Outlook – June 29, 2019

BRAIN TRUST

24 OUTLOOK 1 July 2019

with state chief secretaries to review the

progress of centre­state projects.

Sharma’s private secretary Rajeev

Topno is also a Gujarat officer.

M

ODI depends on bureaucracy as

much as he disdains it. On moving

to Delhi, claim BJP leaders, Modi

was wary of the “Lutyens­type”

arrogant bureaucrats, who he believed

were more interested in networking and

throwing their weight around. “He still

holds that view to a large extent and,

hence, prefers a certain type of officers—

‘doers’ who are loyal, unquestioning and

honest, but shun publicity to stay under

the radar. Modi keeps an eye on the

ministers through those babus who win

his trust,” says the Gujarat BJP leader.

There is a joke that if someone’s name

starts doing the rounds for a particular

job, he invariably doesn’t get it. Not

finding enough bureaucrats whom the

PM can trust to deliver the results he

wants, the government has decided to

bring in around 400 domain experts

through lateral entry on posts tradi­

tionally filled by IAS officers. Former

IAS officer K.J. Alphons, who was ind­

ucted as MoS for culture and tourism in

Modi’s first term, believes it is “in a

sense a good idea” as it will make bur­

eaucracy more competitive and pose a

challenge to IAS officers.

“If the government needs experts even

after selecting the 100 best from 1.5

million, then there is something flawed

about the system,” says Alphons. “Why

can’t the UPSC devise a system to select

100 officers who can work, who are not

arrogant and have a spine? It is a pity

that many IAS officers, who have the

best job in the world, incredible power

and opportunity to work for the people,

fritter it away with their attitude. As 1.5

million people take the civil services

exam and 100 get through to the IAS,

from the moment they cross the gates

of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National

Academy of Administration in

Mussorie for their training, they carry a

certain arrogance around them. That

needs to change. Modi is creating infra­

structure for the poor, which needs a

hundred things to be done simultane­

ously. He needs the vast monitoring

system to ensure there are no slippages

and things get done.” O

TO DO WHAT THATCHER DID

TO OUR SYSTEM’S SOURCE

It’s time for an administrative overhaul as thoroughgoing as the 1990s economic reforms

K.M.

CHANDRASEKHAR

L

ONG years ago, when I was

ambassador to the World Trade

Organi sation in Geneva, a foreign

colleague expressed his open

admiration for the Indian civil service’s

capacity to reinvent itself, adapting to

chan ging economic and social needs

in a dynamic environment. “I can’t

imagine how you gave up your powers

in a restricted economy and opened it

up dramatically,” he said in the context

of the economic reforms of 1991 and

beyond. Indeed, the reform package

announced in Parliament demanded a

complete reversal of all that we as civil

servants were accustomed to for years.

We were products of a system

characterised by such principles as

socialism, mixed economy, import

restrictions, curbs on foreign exchange

outflows and on acquisition of foreign

technologies, controlled exchange rates,

and the host of social evils—smuggling,

corruption and the rise of dons—that

such policies spawned. This system’s

dismantling entailed a sea change in our

modes of thinking. That civil servants

front-ended this change and paved the

way for a long period of sustained growth

is a tribute to their capacity to rise to

new challenge and their openness to new

modes of thinking.

Throughout India’s history, civil

servants have been responsible at the

field level for handling any crisis,

whether it is militancy, flood, drought,

economic downturn or any other issue

that needs to be dealt with immediately.

They have originated new ideas, carried

through hundreds of projects, evolved

new practices, solved local problems, and

defused difficult situations firmly yet

diplomatically. India owes much to its

faceless civil servants working selflessly

in the background. Of course, there are

black sheep, but in which class of people

are black sheep absent? Where black

sheep exist, root them out mercilessly as

has been done in the revenue department

in the past few days. This will only be

appreciated by others in the system.

Those who believe the administrative

system will undergo remarkable

transformation by just bringing in people

from the corporate sector do not know

the first principles of public administra-

tion. They must understand that civil

servants come from the same stock as

GIRISH CHANDRA

MURMU, 59

Secretary, department of

expenditure

1985-batch Gujarat-cadre IAS

Hailing from

Sundargarh in Odisha,

the low-key but shrewd

bureaucrat has been

the go-to man for Prime

Minister Modi as well

as Amit Shah. Murmu

has also served as prin-

cipal secretary in

Modi’s CMO in Gujarat.

Brought to Delhi soon

after Modi became the

PM in 2014, he was one

of the trusted few

tasked with reviving

the economy.

SHAKTIKANTA

DAS, 62

RBI governor

1980-batch Tamil Nadu-

cadre IAS

As revenue secretary, he

earned Modi’s trust with

his GST push. As RBI

governor, he is in tune

with the government’s

expectations on NPAs,

the insolvency and bank-

ruptcy code, and domes-

tic investments. With

his consultative

approach, the RBI and

finance ministry are on

the same page. Lenders

too have been warming

up to him as he hears

out industry concerns.

VIJAY KESHAV

GOKHALE, 60

Foreign secretary

1981-batch IFS officer

Known for functioning

under the radar, Gokhale

has worked in China as

well as Taiwan. His

understated but firm

negotiating skills

impressed Modi and the

security establishment.

As ambassador to China,

he worked on resolving

the Doklam stand-off in

coordination with Doval

and then foreign secre-

tary S. Jaishankar. He

now has to prioritise the

neighbourhood and reset

relations with China.