A reformed, and not necessarily pruned, bureaucracy can throw up many success stories that can take the vibrant India narrative ahead. For this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government has to adopt bold measures. The 2nd ARC report can be a good starting point
Prime Minister Narendra Modi struck a refreshingly different note in his valedictory address on Civil Services Day (April 21). The civil servants had possibly expected prodding from a stern taskmaster in him. The hardworking Modi’s catchphrase, “Na sota hoon, na sone deta hoon” (neither do I sleep, nor do I allow others to fall asleep) keeps his Cabinet colleagues and subordinates on their toes. But Mr Modi lightened the mood at Vigyan Bhavan by saying that a bureaucrat should not wear a grave face. He advised civil servants to be lively human being first. In dealing with the files, the Prime said, they should not reduce their lives into being a page from the file. They should spend quality time with their family as well. The civil servants should not become robots.
Till now, the message that went round was, ‘All work, no play’. His reign began with a rumour of reverting to the six-day week. The biometric attendance system was made compulsory and put online. Towards the beginning, several Ministers made surprise inspections to see whether their staff had reported by 9.15 in the morning. Offices of some key Ministers would be open till nine in the evening or even later. Central Government officials attended office on Gandhi Jayanti (October 2) for Swachch Bharat Abhiyan to wield the broom, despite it being Durga Ashatami, in 2014. Christmas Day (December 25) became ‘Good Governance Day’, whereupon officials of the rank of Under Secretary and above had to attend the offices. Even Shivratri (February 17) was not a gazetted holiday, despite the Prime Minister being a great devotee of lord Shiva.
The women employees, who had to juggle home and office, appeared to have been particularly affected. They constitute around 11 per cent of Union Government employees. The Central Government employees (30 lakhs) may be an insignificant part of the electorate. But their unhappiness always carries some inauspicious connotation for the Government. The recent Delhi Assembly election was an eye-opener.
Mr Modi did not deliberately make life harder for Government employees. But being a workaholic himself, he expected Government employees to be assiduous at work. It was necessary in view of the policy paralysis that afflicted UPA II. But, mere hard labour does not lead to greater output. The bureaucracy needs thorough re-examination and sweeping reform.
One of the peculiar problems of the bureaucracy is that it has become top-heavy. There are as many generals as there are soldiers. There are more people to strategise than to actually fight. The ratio of gazetted officers to non-gazetted staff has become skewed over the decades. In the 1971, the gazetted to non-gazetted employee ratio in Government was 1:49; in 1981 it became 1:36; 1:27 in 1991; and 1:19 in 2001. It is 1:17 at present. But the reality is grimmer. It is the Indian Railways, where the ratio is 1:78, that provides a bulk of the non-gazetted staff. Only a decade ago, the railway maintained a ratio of 1:115!
As per the Census of Central Government Employees (as on March 31, 2011) released in April, 2014, the ratio is virtually 1:1 in ministries such as Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mines, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Panchayati Raj, Road Transport and Highways, Rural Development etc. The Government is facing a shortage of dealing hands.
There has been a severe depletion in the ranks of the Central Government employees. From 39.82 lakhs of regular employees as on March 31, 1995, the number has come down to less than 31 lakhs. The latest known figure is 30.87 lakhs, as on March 31, 2011. The enumeration includes paramilitary forces under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs but excludes the Armed Forces under the Ministry of Defence. During the first decade of the 21st century, the population of India increased by 15 crores — from 1.06 billion to 1.22 billion. But the number of public servants is on the decline! Indian Railways has two lakh employees today than in 2001. This adversely affected the operational efficiency of the railways. The department has lately begun to reverse the trend after three decades.
From 2001 to 2004 (NDA), the regular staff size in Central Government came down by 7.12 lakhs: From 38,76395 to 31,64233. It amounted to a staggering decrease of 18.37 per cent within three years. Between 2004 and 2009, there was a definite though less pronounced decline of 65,276 Government employees — from 31,64,233 to 30,98,507.
The depletion has been acuter than what statistics reveal. The numbers have been buoyed by massive recruitment in Central police forces — CRPF, BSF, CISF, ITBP, SSB, RPF and Assam Rifles etc — during the UPA decade. On December 31, 2004, there were 735 battalions in Central police forces comprising 747,968 personnel, out of which 11,570 were gazetted rank. Almost a decade later, on December 31, 2013, the actual strength rose to 883,581 out of which 13,478 were gazetted rank. These figures are compiled from annual publication Data on Police Organisations in India, published by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (MHA). In 2001, the MHA was the fourth largest Government employer, employing 14.80 per cent of personnel. A decade later the MHA is the second largest employer, employing 25.95 per cent of personnel.
No doubt, internal and external security is of paramount importance. But it cannot obfuscate the reality that the hands that shoot and the hands that beat have increased at the cost of hands that work and hands that serve. Paradoxically, this is a legacy of the UPA Government that swore by social welfare.
But the UPA Government also instituted the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission. The commission submitted a series of 15 reports. The Department of Personnel and Training had started implementing those reforms phase-wise. The NDA regime should get those reports re-examined, rather than junk them. Jacob Burckhardt, in his book, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, referred to the state as a “work of Art”. Governance can also be an art. Mr Modi actually referred to governance being an “ART” (Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency) on the Civil Services Day. But, recently, three posts of Information Commissioner, including Chief Information Commissioner, remaining vacant for months, has become subject of a PIl.
The Civil Services Awards show that there are many excellent bureaucrats in our system. Almost all of those who got the award have positively influenced the social sector in some ways. A reformed bureaucracy can throw up more success stories. An unreformed bureaucracy will become a drag on the Modi regime.
(The views expressed by the writer are personal)