No More a Civil Servant: An encouraging touch

The telephone call was at around 6 pm from a young IAS officer posted as Sub-Divisional Magistrate in Muzaffarnagar District in Uttar Pradesh. This was his first posting after completing his training. I could discern some desperation and urgency in his voice. He wanted to meet me to discuss an issue personally, and he wanted to come over right away. After my superannuation, I settled in NOIDA, and Muzaffarnagar was around a three-hour drive from NOIDA. I personally had no problem with his dropping in even at an unearthly hour, so I asked him to come over. He arrived at my place at around 9.30 pm.

What the officer had to narrate surprised me. He mentioned that, as the elections were around the corner, certain groups in Muzaffarnagar were going around raising slogans that had the potential to create communal tensions. When he tried to stop them, he got instructions from above not to interfere. He wanted my advice on such an issue. Instead of responding to his question, I asked him what his conscience said. He seemed to be clear that such activities should not be allowed. I then asked him whether he was prepared for the consequences of going ahead with it. He responded by saying that he could be transferred from his post. I then asked him whether getting transferred worried him. He replied in the negative. Then I told him to go ahead and do what he thought should be done. He returned to Muzaffarnagar after this brief interaction. I got to know later that he was transferred out from there. However, when he spoke to me a few days later on the phone from his new place of posting, he appeared to be reasonably satisfied with what he had done. He went on to add that his no-nonsense approach was proving invaluable to him in the new place of posting.

Apart from lending my ear and asking a few questions, I had no contribution to resolving the young officer's issues. But it mattered. This is what mentoring is all about. I benefitted from mentoring by senior officers when I joined the service. I tried to keep up the tradition personally by being in touch with many youngsters. I do discern that governance is becoming increasingly trickier. However, many senior officers blame the new crop of officers for the perceived loss of credibility of the IAS, little realizing that they too are responsible for such perception. I distinctly remember the Chief Secretary of a large state lamenting that young officers are falling off the track. Ironically, he did little to make any correction through institutional arrangements he could have possibly made.

What does mentoring entail, and what purpose does it serve?

When young officers join the service, they are not fully conversant with the hurly-burly of administration. Much learning is acquired on the job and associated with the senior officers they work with. Mentoring entails being available to the youngsters to interact and listen to them. This in itself would comfort the officers. It does not necessarily mean resolving the issues they may be confronted with. It is more of an assurance that someone can be accessed if there is a problem. It also entails some guidance when the officers face a dilemma and require protection when they are not wrong or make bonafide mistakes.

Given the 'distractions' that young officers face, mentors can also keep the mentees 'on track', providing them with feedback through informal warnings or words of caution instead of criticizing them behind their backs and doing nothing constructive about it often the case now. It is better to confront the officer with feedback about their actionsthan just being a silent critic.

As mentioned earlier, several officers are informally mentoring junior officers, which needs to be institutionalised. To begin with, the task can be performed by the LBSNAA in conjunction with the respective Department of Personnel and Training in each state by identifying such senior officers (both serving and retired) who have impeccable credentials and are prepared to act as mentors. As they pass out of the Academy, young officers can be attached to these mentors in small manageable groups. The mentor and mentees can be in touch with each other and let the relationship evolve. There would be issues, but the association will develop and mature over time.

The other institutional arrangement could be setting up an institution like an Ombudsman (mentioned in my previous article, 'What Ails the IAS?') in each state by the respective State Associations. This would comprise two to three senior IAS officers known for their integrity and willingness to help. Apart from other functions, the Ombudsman would be available to all officers who have a grievance relating to a wrong allegation against them. They can submit the issue to the Ombudsman. If the Ombudsman, after due inquiry, concludes that the officer is being unduly harassed, the association canassist and contest the case on behalf of the concerned officer. There are several instances where honest officers are fighting their battles alone, which sends a wrong signal.

The Ombudsman can also approach such officers suo-moto against whom there is feedback or an understanding that they are falling off the track. The officer then would be made to know that his conduct is being noticed, and he can be counselled to 'beware'.

The necessity of mentoring the officers cannot be over-emphasised. In fact, given the manner in which the service has evolved over the past few years, wherein the so-called 360-degree evaluation has left several officers devastated on account of its opaque nature, even the senior officers would require counselling. Tragically, this 360-degree evaluation has been borrowed from the private sector but not implemented in letter and spirit. In the government, the process has left a lot to be desired. There is no interaction with the officer concerned, who is left isolated in the dark, unlike the private sector, where there is an intensive interaction with the concerned person before deciding his fate.

A lot needs to be done and should be done. However, a beginning can easily be made.

With excerpts from the writer's recently released book, 'No More a Civil Servant'. Views expressed are personal