Suspension of Durga Shakti Nagpal has become a large story of the IAS as victim of the political class. There is some truth to this – honest officers are certainly harassed by the entire government establishment (not the politicians alone). Certain sections of public (the dishonest business community) also connive with the establishment and facilitates harassment of honest officers. But there is another side of the story. The truth that is getting masked by the hysterical debate on the issue; is that the IAS ranked as Asia’s worst bureaucracy by Hong Kong based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy, is not as much a victim as a powerful lobby. And a vested interest with a virtual lock on prime jobs. And an obscurantist force often rivalling politicians. The IAS lobby is a perfect example of an elite trade union that perpetuates itself and protects its turf and perks. Their iron-grip over the functioning of various ministries has been accentuated by two factors – (a) a steady and steep decline in the quality and competence of elected representatives (most of them are hardened criminals and history sheeters) with very little knowledge of the ministry they head; and (b) very short tenures resulting from coalition compulsion necessitating frequent reshuffles – this prevents them from getting any grip over the functioning. Suresh Prabhu, former minister in NDA regime who headed six different ministries during his stint; says “Bureaucrats were to be checks in the system. The checks have turned into cheques while the balance is out of the window". After all it was a bureaucrat who signed Durga’s suspension order and later drafted the charge sheet.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 03:10:38 +0000
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