New Delhi: Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Duvvuri Subbarao has said that the civil services in India should be reformed and rebuilt as "the steel frame introduced by the British to rule India has definitely rusted." Is."
Subbarao, who has held various posts including that of Union Finance Secretary, has written about the gender gap in the IAS in his new book 'Just a Mercenary?: Notes from My Life and Career'.
"The steel frame is definitely rusted," he said.
UPSC conducts civil services examination every year in three stages – preliminary, mains and personality test (interview) to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS). among others.
“I strongly believe that a country of our size and diversity still needs a general service like the IAS, but this service needs to be improved and even reinvented in many ways.“The solution is not to throw away the rusted frame, but to bring it back to its original shine,” Subbarao said.
According to him, when the IAS was established soon after independence as the successor to the colonial-era ICS, it was seen as the domestic answer to the huge task of nation-building.
While IAS officers led this effort from the front, built an impressive development administration network from the grassroots level and earned tremendous reputations for merit, commitment and integrity of service, Subbarao Sai's reputation began to weaken in the subsequent decades.
"The IAS has lost its ethos and its way. Incompetence, apathy and corruption have set in," he said.,
Subbarao said that this negative attitude has been created by a minority of officers who have gone astray, but what is worrying is that that minority is no longer small.
On the Modi government's decision last year to issue a circular asking civil servants to show their achievements, Subbarao said it is inappropriate for the government to issue such instructions, and also inappropriate for civil servants to follow such instructions , regardless of when they were issued.
“Political neutrality is a fundamental principle of the civil service code of conduct,” he said, adding that widespread violations of that code are, in fact, a major cause of the moral decline of the civil services.
Noting that it is a thin line between becoming a propaganda mechanism and publicizing a specific achievement aimed at a public policy goal, he said that politicians and civil servants have to be conscious of this line and sincerely respect it. Will have to do.
Responding to a question about several public officials - retired civil servants, judges, armed forces personnel - standing for election from different political parties, Subbarao said it is the democratic right of every citizen of the country to join politics. And public officials can't do that.Denied that privilege.
"But with an eye on post-retirement political careers, there is a risk that officials will compromise their integrity for political gain," he said.
Noting that the perception of political bias on the part of officials can also weaken our democracy, Subbarao suggested that ideally, there should be a cooling off period of three years after retirement before a public official is allowed to contest elections. There should be.
He explained that the Catholic Church sets a time limit of five years after the death of a person for canonization and this time limit ensures that the decision of candidacy for sainthood is not influenced by emotional ties and the person's personal life. Let the reputation remain intact.Test o time.
“Why not have a similar test for public officials?” Subbarao asked.
Subbarao, who has held various posts including that of Union Finance Secretary, has written about the gender gap in the IAS in his new book 'Just a Mercenary?: Notes from My Life and Career'.
"The steel frame is definitely rusted," he said.
UPSC conducts civil services examination every year in three stages – preliminary, mains and personality test (interview) to select officers for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS). among others.
“I strongly believe that a country of our size and diversity still needs a general service like the IAS, but this service needs to be improved and even reinvented in many ways.“The solution is not to throw away the rusted frame, but to bring it back to its original shine,” Subbarao said.
According to him, when the IAS was established soon after independence as the successor to the colonial-era ICS, it was seen as the domestic answer to the huge task of nation-building.
While IAS officers led this effort from the front, built an impressive development administration network from the grassroots level and earned tremendous reputations for merit, commitment and integrity of service, Subbarao Sai's reputation began to weaken in the subsequent decades.
"The IAS has lost its ethos and its way. Incompetence, apathy and corruption have set in," he said.,
Subbarao said that this negative attitude has been created by a minority of officers who have gone astray, but what is worrying is that that minority is no longer small.
On the Modi government's decision last year to issue a circular asking civil servants to show their achievements, Subbarao said it is inappropriate for the government to issue such instructions, and also inappropriate for civil servants to follow such instructions , regardless of when they were issued.
“Political neutrality is a fundamental principle of the civil service code of conduct,” he said, adding that widespread violations of that code are, in fact, a major cause of the moral decline of the civil services.
Noting that it is a thin line between becoming a propaganda mechanism and publicizing a specific achievement aimed at a public policy goal, he said that politicians and civil servants have to be conscious of this line and sincerely respect it. Will have to do.
Responding to a question about several public officials - retired civil servants, judges, armed forces personnel - standing for election from different political parties, Subbarao said it is the democratic right of every citizen of the country to join politics. And public officials can't do that.Denied that privilege.
"But with an eye on post-retirement political careers, there is a risk that officials will compromise their integrity for political gain," he said.
Noting that the perception of political bias on the part of officials can also weaken our democracy, Subbarao suggested that ideally, there should be a cooling off period of three years after retirement before a public official is allowed to contest elections. There should be.
He explained that the Catholic Church sets a time limit of five years after the death of a person for canonization and this time limit ensures that the decision of candidacy for sainthood is not influenced by emotional ties and the person's personal life. Let the reputation remain intact.Test o time.
“Why not have a similar test for public officials?” Subbarao asked.
