Letters: Need for succession plan

With reference to the editorial, “Not a part-time job” (March 16), the absence of transparent and efficient succession plans affects the functioning of not only big companies and large organisations in the public and private sectors as well as government departments, but also all top-level assignments where political decision-making is involved.  

Some instances in this category include Pranab Mukherjee shifting from North Block to Rashtrapati Bhavan and Manohar Parrikar (pictured) shuttling between Panaji and New Delhi. Such manoeuvering gives an impression that the job of a legislator or a minister is not a full-term or full-time one, where the incumbents are accountable for what they do during a pre-decided tenure of their appointment.

Legislators go back to acting in films or anchoring TV programmes, central ministers concentrate more on solving problems in their respective parties at the state level or devoting their entire time to electioneering when polls are announced. The present arrangement gives bureaucrats an upper hand in governance, affecting the democratic functioning of government.

While conduct rules, it seems, can’t be enforced on public figures, there should be some self-regulation to ensure that those in public office do justice to their jobs. Continuity in incumbency ensures accountability. 

Political parties should maintain a talent pool for smooth succession. This will also help prospective candidates to prepare themselves for their expected assignments. 

The time is ripe for parties to recruit candidates from the market instead of depending solely on the “catchment area” comprising ground-level workers, students, trade union leaders, lawyers and family members of current leaders.

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