Work to rule

So what exactly do bureaucrats do when the current government bids goodbye and the next government gets ready to come in? Prepare the agenda for the next government? Nothing of the kind, retorted the secretary of a key central ministry. First, he said, there is no agenda or priority since his ministry dealt in long-term plans. But shouldn't bureaucrats be setting the priorities within their domains, he was asked. "I wish," he laughed, "that life was so simple." Which is as good a comment on the relationship between politicians and the bureaucracy in India as any.