Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism, operated by pygmies – Honore de Balzac
What has the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) to do with India’s security ? Everything, since a lack of patriotic and efficient administration contributes handsomely to a nation’s slow progress and makes it economically, diplomatically and militarily weak. The pace of India’s progress in the last seven decades, thanks to the IAS, makes a snail feel like Usain Bolt.
Governance and administration are mistaken as synonyms but are as different as shuttlecocks are from peacocks. Governance relates to a master-slave relationship, wherein a superior authority governs its subjects. Administration, on the other hand, concerns itself with civic management of affairs of equal citizens. While governance has a snobbish, snooty tinge to it, administration has a mellow peerage quality. In mature democracies, citizen is king and its affairs are administered by elected representatives. In pseudo-democracies or banana republics, citizen is a subject, surviving under bureaucratic bosses, serving insouciant political masters. India, though the biggest democracy of the world, has yet to shake-off her banana-like shape, insofar as her public administration is concerned.
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India’s administration from district and above levels is vested in the IAS. Like the Holy Roman Empire (HRE), which was neither holy nor Roman nor even an empire, IAS is neither Indian – being an elitist avatar of the British bureaucracy, nor administrative – having the psyche of governance deeply embedded in its genes – and certainly not a service, considering its masterly attitude towards a supplicant populace. IAS is as misleading in its nomenclature as a gravy-train, which is neither a train nor carries any real gravy.
How are IAS officers made?
The annual raw material comprises of 700-800 candidates for civil services out of some 11 lakh aspirants who write a tough 3-stage Union Public Services Exam (UPSC) exam. Of these 700-800 candidates, 180 nuggets are chosen for the prized IAS and the rest are consigned to lesser services, viz, Indian Police Service (IPS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Indian Revenue Service (IRS), etc. All of them undergo a common 15-week Foundation Course (FC) at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie to inculcate camaraderie among civil services, quite like the joint training of Army, Navy and Air Force cadets in NDA, Khadakvasla. After the FC, IAS officer trainees (OTs) remain in LBSNAA and the rest proceed to their respective academies for specific training. OTs undergo about 18 months of training in two phases including one year of District Training aimed at “learning by seeing and doing” in a district of their state cadre. This is a bit like a live-in arrangement, before marriage, a tribal practice now adopted by young millennials. Most training comprises of visits and attachments to various government offices and establishments like Lok Sabha Secretariat, PSUs, Bharat Darshan of nearly 20,000 km and a Foreign Study Tour. No other professional training is as cushy and loaded with leisure as that of OTs. During the training period OTs receive a handsome stipend, close to 85% of their starting salary as an IAS officer, hugely subsidised meals plus all the perks and privileges that would make members of parliament envious. OTs are finally awarded a master’s degree in Public Management by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) New Delhi. No degree was obtained with as much ease and guarantee.
Unlike for defence services and IPS, there is almost no medical specification for IAS entrance. There is, of course, a medical exam for IAS but without any specification for height, weight, girth or chest. Squinty eyes with colour blindness, spectacles and partial deafness are OK. If one fails an IAS medical exam, one either has malignant cancer, is chronically diabetic or hypertensive or is simply not breathing. There is no psychological assessment of IAS candidates, as done for fauji cadets, which explains their lack of emotional quotient or commitment to any mission.
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From the time one steps into LBSNAA, an OT is treated like a male child is treated in Bihar – a superior being to be groomed to reign over every government office, department, ministry and enterprise in India. Training of OTs comprises merely of exposure to various facets of government functions, without any deep study of anything, quite like the military training of British princes – Charles, William and Harry. After graduation, an IAS officer never serves subordinate to any other authority other than another IAS officer or a minister. LBSNAA takes the crème-de-la-crème of Indian youth and in less than 2 years churns out snooty, self-serving and unenthusiastic IAS officers, armed with authority, power and jurisdiction far in excess of their capabilities limited to bureaucratic babugiri. If cream could be turned into sour milk, LBSNAA would do it readily. No organisation defies its motto with as much nonchalance and contempt as IAS does ‘Sheel Param Bhushanam’- “character is the ultimate ornament”.
Corruption and the IAS
India is synonymous with corruption, thanks to decades of Congress-inspired decadence since 1947. The blame for corruption is unfairly heaped on politicians, police and government agencies other than IAS. There is no denying the aforesaid are corrupt, no corruption is possible without the willing and active abetment of the IAS, who hold the reins of all administration. No files can move, nor any government funds be released without IAS acquiescence. IAS, after all, heads all government departments, ministries, PSUs and state administration down to district level, makes notings on file and signs all government orders. It may not be wrong to conclude corruption is “professionally administered” by the IAS. Yet, IAS enjoys the lowest conviction rate for corruption among all civil servants and politicians, thanks to a cleverly specious caveat adopted by the masterminds of British bureaucracy. All government orders signed by the IAS are prefaced with the phrase “I have been directed to…”. This absolves the signers of any culpability or consequences and protects them from legal action. They, of course, extract their pound of flesh before signing the document. The brilliance of this sinister caveat must be applauded for its simplicity and legal effectiveness.
IAS officers were never convicted of any corruption charges during Congress regime. The odd case that came to light was tied up in red tape or overturned in legal processes. Corrupt IAS officers would get “suspended” for some time and reverted to duty once the storm subsided. This was easy during the era of no TV, internet, social media, sting operations and a conniving political setup. The truth of IAS involvement in rampant corruption is slowly dawning on the media and on the people, armed with modern technology and awareness.
There is another factor for the premise that police, IRS (Income Tax, Customs, Octroi, Sales Tax) are more corrupt than the IAS. All police corruption is predicated only on criminals or violators of traffic rules. There is no earning for the police from honest, law-abiding citizens. The scope and scale of corruption in the police, therefore, is limited. The IAS, however, earns its black-moolah for signing contracts, giving licences, approving plans, waiving penalties, distributing grants, etc. IAS, thus, has a far vaster scope and scale of corruption-canvas to paint on. The beneficiaries of IAS largesse extend from common citizens (oops, subjects) to influential captains of industry, bigtime contractors, businessmen and even petty politicians. In this, IAS may well be competing with the IRS whose scope and scale is quite similar, if a bit smaller. While the bribe to IPS is grudging, the kickback to the IAS is willing and cheerful. IAS corruption, to a great extent, is also protected by a strong IAS Officers’ Association that fights for the exoneration of tainted IAS officers involved in criminal cases. The old-boy network of IAS, with a finger in every pie of government jurisdiction, can easily browbeat all but the most uncontestable of crimes.
Who is more corrupt – the Mantri or the Babu?
There are many factors that point to the primacy of the Babu over the Mantri when it comes to government corruption. Firstly, even if a Mantri is corrupt, the execution of the corruption lies with the Babu. A Mantri cannot siphon-off public funds without the Babu’s active connivance nor carry-out a corrupt action without involving the Babu. The Babu is the custodian of public funds and no misappropriation is possible without his/her active participation. Secondly, Mantris come and go, but there is a degree of permanence to bureaucracy in ministries and departments. Most mantris are naïve and not as conversant with the ways of the bureaucracy, becoming easy prey to the sycophantic, suave and chashni-coated language of the babus. First-time mantris are easy meat for the Venus Flytrap of red-tape awaiting them. While the Mantri cannot be corrupt without the shoulder of the Babu, the latter does not rely on the Mantri for the same. What oxygen is to combustion, Babu is to corruption – a prerequisite! Honest IAS officers can enforce honesty in their domain far more effectively than honest ministers can in their ministry. An honest minister is not so much of a problem to a corrupt IAS officer as an honest IAS officer is to a corrupt minister. If corruption is a cake, its tiers are made of bureaucracy and the icing is political.
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The IAS is not only corrupt, it is solely responsible for the architecture that enables and sustains corruption in India. When a bill becomes an Act, it is the IAS that drafts its Rules, injecting innocuous loopholes for future exploitation. Commissions of inquiry may be headed by judges but are staffed by the Babus. KPMG, one of the world’s largest audit and compliance firms, in its 2004 report on Corruption in India, blames the “excessive bureaucratic regulation” as one of the major causes for corruption. The power of Indian authorities to search and question individuals creates opportunities to extract bribes. Most individuals or businesses prefer a bribe to due process and cost of delay. Lack of transparency allows room for manoeuvre for both demanders and suppliers of corruption. A study conducted by German NGO Transparency International, in 2005, noted that 82% Indians had paid a bribe to a public official to get a valid job done. The catalysts of corruption in India include excessive regulations, complicated systems, numerous departments, opaque bureaucracy, vast discretionary powers, government monopoly of strategic material delivery and opaque procedures. These have been deliberately created and nurtured by the IAS for their benefit. A 2009 survey revealed Indian bureaucracy to be the least efficient among ASEAN, South Korea, Japan, China and Philippines and that working with India’s civil servants was, like halaal, a “slow and painful” process.
Despite rampant corruption, conviction rate of IAS officers has been negligible. IAS officers themselves acknowledge that 35% of them are extremely corrupt, making hundreds of crores of rupees during their careers, 55% are moderately corrupt making tens of crores and about 10% are honest. This makes 90% of IAS officers unacceptably corrupt. Small wonder why IAS officers rarely seek post-retirement employment but are fervently sought-after by business houses, building conglomerates and private industries for the advantages they bring for liaison with government departments.
IAS has perfected the art of heading departments and organisations without much clue of their functioning. An IAS, officer during his career, would head departments as diverse and complex as civil aviation, fisheries, mining, railways, chemicals and fertilizers, shipping, town-planning, finance or revenue, etc – one as different from the other as coal from snow. Heading an organisation while lacking expertise in that field, leads them to pursue the only expertise they truly have -to delay and confuse! It is no surprise that India is so far behind China, Austria and Israel, a few of the countries that got independence after India but are years ahead in all indices of international comparison, except corruption. Their advantage? They do not have IAS.
So, what is the solution?
India has been afflicted with two curses since independence – Congress rule and IAS. While Congress has largely been electorally neutralised by the voters, IAS still needs to be tackled. In the past seven decades, IAS has trampled over all other government services and established its numero uno status. They have formed rules, modified regulations and tweaked pay commissions to their immense advantage, against all “adversaries” especially the military. The most obvious solution for India’s ills would be to discard IAS altogether. This, however, is more desirable than feasible.
Corruption is directly proportional to the population of a country. India, with almost the biggest population, is as conducive to corruption as coffee is to waking-up. Most countries with a high “honesty-index” are sparsely populated. Climate also seems to play a role as colder countries are, statistically, more “honest”. Here, too, India suffers from lying in the Torrid Zone. Administration is best executed in small jurisdictions.
Alternative to IAS
When seeking an alternative to the IAS, it is tempting to adapt administrative models operative in Canada, Singapore, New Zealand and Nordic countries, where the index of corruption is low and that of happiness high. India’s geography, culture, demography and economic status is so different from these countries that transcribing their models here would be like expecting a French chef to make a good jalebi. Let us not forget, India was a civilized nation long before fire was discovered in the West. Instead of aping the West, India needs to dig into her glorious past and relearn the excellent practices of civic administration followed during the Vedic period and subsequently in the Mauryan, Gupta, Chola and Ahom eras in different parts of India. The common strand, during these periods of India’s prosperity, was the acceptance of village as the most important unit of democracy and administration. Even in monarchial dispensations, democratic administration was practised in villages with a village-headman leading a village-council that carried out the wishes of the village-assembly, comprising of all villagers. Towns and cities did not merit as much importance as villages did, as our forefathers and wise kings realised the wisdom of focussing on villages that were not only a majority, they contributed more to the economy too. If India’s decision-making emanates from her villages and sprouts upwards, spreading to her towns and cities it would annihilate Lutyens’ caucus, power-brokers and dalals, having no largesse or licences to distribute. India lives in her villages and if villages are prosperous and happy, India cannot but be prosperous and happy.
Howsoever juicy the prospect, IAS cannot entirely be eliminated because a central administrative machinery is a valid necessity. So, IAS needs to be improved upon, by instilling checks on their unbridled power and removing immunity from prosecution. IAS needs to be accountable for its actions. For the last 5-6 years, the government, seized of this malaise, has been taking steps to plug loopholes, deliberately incorporated by the IAS to exploit the system. There is a crying need to simplify rules and procedures, reduce paperwork and eliminate cash transactions for all official purposes, including disbursal of money to the poor. These steps have been initiated by the NDA government and shall have a salutary effect in reining-in the IAS in times to come. The most important reform required, however, is to make IAS accountable for any order, approval, grant, etc, signed by them, notwithstanding on whose behalf or orders these are signed. IAS officers do, after all, take an oath to protect India and her Constitution and cannot hide behind the caveat of “I have been directed to…” They are educated and ought to be responsible for what they sign.
Names of IAS officers responsible for public services like power supply, water-supply, drainage, road-repairs, street-lighting, local transportation, public urinals, parking arrangements, etc, should be prominently displayed for the public’s knowledge. Public should be educated that provision of these services is an administrative and NOT a political responsibility. It is time IAS and not politicians, are blamed for the state of our deplorable infrastructure and public utilities.
When asked why Tata Nagar (Jamshedpur) was the cleanest city in India, Tata administration exclaimed, “There is no IAS officer involved”!!
