'Bureaucracy cannot work unless politics is fixed': Kejriwal

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that bureaucracy cannot work smoothly unless the politics of the country is 'fixed', inviting civil servants to partner the government of the national capital to fulfil the promises made to the people of the city.

"The people of Delhi have given us a historical mandate and our party has a lot of responsibility and promises to fulfil, but we cannot fulfil them without officers of the civil service. There are a lot of changes that can be brought about as far as bureaucracy is concerned. The root cause of problems that our country faces is dirty politics. If the politics of the country is not fixed, then bureaucracy cannot work and we cannot make any expectations from it. Everything is driven by politics: the state of the country's education, roads, water and so on, can all be traced back to the politics," Kejriwal said, while addressing a gathering on the eve of Civil Services Day.

"The people of Delhi have shown that they want change by voting in a different kind of party. Thus, the politics of Delhi has become good, but we all have to join hands to deliver. If we fail, then the people will lose faith in both politics and bureaucracy," he added.

Kejriwal further said that while individuals are not at fault, the system of governance in the country has to be changed.

"Individuals are not to blame, but the system is wrong. We need to fix the system. Technology has enabled man to reach the moon, but the governance in this country has not changed...We have to bring some fundamental changes into governance. We have to bring in transparent system of rewards and punishments," he said.

"I have always felt that in any society, 10 percent of people are honest, another 10 are dishonest and the remaining just flow with the wind. Now that there is a movement towards honesty, at least 90 percent of the people in Delhi will be honest. We will have to act against the remaining 10 percent," he added.

The Civil Service Day is celebrated on April 21 every year, with officers of the Central and state governments honoured for excellence in public administration by the Prime Minister.