Bureaucrats Haven’t Failed. But They Can Do Better

Their performance depends crucially on politicians and is also constrained by conformity culture

- Amarjeet Sinha

Seventy-five years of a nation is a good time to reflect on the performance of the premier service, where it has failed and where, if at all, it has made a difference. It is true that the public perception is negative as the misdeeds of a few, whose numbers seem to be disturbingly increasing, rightly get wide media coverage. The quiet and silent youngster, struggling to improve the lives and livelihoods of people in remote regions of the country, often goes unnoticed.

Incentives and conformity: Foreign posting incentives are one attraction in the service that often makes even the competent, a conformist. The opportunity is not fair and equal, a few instances notwithstanding. Connections count. Like all bureaucracies, the system often prefers conformity over competence, conviction and willingness to take an evidence-based position. A democracy has its own compulsions of political compliance and the IAS is not insulated from it. The political culture of the times does influence all professionals.