State Governments and Financial mess

The self defeating indifference to the legal obligations under ' Fiscal Responsibility and Budget management Act ' accompanied by long standing policy bottlenecks and preponderance of political politics over development politics have taken more than one states towards the financial imbroglio.Financial administration in the context of any government holds so much of 'unificatory' and 'instrumental' value that any sort of complacency,imprudence and indiscipline in this regard directly undermines the efficacy of governance in all imaginable spheres of life.The governments at all levels, struggling to reconcile the political realism to the idealism, have made abortive attempts to make facts fit their narrow political desires which has resulted into burgeoning fiscal and revenue deficits.The adverse implications of growing indebtedness of the state has to be understood beyond the narrow confines of Mr. Dasgupta's jurisdiction as a part of the political culture which is making achievement of 'macro economic' stability a hurculean task. Can Indian economy ever be in pink of health with dwindling fortunes of more than one states? Given the intellectual credentials of Mr.Asim and harsh realities of increasingly competitive world we expect some more substantive policy measures than mere cosmetic manipulations with one or other taxes to sustain a development centric economy.The government needs to reflect strong political willingness to take decisions guided more by the facts and realities of 21st century rather than inconducive and value centric ideas of 70's.We are yet to strike right kind of balance between politics and economics.

Ram Sene and Co.

RISING INTOLERENCE AND DEMOCRATIC INDIA

The consistently increasing incidents of violent and mindless ‘hooliganism’ being orchestrated by various self- styled groups and outfits of socio-cultural, religious and political ‘hues’ have raised a serious question on the credibility of our ‘legal system’ and law enforcement machinery. In the name of protecting the ‘pristinness’ of Indian culture, religion or regional interests and identity, these self - proclaimed ‘conscience keeper’ of our society resort to almost all the ‘variants’ of salacious savagery with least of concern for the ‘rule of law’ and the basic human rights. The menace of moral vigilantism, religious fundamentalism and the politics of regionalism- all put together- seems to have delivered a new ‘indigenous’ version of terrorism which is equally if not more capable of destroying the secular and democratic fabric of India much to the detriment of its unity and integrity. Unlike their foreign counterparts, these self styled moral and cultural ‘crusaders’ are not ‘non state’ actors, rather they are as much Indians as their unsuspecting victims are though with some palpable difference.

The impunity with which socio-cultural and political fundamentalism is expanding its draconian wings in different states appears quite admissible when viewed in the light of the nature and intensity of government’s response. Instead of ‘pre-empting’ such incidents and carrying out decisive strikes against it, our administration seems to have accustomed itself to a ‘self-defeating’ strategy of ad-hocism and reactionary mission, inspired no doubt by the philosophy of a pachydermic state. The enemy seems to be a ‘flattened beneficiary’ of our liberal democracy and competitive politics.

Successive incidents, one after another have kept on adding entries to the ‘glossary’ of vandalism followed by outrageously hackneyed ‘post-carnage’ response by the governments. The cosy smugness of normalcy regained after every incident acts to the detriment of our sincerity to evolve a concrete and credible set of measures against the menace.

The l’ affaire’Mumbai,Nasik,Mangalore or Cuttack do reflect certain similarities in terms of pervert profanities of faith and values marking a clear cut obliquity from basic concerns of humanity. The egregious defiance of the authority of the state and the complete absence of punitive deterrence displayed in all the cases do raise some serious questions regarding the overall efficacy of the Constitutionally- ordained ‘trinity of instrumentalities’ viz.Executive,Judiciary and Legislature though the greater amount of responsibilities lies with the Executive.

The otherwise usual problem in a vibrant democracy, more particularly in a land of bewildering diversity like India assumes serious dimensions when the state authorities fail to exact obedience to the ‘supreme law of the land and to enforce even the most ‘fundamental’ of the fundamental rights, that is ‘right to life’ and personal liberty, let alone other rights. The response of the political leadership and even otherwise ‘active’ Judiciary presents a picture of despair only, displaying actions ranging from general indifference, deliberate and calculated inaction or neutrality to even tacit complicity.

An emerging political leader in Maharastra,leading a political party, registered under ‘Representation of peoples Act’,suppoted by a bunch of hooligans (styled as party karyakartas) holds the state machinery to ransom in pursuance of the ‘noblest’ of the objectives that is restructuring of Maharastra and bringing back the lost pride of ‘Maratha- manus’. The ‘modus operandi’which is secret to none and similar to their brethren in even more sacrosanct profession of Bharatiya Samskriti and Hindu dharma involves beating up ‘black and blue’ poor, innocent, unarmed and unsuspecting common people with their fault being anything from ‘belongingness’ to a particular state, religion and profession or in general the exercise of constitutionally guaranteed freedom in a way contrary to the ‘code of conduct’ howsoever unthinkingly contemplated by them. The self-proclaimed ‘saviors’ of collective Indian conscience aim at protecting Indian samskaras and samskriti by hurling abuses, assaulting and molesting women in full public view.

Nevertheless, I find the story on the other side of the fence far more ‘disgraceful’ and discouraging. If the celebrated Chief Minister of Delhi ‘cautions’ women against moving around at night ,implicitly accepting administration’s inability to provide security against nocturnal hooligans, the state of Maharastra symbolizes the most perverted form of ‘competitive politics’ where the political parties in their unhindered zeal to protect the cause of ‘sons of the soil’ do fight like street dogs to take credit for beating up north Indian students.

A law abiding and hard working common man with wrinkles on his forehead, struggling to devise one or other survival strategy in an increasingly competitive world is beaten up, humiliated and sometimes killed by a subversive political and cultural ideology and agenda; political leadership under pressure issues assurance of punitive actions, police makes customary arrests with due respect and honor shown to the grand perpetrator and his militia; the logo machic courts bound by ‘full- of- fallacies’ legal system find it difficult not to release karyakartas on bail though accompanied by a warning which is adhered to more in violation.

Anti torture bill

The credibility of any democracy and the basic principles of good governance inevitably demands right kind of balance to be struck between the conferment of authority on state agencies and the rights of the people on the other hand. The proposed 'anti- torture bill' represents the genre of legal draftsmanship which manufactured the much controversial 'civil liability for nuclear damage bill’. The provisions of the concerned bill clearly fail to carry the will and spirit of CAT and at the same time runs the risk of overshadowing the very soul of Art.21 ( right to life and personal liberty) of the Fundamental rights in our Constitution which the Indian judiciary has kept on nourishing and enriching through its progressive judicial interpretation. Be it the definition of torture or the provisions regarding filing of a complaint against a public servant involved in such a crime, the scales are heavily tilted in favor of the latter Vis-a vis the common man. Let us hope that the Upper house proves its institutional relevance under the constitutional scheme of things by stopping this ill-conceived legislation and suggesting appropriate amendments, keeping uppermost in mind the larger interests of the society.

Public Admn.IAS 2008 mains (model answers)

C.S.E. (MAIN)

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION – 2008

PAPER-1

Section‘A’

Q.1 (a) “Calling Woodrow Wilson, the father of Public Administration is doing injustice to equally or even more eminent contributions made prior to him”. Comment.

Although, the history of evolution of Public Administration as an activity is as old as human civilization, its growth as a discipline of study can be traced only in the pioneering contribution of Woodrow Wilson’s essay ‘The study of Public administration’.

It is to be noted that most of the intellectual contributions made in the ancient and medieval period were broadly in the realm of Political science where administration was largely treated as a component of the same. Therefore the rudiments of theorizing on governance and administration can be located only in the classics of Political science such as Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Politics, Kautilya’s Arthasastra and Machiavelli’s Prince etc.Further, history testifies to the significant contributions made by the gifted administrators like Kautilya, Akbar, Todarmal, Bismarck and Sardar Patel into the ‘corpus’ of administrative thoughts based on their practical experience. If Arthasastra reflects extensively on structure and methods of administrative machinery including public policies, certain European scholars appear to have realized the virtues of ‘scientific’ mananagement much before the emergence of ‘Wilson’ and ‘Taylor’.

Nevertheless, one can not deny the fact that the formal and systematic study of Public administration based on empirical research was initiated only by Wilson. He streamlined the necessity of studying public administration separately against the backdrop of increasing complexities of the government in an industrial society.

Therefore, to confer the title of ‘father’ on Wilson would not be a folly as long as we do not loose sight of the long process of evolution of administrative thoughts even though placed in a dilapidated form as a part of practices.

(b) “Leaders do the right things, managers do the things rightly”. (Bennis)Comment.

An organization is a complex and systematic framework of operations where more than one individuals working within a definite structure of authority, responsibility, methods, techniques and processes aim at achieving certain ‘common’ purpose. The success or failure of any organization therefore is the outcome of intricate ‘interplay’ among various human and non human factors.

Accordingly, to impart ‘unity of direction’ and purpose the leaders or the top functionaries in the organization assume the responsibilities regarding definition of purpose, determination of objectives as well as the guiding principles and formulation of broader policies incorporating the overall functioning of the organization. In addition to it, while defining the ‘scheme’ of the organization and providing for its ‘structural’ and ‘behavioral’ profile, they discharge significant responsibilities towards co-coordinating diverse activities at the macro level.

Further, down the line of hierarchy managers are held responsible for the efficient management and judicious allocation of resources towards the accomplishment of ‘subject specific’ and consequently the ‘ultimate objectives’ of the organization. No doubt, they are supposed to identify adopt and enforce appropriate methods and techniques to elicit best of the services from the organizational members. It involves ‘inter alia’ placing the

right person at the right place, developing scientific standards and techniques for evaluation of work, exercise of control and accountability etc.They are required to contemplate an ensemble of subjective and objective factors to keep the level of morale and motivation high.

Thus leaders and managers, focusing more particularly on overall effectiveness and efficiency respectively lead the organization to the ultimate goals.

(c) “Mary Parker Follett was far ahead of her times”. Discuss.

Among the scholars of Public Administration, Mary Parker occupies a place of prominence on account of her pioneering contribution in streamlining the significance of ‘socio-psychological’ dimension of the organization. Her ideas reflect a unique blending of practical wisdom, deep flashes of intuition,unnconventional spontaneity and first hand ‘experience’ drawn from different walks of life- all placed in the mould of democratic dynamism.

At a time when her contemporaries were obsessed with the structure and methods, Follett made an attempt to understand and analyze the organizational problems and seeking the solutions thereof by underlining the intricacies of individual and group psychology at work. Not only she identified conflict as ‘constructive’(leading to expression of socially valuable differences) but also suggested the practical ways of resolving them in the form of Domination, Compromise and Integration with associated pros’ and cons. Her emphasis on ‘law of situation’ as the guiding principle behind the issuance and acceptance of orders and efficacious ways of issuing the same had remained unexplored for long.Similarly, she explained the obsolescence of the principle of delegation of authority (authority being in built in the responsibility) and gave the functional view of leadership which according to her was not the monopoly of position.

No doubt, the Follett’s contribution is very much like a fresh whiff of air in so far as administrative theories are concerned and that’s why she became a source of inspiration for many including Elton mayo and Chester Bernard.

(d) Instruments of public accountability can be truly effective only if the people and their associations, backed by a responsible media are assertively ‘pro-active’. Comment.

The efficacy and credibility of any ‘politico-administrative’ system, particularly in a democracy, largely depend on transparency and pin pointed accountability of those who hold and exercise authority in trust and on behalf of the people. The term ‘public accountability’ therefore refers to the personal answerability of individuals and institututions involved in carrying out the functions of the state regarding the ‘authority’ they do exercise and the resources utilized by them.

In a modern democratic state there can be a number of legal and institutional mechanism like anti-corruption laws, vigilance agencies and active judiciary etc.yet their effectiveness depends heavily on the nature and role of civil society and media. A well informed and politically conscious civil society not only keeps the administration within the limits of constitution and law but also compels the same to adopt people centric policies and plans. But we can hardly think of a thinking and active society in the absence of a responsible and vibrant media which plays the role of ‘opinion maker’ and ‘whistle blower’ as well. A society backed by powerful media streamlines the fallacies in the existing system on the one hand and keeps suggesting one or other policy alternatives to major problems in ‘sync’ with the contemporary realities and the will of the people. A vibrant media informs people about the what, how and why of the government, its overt and covert intentions whereas on the other hand it keeps the government adequately posted with the will, aspiration and perception of the people which to a great extent leads to the enforcement of public accountability.

Thus, an educated and well informed society fed and nurtured by an equally vibrant and responsible media forms the very cornerstone of public accountability system and by implication the democracy.

Q2 In the last two decades, all most all countries of the world have experienced transformations in their administrative systems. Explain this phenomenon with examples from the developed and the developing nations in the context of New Public Management Movement.

The evolution of Public Administration as a discipline in the last two decades has witnessed significant developments in terms of principles, ideology and consequently the practices inspired by the ‘convergence’ of public and private administration in more respect than one. Imbued with the spirit of bringing administration closer to the problems of society the contemporary scholars have embarked on the path of restructuring and reorienting public administration. The multi-pronged initiative towards reforms in the government (thanks to the consistently increasing popularity and urge for democratization) has witnessed greater rationalization in the structural and procedural profile on the one hand and a genuine readiness to learn and incorporate the ‘efficiency’ principles from the ideas generated in private sector. The increasingly globalizing world in the last two decades has restricted the choices available to isolated and inward looking economy which in its own way has inspired significant changes in the administrative systems in the world in both the developed and developing countries alike.

It is against this contextual backdrop that one can understand the relevance of ‘New Public Management’. Inspired by the growing concern for efficiency in the government and public criticism of ‘self aggrandizing’ political and bureaucratic system, the NPM emerged as an outcome of compulsive search for better ‘management style’ in the government. The defining characteristics of it being economization of operation, rationality in decision making and professionalism.

The ideological roots of NPM can be located in the harmonious blending of the ideas of ‘Public choice approach’ and the ‘neo-Taylorism’.If the former (PCA) interrelates the internal and external environment of organization with greater impact and efficacy, the latter emphasizes more rational and economic management of internal operations. To be clearer the PCA defines efficiency on the part of government in terms of making more than one choices available in the matters of goods and services so that the problem of ‘diversity’ of preferences could be addressed. No doubt it suggests reforms by way of minimization of the role of the state, curbing of public monopoly, institutitutional pluralism leading to competitive environment, reducing the discretionary powers of the politicians etc.to the benefit of the public seen as ‘methodological’ individuals here.

On the other hand ‘Neo-Taylorism’ highlights the significance of adopting performance evaluation techniques, locating personal responsibility for the assigned task, performance based incentives, goal oriented approach, preference for ‘functional clusters’ against monolithic pyramids, accrual basis of accounting, cost cutting rather than spending, a dichotomy between core policy initiatives and adaptive operational services etc so as to achieve highest level of efficiency.

‘In toto’ the NPM on account of its ‘all-pervasive’ reformist agenda has arguably dominated the world of administrative thoughts and practices in the east as well as the west in the last few decades. As for instance, in the United Kingdom significant steps have been taken over the years to improve the administrative systems at different levels. To mention a few, the ‘Fulton Committee’ on Civil services and ‘Royal Commission’ on Local Government have influenced quite significantly the changes in their respective areas. Similarly in Germany, France and the USA the disillusionment with excessive activism of the state had become over by the 70’s thus leading to significant restructuring and re-orientation of the system. Japan the real welfare ‘superpower’ of the world till 70’s did realize

the futility of unviable expansion in the structure and the expenditure of the state in the name of public welfare and adopted since then a balanced and practical approach showing due respect to the forces of the market. In India, we have witnessed changes taking place in the administrative system though at a slow pace thanks to the recommendations made by Pay Commissions and various Committees on administrative reforms. The decision to embark on the path of liberalization, privatization and globalization,deregulation,assumption of market based ideology leading to competitive ecological setting in almost all walks of life do give ample testimony to our strong proclivity towards the NPM.

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Q3 Examine the respective role of facts and values in the decision making process. Is it possible to make value free decisions in government system? How can government decisions be made more rational?

Decision making is one of the most basic activities in any organization which takes place at all the levels in the administrative hierarchy. In fact an organization is a complex structure of decision makers who keep exercising their preferences in the light of certain values based on communication received in a given situation, called ‘decision’. The nature, dimension and the reach of decisions differ in accordance with the magnitude of authority and responsibility associated with it. Be it planning, policy making or determination of objectives, everywhere one or other kinds of decision making find its expression.

According to Simon (who carried out extensive research on the same), decision making basically involves exercise of choice amid alternative plans of action, each of the choice in turn, consists of a logical blending of

facts as well as values. A ‘fact’ is a statement of reality pertaining to certain deed, action and existing state of affairs. By the very nature itself, facts are observable and measurable by scientific means and can be proved with ample clarity.

On the other hand ‘values’ as a constituent of decision is an ‘expression’ of preference which unlike a fact may not be amenable to observable and measurable means. It means ‘values’ can not be proved to be valid with mechanical objectivity rather its validity is more a matter of subjective assertion. The understanding of what, how and why of decision making assumes complexity on account of ‘inextricable’ merger of facts and value premise in a decision. The distinction between the facts and values suggests the possibility of multiple criteria of correctness to evaluate the ethical and factual elements in a decision. In addition to it, most of the values involve intermediate facts. Given the intricacies of inter-woven nature of the two, Simon used ‘means-ends’ construct to explain the relationship of facts and values. To be clearer, ends corresponding to value judgments relates to selection of final goals whereas means representing facts are related to application of right behavior in pursuance of such goals. Further facts are amenable to rational decisions whereas values have base in the form of faith.

In this way a complex organization can be seen as encapsulating a ‘hierarchy of decisions where the attainment of goals at one level mediates only towards the realization of a distant goal. But Simon more particularly emphasized the significance of factual dominance to make decisions more scientific though he made it clear that facts and values are ‘intertwined’.

The ecological setting of government and private administration differ in spatial as well as substantive content. Unlike private administration the government emerges from and is directly accountable to the public at large. The nature and ideological profile of any government and its legitimacy is conditioned and evaluated by a composite system of values viz.socio-economic, cultural and political. In simpler words, no government can

survive for long without conforming to the ‘common value system’ cherished by the society it is operating within. The Constitution of any country acts as the trusted repository of values, ideals and governing principles and it is expected that the government reflects them in their policies and administrative actions. The absence of inspiring values like justice, liberty, equality, fraternity or cultural values like secularism in the decisions of the government will put the entire government on a very low moral pedestral.Thus; the governmental decisions free from values will make the whole machinery quite mechanical and self defeating having no organic relatedness to its popular base.

The decision making in the government can be made more rational by initiating a multi pronged reformative measures involving ‘inter alia’ rationalization of structure, simplification of rules and procedures, efficient collection of intelligence and its systematic and timely dissemination through a vibrant communication channel (use of IT), scientific and goal oriented training including appropriate professional as well as general behavioral orientation.

Last but not the least, the biggest challenge in this regard lies in evolving a politico-administrative system which is constantly in touch with the ground realities on account of public participation and where the forces of ‘will’ and ‘skill’ believe in a cooperative effort rather than undesirable interference. Further the government should not hesitate in soliciting inputs from the vast network of voluntary agencies, research groups, civil society at large and the NGO’s operating at various levels. In simple words finally rational decision is the one which is in sync with the reality.

Q4.To claim that a company or a corporation form is always more effective than a departmental form of organization is an outdated view.

The real test of a sound structure is its capacity to balance decisional autonomy and operational flexibility with optimal accountability. Critically examine this statement.

The efficiency and effectiveness of any government depends to a great extent on evolving an appropriate structural machinery to carry out multifarious functions of the state. The democratic governments, all over the world, imbued with the principles and spirit of ‘Public welfare’ aim at making positive intervention in the socio-economic life of the nation which has led to the emergence of a vast network of structural arrangements called public enterprises. Owned by the government, wholly or partially, and engaged in industrial, commercial or financial activities, public enterprises can be categorized broadly into three viz.Departmental undertakings, Public corporations and Government companies. Conditioned by the factors like nature of objectives, functions and the need for operational autonomy, public accountability and financial flexibility different forms of organization have been established by the governments over the years.

It is a well established fact that each one of the structural forms has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. If the departments are preferred on account of highest level of accountability and control so suitable for sovereign basic functions, Company form of organizations characterized by highest level of operational autonomy, flexibility and independence is preferred for industrial and commercial operations of the government though with the least accountability to the legislature. Public corporations one of the most striking structural innovations of the 20^th century (second half) claimed to facilitate a welcome blending of public ownership, authority and control on the one hand and managerial flexibility and dynamism of a private enterprise woven into one. Established under a ‘law’ enacted by the legislature defining its powers,duties,privileges,form of management and relationship with other departments – public corporations became very popular initially particularly in the areas of delivering public goods and services at an affordable price.

Nevertheless, the comparative analysis and experience of the efficacy of different structural forms have disapproved the claim that corporation and company are superior to departments on account of greater flexibility and autonomy. The efficiency of any organization is determined by a progressive interplay of structural, behavioural and tens of internal and external environmental factors. Very often, organizational chart and structural and legal profile of the organization fail to justify its actual operational realities. To be more clear, public corporations and companies despite their distinct and separate legal status on the paper become the subject of political interference and control because there is a thin line of difference between ‘policy directions’ and the normal ‘ones’ directing day to day operations.Similarly,departments under the direct political control of the minister concerned are not remote to the principles of efficiency and productivity thanks to the compulsions of an increasingly competitive world. The rules of survival for public and private enterprises are reaching a point of convergence let alone the distinctions between corporation and departments. Indian railways in this regard can be seen as a good example which has altered the conventional perception of departments as being synonymous with inefficiency and obsolescence.

No doubt, all forms of public enterprises today are under pressure to adopt scientific methods and means to conduct their business characterized by efficient and rational decision making, simplification of rules, goal orientation, greater specialization,professionalism,rationalization of structure, judicious exploitation of resources,customer oriented approach, meaningful interaction and sensitivity to the environment at different levels etc.In nut shell the imperativeness of least possible political interference and ‘pin pointed’ accountability has been recognized in the context of public enterprises as a whole irrespective of their forms.

Therefore, one can safely assert against the backdrop of contemporary realities that the key to success does not lie in the form but in our ability

strike a balance between the need to free decision making from ‘extraneous’ considerations and the expediency of enforcing public accountability in sync with the democratic traditions. Slowly and steadily, rules of success are becoming too common to allow us to see efficiency in the narrow confines of structural profile like corporation, company or department.

SECTION-B

Short Notes

(a) “Laxity in monitoring and evaluation can render even the best policies infructuous.” Discuss.

Organizations of all hues in pursuance of their objectives are required to reflect the spirit of dynamism to retain their relevance. As the internal and external environmental factors are subject to change, one needs to be constantly vigilant to avoid loosing touch with the ground realities. The key to success, therefore, lies in the efficient management of the cyclical process of operation in the ‘construct’ of ‘input-throughput-output’ backed by an efficient feedback mechanism.

The success of any policy is ultimately determined by its effective implementation to which it is integrally are related. The process of implementation is required to be followed by meticulous monitoring and scientific evaluation. As an activity monitoring involves keeping an eye on the operations to avoid deviations from the determined path. It facilitates application of appropriate ‘correctives’ to restore the normaly.By the very nature itself, it remains in operation constanly.Evaluation in the successive stage relates to examining outcomes of any policy or programme in light of pre determined standards. When executed scientifically, it leads to the understanding of the degree of success achieved and the deviations, if any, occurred during the course of implementation.

There can be more than one reason behind the success and failure of any policy. Even best of the policies fail to prove its worth if not matched by missionary zeal and sometimes they fail simply because of fallacious assumptions and lack of vision despite efficient implementation. Hence, the significance of efficient monitoring and evaluation which together hold lots of ‘diagnostic’ and ‘therapeutic’ value as well.

(b) “e- governance has the potentiality to emerge as the most effective instrument of efficiency, transparency and accountability”. Comment.

The significance of information technology in the efficient management of organizational activities, public and private alike is well recognized and is popularly referred to as ‘e-governance’. It has already led to revolutionary changes in the existing principles, practices and norms governing the structural and operational profile of the organizations.

Thanks to its capacity to collect,organize,design and disseminate ‘super colossal’ amount of datas and information to unlimited numbers of destinations in the least possible time, it holds potential to impart greater impact and precision to almost all the activities in the organization. The entire ‘cooperative’ system in an organization (public or private) characterized by rational and efficient decision making, effective leadership, vertical and horizontal coordination, high level of morale and motivation, dynamism in the context of changing environment, all put together, depend on a vibrant and efficient communication system which can hardly be visualized in the absence of IT.

Given its potential, IT is capable of enforcing authority and ensuring accountability in much easier way by facilitating unhindered availability of exhaustive information across the global network with the highest level of accessibility and immediacy. Thus, duplication of effort, undesirable secrecy in the name of security and possibility of conflict and corruption can be reduced to minimum. Furthermore, if the experts succeed in developing simulation of human rationality, it will bring a revolutionary shift in the way decisions are taken in the organization.

No doubt, viewed against the backdrop of complexities associated with the contemporary world, ‘e-governance’ is going to become a matter of compulsion rather than choice.

(c) Truly comparative administrative studies are empirical, nomothetic and ecological.”(Riggs).In this perspective examine the current status of Comparative public administration.

The nature and dimension of Comparative Public Administration has undergone significant changes since the Second World War ‘contra posed’ to ‘traditional’ one. The welcome emphasis on empiricism accompanied by extensive studies against the backdrop of ‘ecological’ settings has delivered a lot of practical value and credibility to it.

Having recovered from the limitations of ‘Manichean view’ (all being ‘wonder’ with the west and ‘blunder’ with the east), the current trend of CPA incorporates rigorous research-based studies in the areas of contemporary relevance. It involves studies related to the comparative role of public and private sector against the backdrop of increasingly globalizing world, role of civil society, voluntary agencies,NGO’s,significance of policy making and associated factors, effective means of control and accountability, citizen charter, viability of simulation techniques to deal with non-programmed decisions, international interdependencies of bureaucracies, trend of development administration in the light of peculiar ecological settings etc.

Thanks to the cross cultural, cross temporal and cross national profile of comparative studies, the ideological and theoretical base of Public is expanding as never before. On account of its all pervasive nature and the inter-disciplinary approach, the ‘CPA’ today has evolved itself as the most dynamic face of Public administration.

(d)Training has proved its incapacity to change the attitudes, behaviour and values of Civil servants.” Do you agree with this statement?

Yes, the significance of training in imparting appropriate behavioral orientation and professional competence to the members of any organization can hardly be over emphasized. But in the civil services, very often the training has proved its limitations in this regard on account of various reasons.

The modern civil services inspired by the concept of rationality, objectivity and depersonalization ends up diluting the personal dynamism and spontaneity of the members to deal with new situations particularly. The training of the civil servants emphasizes more particularly the mechanical and operational aspect of the system like understanding of the line of authority, channel of communication, code of conduct, rules of procedures, methods of decision making etc. to the neglect of the more substantive elements in cooperative system working within and its relatedness to the environment. The line of thought and methodical content of the conventional training system displays insensitivity to the basic ideals and values of good and democratic governance.Further, contrary to the suggestions of Wilson and Fayol, training in many cases lacks scientific approach and time- bound reorientation to keep pace with changing time. Instead of imposing rules from above, the training should emphasize changing the personality inside out in the light of declared policies and objectives.

The core of the training of civil servants should involve vesting of those values and principles which can capacitate them to respond to the challenges in different areas with due concern for people and the environment.

Q.6 “To talk of administrative modernization and still continue with the conventional practice of public personnel administration is a gross incongruity.” Offer suggestions to initiate radical reforms in Human Resource Management of public administrative systems.

The public personnel administration as an important sub-discipline within the fold of public administration encompasses all the policies, principles and practices having to do with just and efficient utilization of human resources towards the accomplishment of organizational objectives. One of the core areas of administration, it represents the management of human dimension of the organization and by implication determines the very success of it.

Modernization in the context of any large organization involves radical transformation in its structural as well behavioral profile. Very often, even the most scientific of the structures operating under enlightened policies guided by rationally drawn rules and regulations fails if not accompanied by equally competent personnel management. To be more clear, unscientific recruitement, training and placement, obsession with rules and procedures, poor service conditions leading to low morale and motivation, inefficient mechanism of accountability and control, duplication of effort and conflict of jurisdiction, lack of sensitivity to ecological considerations including the larger value system of the society, all put put together, jeopardize any effort in the direction of modernization particularly in the government.

No doubt, any reformist agenda in the government is bound to remain unfulfilled unless a multipronged attempt is made to alter the what, how and why of the human resource management. The changes in the public personnel administration should be in sync with the challenges and opportunities thrown by the contemporary society. In the wake of increasingly globalizing world not only our public services need to respond to the peculiar domestic problems of the country but it also needs to be globally competitive. The following measures can be adopted in the direction of better human resource management in the government:-

Rationalization of the size and structure of public services in the light of the changing responsibilities of the government.

Insulating public services against undesirable political intervention.

Scientific recruitment with required differentiation for services and quality training accompanied by regular orientation courses, keeping in mind the responsibilities of the positions;inculcation of sensitivity to human rights in general and empathy towards the weaker sections of the society.

Simplification of rules and procedures and the use of IT to impart efficiency, transparency, accountability in operations and rationality in decision making.

Better service conditions to ensure sense of adequacy and purpose among the members of services.

Adoption of time-tested rules of efficiency from the private sector like cost consciousness, goal orientation, specialization, human resource accounting, scientifically drawn standards to evaluate performance (wherever possible), pin pointed accountability and respect for innovativeness.

Consideration of privatizatization and ‘contracting out’in the areas where it is found to be in public interest.

Uninhibited and mutually reinforcing interaction with the corporate world in the true spirit of PPP in the areas of commonalities.

Last but not the least, public personnel administration as an institutional expression of the face of the government should be nurtured to champion the cause of those who need its help the most.

Q.7 “Good economics and bad politics cannot co-exist in a sound budgetary process.” Discuss this statement in the context of the development challenges in countries experiencing competitive politics.

Ans. The role and significance of financial administration in the context of any politico- administrative system can hardly be over emphasized more particularly when viewed in the light of ‘development –centric’ challenges and opportunities. The core of any financial system finds its expression in the budgetary process which ‘ipso facto’encapsulates the triumvirate of fiscal policy, fiscal management and fiscal accountability at one place. The budgetary process in the government differs significantly from the private organization thanks to its complex ecological settings dominated more particularly by political considerations and values.

Although, the budgetary process in most of the governments incorporates a blending of politics and economics yet the comparative significance of the two differ in consonance with the nature of political system. In the countries characterized by ‘competitive politics’ where more than one political parties keep jostling for wide and wider political space, the qualitative dimension of budget very often suffers on account of political compulsions. In pursuance of their ultimate objective that is acquisition of political power, most of the parties approach the subject of development with an eye on political interest thanks to the cut and thrust of the competition. A sound budgetary process despite being a part of the bigger political process pre-supposes unflinching adherence to the basic principles of economics pertaining to rationalization of the structure of economy, efficient and judicious exploitation of resources, fiscal discipline, selective disinvestment, privatization, austerity measures to curtail wasteful expenditure, better management of the BoP and many more. But the government of the day finds itself constrained to pursue these rational initiatives for the fear of loosing political base. To be more clear, long term people oriented policies inspired by sound principles of economics are allowed to make way for the short term populist measures which end up strangulating the larger development interests of the country.

It is to be noted that the budgetary process in the context of any government is much more than mere estimation of receipts and expenditure. It is a plan of action reflecting the policy priorities of the government. It has a great ‘instrumental’ value through which the government proposes to make a planned intervention in the different spheres of people’s lives. A well managed and balanced budgetary process, therefore, must be conducive to the needs of development having little space for politically motivated uneconomic and extravagant initiatives. But in the competitive politics even the most novel ideas of economics hold no significance for the political parties if it can not be translated into visible political fortunes.

Nevertheless, the same competitive politics in a vibrant, well informed and mature democracy may lead to emergence of more than one development models put forward by the parties in fray. Therefore, not only it leads to greater freedom on the part of the people in choosing the most suitable trajectory of growth and development for them, but it also strengthens the cause of accountability.

The key to the challenges of development, no doubt, lies in bringing good economics with good politics that is ‘development politics’ rather than ‘political politics’.Conversely, instead of approaching development with an eye on politics, one should approach politics with an eye on development. And the budgetary process may allow the welcome co-existence of politics and economics without any compromise with its soundness.

Q.8 “In certain discourses, there is a reflected basic distrust against bureaucracy as an instrument of development.” Do you think bureaucracy is more appropriate for regulatory administration than for development administration? In the changing profile of development administration in a liberalizing environment, what role of bureaucracy can be envisaged?

The role and function of bureaucracy in any political system and society is conditioned and inspired by a number of internal as well as external ecological factors. As a specialized administrative instrument in the hands of the government manned by selected individuals it aims at implementing the ‘will’ of the government. Unlike private administration, public bureaucracy operates in a very complex ‘milieu’ defined by legal and Constitutional system, political will and ideology, social and cultural values of the country in question and a plethora of global factors as well. It is against this multi-dimensional backdrop only that one can form any opinion regarding the more suitable role of the bureaucracy.

The unequivocal skepticism regarding the ‘instrumental’ worth of bureaucracy in the wake of new development challenges is neither unfounded nor a newly discovered reality. The Weberian model of legal-rational bureaucracy had started showing its instrumental deficiency in front of new challenges of modern societies by the decade of 70’s itself, more particularly in the western world. The reason behind this failure can be located in certain peculiar tendency of the bureaucracy like red tapism,nepotism,lack of dynamism and service orientation, indifference to problems of common people, self aggrandizement and many more.Yet,it would not be appropriate to locate the root cause of the problem in the basic principles of bureaucracy only. The governments in most of the cases have failed to impart desirable structural and behavioral orientation to their bureaucracies in sync with contemporary realities. The members of bureaucracy, their behaviour, style of functioning and other attributes are integrally related to the society they serve to.

Therefore, in my view bureaucracy as an administrative instrument can by wielded for both the regulatory and development administration depending on a number of contextual factors (if the experience of developed nations are taken into consideration where bureaucracies have met the challenges of development in a much better way thanks to the genuine political willingness towards reforms backed by activism of civil society).

In more certain terms, rationalization of structure, simplification of rules and methods, scientific training calibrated with regular orientation programmes,technological upgradation,greater sensitization to human rights and values, pin pointed accountability and control, competitive environment, goal and customer oriented approach, incisive professionalism with humane approach, insulation against political interference etc. ‘inter alia’ hold considerable potential to make bureaucracy suitable for development administration as well.

Further, in an increasingly globalizing world inspired by liberalization and privatization the nature and profile of development administration is undergoing significant changes which have ordained a corresponding change in the role of bureaucracy. The bureaucracy has to deal with the challenges of development in a competitive environment characterized by the institutional pluralism and consistently growing demands of the consumerist society.Today,it is supposed to play the role of an enlightened regulator, facilitator and a stabilizer at one go without loosing sight of the ‘distributive justice’ in the context of ‘have nots’. As an agent of change and development it will have to reflect positive discrimination in favour of weaker sections of the society. With greater spontaneity and innovative measures it has to deal with the global menace of terrorism on man and mother nature with the same amount of missionary zeal.. The biggest challenge in the contemporary scenario is to strike a balance between the forces of tradition and modernity in a way to keep the wheel of development moving.

It is high time; the bureaucratic world realized that the soul of development lies in the empowerment and freedom of the common man and the ‘script’ of any development administration can not be written without the active participation of the people at large.

Judiciary

^{ACTIVISM SANS DOMINANCE}

“The despotism of an oligarchy’- working like gravity by night and by day gaining a little today and a little tomorrow and advancing its noiseless step like a thief over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall be usurped”.

---------Thomas Jefferson

The recently made observation by the Chief Justice of India that the differences between the two wings of the government(judiciary and Executive) is, in a way,’ desirable’ seems to flicker in mock hyper reality’ when viewed in the light of repetitive confrontation between the two which is rapidly assuming grave dimensions. Unlike past, political parties –cutting across their ideological lines-have closed ranks behind an assertive President of the Lok- Sabha that has made the ‘inter- institutional’ conflict more alarming.

The much ‘esteemed’ judicial activism, seen as the ultimate savior of public interest, has started to unfold its long term adverse implications in the larger context of governmental functioning. Be it the case of land ceiling, cash for question scam, office of profit bill, exercise of clemency or the most recent issue of OBC reservation in higher educational institutions, both the institutions have failed ,on one or other occasions, to show the spirit of mutual accommodation and operational synergy in the greater interest of smooth governance.

It would be grossly unfair not to accept the fact that activism of judiciary has not only served the larger public interest but has also strengthened the cause of democracy by issuing judicial commands from time to time to enforce greater transparency and accountability in the administration.

But, the Judiciary very often fails to appreciate that apparent failure of Executive

‘inter alia’stems from its being the most ‘visible’ face of the government the actions of which are subjected to the closest public scrutiny, ‘contra posed’ to other two wings of the government. Further, unlike judiciary and legislature, the Executive responsibility and functions has no definite constitutional ‘contours’. In other words, in the constitutional ‘scheme’ of things, Executive functions include anything and everything that remains after making specific allocations to the other two wings of the government which renders its job more challenging.

On the other hand, the Executive needs to accept this harsh reality that judicial activism is rather a direct outcome of the formers unarguable ‘inactivism’.The indisputable domination of executive ‘ukase’ by judicial ‘commands’ and its disputable foray into the arena of policy-making lies to a great extent in the overwhelming support of the people at large who have reposed the highest level of confidence in Judiciary to protect and promote their rights. No doubt, we have yet to come across a breed of judges having developed and perfected the art of human trafficking.

But, individual acts of omission and commission can not be a ‘credible’ ground to justify any alteration in the constitutionally ‘ordained’ balance of power among the three wings of government

Our Constitution is one of the most ‘balanced’ one which does not leave any scope for any of the wings of the government to ‘over reach’ its jurisdiction to assume dictatorial powers. The distribution of powers, privileges,rights and duties among the three wings of the government has been made ‘unequivocally’ clear in our Constitution as per which Parliament should enact laws, Executive has to enforce it and the Judiciary reserves the final powers of its(laws) interpretation.

Nevertheless, the efficient and effective functioning of the whole governmental machinery presupposes (quite genuinely) the ‘mutuality’ of jurisdictional accommodation because the three wings can not function under ‘water-tight’ compartments. It is here that the crux of the whole problem originates when one of the institutions starts feeling the heat of gradual transformation (implicit or explicit) of innocuous accommodation into ‘disturbing’ domination. And the whole process of this jurisdictional ‘trespass’ (if it so happens) is accompanied by such a diverse number of interpretation and counter-interpretation (even legal luminaries get divided very often) that it defies a clear cut

Judgment.

Thus the apparently simpler ‘statutes’ develop an ensemble of technical as well as substantive complexities when put to application. As for instance, if the Art. 142(2) of the Constitution confers all and every power on the Judiciary to ensure attendance before it, call for any document and punish contempt- Art.74(1)and (2 ) explicitly empowers the Executive to restrain the courts from enquiring into the merit of the its advice being tendered to the President. In conformity to the principle of Balance of power the Legislature, on the other hand, enjoys the supreme law-making power by which not only it decides the powers, privileges and immunities of its members (Art.105) but can also regulate the jurisdiction of the other two wings in many ways. The conflicting situation arises when a judicial verdict while being in consonance with existing laws appear to be against the wishes of the legislature and the latter decides to overpower the hurdle by way of bringing the facilitative legislation thus bypassing the former in effect(OBC reservation) or vice versa.

No doubt, given the nature of complexities involved, we need a much enlightened approach towards the whole issue keeping uppermost in mind the long cherished values of democracy and good governance. What is required is understanding and interpreting the substantive provisions of the Constitution in its truest spirit which alone can preclude all the confusion surrounding ‘enaction’ and ‘enforcement’ of laws. Though the intermittent ‘noise and chaos’ (someone called the very beauty of any democracy) may not be undesirable yet the more serious and regular trading of ‘charges’ can be avoided.

The responsibility lies equally with all the three wings of the government but we would welcome ‘Judicial initiative’ here because it is the Judiciary only which has been ‘conferred’ with the final powers (Constitution) to decide---Has there been any trespass on other’s territories? Further, the other reason can be seen in the age-old saying -

“all of us are under law and the law is what the judges say it is”.

-Sajjan Singh

(The author is the senior

Faculty of Public Admn.

associated with Rau’s

IAS. )

Civil Services Reforms

Civil Services Reforms

- A futuristic agenda

The recent decision of the Union cabinet to introduce ‘Civil services aptitude test’ (CSAT) in place of old and obsolete Preliminary examination could hardly come a day sooner. It marks a welcome initiative towards the more substantive goal of reforming our Civil services on modern lines. It is secret to none that the successful functioning of any government depends heavily on the professional competence and appropriate behavioral orientation of bureaucracy in ‘sync’ with the costantantly changing realities of time.Accordingly, the nature and pattern of examination including the content of the syllabus needs to be designed and calibrated to impart a competitive edge to our administrative apparatus in an increasingly globalizing world. Although, the ‘UPA’ government has set the wheel in motion yet the journey ahead towards the ‘overhauling’ of the entire machinery to reconcile the conflicting interests of ‘Bharat’ and ‘India’ and then India vis-à-vis the rest of the world is going to be too challenging to afford us a self defeating dogmatism. The multi- factor and multi variable contextual backdrop of civil services (encompassing social, economic, political and cultural attributes) make sure that any reform in structural and behavioral profile of our civil services will not succeed unless it is accompanied ‘inter alia’ by a set of corresponding reforms in our political and judicial system as well, fuelled by a pro-active civil society and a responsible media. No doubt, a ‘multi- pronged’ reformative approach is the need of the hour.

Further on the political front, the government would need to display unwavering resolve against the ‘status quoist’ bureaucracy to dismantle the colonial legacy of the past and to improvise a radical vision for the progressive transformation of our society. In the wake of consistently increasing challenges as well as opportunities orchestrated by the forces of globalization, any reformative agenda on civil services must go beyond the hackneyed suggestions encapsulated by the expression ‘debureaucratization’.The shock therapy administered by the global economic crisis has convinced the policy makers all over the world regarding the imperativeness of strengthening the intervention of state even in the business of steering business to keep the ecological settings of development in order. By implication, Civil services as an instrument in the hands of state deserves to occupy center stage in any macro-level scheme of reforms being pursued by the government.

Apart from rationalizing the structure, operational methods and procedures pertaining to civil services ,what is needed the most is protection against undesirable political interference.Therefore,as long as bureaucrats remain liable to be shunted out of their esteemed positions on account of failure to check adverse publicity of acceptance of currency note garlands by their political masters (to mention one of the many similarly preposterous cases),any set of reforms will keep struggling to prove its worth.

The ‘jaws-dropping’ diversity of India in every conceivable sphere of life finds an equally valid manifestation in the world of ‘isms’.In simpler words, the compulsive charm of capitalism engages the constitutionally ordained ‘soul’ of socialism in India to reconcile the claims of have’s and have nots’.To that much extent, any endeavour aimed at reforming our civil services must reflect sensitivity to needs of the masses and achieving at the same time a globally competitive professionalism and orientation.

Even after more than sixty year of independence, the much esteemed ‘steel frame’still remains committed to its literal meaning showing only trivial and ‘cosmetological’ responsiveness to the stupendous changes witnessed in the contemporary realities. The statement of reality appears more disappointing particularly in the context of ever improving definitions of development emphasizing ‘distributive justice’

and environmental sustainability. Consequently, the restructuring of civil services would require selective incorporation of principles and practices inspired by the realities of market based economy on the one hand and the inculcation of democratic dynamism to address the peculiar problems confronting our ‘prismatic’ and ‘poly normative’ society. Although, we need to expand the role and significance of ‘specialists’ in civil services yet the multi dimensional character of planning, policy making and implementation emanating from the core of ‘hydra-headed’ heterogeneity justifies the continuance with generalists but in a new form as specialized generalists. In nut shell,a harmonious inter blending of universal and situation-triggered design is needed.

Sajjan Singh

(Senior Faculty, Public Administration

Rau’s IAS)