| Published on 11-02-2007 In National |
| Viewed 1271 times |
| A study of governance methods (Part 16) |
|
|
Written by
Bharadwaj |
Ministers in muddle-land
It would be interesting to see the nuts and bolts of the functioning of a newly formed government – especially when it belongs to a hitherto unknown political party and has in its ranks several ministers who have been appointed despite a complete lack of rudimentary knowledge of the system of administration.
The relationship between political parties, its mainstays and the administration set up in every state and its effect on governance – these are aspects worthy of everyone's consideration.
Firstly one should understand the raison d'etre of the very evolution of political parties, its leaders and its workers. The foremost question is – how did each leader start his/her public life and for what reason. Then comes the next step: how each politician progresses in his/her vocation and finally manages to capture power.
And after coming to power, how does their style of work affect the administrative needs of the state? These are vital questions that cry out for an answer.
There is no doubt that in the past, political parties were created on the basis of principles. For instance, the Congress party came into existence with the avowed aim of securing independence from our colonial rulers. After its aim was achieved, Mahatma Gandhi said that the party ought to be dissolved as its principle function has been completed. But, Jawaharlal Nehru and other Congress leaders decided to continue for the sake of economic progress of the nation.
Communist parties wanted to create a socialist form of government. Our local Dravidian parties emerged with the dream of establishing a separate state.
In a nutshell, every political party had its clear-cut agenda.
With the passage of time, every one of these political parties and its leaders comprehended that these lofty ideals could never be achieved. During this evolution, party workers who stood for selfless service slowly began to fade, giving way to power brokers who realised that politics would grant them a cushy life.
Those who were well educated managed to get decent jobs. But those who were uneducated were drawn into politics. It was at this stage that money began changing hands for party work—such as organising public meetings, arranging leaders' tours, and act as de facto impresarios to host party conferences.
All these cost money. But when funds changed hands, the leadership didn't strictly insist on exact accounts. This led to self-aggrandisement on the part of tertiary leaders. The root cause of this sorry state of affairs was that leaders wanted to win over the trust of their lieutenants. One thing led to another and a lot of people began dealing in voluminous amounts of money and were personally gratified by this process.
Due to this state of affairs, politicians sans educational qualifications and self-respect began spreading their tentacles into Tamil Nadu's public life.
When that was the order of the day, near illiterates ended up becoming ministers. Though there were also some amongst their ranks who had some formal education, they became ministers without understanding the nuances of administration.
So let us see how such politicians handle the important task of administering a huge state, their approach to work and the problems arising out of that.
A small quote from Janata Party leader Dr. Subramanian Swamy would amply illustrate this aspect. This goes back to the days when he was the Commerce Minister at the Centre. He was addressing young IAS officers on the day of culmination of their training.
"A semi-literate village leader became a minister when we formed the government in Karnataka. He did not know anything about the functioning of the government. Officials sent their files for suitable orders. For weeks together he didn't take any action on them. Finally his PA and other officials requested the minister to add notes on the files. Misunderstanding the suggestion, the minister sent back the files with currency notes!" said Dr. Swamy.
We do not know whether what Dr. Swamy said was true. But even if the sequence of events was true, nobody need be surprised by it.
Today, when new ministers take charge, they implicitly believe their ministerial staff and sign on the dotted line without understanding the importance of each such order. Such ministers totally lack the powers of comprehending the needs of good and just administration.
If such ministers listen to the professionals serving under them for a period of six months and then begin acting on files, they certainly can pass muster. But that is where the problem lies. The respective secretaries of the department, meant to guide the ministers, themselves do not know anything about procedure.
In the past, the appointment of secretaries to government was solely the responsibility of the Chief Secretary in Tamil Nadu.
Even today, states like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab and Kerala have left the job of vital postings of IAS officers to the Chief Secretary. But the CS cannot perform in a vacuum. Most of the time, experienced secretaries to government would recommend the names of those who could be appointed deputy secretaries and that would be accepted by the CS.
If people with a vast amount of experience aid the government, the job of good governance becomes easy. Such officials can guide ministers properly as they lead them gingerly over their syllables.
Sadly this practice isn't followed in Tamil Nadu. Whenever a new government captures power, all the top bureaucrats are changed en bloc. It is indeed a sorry spectacle to see officials and their ministers being led astray in matters of vital interest to the state. (Translated by TSV Hari )
|
|
|
|
|
| Social Web |  |
| |
|
|
| |
Processing please wait ...
Top Stories
