Letter: Picking favourites

A K Bhattacharya, in his column “Civil servants as policy signal” (Delhi Diary, August 9), makes instructive observations about ministers picking up a favourite secretary on assuming a new charge. It has its pros and cons. On the positive side, it helps a minister work with a like-minded person and facilitates quick implementation of decisions. But it also leads to groupthink in key issues in which inputs of different ideas is critical. In some cases, the great understanding becomes an unholy nexus as in the case of A Raja. If the minister holds a key position in the government or ruling party, bureaucrats are tempted to court him or her by being pliable and loyal, and not necessarily objective. And when a secretary alone is held responsible for policy failures, it demoralises the cadre. The present United Progressive Alliance government has perfected the art of finding scapegoats in civil services. It is the Prime Minister’s Office and the prime minister or the National Advisory Council, and not Sonia Gandhi, that are blamed for wrong decisions. No wonder the bureaucracy is now more timid than professional.

 

Y G Chouksey Pune

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