A couple of days ago I read a newspaper article about the state of higher education in India and how the Indian government had sanctioned more funds to improve the sorry state of affairs in higher education. The writer dwelt at length on the obstacles in implementing these proposals and went off on a predictable tangent blaming the bureaucracy for all the ills plaguing higher education. He went on and on about how the corrupt and inept officials were destroying meritocracy and stifling the ‘efficiency’ of our ‘brilliant’ colleges. This isn’t the first time that someone blamed the government machinery for the problems in the system, for long the civil services have remained everyone’s favorite punching bag. Going by newspapers (and blogs too) all problems in India is caused by an inefficient and corrupt bureaucracy.
If one goes by these views it would seem like traffic policemen, RTO officials, tehsildars, police officers, IAS officers (and everyone else working for the government) are not like the rest of us Indians, but are a different species who have been magically transported into India from some foreign country and are bent on destroying this noble country from within. That everything else is perfect in India and if not for the red tape this great country of ours can reach super power status (forget the starving millions, they don’t count here). If only we didn’t have corrupt, vile and wicked people working in the government!
I’d love to know who bribes these officials? Martians?
We need to reserve a healthy dose of cynicism not for the government but for ourselves. I have strongly believed that the people get the government (and the bureaucracy) they deserve. The bureaucracy is nothing but a reflection of our own value system. If the bureaucracy is corrupt, inefficient and slow it means those are the kind of values that we as a society possess. Corruption is an endemic problem in all poor, developing countries and I believe things are becoming better with the RTI Act.
A couple of magazines even idiotically questioned the need for an increase in pay scales of government servants calling it an extra burden during times of inflation, the same ones who would have chided Manmohan Singh for asking top executives to have pay cuts. Besides there is too much emphasis on how ‘efficient’ the private sector is, and how India could greatly benefit by applying corporate practices for efficient functioning of the government. Nothing could be further from the truth. Private companies work for their own profits and there is no way one can expect a government functioning under great financial constraints to replicate the success of private companies.
Yes, there are several problems plaguing the government and bureaucracy, but some of them like corruption reflects more on the attitude of the society than anything else. If people really want a change they should be prepared to enter the civil services and bring about a change rather than stay safely in other lucrative professions and keep blaming the government for all the problems of the society. If we are not ready to clean the muck we are in we have no option but to put up with the stink.
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4 comments:
I had the same discussion with my father recently who did the standard Indian analysis for the ills of the country - the govt and corrupt bureaucracy.
One person I knew, a retired man, asked me what could he do if everything he did was being brought to nothing by the corruption. I told him to simply go and help a passerby find his way and do so in a polite way. Our society could use something as simple as basis civic sense in conversation when the situation is such that most people are at their irritable best with strangers.
~ Vinod
To the point.
Bureaucracy is an evil on par with most others. It just doesn't take lives. That's all. But it toys with lives of dedicated citizens.
@Vinod: What you are saying is so true. People are so used to blaming the govt. apparatus for anything and everything. But let an accident happen, all that they do is stand by and watch.
@traiblazer: hmm... its an evil alright, but I think we all played a major part in making it that way.
your last post was on my birthday. much happened since. please write? i might not be commenting but i do read what u write. they call us lurkers, don't they ? :)
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