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Business News/ Opinion / Lateral entry can crush the steel frame of India
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Lateral entry can crush the steel frame of India

Lateral inductees, divorced from reality, will have little or no idea of how policies are implemented at the grass-roots level, let alone the policymaking process

Lateral entry, at best, should only be an exception and not the norm. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/MintPremium
Lateral entry, at best, should only be an exception and not the norm. Photo: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

Nearly seven decades ago, an erudite statesman from Gujarat came up with a distinctive idea of creating a politically neutral and independent civil service. This “steel frame" , as he rightly put it, would form a part of the permanent executive to deliver fair and just administration to the newly independent country.

Seven decades hence, another leader from Gujarat is making a half-baked attempt to “reform" the civil service. A “bold experiment" is being carried out in the form of lateral entry at joint secretary-level in the government of India.

The underlying motivation behind this move, as it is being claimed, is essentially two-fold. First, the idea is to infuse outside talent and, second, to harness and make use of the knowledge of domain experts from outside the system.

It would not be a hyperbole to suggest that the coveted Indian Administrative Service (IAS) continues to be the envy of many. In spite of increased job opportunities in the corporate world, the civil services, in general, and the IAS, in particular, continue to be a powerful magnet for competent, capable and proficient graduates from various streams and diverse fields. So much so, Lant Pritchett from the prestigious Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University notes that civil servant aspirants must undergo an application process that makes getting into Harvard look like a walk in the park. Therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to establish that the top rankers in the civil services examination, especially the ones who make it to the IAS, are exceptionally intelligent individuals.

The Constitution clearly articulates that the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) alone has the mandate to conduct examinations for recruitment to civil service jobs in the Union government. Therefore,the government’s decision to recruit joint secretaries from outside the system, undermining the authority of the UPSC in the process, is an attempt to tear down the very fabric and fundamental premise of parliamentary democracy, which is undeniably linked to placing confidence on a strictly merit-based, apolitical civil service.

An IAS officer becomes eligible to hold the post of a joint secretary after completing roughly 20 years of service. Now, it is important to understand the role and functions of a joint secretary serving in the Union government.

To begin with, she is meant to be a generalist and not a specialist. Officers at this level are not empanelled to maximize profits or to market some product or service, as maybe the case in the private sector. A joint secretary-level officer is expected to funnel-to-pulp well-researched information, data or statistics, as the case may be, in a lucid, succinct manner before the political executive. She is to aid the political executive in weighing competing trade-offs, bearing in mind that the ultimate objective of public policy is to maximize social welfare.

It is only a generalist with rich experience in public administration who can visualize, see through, and articulate macro perspectives. Besides, she has sufficient experience of working at the village, district and state level. She understands how policies are implemented and the shortcomings of various policies. Therefore, when she rises to the rank of a joint secretary, she has vast practical experience in her kitty, which enables her to craft and design dynamic policies.

Specialists and domain experts are bereft of such qualities and, therefore, are not best suited to fill-up these positions. Lateral inductees, divorced from reality, will have little or no idea of how policies are implemented at the grass-roots level, let alone the policymaking process. Their myopic vision and risk-averse attitude, coupled with ignorance of office procedures, is a deadly cocktail that can choke an already suffocated system. They can, at best, be roped in as consultants in an advisory role to offer expert advice. However, offering them a decision-making position would be dangerous for smooth governance and will lead to turf-wars. It may also result in lowering the morale of regular recruits whose knowledge is upgraded at periodic intervals in the best training institutes across the globe.

Wrong precedents in the government can be fatal, especially those wherein the political executive tinkers with well-established recruitment systems. No doubt lateral entries have been made in the past by previous ruling establishments. They haven’t been successful experiments. The whole experience of inducting private-sector “managers" has been far from satisfactory when it came to “managing" the public sector. To be specific, examples include Air India, Indian Airlines, Vayudoot, etc.

The naysayers allege that a secure government job makes career bureaucrats inefficient and rusty. That’s far from true. There is no assurance, whatsoever, that civil servants will reach top positions. The general public is probably unaware, but competition inside the services is real. The entire empanelment process is rigorous and holistic. Non-performers fall out of the race.

No doubt, over the years, the “steel frame" has rusted and time has come to refurbish it. But, lateral entry is definitely not the right way to go about it. The intention behind this move seems to be malicious and ill-considered. Lateral entry, at best, should only be an exception and not the norm. If shortage of civil servants is being felt, the number of recruitments made through the annual civil services examination can be gradually increased. Overhauling the current system of recruitment by altering the pattern of examination and the training format could be considered. However, creating a “back-door" entry route for once-upon-a-time IAS aspirants is perilous and must be checked before it is too late.

Sudeep Singh Dhillon retired as an additional chief secretary to the government of Haryana.

Comments are welcome at theirview@livemint.com

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Published: 04 Jul 2018, 09:19 PM IST
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