by Prabhu Chawla
It
was a missive, totally un-Modi like, since Narendra Modi has won India and
taken full control of BJP through trusted and tested aide Amit Shah. But the
citadel that awaits to be stormed is the Delhi-based phalanx of babus, who he
is yet to Modify. Last weekend, when the PMO issued a 19-point code of conduct
after almost 30 years for India’s steel-framed bureaucracy, it was seen as a
warning. Modi is perhaps the first PM who has refrained from mass-scale
transfers of senior officials. He surprised his colleagues by deciding to give
a six-month extension to Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, whose only virtue is his
invisibility. Modi has retained all key secretaries in finance, defence, HRD,
home and external affairs. He enforced the principle of continuity in the
bureaucracy even though some mandarins were UPA loyalists. It is clear that
Modi wants to govern through bureaucracy. He has taken over from Manmohan but
the Modi government is yet to acquire a shape.
The
Indian Civil Services is one of the country’s most powerful institutions. A
relic of the Raj, it ensured that politicians would never take any initiative
without making babus either partners in power or beneficiaries of the system.
The over 20,000-member club of All India Services officers comprising IAS, IFS,
IRS, IR&AS, IPS etc. are the unelected rulers of India. They get automatic
promotions, perks and salaries and create lucrative post-retirement facilities,
which even politicians have failed to do for themselves. When Modi advised
bureaucrats to be neutral, efficient and honest, it was like telling a tiger to
stop hunting. Insiders say there are enough checks on the civil services in
place, without the need for new directives. Even the official code of conduct
provides summary dismissal of officials found engaging in political activity.
They can be sent to jail if guilty of corruption. In one instance, Yashpal
Kapoor, the then private secretary to PM Indira Gandhi, acted as an election
agent for her. Mrs Gandhi lost her poll petition because she used a government
official for election purposes. Rarely is a senior official transferred due to
his or her inability to perform duties correctly, because the steel frame
hasn’t allowed any accountability matrix for the bureaucracy. Babus can only be
moved out if they fail to do the bidding of their political masters.
Modi,
however, added a significant provision to his proclamation, which, if taken to
the logical end, would break the civil service-corporate nexus. One directive
is that all conflict of interest situations must be avoided and resolved. It is
evident the PM has placed a premium on the character of a civil servant. It is,
in fact, the conflict of interest—or creation of future interest—which has been
the guiding principle for taking official decisions so far. Post-retirement,
most civil servants joined the very corporations they used to deal with in
their official capacity. A study of retired babus reveals that over 80 per cent
of senior officials took up highly paid jobs after superannuation in the same
sectors they had been handling, all which benefited by their decisions. One of
the most dangerous fallouts of economic reform has been mandarins playing the markets.
Either through relatives or on their own, bureaucrats have been making a
killing buying and selling scrips. It is the cleverest legal way of making
illegal money because babus know in advance which future policies of the
government would positively or negatively affect various sectors. There is
suspicion in some quarters that it is the politician-babu-corporate nexus that
has prevented the government from imposing the capital gains tax so far. India
is perhaps the only democracy where promoters and relatives in politics and
civil services make crores without paying a paisa as income tax. The power of
bureaucracy was evident when two decades ago, it prevented the finance minister
from revealing the names of babus who were allotted promoters’ shares by companies
at concessional rates. Some officials holding the shares joined the same
companies as directors or consultants. Even now, there are officials who have
mastered the art of writing pro-private sector documents for PPP and demand
royalty for it.
Piercing
the steel frame has been a big challenge for all leaders for it’s the
apparatchik who makes the apparatus. Modi should remember that the “bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies and cowards”. Therefore, his agenda should have been
to replace pygmies with giants. If a party needs a strongman with verve and
vision, the bureaucracy needs an equally towering personality to lead it. For
past three decades, fearless and innovative officers have lost the battle to
sycophants and incompetents. India has seen impressive Cabinet Secretaries and
principal secretaries like A N Verma, Brajesh Mishra, B G Deshmukh, Vinod
Pandey and Naresh Chandra. They led from the front and were au courant with the
mind and mission of their PMs. Since they were first-raters, they also chose
first-raters to assist in running the government. Now second-raters have taken
over and they look for third-raters so that they do not outshine their bosses.
For
a change, the steel frame showed signs of cracks after Modi took over. Initially,
they cowered perspiring in their AC rooms for the call from South Block,
informing them about their transfers. They were relieved they were not relieved
of their jobs. Modi preaches and practises delivery. As Gujarat CM, he
successfully rode the bureaucracy tiger. He neither set nor amended any rules
of conduct for them. Yet his babus exceeded his expectations.
So,
when he walked into 7 RCR, the bureaucracy was expecting its achche din of
doing no work about to end. It is used to conjuring up new ideas for the new
leader, to generate fresh jobs for themselves and escape scrutiny. Babus
understood the real message behind Modi’s slogan ‘Minimum Government, Maximum
Governance’ well. It meant he would demolish many departments and secretaries
to create a lean, mean establishment. Before Modi could implement his vision,
they counselled him to embark on the path of ‘advice first, act later’. The
bureaucracy abhors initiative and innovation. It despises any exercise which
ensures better results. Modi faces a bigger threat from the wily civil servant
than from any political opponent. He must keep it in mind that “powers once
acquired are never relinquished easily, just as bureaucracies once created
never die or vanish”.
Follow
him on Twitter @PrabhuChawla
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