'Bureaucracy should be apolitical in coalition era

What should the role of the Civil Services be in an era of political coalitions? Our own experience sheds light on two of its aspects.

First, a distinguished former cabinet secretary has noted the tendency by political parties to use the bureaucratic machine as a substitute for the lack of active field cadres and thus becomes an alternate cadre for the parties in power. In this context, he observed, the most important quality for the bureaucracy in the coalition era is to be 'apolitical', adding that 'in the Indian context it means that the bureaucracy is loyal to the Constitution, and though under the party in power, it functions in a way which is fair to all irrespective of their political affiliations'.

Second, an editorial in a business daily observed recently that 'coalitions have taken on the nature of the old mansabdari system--the greater the number of horses you can offer to the King, the greater the size of the territory for you to pillage'. It expressed concern at the monetary and economic cost for the nation as a consequence of coalition arrangements in power. One consequence of this, in the words of a distinguished former civil servant and legislator, is the propensity to 'follow the policy of least resistance.' This 'indirect participation in the wrong doings of the politicians' by the civil servants through silence and passive inaction, he notes, has 'contributed substantially towards the erosion of people's confidence in the objectivity and impartiality of civil servants.' Much the same assessment comes from other eminent former civil servants of yesteryear.

The effort to influence the functioning of the professional bureaucracy is not an Indian novelty, though the quantum and frequency does matter. Coalition politics, too, is a fact of life. Nostalgia and lamentation for a lost utopia that never really existed, is not an option. The challenge for the civil service today is to explore and develop the avenues for proper functioning in the context and the spirit of the responsibility assigned to it by the laws of the land and the policies developed through appropriate legislative processes.

The first of these responsibilities pertains to the dispensation of justice. This, in our vocabulary, means the Rule of Law.

We know that the legal process of securing justice in our country is time consuming; there is also an acquittal rate of around 90 per cent. The public has thus little option but to resort to administrative facilitation and the procedures of administrative justice. Thus the ultimate victim of non-implementation of the Rule of Law and delayed justice dispensation system is the common man and woman who are at the receiving end of non-enforcement of their rights and discriminatory application of the laws, and without the clout to secure either of them. Consequently, every effort by a civil servant towards administrative facilitation and accelerated dispensation of administrative justice to the public goes a long way in ameliorating its material condition and redresses its grievances.

Next in relevance to the dispensation of administrative justice are questions of social development and empowerment. Some civil servants have done exemplary work in these fields. It is, however, a matter of some concern that very few civil servants today feel attracted to it.

Take the question of integrity. We constantly hear, and rightly so, of the need for public figures and civil servants to exhibit the highest standards of personal probity and honesty. While this is an essential condition of good governance, is it sufficient? Is not dishonesty of the mind as dangerous as monetary or pecuniary dishonesty? This lack of intellectual and professional integrity has taken many forms — from introducing a slant in policy notes to an excessive careerism and focus on postings leading to regrettable acts of omission and commission.

There is nothing novel about sound professionalism; it has been prescribed in all periods of history. I will paraphrase for you the advice given to civil servants in the 8th century: "The ruler cannot dispense with you. You alone make him a competent ruler. Your position with regard to rulers is that you are the ears through which they hear, the eyes through which they see, the tongues through which they speak, and the hands through which they touch. No craftsman needs more than you to combine all the praiseworthy good traits and all memorable and highly regarded qualities…"

"(The civil servant) needs on his own account, and his master who trusts and expects him, to be mild where mildness is needed, to be understanding where judgement is needed, to be enterprising where enterprise is needed, to be hesitant where hesitation is needed. He must profess modesty, justice and fairness. He must keep secrets. He must be faithful in difficult circumstances. By virtue of his natural intelligence, good education, and outstanding experience, he must know what is going to happen to him before it happens, and he must know the results of his action before the action starts. He must make proper preparations for everything, and he must set up every thing in its proper form…"

"Detest prejudices with all your heart. Guard against backbiting and calumny. Beware of haughtiness, foolishness and pride."

Does any of this not hold good today?

Exceprts from the address by Vice-President of India, Hamid Ansari, on the Fourth Civil Services Day at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi on 21 April, 2009