Failure To Reform Administration Dents Government Credibility

Addressing the first annual meeting of chief secretaries, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh referred to the anger of the common man at the extreme indifference, lethargy, and corruption of the government machinery. His evaluation of the general mood pervading the country was, of course, correct. However, it is equally true that problems cannot be avoided by merely admitting them. Had confession of shortcomings been enough the purpose would have been served much earlier.

Warning to Bureaucrats
Complaints on corruption in administration have been raised for years. It has also been pointed out that hardly 5 percent or 10 percent of the total allocation was being spent correctly. If the prime minister is under the impression that a warning to the bureaucrats is all that is required, he is only day dreaming, since this too is an old practice.
Strangely enough, he has confessed that the administration has become quite complicated in the present situation. Yet, he has refrained from taking any steps to make its functioning smooth.

Recommendations of Second ARC
The country would like to know why recommendations of the second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) are not being implemented? They should have actually been introduced in the first term of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. It is very difficult to predict in the present conditions whether this will be done during its present term. It is both frustrating as well as disconcerting that the work, which should have been taken up on a priority basis, now seems to have been excluded from the agenda.
What is even more tragic is that an effort is being made to solve the problems by giving advice. Are our bureaucrats so naive that they will be aware of their obligations on listening to such advice? It is a waste of time and money to summon senior officials in the states, now and then, to Delhi in order to counsel them on improved methods of functioning and on meeting public expectations. If the federal government fails to realize even now that the situation cannot be improved in this way it is rather unfortunate for the country.

Government's Style of Functioning
On 1 February, the prime minister confessed before the chief secretaries that the masses were getting restless with the speed at which results are declared. On 2 February, he referred to the shortcomings that still remain in the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act at a function organized on the completion of four years of this scheme. If the most important project of the federal government suffers from lapses can it be said with certainty that everything is satisfactory at least in some field?
The weaknesses of bureaucrats cannot, of course, be removed overnight. But if necessary steps are not taken in this direction, what can be deduced from such reluctance? At a time when it is necessary to change the government's style of functioning drastically, failure to take even ordinary measures prove that the government is itself not determined to reform the administration. Due to this lack of resolve, the UPA government has so far failed to create any impression during its second tenure.