Headline : Reforming the civil services Editorial 9th Aug'18 TheHindu 
Details : 
Significance of the Secretariat:
  • In our Cabinet system of government with collective responsibility, the secretariat plays a crucial role.
Interface between political executive and experts:
  • The ‘generalist’ higher civil service can be contextualised against technical/specialised bodies on one side and the lay political executive on top.
  • Higher bureaucracy in the secretariat often has to examine proposals received from specialised departments/corporations (say, the Central PWD and PSUs etc. manned largely by technical experts), and in consultation with other ministries/departments prepare a cohesive note to facilitate the Minister concerned or the Cabinet to take a final decision.
  • This procedure is complex:
    • This is a complex consultative process for which detailed procedures have been formulated.
    • Steering a proposal through this complex system requires both expertise and experience.
Higher bureaucracy plays a key role in the process:
  • A final government decision is obtained, after the file moves through this long internal and hierarchical process, and the proposal is approved.
  • The key officials in the secretariat, from the Joint Secretary to the Secretary, are the point persons guiding this consultative process and advising the political executive to take a final call.
  • A Joint Secretary to the government has this crucial “line” function to perform in policy formulation and its implementation.
  • The final decision on all proposals, often sent by technical experts, rests with the Joint Secretary/Additional Secretary, the Secretary and finally the Minister/Cabinet.
But is the higher bureaucracy equipped to properly advice ministers on so many matters?
  • The question is whether the higher bureaucracy is equipped to comprehend complex economic and technical issues in order to properly aid and advise the Minister.
  • Can an IAS officer, however brilliant and diligent she might be, based on her experience at the sub-district and district levels, handle diverse portfolios from civil aviation to power to defence?

Lateral entry at Joint Secretary level:
  • The Centre has recently opened up lateral entry at the highest levels of the government and sought applications from ‘outstanding individuals’ to fill in 10 posts of Joint Secretary.
  • The response from applicants, however, has been overwhelming.
Some apprehensions:
  • However, this move has caused consternation in many people.
  • Many serving Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers see this move as threatening their hegemony.
  • A retired bureaucrat has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court against the decision.
  • Is it “privatisation of the IAS”?
    • Some are calling this as the beginning of the end of a “neutral and impartial” civil service with the likely induction of loyalists to the current dispensation.
    • It has also been argued that this marks the “privatisation of the IAS”.
    • Doubts have been expressed if private business houses would plant their people in order to influence government policies.

Fears about his move:
  • IAS threatened:
    • However, those inside the system feel threatened that their territory is under assault.
    • One perceived fear is that the number of such lateral entrants may be increased with time and that the political leadership, by creating a ‘divide and rule’ mechanism, would further demoralise the IAS.
  • Political appointments:
    • The second related fear is that in the garb of recruiting outstanding individuals, politically indoctrinated persons will be inducted into the system.
How to overcome them:
  • UPSC driven appointment:
    • The government must ensure that only candidates, the likes of whom are not available in the existing system, are appointed.
    • If they turn out to be truly outstanding, there should be provisions to induct them permanently in the government, with approval of the UPSC, and consider them for higher postings.
    • The fears of political appointments could have been allayed by letting the UPSC handle the recruitment process, after defining the job requirements more explicitly.
  • Allowing IAS officers to specialize:
    • Concerted efforts should be made to help IAS officers, after their first decade of “immersion” in districts, acquire specialisation in broad sectors like social, infrastructure and financial, based on their qualification, aptitude and preference.

Promotions in government must not be automatic:
  • IAS and other officers should introspect why many of them turn out to be indulgent, self-serving and subservient to the political executive.
  • Efforts must be made to shake the system to discourage such officers from ceaselessly moving upward, even after retirement.
  • The automatic mode of every member of the higher services reaching the top echelons requires a hard look.

Lateral entry should be welcomed:
  • The government should have the best people at the helm of affairs.
  • If this needs supplementing of the existing stock of talent by attracting fresh blood into the system, the IAS, in fact, should welcome such an inclusionary move.
Specialists are already being employed:
  • In reality, specialists like engineers, doctors, agricultural scientists, lawyers have always had a substantial say in the decision-making process as also in its implementation.
  • Lateral entry at the level of Secretary has met with some success. Besides, Secretaries to the Departments of Atomic Energy, Science & Technology, Scientific and Industrial Research, Health Research, and Agricultural Research have always been scientists of eminence.
  • Similarly, in departments like the Railways, Posts, etc., all senior positions are manned by Indian Railway or Postal Service officers.
So lateral entry is not a new concept:
  • Therefore, there is nothing very original in the new initiative to allow entry at the level of Joint Secretary.

Conclusion:
  • This move to reform the services should have come from within than from without.
  • Overall, the lateral entry scheme, if implemented properly, may foster more competitive spirit, break the complacency of the higher civil servants and eventually prove to be a pioneering initiative in public interest.
  • The idea that IAS and other officers be allowed to gain work experience, for a limited period, in the private sector must also be considered.

Importance:
GS Paper II: Governance