The more one probes and tries to remove the dust one only finds, inefficiency, indifference, callousness, frustration, indiscipline and sab chalta hai attitude. Some administrators say ; they have almost given up.
We have experienced that whether it is Mr Atal or Mr Manmohan or Mrs Sonia or Kejriwal or even Modiji running the country nothing much is likely to change here, unless, there is a will of the people to overhaul the system as a whole. They may announce ambitious schemes but we will continue to have problems implementing those at the District level, Tehsil level, Block level, Village level, town level, because the administrative machinery is sick and needs an over haul.
Although, we have made a decent progress in science and technology particularly in the field of Communication and IT but the responsibility of state has not lessened as the aspirations of the people and their expectations from the state have only increased. The impact of administration ; good or bad is felt in almost every field of human activity, be it Industry, business, agriculture, art, entertainment, education, culture, health care, housing or sports. The administration can promote, inspire, motivate or frustrate or obstruct or deter the activities of individuals, groups and institutions.
So till bureaucracy who is responsible to manage the Govt machinery is not reformed the nation will continue to live from crisis to crisis . However before we start discussing about reforming bureaucracy we must understand the positive role it has played.
After we got freedom, the civil service was expected to give continuity to the administration no matter if the political scenario and turmoil is affecting the country. In that sense, Indian civil service has played this role of providing continuity despite the political turmoil that country has witnessed in last 70 years .The Bureaucracy also, like the armed forces, have played an important role in keeping the country united. The Indian bureaucracy, with its national character, has been a strong binding force to a Union of States. The institution of civil service has rendered yeoman service to the overall socio-economic development of the country. It has been at the forefront of development process right from the ‘commanding heights regime’ to the ‘liberalization and de-regulation era’.
The importance of the Civil Service to governance stems from the following:
Service Presence throughout the country and its strong binding character to Administrative and managerial capacity of the services.
Two. Effective policy-making and regulation.
Three. Effective coordination between institutions of governance.
Four. Leadership at different levels of administration.
Five. Service delivery at the cutting edge level o Provide ‘continuity and change’ to the administration.
India’s massive bureaucracy is maintained at huge cost by the country's taxpayer whose average income is among the lowest in the world. And so it is natural that people would expect better delivery from them. Thence given the ineffiicnecies of the system ; For education the state conveniently presumes that we would be sending our children to private schools and private colleges as it has failed to run its educational institutions, for electricity it expects us to buy a generator or an invertor as the State run Electricity Boards can not provide power 24 hours. For health care its now an unwritten code please visit private nursing homes as Govt Hospitals can not be trusted. Even the poor avoid them. For water every citizen is expected to get a bore well dug in the back yard of the house and buy a water purifier as the State can not provide safe drinking water .
If the Collector's and Tehsildar's office can not start functioning by 1000AM every day and if the Tehsildar and Collector can not keep their premises clean How can one expect them to manage their District and Tehsil ? One of the most dingy looking offices one finds in any town will be surely ;Govt Offices and looking at the person one can make out whether he/she is a Govt employee or not.
It is obvious that the people will perceive them to be `burdensome low-performers' corrupt, lazy, lethargic and inefficient in governing the country.
We can not undermine their capabilities -They are a capable lot, if not all of them but many of them, but after having beaten lacs of capable candidates , its intriguing What has made the Tiger Lazy and Lethargic ?
We can revamp the system only when we know What has made the Tiger lazy? To Be Continued....