No Status Quo 

 

       

By  Pamarty Venkataramana 

 

 

In praise of bureaucrats, it is gainsaid that they constitute the nerve-centre of any elected Government of the people in a democratic society. 

 

‘Good administration’ and ‘bad administration’ are phrases that actually define qualitative output of babudom under any given political dispensation.

 

With open societies which let any,all and sundry to contest polls and get themselves elected through fair means or by time-tested,convoluted methodologies,the importance of bureaucrats cannot be undermined for a vast majority of elected representatives of the population turn out to be either illiterate or semi-literate and often times,a vast majority of such ‘ cream of society ‘ are biased and hold prejudiced views on almost every issue : they justify it as toeing ‘party lines’ or a ‘political manifesto’. So much so that their contrasting behavioural patterns whilst weilding power as ruling party and when sitting in Opposition ranks of the august Houses of Parliament act as deterrent to progess of the nation.

 

Who then holds the baton of governance just as a music conductor does, efficiently,confidently and with seemingly effortless wave of hands? 

 

Bureaucracy. The Executive wing of Government as laid down by our Constitution holds fort from behind the curtains of fame where flashbulbs of the uncrowned rulers of modern society,the mass media,are trained on leaders of the masses. 

 

Regardless of who leads the mantle of governance ‘the good babu’ strives hard to ensure that cogs of the wheel of a nation are in sound shape and oiled well.

 

However,the nemesis of all elected leadership has been their fragile and shaky equation with babudom. Even as quite a few ‘great leaders’ revel in enjoyment of power with a coterie of ‘yes-men’, there have been instances of the rarest of rare leader who possesses both knowledge as well as valour needed to confront all mischievous adventurism. 

 

That evergreen BBC show -‘ yes Minister ‘ offers wonderful insight into pre-technology driven style of political administration by bureaucracy which bandwagon can cheerfully clap their hands by saying that the bouquets and brickbats from general public are directed at politicians who get elected, held accountable for results and for all outcomes of policy-implementation or non-implementation of objectives of any enactment, in letter and spirit.

 

Sycophancy has its special place in babudom. Even as fixed time bound promotions have become a normative practice and the elite-club feels unassailable, this clan is far distanced with ground-realities leading to anamolous decision-making resulting in the State becoming the biggest litigant in courts of law,over the decades. Advent of technology and digital governance appears to have compounded both the chaos and the confusion. 

 

The highlight of an almost military line-type of hierarchy is that it enables honest ,upright and capable officers to ‘run’ the Government.

 

The existence of an ubiquitous monster called ‘corruption’ stalking the corridors of power cannot be ignored. If this can be dealt with a firm hand,a clear mind having focus upon the root causes of the unceasing prevalence of corruption as an institutionalized phenomenon,life would become a blessing for all citizens. 

 

How does one go about such a cleansing programme which aims at the eradication of corrupt practices in the realm of bureaucracy? 

 

The happenstance incident of a certain female bureaucrat in service having been detected to have joined civil services stream by producing a false certificate of caste-reservation and the uncanny reality of her not having spent a day in prison even after dismissal from IAS is germane to her ability to hsve successfully controlled her place of posting. In essence, it all reeks of blatant misuse of power in political circles.

 

The axiom to theory of corruption is the nexus between political class and babudom. And the open truth of there existing moles within the ranks and file of civil services is bitter and palpable across daily life of ordinary people who stand in long queues to have a calculation-mistake noticed in demand notice of a water-bill or electricity-bill or maybe perhaps have a marks-sheet or caste-verification certificate attested by designated officials.

 

This graduates to larger proportions of ‘grooming’ where for instance a huge infrastructure project is allotted to a Chinese company even as few dozen mobile-apps are banned in India on grounds of ‘national security’. And,there are clear incidents where a bureaucrat,just retired, acts as an agent for goods and services of China,an avowed business-adversary. These mole-officers ridicule you when you oppose their nefarious,avaricious designs or read out Swamy’s handbook on ‘code of conduct’.

 

 

What is heartening though is the stupendous efforts put in by the band of honest,dedicated Government servants in different levels of the system. All nation salutes this tribe of ‘civil servants’ who function sincerely and a nationalist fervour without fear or favour of evil forces,within and outside political stratosphere. 

 

How can the rot be stemmed from India’s economic and political system?

 

Can the recent live experimentation of the American Government by enjoining upon DoGE or Department of Government Expenditure be emulated since the constitutional post of a CAG or Comptroller and Auditor General has no teeth to arraign a delinquent bureaucrat and has salutory effect more than acting as a statutory watchdog. Here again the root is embedded in very training and practice of modern day auditors to become forensic auditors rather than functioning as internal or external guides to prevent fudging of accounts and monitor wasteful and foul accounting practices.

 

The check ought to be at the point of spending rather than to function as a post- mortem expert in regard to utilisation of finances.

 

The poser -‘ how can corruption be erased from the administrative system’ remains as much a ‘eternal conundrum’ as to how the very Constitution of India which declares it’s existence and professed-objective to be ‘equality for all citizens irrespective of caste,creed,sex’ is unabashedly being used as the crutch of political agenda,whereby certain sections and segments of the society are treated as being ‘ more equal than others’ supposedly for undoing perceived wrongs attributed to ancestors of a few people of India long dead and gone,decades and centuries ago.

 

 

The vital point being missed out is that there was no ‘India’ prior to the last division and hasty partition in 1947 undertaken by departing colonialists : the various kingdoms had their distinct practices.

 

In a bid to destroy personal values and distort the greatness of this ancient civilisation,they fomented division on lines of religion. They sowed seeds of separation between peace-loving Hindus and those professing to follow Islam even as they spread Christianity which too was an imported religion. Much before that,the conspirators had by alien orders passed law to divide and separate followers of Sikhism,Buddhism and Jainism from the mother religion,viz,Hinduism.

 

Law was used as a potent tool of administration. Lamentably,law has been turned into an impotent machinery for dispensation of ‘justice’ to wealthy and powerful : all to the detriment of both national weal as well as of poorer citizens who cannot afford a midnight hearing by Supreme Court (as was done in case of a terrorist on way to gallows) or a ‘bail over a telephonic call’ or even more audacious, bail without an application on a Sunday evening where a sitting Chief of apex Court reportedly left a dance recital show,hurriedly upon receiving phone calls. The tragedy is no action is ever initiated against such heavyweights of media created super lawyers and corrupt, implanted judges who resemble pimples on a fair face.

 

Who judges judges? Who bells fatcats of bureaucracy? 

 

More significantly,who has felled the judicious constitutional mandates to come tumbling down?

 

As one who has observed,fought,felt as well as was felled and risen from a fallen justice system over the years of law- practice encompassing all rungs of judicial hierarchy assiduously following the ‘Hippocrates-Oath’ taken on enrolment and as one who has fought steadfastly for upholding of human rights and the Constitution, one cannot but humbly suggest the following urgent remedial measures aimed at restoration of ‘rule of law’ as also to gallop towards the avowed aim of the Constitution,i.e, TO ENSURE JUSTICE- POLITICAL, ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL. 

The first right step in this direction would be ushering of an uniform civil code. 

This will help remove disparities between one citizen of India and another, be it personal rights of a citizen covering marriage,divorce,adoption,inheritance or the education syllabus. Transformation of prevalent mindset of ‘political correctness’ or overcoming ingrained timidity to overhaul the much-touted, antiquated and biased system of discrimination is a sine qua non to improving ‘quality-of-life’ – quotient of every Indian.

 

Next will be to ban the appointment of advocates who hail from serving or retired judges of upto five generations from being anointed as judges at any level. This might evoke protestations and prompt popular demonstrations which can however be curbed easily,in national interest. 

 

Likewise, in case of civil services too. None who has a blood relative or even a distant one,must be permitted to venture into this realm of society. If they are brilliant to clear every stage of examination of IAS-IRS-IFS allied services,they would be equally capable of joining private organizations. 

 

These bars ought to be replicated in other areas of governance such as laying a ban on export of fruits,vegetables and meat from the country for a duration of seven years. This will ensure that rotten produce is not left for domestic consumption even as best one gets sold away to foreigners in guise of earning profits and statistical charts claiming improved export-earnings.

 

Then there is the classic ongoing case of where a certain foreifn country openly sided with our enemy country but an ongoing contract for operating the most sensitive Mumbai Airport has not been cancelled : neither the State nor Judiciary seems to go all out to declare the nation’s interests as being of paramount importance and this is the scenario even in aftermath of ‘operation Sindoor’.

 

The stay granted by the local State High court can perfunctorily be overridden by Governor under orders of Her Excellency, the President of India who is the chief commander of Armed Forces. It is not as though none of Indian domestic companies or friendly powers carry the capacity to replace operations.

 

A good set of advisers from within the bureaucracy who possess wide experience of encountering such impasse situations and bold in their plans to outrun the ‘internal enemies’ of Bhararvarsh must be roped in by the political dispensation of the day. 

 

Unless the good bureaucrats are given a ‘free hand’ to restore sovereignty of nation in it’s true sense and manage the reins of good governance,the bad apples will be calling the shots dragging the nation ,into an abyss of gloom,despair and self-destruction.

 

Spread the good word. Hail honest bureaucrats. They are the lifeline of the continuing state of the State when only ennui and euphoria greet us every waking day and restless nights.

 

One good bureaucrat is worth being cherished over a thousand bad ones. Promote good ones. Disrupt the accustomed usage of ‘yes-men’ and dullards. Say no to status quo.