April 21 is a day dedicated to the nation’s civil servants or the humongous bureaucracy that is tasked with running the government of this country. The bureaucracy anywhere in the world runs like a well-oiled machine irrespective of whichever political party runs the government. Civil servants are expected to be non-partisan and objective in their decision-making and not be unduly influenced or come under the pressure of their political masters. But that is easier said than done. When a civil servant is placed at the disposal of a particular minister, a sort of relationship develops after which it is difficult for the bureaucrat to put his foot down and refuse to sign on the dotted lines even when he (gender neutral) knows that what is being asked to be executed is wrong. The flip side is that politicians are vengeful when they don’t have their way and the bureaucrat will then be sent on punishment posting. After that the bureaucrat is marked and his reputation for not collaborating in venality precedes him. That’s a long-term penalty that the civil servant has to endure. Now who would want to live such a life? After all the IAS/IPS/IFS are an elite service where only the best brains are selected and part of the package of being in this elite service is that for 30 years or more the civil servant lives the good life of perks and privileges.
It is in this context that Civil Services Day ought to be a day of reflection rather than a day of facile celebrations and awards. For those outside the system – the common man – it is frustrating to be caught in the much-touted bureaucratic red tape and to have to run around from one table to the next to get work done. But worse is when a person is also expected to pay bribes simply for getting a signature on a file. It is this greed which has eroded the ‘steel frame’ and brought infamy to the service. However, it would be wrong to taint all civil servants with the same brush. Some bureaucrats in the State of Meghalaya have been exemplary in the discharge of their duties and are known to be pro-active in responding to public complaints. Such officers are however too few and far between.
The Indian governance system does not look for daily outcomes unlike the corporate sector which measures the daily output of an employee and counts the person’s cost to the company. In the corporate world its ‘perform or perish.’ It sounds cruel but it’s the only way that companies can survive. Alas! That’s asking too much from a staid government system where people are paid for non-performance.
