Political thuggery has no place in a civilised, democratic society.

Enough is enough! It's time we citizens speak up. This country and its law abiding citizens can't be held to ransom any more by goons of MNS (and their likes) - who hide behind political affiliations and political protests. It’s time law of the land firmly catches up with these hooligans and appropriate timely decisive action is taken by law enforcement to bring them to justice and to deny them any sort of legitimacy. 

Peaceful political protest is a matter of right in any constitutional democracy but no right is absolute. Yes, liberty of political protest is granted by our constitution but this right is not absolute. Reasonable restrictions in law disallow any disturbance to public order or harmony, or any violent act or any intimidation of citizens with fear for their life or for bodily injury or for damage to their property or for economic losses or any trampling of rights of citizens.

Our democratic polity is founded on the bedrock of rule of law. Explicit or implicit threats of violence to law abiding citizens with respect to their life, liberty or property by such goons under the veil of democratic protest can't be allowed to go on unbridled without law enforcement taking appropriate and timely cognisance and suitably dealing with them. It’s time law of the land catches up with these thugs and hooligans threatening peace and tranquility in the community for their selfish and ulterior motives. 

Such extra-constitutional methods and criminal behaviour to gain political legitimacy and space are absolutely UNACCEPTABLE in any civilised democratic society / polity - governed by rule of law. In our constitutional scheme, no one has the right to take law or the role of law enforcement in its own hands or to assume the role of a public policy enforcer or to even act as the moral police. It is only the Government of the day which has the mandate to enforce law or to frame public policy or to curb citizen's rights in public and national interest. 

Time has come that these thugs and crackpots - who have scant regard for law of the land, who have little respect for rights of silent law abiding citizens, who have utter disregard for freedom and liberty of others, who care the least about national interest or about public order over their self interest and who keep daring and testing Government's patience and restraint, must now be firmly taken to task as per law. 

Without sounding repetitive here, these goons and thugs must be booked and brought to justice for their anti-constitutional methods such as criminal intimidation and threat to cause grievous injury or death or for disturbing peace and public order, or for instigating violence or for causing arson or for vandalising or damaging public property or for threatening internal security or for violating and curbing other rights of citizens in the bargain - as the case may be.

Moreover, this crooked narrative of democratic protests underlined by violence, arson, threats, fear mongering and criminal intimidation, must be condemned, opposed, dismissed and lawfully dealt with by civil society, with all the power and resources at its command. Civil society's voice and role in tackling with this disturbing narrative is no way of lesser importance here. It must enhance its active involvement in promoting and strengthening the narrative of rule of law, public order, constitutional values, peace and harmony and in bridging societal gaps, if any.

India is on the verge of becoming an economic superpower. This nation aspires to achieve that status and it is critical that these aspirations are realised soon. Peace, order and stability are therefore an absolute imperative here. Economic development and growth is not possible in an environment of chaos, disorder and insecurity. Decisive and efficient management of public order, safety and peace is the foremost function of governance.

Government of the day which is mandated to determine public policy and to enforce rule of law must gather enough political will so as to take firm appropriate lawful decisive action to bring the goons and thugs of MNS (and their likes) to justice and to ensure equality of all before law. At the same time, Government of the land is duty bound to ensure protection and safety of life, liberty and property of citizens. Government's response must instill confidence and adequate sense of safety and security in the citizenry. 

It is, henceforth, critical that the Government proclaims that there will be zero tolerance to any political hooliganism or to any violence or to any threats of violence or of public disorder being perpetrated under the veil of political protests by such goons and thugs. The Government must respond lawfully, appropriately and firmly and must be seen in such light so as to assure safety to its citizens besides sending a stern message to the goons of MNS (and their likes). 

Also, the role of national and local media in preventing this menace to spread further can’t be over emphasised here. Media coverage to these violent political protests and intimidation by goons serves as oxygen for such unlawful behaviour and designs. Space in media emboldens these goons who feed and thrive on publicity. Let’s not give the airtime and space that these thugs do not deserve. Anchors and editors need to exercise more discretion and self-restraint in choosing public interest over giving in to TRP led impulses. Media must seize on this important opportunity of doing a greater public service by shunning these hooligans, their narrative and their violent ways.

Finally, it's time that these goons and thugs of MNS (and their likes) learn a lesson that this nation is governed by rule of law. A stern message must go out from the Government to these hooligans that their threats, intimidations, vandalisation, violent and extra-constitutional ways will not be tolerated anymore and law enforcement will catch up with them in a firm and decisive manner, no matter what. This is what good governance and rule of law proclaim and demand and this is where the real challenge to governance lies today. 

p.s. By the way, I don’t carry any brief for anybody on the subject. Views are personal.

Rule of Law - Nation's command and its bulwark too!!

Series of incidents and events in Academic institutions of repute across the country - leading up to the on going JNU turmoil, have once again highlighted the growing politicisation and degeneration of Campus environment at Centres of learning in general and Institutions of Higher learning, in particular. And the situation has come down to such lows that, at times, a section of students and /or lumpen elements at these Campuses with active involvement of outsiders, have  arguably started indulging in anti-national activities in utter disregard of the laws of the land and in absolute disrespect for the very Institutions that they are part of. This can’t be allowed under any pretext, it is completely unacceptable and the Government of the day must diligently, lawfully, fairly, non-arbitrarily, appropriately and decisively deal with it, wherever credible evidence lies. On the other hand, the accused of such charges must submit themselves to judicial process and must stand the test of trial in a Court of law and let the Court/s determine, decide and administer the justice.

People indulging in any kind of anti-national activities at these Campuses, if held to be true, can’t be allowed to hide behind freedom of speech/expression or under autonomy of Institution. They are accountable to the law of the land. Freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 (1)(a) in the Constitution is not absolute.  This fundamental right is a qualified one and is subject to reasonable restrictions as enumerated under Article 19 (2).  With freedoms cometh some duties and restraints. For instance, interpreting sedition law, Supreme Court, over the years, has held that whenever, the exercise of such freedom by words of disaffection or by any act which creates or attempts to create hatred or enmity against the State resulting in violence or causing public disorder, then, at that moment, such freedom ends and provision of sedition applies. The speech or expression against the State must be intrinsically dangerous and should be accompanied by violence or public disorder (that was intended), to fall under the ambit of sedition. Therefore, under our constitutional order, any speech or expression that is intended to hurt the sacrosanct concepts of security, sovereignty and integrity of the Union and which aims to and results in public disorder or violence, is an absolute NO-NO. This is the law of the land.

Without a doubt, freedom of enquiry and academic autonomy of institution are required for the Institution to thrive, for advancement of learning and development of students. But such autonomy is also not absolute….not even when the Institution is private funded or unaided. In essence, Institutional freedom means the freedom to appoint faculty, set academic standards and admit students i.e. who may teach, what may be taught, how it should be taught, and who may be admitted to study. But academic and institutional autonomy cannot be misunderstood or linked with freedom of speech and expression. Any autonomy goes hand in hand with accountability and responsibility. And there is no freedom from accountability or responsibility under any institutional scheme of things – public or private.

The Faculty is governed by the rules of the Academic Institution and the Academic Institution, likewise, is overseen and governed by the relevant policies, rules and regulations of the respective Governments – at Centre or States. Further, no Academic institution or its rules and regulations can override or go against the laid out public policy of the State - either at Centre or at States.  Any compromise with academic standards, academic environment, maladministration, corruption, non-compliance, public order, etc. will attract appropriate Central and State statutes and provisions. Period!

On the other hand, such untoward developments are symptoms of a deeper malaise which is the rampant politicisation of Academic Campuses. These incidents are sending loud and clear messages to political parties and groups across the spectrum – It is time now to STEP BACK and TAKE STOCK of the effect of this malaise on Campuses. It is time now to STOP further politicisation and vitiation of these temples of learning for vested interests and ulterior motives. It’s time now to STOP fighting dirty proxy political battles by manipulating young minds - one against the other and by using the turfs of these Academic institutions for selfish and narrow ends. It’s time now to STOP meddling in the affairs of the students or in the functioning of students bodies on College and University Campuses, from outside.

Let the young minds on Campuses discover and figure out the nuts and bolts of students politics and democratic political process themselves. Let the young minds debate, discuss, falter and learn on their own - without getting manipulated by either outside forces or by Faculty. Let them be themselves - independent, free and responsible enough to make their own democratic choices, to decide for themselves and to take charge of student welfare / issues in their own way within the given constitutional and institutional framework. They are there for that very purpose and even if they are imperfect in their political decision making (they being students after all), let them learn and find a way out on their own within the ambit of rules and law. More importantly, this approach will help cleanse student politics at Campuses and restore Campus sanity as well. This new direction is required and is certainly in national interest.

The same loud messages go out to some in the Administration and to some amongst the teaching fraternity on these Campuses as well.  Hope they are listening!!

Imposition of one ideology, one belief system, one narrative or one school of thought in Academic institutions, in this day and age, simply cannot work because it not only goes against the Constitutional order but also against the ingrained ethos of this land of extraordinary pluralism and rich diversities - multiple narratives, multiple faiths, multiple ideologies, multiple ethnicities and multiple cultures, that this nation is so blessed to have and its citizens so proud to possess.

Parents make huge sacrifices to send their sons and daughters to these vibrant seats of learning to study, to ask questions and to seek answers, to burn midnight oil, to challenge themselves, to broaden their horizons and understanding of the world, to become responsible citizens and to prepare themselves for a better future but in NO WAY to become mere pawns at the hands of political parties or groups to serve petty political interests on Campuses.

Academic institutions are not meant to wage wars of ideologies, or to fight pitched political battles, or to misuse it for illegal or anti-national activities, or to engage in vandalism, indiscipline or violence. They are primarily meant for noble pursuits of knowledge and excellence, for liberating young minds of dogmas, for discussing and debating issues that matter, for sharing and learning from diverse thoughts and experiences of each other, for working hard and challenging one's limits every day and for imbibing explicit values of respect, ethics, integrity and accountability - that are so essential in shaping up and preparing oneself for future life and for making a difference in this competitive civilised world. 

Moreover, any person or group of persons which engages in physical violence, indulges in vandalism and arson, takes law into its own hands, and makes a mockery of rule of law not only violates the law of the land but also violates the sanctity of Constitution. Such persons not only shame the civilised society but also do a disservice to the nation by their unlawful acts. Violence has no place in democracy and nobody is above the law. Nation is governed by rule of law.

Lastly, if enforcers of law wilfully do not take cognisance of an offence already made or being made and ignore or look the other way round against their mandated duty or if they act arbitrarily or in a prejudiced or discriminatory manner, then it is not merely a dereliction of duty but rule of law becomes a casualty. Rule of law dictates that no one is above law, enforcement officials are accountable to law, executive action must stand the test of legality, equality before law is enforced in letter and spirit, offenders are treated in accordance with procedure established by law, a fair investigation and a just trial is given to the accused, principal of natural justice must be followed and alleged offender (if found guilty) must be brought to justice within a reasonable period of time.

Those who are mandated to uphold the law, to enforce rule of law, to aid administration of justice and to protect the dignity and sanctity of Constitution have a much wider role to play in the Society. They must be role models to their fellow citizens in respecting and upholding the law of the land and the Constitution. The Nation holds them in high esteem and looks up to them for inspiration. 

Rule of law MUST PREVAIL in all circumstances because there lies the key to freedom, liberty, unity, peace, strength and progress. It is one of the basic structures of Constitution. Rule of law must be a living reality to its citizens for the Nation and its democracy to prosper and thrive.

Manauwarul Haque

(Someone who had the privilege of going to three Central Universities – AMU, JNU and DU over a period of three decades, and who takes great pride in being part of these prestigious seats of learning)

(Views are personal)

Good Governance – An Agenda for Change

Structural Reforms, Technology leverage, Lateral entry of Experts and Professionals

Governance - a holistic process combined with an underlying framework or structure, determines who takes the important decisions, how such decisions are taken and in what time, who all get to know those decisions, what results are desired out of those decisions, what all it takes to execute such decisions, what results are ultimately achieved out of such decisions and who all are accountable for such decisions and for their outcomes. With rising levels of education, awareness, aspirations and expanding reach of social media and communication technologies, demand for governance by the citizens has grown manifold. Moreover, the complexities and challenges of governance in a fairly liberalised and globally connected economy have grown significantly too. Understandably so, governance has increasingly acquired the prominence in national discourse today – primarily on account of its direct and profound relevance in efficient and effective delivery of welfare programs and development initiatives towards the common good of citizens.

Governance, by nature, is dynamic and positive as it aims to achieve the desired results of common good for the benefit of citizens, society and nation, irrespective of where it is applied – in government or in private sector or in civil society organisations. Therefore, calling governance as good governance does not change its meaning - rather it enhances and reinforces the idea of common good. Given the all-encompassing functions of government, good or bad governance really determines the fate of any delivery mechanism adopted by the government, irrespective of the field in which it operates.

Good governance is perhaps the single most important factor today in determining the success of government’s poverty eradication programs, in maintenance of rule of law, in administering of timely justice, in driving rapid economic growth (in a globally connected economy), in promoting level playing field, in fostering equity, in facilitating a liberal and compliance-oriented regime for businesses and so on and so forth. Naturally, it plays a powerful role in government functioning towards ensuring an overall enabling environment for delivering the desired outcomes – rapid, balanced, equitable growth and development.

No time in the history of this nation has been as critical as it is today when India is on the verge of taking that big leap into the frontline of nations. The risk, otherwise, is that it could be left behind forever. No matter how able are the politicians or how efficient are the bureaucrats or how abundant are the resources or how entrepreneurial is the private sector or how productive is the human capital (not that we don’t need all of these in reasonable measure), without the system of good governance underlying a lean, robust and responsive government structure, the best outcome typically would be either a status quo situation i.e. more of the same for the nation.

Adoption of good governance processes and systems can only be ignored by this nation to its own peril given the complexity and scale of challenges and issues in this day and age. It is good that the idea of good governance has arrived with a bang in this country and the nation understands its relevance and promise. People’s overwhelming support to Modi-BJP in the last general elections is ample evidence of the same.  

Today, citizens want participation and their voices heard in the overall decision making process from which they have been kept out for long. Aspirational India is demanding a strategic vision for the nation from its leaders and wants to see the translation of that vision in form of progressive, pragmatic policies and procedures and their efficient execution. These are the times of transparency and accountability. Nobody can take the India of today for a ride. The citizens are increasingly aware and conscious of their rights now unlike the days of the past. Systems and processes can’t remain opaque any more. Information on policies, processes and decisions taken (or not taken) will have to flow freely and access to such information will have to be provided in a timely manner.


The nation can’t be kept in the dark now. Citizens are not only looking at being a part of the decision making process but seek to monitor the progress as well. People, as stakeholders, want to be taken into confidence and to have their voices heard when plans, strategies and priorities in the context of development are decided and also while fruits of development are shared across regions. Similarly, days of minimal / zero accountability in this country are over now - for good. The governance system needs to be credible and citizen friendly rather than adversarial. Citizen is not because of the system. It is rather otherwise.

Moreover, the nation today needs equity and rule of law to prevail – perhaps more than ever. It has suffered on this account for long and it can’t afford to do so now if it has to take that big leap. No growth or development on a sustainable basis is possible in an unfair system which breeds violation of rights, inequity, corruption, discrimination, injustice, violence, apathy, bias, non-enforcement and non-compliance of laws, etc. Rule of law brings equal opportunity to all towards their well-being, protects human rights, empowers the weak, and makes the system fair and free. Moreover, economic growth can’t be allowed to be skewed anymore after having experienced the situation where various States (West Bengal, Orissa, BIMARU, North Eastern states, etc.) got left out. Moreover, people are just fed up of dealing with compromised integrity and ethics of personnel manning the governance system.

The integral and moot question is that how does the nation get there. It is true that strategic vision, strong political will, administrative acumen and decisiveness in the political leadership shall play critical roles in driving this process. However, the real planning, organising, implementation, delivery and monitoring on the ground are done by the administrative machinery - the system. Unless the administrative framework, the structure and the personnel manning the administrative system are geared towards the needs of the times, this good governance process either won’t yield desired results or would remain a non-starter.

Clearly, the existing structural framework of bureaucracy continues to suffer from a deep colonial hangover wherein the legacy colonial bureaucratic structure and machinery (so called “steel frame’) was designed to rule this colony and sustain the rule of sovereign British Masters. Founding fathers of Constitution, in the aftermath of Partition, decided to continue with this legacy framework for a strong Centre, as that was the pragmatic way out (in the contextual sense) at that point in time. Successive governments since independence have continued to feel the need for restructuring the bureaucracy but have failed to do so. Most of the Administrative Reform Commissions / Committees (ARCs) and their recommendations have remained non-starters at best. Some well-meaning recommendations of ARC’s (one such Committee had 500+ recommendations) and of other committees have continued to bite the dust for several decades. Besides, absence of strong political will, the politician-bureaucrat nexus, license raj regime, lack of consensus and bureaucratic stranglehold over administrative reforms have successfully been able to scuttle such reform moves until now.

Today, the general problems of bureaucracy are many. Poor professionalism, patchy quality of policy making, absence of benchmarking, capability deficit and relevant skills gap, poor public service aptitude, incompetence, non-performance, integrity issues, inefficiency and ineffectiveness, poor use of technology, partiality and bias, resistance to change, prevalence of mai-baap culture, collusion with political class, being too involved in maintenance of party in power at times, nexus with vested and special interests, widespread corruption, little empathy towards the needs of citizens it serves, poor connect with public, critical cog in crony capitalism, etc. are all widely known and acknowledged. This is notwithstanding the fact that bureaucracy still has some very competent and bright people within its fold but their spark, talent, vigour and motivation are usually marred and blunted by the long standing systemic ills of bureaucracy.

Too many generalists, too much of discretionary power (and its misuse), little accountability, security of job, constitutional protection that has outlived its utility, ruler/regulator role instead of facilitator / public service orientation, absence of timely recognition, lack of reward and deterring punishment, absence of personal responsibility, interference of politicians, frequent transfers and absence of continuity are some of the systemic issues afflicting the “steel frame”. 


During the LokPal debates last year, an argument was floating in the media about possibilities of frivolous public complaints against bureaucrats that could make even honest and upright officers stop taking decisions for the fear of the same. People making such arguments were conveniently forgetting the fact that the bureaucrats are hired to make decisions in an independent and honest manner - without fear or favour. And they are mandated to implement such decisions as well. Aren't they paid and well taken care of by the taxpayers for their services rendered to the nation. If suppose, for any reason, a bureaucrat stops taking decisions, then, will there be any justification left for him to continue in office and continue to draw salaries and perks. After all, such bureaucrats always have the option to step down and pursue something else and let other capable people - who are willing to serve and make decisions, replace them. There is no dearth of talented and committed people outside the bureaucracy. The very notion that bureaucrats do some sort of a favour to the nation by taking decisions is plain elitist and is completely obnoxious. There is no dearth of talented and capable replacements available outside the bureaucracy nowadays.

Casteism, regionalism and communalism are factors that are also widely prevalent today - across levels of bureaucracy and which significantly hamper its functioning, delivery and credibility. The divisions in Indian society are not only reflected in the ranks of the bureaucracy, but this bureaucratic malaise reinforces such social divisions leading to repeated violations of social, economic and political rights of people - especially of the weaker sections. This not only widens the existing fissures in the society but considerably weakens the nation and its progress too.

The role of a bureaucrat has itself widened beyond recognition - from merely enforcement of law and order and revenue collection during independence time to administering a plethora of planned national and State welfare programs, economic policy formulation, implementation and regulation besides running of PSUs, today. Bureaucracy is simply overburdened with too much stuff in its plate than what it can really chew. And this is topped up by too much of discretionary power and very little systemic accountability towards the stakeholders, it serves. Interestingly, the salary and perks along with time-bound promotions are assured even if a bureaucrat just keeps signing on the files put up before him without making any reasonable contribution until retirement. Absence of reward or punishment on delivery or non-delivery of performance, absence of personal responsibility and lack of accountability are key factors in such rut settling in there.

The bureaucracy, hardly has any delivery driven and performance improvement culture wherein objective and scientific performance measurement could be the focal point of its evaluation process. One can’t improve anything which doesn’t ever get measured – both quantitatively and qualitatively. There is still no metrics based appraisal system for bureaucrats where-in they could be appraised on measurable achievements against pre-set mandatory annual / half yearly quantifiable and qualitative targets. The tragedy of performance in current bureaucracy is that a zero and a hero are appraised and treated alike. There is simply no incentive or systemic benefit for talent and hard work in bureaucracy - motivating it to perform to its potential or to excel, thereby causing talent and potential to waste in mediocrity over a period of time. Culture of excellence appears to be an alien phrase in this space.

Structurally, the issues start right at the recruitment stage where bureaucrats (excluding a few academicians on UPSC panels) select bureaucrats. Aspirants from all academic backgrounds have been allowed to sit for IAS in the Civil Services exams. It is hard to comprehend that a Bachelors degree in Public Administration is still not a compulsory requirement to be an IAS officer in India. Then, there is the grossly misused constitutional protection provided to bureaucrats through Article 311 that deals with protecting them from dismissal or removal from service. Although it was meant to enable bureaucracy to function honestly and independently but in this day and age of rampant corruption, such protection has virtually given it a free hand.

Another grossly misused protection for bureaucrats is granted vide statute – Section 6A of DSPE Act wherein a mandatory sanction or clearance is required from the Ministry (politician) before prosecuting senior bureaucrats on corruption charges while in office. And such undesirable and unreasonable protection continues throughout the life cycle of a bureaucrat giving him or her virtually a free hand in use or misuse of authority.  In other words, the issue is that there is too much of discretionary authority vested in bureaucracy that virtually provides unfettered grounds for misuse of such power and authority without fear or accountability. Then, there are issues of very wide range of functions and job responsibilities of bureaucrats that most of them simply fail to handle and do justice with besides the fact that there has been growing tendency towards systemic centralisation of power in bureaucracy and very little devolution of power to the people on ground.

For instance, more than desired authority and responsibility assigned to the office of DM / Collector has almost made this Office loaded with unbridled decision making authority and, at the same time, has burdened it with a work load that is realistically unmanageable and unjustified - more so for a relatively junior bureaucrat. The current job description of a District Magistrate - in its current form  and substance, definitely needs to be objectively evaluated. It defies logic that the senior District Education, Planning, Public works, Irrigation, Rural Works, Health, Transport, Food and Civil supply, Industries, Disaster Management, Drugs Control, and other senior functionaries (having 20-25 years of experience) have to report to the District Magistrate who is a relatively junior bureaucrat with just 6-7 years of administrative experience and little clue of the specific functions.  

Another example of questionable arrangement at the District level is that delivery of most of the social welfare schemes at district level is routed through the overly burdened office of DM / Collector instead of having direct planning and implementation at the level of Panchayat institutions and Urban local bodies having due representation from local people with self-help groups / NGOs assisting the effort . In essence, there isn’t much of devolution of real power and authority to the citizens at ground level. Neither is any outsourcing of non-core activities to autonomous, semi-autonomous bodies, NGOS at the District or State level despite two decades of 72^nd/ 73^rd amendments. The answer to this malaise probably lies in divesting the office of DM / Collector with development and judicial functions and letting it focus on core functions of revenue collection, law and order and coordination with different agencies.

There is no mid-career appraisal system to remove the bottom 20-30% in bureaucratic machinery. Absence of any mid-career performance appraisal to weed out the chronic non-performers, lack of any lateral entry of professionals and experts in middle and senior levels of bureaucracy or even in PSU senior management , absence of any independent social or community audit of performance of a bureaucrat, poor customer service and development orientation, poor quality standards and lack of benchmarking on services delivered by bureaucrats, absence of meaningful performance metrics in appraisal system, lack of timely rewards and punitive measures, inadequate reach out and interfacing with public, very little leveraging of technology and analytics in planning or delivery, foo much focus on adherence to rules instead of on outcomes, reactive approach to governance instead of a pro-active one, absence of collaboration and partnership with citizens, advisory nature of constitutional offices of CVC and CAG, etc. are some major impediments in obtaining operational efficiency and accountability of bureaucrats.

Interestingly, the bureaucrats keep getting half month salaries and perks even when they get suspended (though seldom they are) on corruption or misdemeanour charges.  Has any bureaucrat - found guilty of causing loss of revenue or loss of capital to the exchequer, ever been asked to deposit the lost amount? Given the widespread corruption in government departments across levels, large scale misappropriation and wastage of governmental funds and increasing misuse of authority / discretionary power in allocation of quotas and licenses - all happening under the watch of bureaucrats, how many bureaucrats in independent India have been dismissed from service for corruption or for dereliction of duty or for misdeeds in last sixty five years? Probably, they can be counted on fingers. Tragic isn’t it? For instance, 20+ people died in Patna in the wake of a stampede during Dusshehra celebrations last year. For administrative action, a few officers (DM, ADM, SP, and IG) were simply transferred and an eye-wash enquiry was set up. Is this a proportionate punishment for such a tragedy - arguably caused by dereliction of duty of officials? In private sector, loss of lives in such high numbers due to safety issue or inaction of officials in, e.g. let's say in a factory of a Manufacturing Company could have led to not only the dismissal of some officers directly responsible and the Chief of that Factory but could also have led to the resignation of CEO of that company in some cases. Thus, the drift in accountability and personal responsibility in bureaucracy has gone on for too long now and it must be arrested sooner than later, by all legitimate and reasonable means.

Given the fact that a number of honest, hardworking, upright, brilliant officers are still in bureaucracy and who are still able to contribute on an individual basis, their number is unfortunately in a minority. Such exceptions and individual / personality driven functioning is no governance system at all and hence not relevant here. The question is whether the current bureaucratic structure and the bureaucracy in general in its current avatar can meet the current needs, complexities and challenges of a rapidly growing economy and of an aspirational youthful nation or not. The existing governance structure and processes are inadequate in today's context. The delivery system as laid out today is ill equipped without a doubt.

Moreover, domain expertise in relevant field - specialised skills, knowledge and adequate experience in the relevant field at the top of bureaucracy has been ignored for far too long. The reasons are simple – the scope, complexities, challenges of a modern day setting and the skills required to comprehend and grapple with the same can only come with specific skills and relevant experience over the years. These are times of extremely complex problems requiring specific skills and vast relevant experience to deal with the problems and issues at hand. In such a scenario, Air India has had successive bureaucrats with little or absolutely no aviation experience as its MD/CEO – driving that Airline into a debt hole of Rs.40000 crores with losses running into Rs.5000 crores a year over the last decade or so. Those bureaucrats, having spent 15-20 years in leading unrelated small size Departments in States and in Centre, got pitch forked into running a complex global commercial Airline with a turnover of Rs.20000+ crores and with 27000+ people working there. Had the Airline not been bailed out with the Rs.30000 crores government package of taxpayer money, the Airlines would have surely gone down into bankruptcy.

Coal is such a critical input for fuel depleted power industry in this country. Coal India Ltd. (CIL) is already grappling with production target shortfalls, lately, thereby creating fuel shortages for fuel hungry power industry across the country. This shortage has forced various power plants to import coal at a higher price and those power plants which can't afford to import coal are lying idle for want of coal supplies from CIL. The current CIL Chief is a bureaucrat having just two years of experience in Coal Ministry and rest of his experience is in unrelated departments and Ministries. Previously, he has spent most of his time in his parent State in departments of land revenue, irrigation, urban development, textiles, sugar, etc.  Another bureaucrat – an Additional Secretary Coal was heading CIL for the last six months. He had no coal sector or industrial experience and had served in his parent State in departments of Taxes, Expenditure, Forests and Wild life, and at Centre in Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Panchayati Raj, Cabinet Secretariat, Delhi University (as Registrar), etc. It is interesting to note that more than 3.5 lacs people work in this organisation and CIL’s annual turnover stands at Rs.1 lac crores plus. Will any private sector organisation of that size and complexities commit such hara-kiri and hire a person of that profile as CEO/MD anywhere in the world?

Another bureaucrat is the MD of Projects and Development India Ltd. – a consultancy organisation of project experts. Another one is the CEO of HUDCO. National Highway Authority has three bureaucrats as Member -Technical and Member - Finance. Controller General of Patents and Trademark is a bureaucrat. CAG, CIC, Competition Commission, Telecom Regulatory Authority, SEBI, CERC, Spice Board, Rubber Board, etc. all have bureaucrats as Heads. Previous RBI governors have been bureaucrats. PSUs like SAIL and FCI have had bureaucrat CMDs in the past. There is only one Authority – DG Hydrocarbons where a technocrat is the Head today. Probably, some more PSUs have technocrat Heads as aberrations.  In States, almost all PSUs have bureaucrats as CEOs/MDs.  And the long list of such appointments in PSUs, Regulatory Authorities, Boards, and even Universities continue unabated - both at Centre and in States.  

The most interesting aspect of bureaucrats heading these PSUs is that there is hardly any accountability of these bureaucrats as they move on to some other assignment after their tenure at PSU or at any Authority – with contribution or without any contribution of any note. Due to job security, they can’t even be dismissed even if they take the PSU down into red during their tenure. Even after their retirements, they end up grabbing independent Director positions on Boards of PSUs. It is amazing to note that 35-40% of independent Directors on Boards of Maharatnas and Navratnas are retired bureaucrats today.  Given the fact that many of these bureaucrat run, taxpayer supported PSUs are badly managed institutions with very poor corporate governance and many in red, such appointments on PSU Boards and of CEOs must be stopped. Bright and experienced professionals and domain experts should replace such generalist bureaucrats. PSUs have long been used as a parking lot for serving and retired bureaucrats and that policy needs to be reversed.

Interestingly, a bureaucrat (without adequate domain experience) even leads extremely functional, technical and expertise oriented Ministries in Centre and States - Ministry of Finance, Economic Affairs, Financial Services, Health, Telecom, IT, Defence, Law, Power, Public Enterprises, Highways, Shipping, Tourism, Textile, Industry and Commerce, Aviation, Oil and Gas, Environment and Forests, Agriculture, Disaster Management, etc. The fact of bureaucrats leading the welfare-oriented Ministries is understandable and logical but as Heads of Technical Ministries should be a big NO in these challenging, complex and daunting times. Allowing lateral entries of domain experts, professionals, academicians, researchers, etc. in bureaucracy especially at the top and middle levels at both Centre and Sates looks imminent now. No wonder, most of the developed nations have experts, professionals, senior members of academia and research organisations manning such Ministries at senior and also at middle levels in government there.

Governance can’t be good governance until it is enabled by optimal use of skills, systems, processes and technology for delivering efficient governmental services. The key drivers of efficiency in governmental services are convenience of interfacing with government, ease of use, simplicity of interaction and choice of alternative delivery channels. Technology is the key enabler behind these drivers. Efficiency, optimised processes and technology go hand in hand. With innovation, creativity, speed and ease of use, technology has gone on to change the way people live and work forever and it has the potential to revolutionise government functioning and outreach too. Unless power of technology is harnessed to the maximum, efficient delivery of governmental services and programs to the weakest in the chain will be a distant dream.

Digitisation, e-governance, operational resilience, departmental portals, online transactional services, customer relationship management, cheap access to reliable internet / web services / mobile services, data integrity and privacy, integration of databases and networks across governmental agencies, credible payment gateways, robust scheduling software, cyber security, etc. are some of the primary requirements for the current governance system to graduate to the next level. The priorities of overall ICT leverage will have to be set right. Powerful social media will have to be increasingly leveraged by government departments and agencies in order to enhance citizen engagement (through interaction and communication) and quality of government’s service delivery. The daunting challenge will be to get the bureaucracy moving in order to embrace new technology, to integrate various legacy platforms and databases – BPL, APL, Aadhar, Driving license, PAN, etc., to reduce IT infrastructure costs and to move the old age opaque outdated governance mechanism - from floppy disks, CDs, etc., onto the 21^st century new age technology platforms - cloud computing, mobile apps, etc.

Statutes and laws which have lost meaning and relevance in present times must be repealed in right earnest. Such archaic redundant laws are unwarranted burden on the governance structure and hamper its responsiveness and credibility in changing times. The laws and rules must reflect the liberalism and dynamism of changing realities on ground. Redundant and obsolete laws (and there are many in the system) that hold back bureaucratic functioning and delivery must be weeded out quickly. Colonial era laws which are in direct conflict with constitutionally guaranteed fundamental rights in independent India must go. All pre / post-independence statutes which breed secrecy in governance and inaccessibility of public need to be identified and be removed quickly. Bureaucracy must be working with laws which are in sync with the needs of this day and age. If bureaucracy has to deliver the desired goals, antiquated laws and rules will have to be removed from the system and be replaced with progressive, just and reasonable statutes and rules - enabling quick decision making, efficiency, effectiveness and compliance.

A paradigm shift is required to correctly position the concept of good governance in public administration to deliver results that the nation is looking for. For a rule of law based development and delivery oriented new age governance system,  top focus will have to be on efficiency and management than merely on policy advice, on high levels of competence and public service, on high standards of responsiveness and performance, on high moral and ethical standards, on responsive citizen centric and facilitative approach, on flexibility and adaptability, on innovation and creativity, on information sharing and full accountability, on enhanced trust levels and confidence, on recognition and protection of rights and values in governance, on objective setting and outcome measurement, on timely rewards and punishment, etc. All of these will have to be brought into play for good governance to deliver the India that everybody is looking for. With a new decisive dispensation @Centre in place and kicking, time for incremental and cosmetic changes in governance will not suffice as the pace of proposed change is fast and exponential. 


This great nation has lived and borne with poor archaic governance for long and is not at all ready to accept more of the same. Aspirational India of today has the required human capital, power and drive of youth, talent and education, natural resources, human enterprise and a decisive leadership at the helms to go all out for the desired outcome. What it needs is a paradigm shift towards a responsive, efficient and effective decision making governmental structure and processes in place to make it happen. This is really the nation’s calling today. The challenge is humongous but the time and space is right for such a move.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Disclaimer: These are my personal views

Swachh Patna, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan

“Swachh Bharat Abhiyan” is a mass movement that seeks to effectively create a “Clean India”. A clean India that Gandhiji advocated for and dreamt of, for all of us. As PM Modi rightly said, we cannot pay a better tribute to our Bapu on his 150^th birth anniversary in 2019 – than fulfilling his unfulfilled dream of a clean India. It is time that we join hands in this noble cause and very critical initiative. It couldn't be a better time to get together and help build a clean and healthy India for ourselves and for our future generations.

Our beloved city of Patna certainly deserves to be in the forefront of this Swachhta campaign. As other cities and towns of this nation, Patna is stricken with the same cleanliness, hygiene, garbage, sanitation, waste management and corruption issues. Let’s be honest here. Despite Patna being the State capital, it remains one of the dirtiest State capitals that we know of. We all Patnaites know in our hearts of hearts, how badly, Patna needs to be a part of the Swachhta mission.

Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) is almost a non-functional organisation as far as delivery on cleanliness, sanitation and waste management is concerned. As a community, we Patnaites have broadly failed too in our duties and responsibilities towards keeping our city clean.

So let’s roll up our sleeves and pledge to keep our homes and neighbourhoods, our schools and colleges, our offices and markets, our hospitals and clinics, our bus stands and our train stations, our streets and highways, etc. clean from this day onwards and give ourselves a clean Patna. This pledge and commitment of ours towards cleanliness and hygiene will not only go a long way in strengthening our public health but will also push our economic growth in general.

So friends, what are you waiting for? Become a proud volunteer and be an active participant in this noble mission of serving your city and your nation towards their transformation. As part of the “Swachh Patna, Swachh Bharat” campaign, let’s join hands and go out there and do our two cents to help make and keep our Patna and our nation clean.

Please feel free to come up with suggestions and ideas and let’s firm up a collaborative plan of action towards a sustainable cleanliness drive. Every voice is valuable here.

 

 

 

 

 

                            

Planning Commission's Poverty line numbers - Where is the accountability?

With his back to the wall now, Dr.Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the suave long-serving Dy.Chairman of Planning Commission has announced another review and revision of poverty line estimates. That being the case, what will happen to the expert committee under C.Rangarajan which has already been looking into the poverty estimation methodology since last year?  Given the experience thus far, it isn't surprising at all. Montek Singh has been supervising a slew of flip-flop committees at Planning Commission for determination of poverty line methodology for a long time now. The Plan Panel Dy. Chief himself has been there at the helms since 2004.

It is now a well known fact that Dr.Montek Singh and his committees at Planning Commission have continued to throw absolutely ridiculous and bizarre poverty line numbers at the nation over these years despite the means and resources at their disposal. Remember, the Planning Commission’s (earlier) Tendulkar committee report which had drawn poverty line in 2009 at Rs.22.4 per day for rural areas and Rs.28.6 per day for urban areas. Even a renowned poverty expert like late Prof. Suresh Tendulkar couldn’t do justice to the job under the then dispensation at Planning Commission led by Dr.Montek Singh. After much hungama and widespread criticism across the nation then, the Planning Commission, had no option but to revise those numbers on a fresh basis -  taking monthly average household consumption of a family of five. Even then, those revised numbers left a lot to be desired and were not found up to mark, to say the least.

No wonder various critical poverty reduction schemes and financial outlays - based upon such absurd poverty line numbers, have been yielding poor and unsatisfactory results.  All this while, there has been complete ambiguity and incoherence over the subject at Planning Commission. Needless to add here the fact that there has been near total absence of accountability at Planning Commission as far as poverty line estimation is concerned in last eight - nine years. And this is no joke or a matter of irrelevance. No matter how much Montek Singh and his folks at Plan panel downplay or distance themselves from such a fiasco, they can't shrug off their inability and failure to deliver on their mandated task.

Needless to reiterate here that almost all poverty alleviation schemes and attached budgetary allocations including Five year Plan outlays for poverty alleviation are linked to the poverty line drawn by the Planning Commission. It also serves as the basis for metrics on poverty reduction over a period of time. Incorrect drawing of this poverty line means everything goes for a toss as far as government’s poverty alleviation interventions are concerned  - be it the alleviation schemes and programs or the targeted beneficiaries, be it the budgetary outlays or the schemes’ overall implementation, be it the measurement of delivery performance or be it the status improvement of the poor and hungry.

It appears Dr.Montek Singh has managed to lose his sanity by being a bit too long on government subsidies of the highest order. Thanks to his proximity to the PM and his cabinet rank, he enjoys a plush office, free office and personal staff, highly subsidised bungalow in Lutyens Delhi, free vehicle, free driver, free personal staff, free electricity, free phone calls, free house maintenance, free air / train travel, umpteen free foreign junkets, almost free health care for life, etc. - all at the cost / burden of hapless taxpayer of this country. And why did the hardworking taxpayer bear all his cost thus far? So that Montek Singh, in an honest, diligent and dutiful manner, could work hard towards delivering what was right, accurate and just - enabling effective delivery of welfare programs to the most poor and hungry amongst the nation’s billion plus people.

Lo and behold!! Dr.Montek goes out there and belts out, yet again, absolutely obnoxious and appalling poverty line numbers of Rs.27 (rural areas) and Rs.33 (urban areas) a day as the nation’s poverty line thereby making a mockery of the most deprived, hungry and suffering amongst us by producing such heartless, shameless and mindboggling  numbers.  In this day and age, he thought, he could get away with such outrageous mocking at the abject deprivation of a majority of our fellow citizens who are waiting and seeking help -just to hold their body and souls together. He thought he could fool the nation one more time. But he couldn’t. Thankfully and rightfully so!!!

Clearly, this was a case where one didn’t have any clue about the hard and harsh realities on the ground – of the widespread poverty as it exists in India today nor had any kind of identification with or sensitivity towards the real issues of the poor and hungry amongst us. Just a couple of roses in the flower vase on his office table that his peon might be putting every morning for him would be costlier than Rs.27. Even his driver would be making more than Rs.5000 as monthly overtime - leave aside the driver’s monthly salary, benefits, health care, pension, PF, gratuity, etc. as a cost to the taxpayer.

As a side note, it is worthwhile to question what Dr.Montek Singh does every year at World Economic Forum, Davos and what quantifiable and qualitative results has he delivered out of such junkets and similar trips across the world - all at the cost of the hapless taxpayer. Davos is a place where people from all across the world - governments, business, civil society and other sectors engage and network to enhance confidence in their country’s governance, economic performance, infrastructure, trade and business performance, etc. and where they also discuss ways and means to address universal challenges of hunger, poverty, disease and education. Does Dr.Montek Singh talk about his ridiculous poverty line numbers in that august gathering? Not sure if he has ever. And hope he hasn’t as he would have shamed this nation every time he would have blurted out those inaccurate, appalling and ridiculous numbers before a world audience.

Let’s come straight to the point. And this is without taking anything away from otherwise impressive credentials of Dr. Montek Singh. Isn’t it surprising that the Plan Panel Dy.Chief has not yet been sacked by the Prime Minister? Dr.Montek Singh has been shamelessly holding on to his Chair despite such widespread backlash and opposition to his latest poverty line numbers - across the political spectrum. And this is not the first time. If that was not enough, he cut himself a sorry figure yet again when he came up with another set of absolutely flawed numbers on poverty reduction - a few days back. Such pathetic numbers have worsened things further. At a time, when the government was still taking a lot of heat from all corners, Dr.Montek Singh and his team, rubbing salt to the wounds, hurriedly threw another set of flawed and inaccurate numbers - this time on government's poverty reduction performance of last few years. Interestingly, such poverty reduction performance was based upon the already rejected poverty line numbers of erstwhile Tendulkar committee which the Planning Commission itself had rejected long time ago. Simply unbelievable stuff!! It clearly crossed all the heights of callousness, apathy and shamelessness.

Who bothers about the lost time in the life of nation and of its more disadvantaged people; who cares about the lost opportunities and its people falling behind; who takes into account the losses suffered on critical human development front; who cares about the loss of human capital for the nation’s future and who bothers about the overall loss to the nation and its people. At least, not the likes of Dr.Montek Singh and his folks at Plan panel - glorified cushioned occupants of plush air conditioned offices in Lutyen’s Delhi. It is critical that Dr.Montek and his ilk get it this time that the nation has moved on. This nation - especially its youth (a majority) will hold them accountable for every action of theirs and will take them to task. No more free lunches and free rides please for such public servants!! They can’t get away with such crap anymore.

All reports including the government’s show that the most poor and hungry amongst us have remained there where they were in relative economic terms. Quality of life for more than 70% remains where it used to be. The trickle-down effect of growth model is not working. Rapid growth of two decades may have brought some of us out of the clutches of poverty but the more important divide between the haves and have-nots has continued to widen over these years - reaching distressing proportions now.

Certainly, it's time for Dr.Montek Singh to step aside and let the Planning Commission have some fresh breeze of air. The longer he stays at Planning Commission, the more embarrassment he causes to the nation and to his supposedly key benefactor - the Prime Minister. Sense of responsibility and sacrifice, conscientious service / duty to the motherland, character, integrity and accountability are still the qualities that this nation values the most.