In 1947, post independent India inherited an administration which was created by its rulers to serve the interest of the British crown and its parliament. The whole set of Indian Civil Services was designed and trained by the British with the aim of extracting maximum revenues from the local Indians. Ever since, the hangover of the British Raj and the inheritance of babudom have remained central to the way the country is run and operated.
After 17 years of being Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru when asked in 1964 what he considered his greatest failure as India’s Prime Minister, replied; “I could not change the administration, it is still a colonial administration.” In 1969, Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi criticised the machinery of public administration as “the stumbling block” in the way of the country’s social and economic progress. Her son, Rajiv Gandhi, after becoming PM once said, “we have government servants who do not serve but oppress the poor and the helpless, who do not uphold the law but connive with those who cheat the state and whole legions whose only concern is their private welfare at the cost of the society.” His theory of PM to DM was an attempt towards decentralisation but did not materialise.
Fast forward to 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing Parliament, during the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address questioned the traditional wisdom of vesting all power in the hands of the bureaucracy. “Babus will do everything? Because they became IAS (officers), they’ll run fertiliser factories, because they are IAS, they will run chemical factories...even fly planes...What is this big power we have created?” What are we going to achieve by handing the reins of the nation to babus? Just as our babus belong to the country so do the Indian youth”. Modi, a long serving chief minister and now a two term PM believes in “minimum government and maximum governance”.
Despite semblances of reforms and changes, the hangover of the British inheritance continues to impact the way the country functions till today. Here in Nagaland too, the scenario is no different, if not worse, at times. Bureaucratic red-tapism and shortfalls in efficiency ails an oversized and an overfed bureaucracy.
In fact, apart from the need to improve the efficiency of our administration, Nagaland is facing a crisis-like situation in its bureaucratic set up. There is a shortage of higher and middle level bureaucrats to effectively make policy implementation and administration successful. A number of senior officers of the IAS cadre are out of the state on deputation and there are very few Naga officers of the cadre at the middle and higher levels posted in Nagaland. With the exception to those committed and dedicated officers, there is a feeling of unwillingness on the part of many officers to get posted back to Nagaland due to a combination of many factors, and central cadre officers are more than keen to seek deputations to serve outside Nagaland.
Then, there is the need to improve the capacity and calibre of the state’s services to make them efficient and at par with central services. Training for the government sectors, irrespective of any department must be improved and planned in a manner that our officers can face the needs of the changed requirements and environment of the present realities.
The scenario has left the state administration with serious challenges and a need to look at new ideas, innovative approaches and policy decisions that will be beneficial for the state, now and for the future. It goes without saying that delivery mechanisms and successful implementation of policies and programmes is only possible if we have an efficient and a capable administrative machinery.
Reforms must always be on the agenda of any government, as change is the only constant. The environment of the global village, clubbed with the flattening of everything by the dynamics of the internet and the acceleration of digitalisation requires all institutions to embrace change and accept the realities of modern technology. Reforms and change are always difficult to implement and needs to be supported by strong political will. Resistance to change and reforms result in stagnation of society and the negative impacts of such a scenario becomes even more difficult to overcome with time, as is happening now.
Reforms need not be introduced in a manner that shakes up everything. It can be planned, systematic and implemented in a phased-manner so that resistance can be overcome smoothly. Here are some suggestions and ideas on how to make the government machinery more efficient and introduce reforms in the bureaucracy.
● The ATI must be made into a Center of Excellence at par with national and international standards. It must have facilities and curriculum that are in tune with present needs, requirements, and trends so that our government machinery prepared to face the challenges of now and the future. We need officers in all rank and file of the government machinery who are future-ready.
● ATI must be given sufficient allocation of funds for upgradations, curriculum reviews, infra developments, campus improvements, etc. with special provisions for innovative and creative ideas. The institution must be given the opportunity to avail the best consultants and experts in striving towards these aspirations.
● The ATI must have faculty and resource persons who belong to all fields and not just bureaucrats. Resource persons and faculty members must include experts from non-government agencies and different backgrounds and even from international organisations. For example, special studies and a better understanding of activism, civil society, inter-tribal relations and conflict resolution are essential requirements for our administrative officers in a unique political state like Nagaland.
● A pool of experts on various fields can be created and capacity building exercises, lectures, training sessions can be imparted not only through physical presence but also through online platforms. This is cost effective and makes accessibility to experts much easier.
● Our officers from the NCS, NPS and other services including directorate and secretariat employees need regular courses, capacity building exercises, study tours, exposures, scholarships, trainings etc. Only then will we have a government machinery which is present and future ready, and they will be able to implement approaches that are in tune with modern realities and adapt to real ground situations. Such an approach will also ensure enforcement of best practices at all levels of governance.
● The state government should formulate collaborative programmes with institutions, universities and research institutes for training and exposure of our officers across all departments. For example, the state government can formulate customised training programmes for our civil services at the Lal Bahadur National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA). Even states like Arunachal Pradesh have formulated customised training programmes for their officers at LBSNAA.
● The NCS, NPS and other local services are the sons and daughters of the soil who will remain with us through all times. They are the real stakeholders whom we need to empower and motivate them to serve the people with commitment and dedication.
● The government should create more opportunities for them so that we remove frustration from the ranks. Motivation, commitment, and dedication can only be generated if opportunities and better career prospects are created at all levels. Most importantly, it is paramount that the hurdles and restrictions that are in the way of their career prospects must be removed. Our local officers must be given opportunities to reach the highest levels of government based on meritocracy. More posts must be created at the higher levels by removing and relaxing criteria and regulations that are restrictive.
● Just like in all other fields, our officers must be made aware that, with commitment and dedication, they too can reach the highest level in their line of service during their active careers. This will be the determining factor in motivating our local services.
● Motivate the other local services by introducing opportunities and service recognitions. For example, introduce Nagaland Information Service (NIS) for commissioned officers of the Information and Public Relations (IPR) department. Likewise, Nagaland Revenue & Financial Service or Nagaland Economic Service, Nagaland Technical Service, etc. This approach, though symbolic, creates an air of respect and recognition, which can only motivate.
● The state government invests a lot of resources in training our civil servants and the services of dozens of these officers are not used to maximum benefit at the entry and middle level. The government must consider ways to use the services of the civil servants in implementation of important national flagship programmes for a better and more efficient delivery mechanisms.
● The present bureaucracy in Nagaland needs an impetus of fresh ideas, innovative approaches, and out-of-the-box strategies. We need to undertake best practices and its strict enforcement. Transparency, delivery of justice and meritocracy need to be supported. True democracy and fair delivery are possible only when the systems of governance are just - in letter and spirit.
● The state government must explore the concept of parallel entry of government officers. Even the union government under the present Prime Minister has undertaken this policy, much against the wishes of the established pillars. This needs political will.
● Experts in the fields of IT, start-ups, education, medicine, sports, engineering, climate and environment, media, etc. are needed. Some of these areas can be addressed by parallel entry of experts at higher levels.
● Technical departments like Sports needs to be led by experts who specialise in sports science and its multi-dimensional dynamics. Sports engineering is today a completely different wing. These gaps can perhaps be plugged through parallel entry. This is just an example as such needs are required across the board.
● The state government needs to approach the subject of officers coming on deputation from outside Nagaland with an open mind. There are several Naga officers serving in different capacities in various ministries, central services, and government organisations. Many have exposure and expertise in their given fields. Local Naga officers are the real stakeholders and will walk the extra mile to serve our own state. We must explore all possibilities to bring these officers; willing to serve here, on deputation and utilise their experience and knowledge to realise the aspirations of our people.
● With motivation to the other state services and a mature dialogue, there is no reason why the other services too will not welcome our own brothers and sisters to serve our people collectively.
● Universally, it is now an acknowledged fact that technology is the only way to ensure transparency and combat corruption.
● E-governance measures must be stepped-up with mandatory requirements and timelines. A monitoring mechanism must be put in place to ensure compliance within the specific timelines. At present, many departments are maintaining websites and social media handles only for the sake of compliance, without genuine e-governance measures, nor with any benefit to the targeted sections, or for implementation of transparency measures.
● Implementation of a comprehensive e-governance policy will win the trust of the people and regain the confidence of the younger generation. The promise of change, transparency and meritocracy will be realised. E-governance is not only about having a basic website and social media presence, rather we must use technology and digital mediums for transparent implementation, monitoring and day to day functioning.
● The decision of the state government to establish the NSSB have been well-received by all sections of the people, especially the youth. This is the way-forward to good governance and for instilling hope and confidence in the minds of the younger generations. When the youth have confidence in the system, they will strive harder to achieve excellence and success, knowing that reward awaits hard work and commitment.
● The momentum of this gain and initiative must not be lost. Make the functioning and establishment of the NSSB transparent, and inclusive, for confidence building. Inclusive approach must be done in the composition of the board. Use technology to the maximum so that manipulation and favoritism is avoided from day one.
● Appoint members whose integrity are respected by the people and avoid populism on tribal lines and do away with political favours. Ensure that the appointed members are technology savvy and understand present systems.
● Include meritorious rewards in recruitment procedure like additional marks for past academic record, achievements in sports, arts, music, etc. This approach will show that there is political will to support and promote different fields of activity. For example, an additional mark/marks awarded for securing 1st division in matric examinations, or for representing the country in sports, or achieving recognition in music and arts, etc. will encourage pursuit of excellence in all spheres of human activity.
● Make every process of the establishment transparent by using technology and e-governance.
● Henceforth, every appointment in the government should be through meritorious and transparent procedures. The government should ensure that any appointment in contravention of this policy will not only result in cancellation of appointment orders but also censure authorities that misuse their power and position as per laid down rules.
Good governance and reaching policies and programmes to the targeted sections in a successful manner can only be achieved if the challenge of red tape is removed. Serious efforts must be made to reduce bureaucratic red tape in the government machinery. This can be addressed by strengthening the pillars of single window clearance and ensuring policies that support ease of doing business. There are times when established procedures must be set aside for efficiency and decisions must be result oriented.
Many a times, the terms “bureaucrat”, “bureaucratic” and “bureaucracy” are associated with negative connotations. Former President, Jagjivan Ram once stated, ‘we need a civil service committed to the ideals of democracy, socialism and secularism”. Today, we need a bureaucracy that is committed to justice, meritocracy, and transparency - meaning democracy. There is no denying that the country’s bureaucracy has made significant contributions in the emergence of India, post 1947. It has stood the test of time not wavering even in the face of some of the most challenging periods in the nation’s history. The story is no different here in Nagaland too, as our bureaucrats have worked under trying circumstances, with many even making the supreme sacrifice. Having said that, we need to keep moving forward. The bottom line is, a state and a society that is unwilling to reform, adapt or change will get left behind. Nagaland cannot afford to get left behind. We cannot kill the vibrancy, energy, and the ambitions of our children. We must embrace change, accept reforms, and ensure triumph of democracy.
Abu Metha
abumetha@gmail.com