A framework of intentions

"Transforming the Steel Frame" is treatise on civil service reforms in India. It has some revolutionary ideas that look good on paper, but could be politically disastrous unless implemented with care

Transforming the Steel Frame: Promise and Paradox of Civil Service Reform

Editor: Vinod Rai

Publisher: Rupa Publications

Pages: 234+XX

Price: Rs 595

Undoubtedly, Transforming the Steel Frame is a catchy title for a book that is meant to examine the promise and paradox of civil service reforms in India. The subject is also extremely relevant as governments at the Centre as well as in the states have been struggling to deliver on governance and make a difference to the lives of citizens at all levels. And when the editor of such a book happens to be former Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, Vinod Rai, it is only natural that expectations would rise. But, in a way, that is also why after reading this book you are likely to feel a little disappointed because of the huge gap that you will sense between the book’s promise and what it finally delivers.

Of the 14 essays in this anthology, as many as eight are written by retired officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), or what is often described as India’s steel frame. The remaining essays are by professional experts and business leaders. It is remarkable that the essays by these experts are brutally frank as well as perceptive in pointing out what is wrong with India’s steel frame or what steps need to be taken to fix the problems.

On the other hand, most essayists belonging to the IAS have been candid enough to identify the many drawbacks their service suffers from, but their prescriptions are generally mundane, bookish and regurgitation of the many recommendations made for civil service reforms by expert committees in the past and, more importantly, ignored by almost all governments at the Centre. For instance, former chairman of the Union Public Service Commission, Deepak Gupta, a retired IAS officer, recommends measures such as the reduction in the maximum qualifying age for taking the IAS examination to 26, limiting the number of attempts for becoming a civil servant to just three and reforming the examination system. Such views have been routinely endorsed by many expert committees, but none of them has been implemented so far.

But when Mr Gupta goes beyond these suggestions, he betrays a protective mindset keen on preserving the many privileges the civil service is used to enjoying for the past several years. These recommendations are a cause for concern for the future of civil service reforms in India. For instance, a few of these recommendations either frown upon the idea of lateral entrants into the civil service or do not comprehensively reject the idea of post-retirement jobs for civil servants.

The anthology also has an essay from Sanjeev Chopra, former director of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, which dwells on the idea of how the foundation course for trainee civil servants could be strengthened during the “Amrit Kaal of India’s Independence Centenary (2022-47)”, a suggestion that would certainly be a big hit with the current political leadership at the Centre. N Gopalaswami, a retired IAS officer and a former chief election commissioner, regrets that neither political parties nor governments see electoral reforms as a priority area and hopes that citizens would soon put across the message that they deserve better. Taking a somewhat different line of argument, Prajapati Trivedi, former secretary in the government (but not an IAS officer) pushes the envelope by suggesting that administrative reforms with a wide impact on organisational performance must be codified in law to make them effective.

In contrast, Manish Sabharwal of TeamLease, India’s largest staffing firm, presents a refreshing perspective by explaining why and how the famed steel frame has degenerated into a steel cage. Calling for a rebooting of the government’s human capital, Mr Sabharwal recommends fundamental reforms in the structure of civil service in India through financial decentralisation, rationalisation of central ministries, expedited disinvestment of government equity in public sector enterprises and an end to top-heavy secretariats, which are an outcome of “indiscriminate and guaranteed promotions for civil servants.” Apart from staffing and training reforms, Mr Sabharwal also recommends a fundamental revamp of the compensation structure to reverse the current system where civil servants at the bottom are paid “too much” and those at the top “too little”. These are revolutionary ideas that look good on paper but could be politically disastrous for any ruling party unless implemented with care and planning. Nevertheless, they deserve to be put on the table for any discussion on civil service reform.

The essay by S Ramadorai of the Tatas is a catch-all exercise. It ticks all the boxes to reform civil service in the country, while underlining the need for mainstreaming lateral entry, transforming the recruitment process, capacity building, developing domain specialisation, deputation of civil servants to private companies and a focus on making their approach citizen-centric. Endorsing a somewhat similar approach, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon calls for a citizen-administration partnership to revive civil service and transform the skillsets of the IAS officers. Subhomoy Bhattacharjee, a public policy analyst associated with this newspaper, presents a bleak scenario as far as the strained relationship between the political executive and civil servants is concerned. His recommendation is to expand the pool of officers available for administrative jobs beyond the IAS and state civil services.

Vinod Rai’s two essays on the importance of ethics and the role of the auditors in the government system are thought-provoking. Apart from reiterating the need for auditors to practise objectivity and follow a self-defined code of ethics and morality, Mr Rai calls for a more transparent functioning of the Public Accounts Committees while they examine the findings and recommendations of auditors. In addition, auditors, he believes, should be part of a process to upgrade governance, ensure widespread dissemination of audit observations and support the concept of social audits.

On paper, all these recommendations look good and sensible. But, as former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had reportedly quipped after examining the many recommendations from a consultancy firm for raising India’s growth rate, this reviewer is also left asking the same question: Par, Yeh Sab Hoga Kaise? (But, how will all these suggestions be implemented?)