe his line of thinking
and he was unable to have his way in policy-making.
The situation has radically been changing. Today, civil
servants often nurse a grievance that they are made servants of their political
masters and unable to discharge their duties as prescribed by rules and regulations,
and adhere to the code of conduct expected of them. A day later Durga was
chargesheeted, UP Chief Minister justified the action saying it was like school
kids being “punished by teachers and pulled up by parents for doing
wrong”.
The report of the Administrative Reforms Commission (1968),
listing a number of recommendations to promote good governance has mentioned
that “Ministers should not interfere in the day-to-day administration except in
cases of grave injustice, serious default, or maladministration on the part of
civil servants”. The report describes
official relationship between Secretaries and Ministers as one based on
principles of loyalty and confidence.
Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi once remarked: “If
government has to do more for the people, its employees must play a more
dynamic and more creative role as the instrument for implementing government
policies and programmes”. The remark seems to presuppose parity of views
between political and administrative leaders. The dynamism of the civil service
is expected in implementing policies taken by the executive and not in
assisting the Government in taking proper decisions. Clearly, the role of
bureaucratic ‘babus’ was diluted. The
concept of “committed civil service”, committed to their political bosses was
introduced!
The change reminds one of Kautilya’s ‘Arthashastra’ which emphasizes loyalty and sincerity as two
principal qualifications required for civil servants. The treatise recommended
constant watch over the functioning of the civil servants – an advice
detrimental to neutrality and impartiality of civil servants in the present
context.
Unfortunately, it is the age of corruption and nepotism. The
chances of civil service falling in the trap and losing the principles of neutrality
and rule of law are growing strong. At
the same time, political climate not favouring strong and stable government,
the role and responsibility of civil service will also grow. It is all the more urgent to keep the civil
service insulated from the wave of politicization. ---INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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