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Governance gone haywire
The Constitution of India seeks to promote the welfare of the people through the establishment of a social order in which justice — social, economic and political — shall inform the functioning of all public institutions. Both through its specific prescriptions and Directive Principles our Constitution provides for an excellent framework of institutions and mechanisms for the salutary governance of the country and the achievement of balanced human and economic growth to forge a strong and vibrant nation. Sardar Patel, independent India’s first Home Minister, emphatically believed that if the country was to be held together, law and order maintained and the nation building tasks timely tackled, it would be necessary to continue with the British policy of entrusting the tasks of governance to All India Services (AIS). He was of the considered view that the AIS would act as a unifying factor and make a significant contribution to promoting strong and meaningful Centre-State relations. Thus, the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS) were constituted to succeed the erstwhile Indian Civil Service (ICS) and Indian Police (IP), which comprised the "steel frame" of British administration. As per the AIS scheme the IAS and IPS, selected on the basis of a country-wide competitive examination, would provide the best available talent to man the key posts in the administrative apparatus. It was envisaged that the IAS officers would gain valuable experience while working in the districts and later, on deputation to the Centre, be able to provide vital inputs on the ground realities for evolving sound nation-wide development policies and programmes. And while working at the Centre they would develop a wider vision and national perspective which, on repatriation to their parent cadres, would strengthen their functioning in the States. It was assumed that the IAS and IPS officers would carry out their tasks fearlessly, disregarding any political influence or interference. Limitations of space constrain this writing from making a detailed review of governance since 1947. Briefly, the first national government was faced with myriad problems. Besides the gigantic task of resettling the millions of refugees who crossed over to India, the new government was required to restore public order to bring an end to the continuing communal violence, arson, loot and murder; meet the acute shortage of essential supplies; attend to the integration of over 550 Princely States; deal with the unsettling demands raised by the Nagas and the Sikhs; counter Pakistan’s aggression in J&K, et al. After the Partition the administrative apparatus stood seriously disrupted and the country faced a grave financial crisis. The government was able to successfully deal with the challenges on various fronts, thanks to the total commitment with which the civil services worked day and night despite severe handicaps. The valuable work of the bureaucracy was encouraged and sustained by the inspiring leadership provided by Pandit Nehru and his colleagues at the Centre and the equally tall leaders in the States, all of whom were persons of high integrity and selfless devotion. Pandit Nehru, who remained PM for 17 years, exercised a strong influence on the governance of the country during the formative years. Imbued with high values, a truly secular temperament and deep commitment to establishing a socialistic pattern of society, Panditji attached the highest importance to the administrative apparatus being run honestly and efficiently. He abhorred religious bigotry and repeatedly warned that its encouragement in any form would endanger the very unity of the country. His vision of inculcating the spirit of nationalism in every aspect of life fired him with untiring zeal to bring India into a single framework of thought and action in which "every man, woman and child has a fair deal and attains a minimum standard of living". Looking back it could be said that, despite failures on several fronts, the first two decades were, overall, a period of steady and purposeful growth. Interalia, this period saw the establishment of a national planning process; land reforms; construction of multi-purpose dam projects and fertiliser production units; production of steel, cement, coal, hydroelectric, thermal and nuclear power; manufacture of heavy machinery, locomotives, ships, aircraft etc.; construction of railways, roads, highways and bridges; advancement of education, public health, drinking water, housing etc; establishment of scientific industrial research organisations, medical, engineering, agricultural and technical institutions and universities which laid the basis for generating a steady stream of scientific and technically qualified manpower which enabled the absorption of advanced technologies and success of modernisation plans in subsequent years. The foundation of all the later-day successes in the field of nuclear development, space and missile technologies etc and, in more recent times, the phenomenal successes in the arena of information technology were laid in this period. A truly historical achievement was the phenomenal success of the Green Revolution and achievement of self-sufficiency in the production of foodgrains — perhaps the most outstanding success story in the last century. Around the end 1960s internal feuds and power politics started gaining ascendancy in our polity. The enforcement of Emergency (1975-77) saw the denigration of our Constitution, Parliament and the Cabinet system. Coteries and extra legal elements began playing a dominant role and governmental functioning was marred by the growing nexus between corrupt politicians and "committed" civil servants, many of them of altogether doubtful integrity, who had jumped on the political band wagon. While corruption and maladministration had not been unknown in the earlier years it could be said that the post-Emergency era marked the beginning of a growing decline in governance, evidenced by a continuing deterioration in the functioning of the governmental machinery in the States. In the past two decades and more there has been a growing increase in complaints of corruption, particularly at the levels which hurt the common man the most. Consequently, people have lost trust in the commitment and capacity of the governments, at the Centre and in the States, to promote their welfare. Electoral contests, involving large-scale use of money and muscle power, have not been invariably yielding conclusive outcomes. The consequent political instability has seen the installation of ineffective regimes whose only goal is to seek quick, short-term gains, in utter disregard of the Constitution and the law and the obligations of a welfare state. This has led to the governmental systems and structures becoming growingly unaccountable, irresponsive and virtually irrelevant to the needs of the deprived and disadvantaged segments of our society. The communalisation and criminalisation of politics, endemic corruption and ineffectiveness of the governmental machinery have tarnished the image of governance and severely eroded its effectiveness. Since the early 1990s there has been an unending spate of exposures of corruption which have involved allegations of criminal offences against the senior most civil servants, Chief Ministers and their Cabinet colleagues, Union Ministers and even a former Prime Minister. It is matter for most serious concern that an increasing number of police officers, including serving and former Directors General of Police, are serving jail terms or facing trials for serious offences. Also, Chief Secretaries of several States are facing charges of serious irregularities and corruption. In recent years complaints have also been made against senior members of the judiciary and, more recently, allegations of corrupt practices have been raised against Armed Forces personnel, something which was unheard of in the earlier years. The frustration and helplessness of the common people over their day-to-day harassment at the hands of the administrative apparatus is leading to anger and cynicism which, if it continues, has the potential of gathering momentum to challenge the established order and even threaten the future of our democracy. There are many factors which have led to the continuing deterioration in the governance of our country. This writing seeks to briefly highlight the grave threat to the country’s unity and integrity which arises from the politicisation of the civil, police and judicial services, which has led to nepotism, corruption, and brazen abrogation of the Rule of Law. Instead of being constantly engaged in tackling problems and delivering programmes and services to alleviate the lot of the poor and neglected segments of our society the political parties in power in the States have remained perennially preoccupied in retaining their authority at any cost and by whatever means. The public services, including the IAS and IPS, have been used and exploited to gather huge funds through corruption and extortion and to carry out all manner of unlawful behests. The internal discipline and accountability of the administrative apparatus has been shattered; dishonest elements enjoy strong protection of the political masters who have put them in key positions. In most cases this politico-bureaucratic partnership extends its patronage to smugglers and criminals who engage in varied unlawful activities with impunity. This has seen the emergence of the politico-bureaucratic-criminal nexus which has assumed command in several parts of the country. It is indeed a matter for utmost concern that many functionaries, who are elements of the criminal nexus, may also be occupying sensitive positions in the security management apparatus! Adversary foreign agencies, particularly the Pak ISI, have for the last over two decades been systematically linking up with the organised crime/mafia groups to establish subversive networks in various parts of our country. These networks have been effectively used to spread religious fundamentalism and perpetrate violence and conflict. It may be recalled that for nearly 15 years, from the early 1980s onwards, ISI supported subversive groups destabilised Panjab, causing untold human and economic loss. Later, in end 1989, the ISI launched a virtual proxy war in J&K, which is still continuing. The trans-border factor has also continued to fan the fires in the North Eastern region, where several States have been combating endemic insurgencies for decades now. Other militant movements, active elsewhere in the country, have also been influenced and supported by trans-border agencies. In early 1993 the ISI — Dawood Ibrahim combine carried out serial bomb blasts in Bombay, which led to huge economic and human loss. In subsequent years similar serious incidents have been repeatedly perpetrated in other parts of the country, all of which have caused serious communal tensions, besides enormous human and economic losses. Experience has shown that besides paralysing normal functioning each such incident creates an environment of insecurity and uncertainty which has an extremely adverse impact on economic activities in the affected area. To ensure against the current rapid pace of economic growth being suddenly halted the government must act speedily to launch effective counter measures. A corrupt administration provides endless openings to anti-national elements and foreign adversary agencies to organise varied subversive activities which threaten national security. All political parties must muster courage to openly commit against exerting any kind of influence or interference in the functioning of the governmental machinery and misusing the public services for gathering funds. In turn the public services must be compelled to function strictly according to the Constitution and the law and made to face severe punishments for any deviation from the norm. To restore discipline, efficiency, accountability and credibility to the governance structures the political hierarchies in power would need to remove all criminal/corrupt elements within their own ranks and ruthlessly rid the governmental establishments of all dishonest functionaries. The politicisation of the public services has led to corruption and unaccountability. The tainted administrative and legal frameworks are incapable of working according to the Rule of Law. Today, widespread corruption and criminalisation pose a threat to the very foundations of our polity and society and thus to the unity and integrity of our country. If effective governance is to be restored there is no more time to be lost in a cleaned-up polity ensuring that the governmental machinery, run by a totally depoliticised bureaucracy, functions strictly according to the Constitution and the Rule of Law. The writer is a former Union Defence and Home Secretary and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and author of the Criminal Nexus report |
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