A bureaucrat often teaches a politician how to make money.

by sambarvada Fri Aug 05, 2011 4:54 pm

The truth is: if you bend they will kick. In a democracy, the political executive is supreme. They are accountable to the people. They are accountable to parliament and the assembly. They have to get re-elected. But the role of the political executive is to take policy decisions. It is the job of the bureaucracy to implement the policy decisions. Why have the bureaucracy allowed the political executive to trespass onto their turf? Simple: lack of a backbone. How many bureaucrats have the courage to write what they believe is the truth? Notes are written in the government today after a draft note is prepared and taken to the boss to know the ‘mind of the boss’. If the boss approves, a formal note is put up in the regular file.

TO BE able to stand up, one needs to have personal integrity, both financial and intellectual. What percentage of ias officers are financially honest? Some people believe that over 60% of ias officers are financially corrupt. A good percentage of officers have impeccable financial integrity. How many of this group have intellectual integrity? Possibly one percent. It is not enough to be financially honest; it is equally important that you do not allow others to make money. An ias officer is the chief security guard on behalf of people to guard the nation’s wealth. I don’t loot, but allow others to loot. I don’t know which is a bigger crime. Public perception is that the politician is looting the country. I beg to differ. A good portion of the loot goes to the bureaucrat. It doesn’t stop there. A bureaucrat often teaches a politician how to make money. Without the brilliant brains of the ias working overtime, most scams in the country would not have taken place. I think the ias has failed. Some in the service would still love to believe that the ias is holding the country together inspite of the mess. Is there an option other than the ias? No. Somebody has to take the bull by the horn and the ias is best suited.

Why is it that the ias is perceived as an arrogant lot? Because many of them are. The moment they walk through the gates of the Mussoorie Academy they tend to believe that they are gods. Many of them treat the citizen like dirt. Why is the ias so incredibly arrogant? Because they believe it is god’s own service. I do believe it is god’s own service. That is precisely why I decided I had a divine mission as an ias officer. In a country where half the people are illiterate, where more than half the people do not have a full meal in a day, where half the children have not seen the inside of a school, isn’t the ias on god’s mission? Isn’t it the job of the ias to put on a smile on their faces? I believe so. For me it was an exciting job, to see that smile on those helpless faces. I have seen it for 27 years. It doesn’t take brilliance to bring that smile on faces. It just requires two things: common sense and commitment. The country is being looted by the politicians, corporates and bureaucrats. This has to stop. If there is one category of people who can ensure that the loot is stopped, it is the ias. If the ias has failed, the political executive is responsible for that. It is a brilliant service. It still has enough honest people left. Use them. I love the ias. I love my batch of 1979. Then why did I quit to join politics?

KJ Alphons is a former bureaucrat and currently a national executive member of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

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