FROM THE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
I
ruption Act whereby no bureaucrat can be prosecuted with-
n April 2008, I thought I had run out of words to
out the government’s permission, there will be no excuse
describe the abysmal state of the Indian bureaucracy
for inaction. But it could also further strengthen the unholy
when I wrote an eighth letter on the subject in 19
nexus between politicians and the babus.
years. A decade and a ninth cover story later, things
These problems directly impact the quality of gov-
are where they were. In fact, a time travelling civil servant
ernance. Think of the billions the government would
from the British Raj a century ago would feel at home in a
add to the economy if it speeded up decision-making,
government office near the end of the second decade of 21st
century India—armies of peons, musty offices and the slow, removed regulatory hurdles and made it genuinely easy
to do business in India; if it turned the
enervating pace of decision-making
bureaucracy from a power hoarder into
where the march of a nation’s progress
a process enabler.
is measured one file at a time.
A 2017 World Bank study on gover-
The failure to transform the
nance, which assessed the quality of a
Indian civil service from a colonial
country’s civil service, its independence
rent-seeking institution of the Raj
from political pressure and the quality
era into one focused on development,
of policy formulation and implementa-
poverty alleviation and transforma-
tion, ranked India in the 45th percentile
tion is one of the biggest hurdles on
globally. That this figure marked a nearly
India’s road to progress.
10 percentage point decline over the past
The Indian bureaucracy is an
two decades tells its own story.
anachronism. A bullock cart of stat-
The answer obviously is massive
ism in an age where even automobiles
reform. Over the years, several commit-
are poised to go driverless. Prime
tees have suggested various measures
Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s comment
for overhauling the bureaucracy, from
about just 15 paise of every govern-
Our February 16-28, 1979, cover
setting up institutes of governance to
ment rupee reaching the common
train specialists to inducting a rigor-
man was also an observation on the
ously trained lower bureaucracy selected
multiple layers of bureaucracy spong-
through a merit-based recruitment
ing off funds. Today, with advances
system. Nothing has been implemented.
in digitisation, the Aadhaar scheme
Our cover story, put together by Edi-
claims to have eliminated over two
tor (Research) Ajit Kumar Jha, exam-
million ghost beneficiaries. But the
ines the state of India’s bureaucracy in
system supposed to translate the gov-
the light of some recent changes. These
ernment’s slogans and promises into
include a 360-degree empanelment
action still runs on paper. I frequently
cadre review process, an emphasis on
hear ministers proudly say how they
merit rather than seniority, the Preven-
clear so many files in a day as evid-
tion of Corruption (Amendment) Act,
ence of how hard-working they are.
2018, and the lateral entry of a small
In fact, this highlights how stuck they
number of specialists into the top rungs
are in the old licence raj mindset. The
of bureaucracy. These measures, how-
job of a minister is to decide policy
ever, amount to mere tweaks, like put-
and strategy. They should be seeing
Our February 5, 2001, cover
ting rubber tyres on a bullock cart when
how files can be reduced