For rejuvenating bureaucracy

THE article “Role of bureaucracy” by Mr Gurdev Singh, rightly given centre-spread prominence in The Tribune (April 22), should generate a lively debate in all quarters concerned, particularly the bureaucracy. He has taken in his sweep all public servants although in common parlance the bureaucracy means civil servants per se dealing with public affairs relating to government policies and programmes.

Unfortunately, a bureaucrat is understood to be an inflexible or insensitive administrator (which is its dictionary meaning too), but a civil servant is not necessarily that. Civil service has come a long way from the days of the ICS which formed indeed the steel frame of the British Indian administration. An ICS officer exercised enormous powers commensurate with his responsibilities. These days an IAS officer is only the whipping-boy of the politician, taking all the flak but receiving none of the credit.

In the united province of Punjab, before Partition, there used to be only five Cabinet ministers. At present, leaving aside West Punjab which went to Pakistan, the number of Cabinet ministers, ministers of state and deputy ministers, besides parliamentary secretaries, etc, in the successor states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh (like the rest of states in India) runs into astronomical figures when compared to the single digit number of ministers in the pre-Partition Punjab. This fact is relevant to determine the work-load of the present-day Deputy Commissioner, who is expected to dance attendance on any minister (irrespective of his rank) whenever he visits the district. In olden days officers were left in peace to do their legitimate work. An IP officer (still living) who was the SP of Lahore and Ludhiana districts, respectively, told me that he was never called by his Home Minister for two years. Like the field officers, the secretaries to the government spend most of their time in meeting the ministers, resulting in delays in the disposal of case files.

Having said this, it goes without saying that when an officer joins the service, he knows full well as to what is in store for him. Incidentally, it is surprising that these days doctors and engineers, besides other professionals, too prefer to become bureaucrats. Thus, the civil service does not lack in talent, but the training of the incumbents leaves much to be desired.

In the present-day context, two things stand out very prominently like a sore thumb: the unfortunate erosion of the distinction between politics and administration and the combination of honesty and efficiency — the hallmark of good administration — which is becoming rarer. Any officer who has the gumption to say “no” to an unreasonable demand made by a politician becomes a sacrificial lamb while the politician is treated as a sacred cow. For how long can blood-splattered sacrificial goats lock horns with a herd of vermilion-smeared sacred cows?

My dear friend and colleague Gurdev Singh (Brar) knows very well that his is a cry in the wilderness, but who knows that if his call is taken up in right earnest by even a handful of public-spirited and dedicated intellectuals, it may awaken the sleeping giant of public opinion! Thereafter, the task, seemingly Herculean but not impossible, of pruning, rejuvenating and cleansing the bureaucracy can be undertaken.

Very soon we are going to have a general election to elect a new Parliament. It will be a worthwhile agenda to be taken up by our new guardians of democracy. I wonder if any political party will have the foresight and vision to put it in its election manifesto as the core point of its nation-building programme.

GURDEV SINGH GILL, IAS (retd)
Chandigarh

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Slum-dwellers’ rights

I have read the editorial “Slum-dwellers’ rights” published on April 21.

The views expressed are based on the reality as it is a fact that the government land found vacant in the urban areas is illegally occupied by the homeless poor families who are forced to shift to the cities in search of their livelihood. But I disagree with the view that “on the specific issue of slum clearance a correct analysis would show the political class as responsible for the creation of the mess which the judiciary is called upon to clear”.

OM PARKASH MALIK
Ambala Cantt

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Haryana pensioners

The Government of Haryana is committed to granting revised pay scales and pension to its employees and pensioners as per the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission. As far as the pensioners are concerned, action is still required to be taken by Haryana on the following issues.

In para 13 of Haryana Deptt of Finance notification no 1/2(8)-98-2-FR II (part I) dated March 9, 1998, regarding the implementation of the decision on pension and pension-related matters — revision of the pension of the pre-1996 pensioners/family pensioners — it was stipulated that the arrears of pension where these exceed more than Rs 5000 should be paid in two instalments. The first instalment was to be drawn and paid immediately while separate orders were to be issued for the release of the second instalment. More than one year has already passed but no orders have so far been issued for the release of the second instalment of the arrears.

In December, 1998, the Central Government had accepted the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission that in respect of the pre-1996 pensioners, the revised pension should be fixed subject to a minimum of 50% of the minimum pay in the revised pay scale of the post from which the pensioner had retired, and issued the orders to this effect. The needful has not so far been done in respect of Haryana pensioners.

The Government of Haryana should issue the necessary orders soon.

R. K. AGGARWAL
Panchkula

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Congress stand

When Mr Sitaram Kesri, the then Congress President, withdrew support first from the Deve Gowda ministry and again from the I.K. Gujral government, it came almost as a rude shock to the nation obviously for two reasons. First, there was no immediate substantive provocation from either of them. Second, the nation was plunged into an unwarranted, premature poll. And the United Front appeared to be a hapless victim. But the situation seems to have turned a full cycle.

While the Congress has been undoubtedly saved from a major embarrassment coming its way from its prospective allies in the new dispensation owing to their unpredictable and irresponsible behaviour, it also stands vindicated why it was cool to dislodge the Vajpayee government. Also, it can no more be said that Mrs Sonia Gandhi did not cooperate with the Third Front constituents to avoid a mid-term poll.

J. N. NARANG
Chandigarh