Good question. I spend quite a lot of time with some government people. Among them, there is genuine concern that this government which came on the agenda of the poor has not done enough or should do more. I think that (concern) is genuine. Having said (that) I often feel that they have not realized how hard it is designing a programme. They sit in Delhi and come up with a nice scheme. But they would not know where the weaknesses come on the ground. The design is rarely worked out carefully. No experimentation or too little experimentation is done. So, you do not end up with a clear understanding of what will make a programme work. And once the programme is announced, there is not enough attention given to the so-called political economy to keep the pressure up to implement the programme well. So on both sides, the design is often flawed and the bureaucracy is not under enough pressure (to deliver).
And there is lack of accountability at the ground level.
Huge. But that is all the way up. I would not blame just the people at the bottom.
For that to happen, what kind of reforms would you suggest?
Well, people should start thinking whether the current system—of very small elite IAS (Indian Administrative Service) that is not specialized at all and is expected to know everything—is the best system.
So, some kind of other administrative structure is required.
Railways, for example, is separate. People are specialists. I think we need specialists. We have too many people who are generalists. It is hard to know everything. There are so many things to be mastered. They have so little time and they are so busy. I do not blame them. It’s a big challenge.
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