Glimpses of bureaucratic brilliance

Dedicated to the unsung heroes of Indian Administration, this scholarly compilation of 14 essays, on different aspects of administration in India is a treasure trove for both portioners and academics engaged in a study of the subject which impacts the lives of a billion and half people on the planet. India is not only the world’s most populous nation; it is also a country which has surmounted innumerable challenges in the past seven decades – from the large scale communal conflagration in the aftermath of Independence, the rehabilitation of refugees, the integration of princely states, the reorganization of internal boundaries, security threats from within and across borders and a tough challenge on account of our dependence on oil. As we emerge as one of the fastest growing economies, we must pause to look at our accomplishments – from the green to the white and the rainbow revolutions, the elimination of absolute poverty and deprivation, the successful implementation of the Right to Food, Work, Education and Information, the successful conduct of elections and the absolutely transparent process of selection to the civil services and the armed forces through the UPSC.

While the political leadership rightly deserves the credit for providing the helmsmanship to the nation during all these difficult years, the ‘ship of the state’ has actually been rowed very successfully by the members of its permanent civil service, and in these 14 essays, some of them written by administrators themselves, we get a rare glimpse of the transformation of the different sectors of the political economy of the country. The articles include my essay on the vision for a future-ready civil service under the title, ‘From Past Precedents to Future possibilities’.

Let us now examine the structure of the book: divided into three sections, viz the social sector, infrastructure and economy, and governance and citizen interface, each chapter takes up an issue of contemporary relevance and discusses it threadbare. Each contributor has made a fairly exhaustive study of the issue under discussion and the text is replete with references and bibliographical references for further reading. Each chapter can merit a review, but I have selected two articles which bring out an aspect that has not yet been covered as extensively as the others – as for example, the concept of time poverty among tea garden workers of North Bengal, and the possible (political) reasons for the withdrawal of the Uttarakhand Char Dham Development Board. We are all aware that poverty has many dimensions – and development literature now talks about ‘multidimensional poverty’. Priyadarshini Bhattacharya who is currently posted in the Dooars region of North Bengal talks about how this aspect of ‘time poverty’ has escaped the classical paradigm of labour economics with its obsession with core issues from a male gaze. Bhattacharya documents the daily life of a female plantation worker to show how she has lost all agency on account of the structure of her work life. As managements negotiate new wage agreements where ‘hazri’ or attendance is now no longer a function of time, but of productivity ‘kilograms of plucked leaf’, women lose out on the one and only resource that was in their control — that of time. The shifting concept of ‘hazri’ has been accentuated by the fact that control has moved from the hands of owners/managers of plantations to impersonal buyers who own brands, and have no physical, let alone emotional connect with those at the end of the production cycle. The fact that the supervisors (sardars) are all male also makes it difficult for women to express issues

related to their health, especially during the menstrual cycle. Bhattacharya also talks about the innovations like skilling options, discussions on sharing the family responsibility with male members, campaign against alcoholism and introduction of cooked nutritious meals to women when they are on duty, besides of course provision for clean toilets and creches for kids.

The article by Ravinath Raman on the failure of the Char Dham Development Board to find acceptance among the traditional priests and stakeholders is a study on the steps that need to be taken before a ‘faith-related legislation’ can find general acceptance. Although the main legislation had provisions to guarantee the hereditary rights of the traditional priests and their families (locally called Hak – Hakook), including the right to perform religious rites and the right to take voluntary donation (dan) from the pilgrims and rights to Hundis (collection boxes) prior to the enactment of the legislation, the local priests got together and found political support, not just from the opposition legislators, but also from those in the ruling dispensation who had a personal axe to grind against the then CM. Raman, who was then the Divisions Commissioner and the first CEO, offers his suggestion: first and foremost being that governments must be continually engaged in a dialogue with the stakeholders who are likely to be affected by the decision adversely. Secondly, it is better to move incrementally on issues which involve the belief systems of people. Again, while all the successful examples of temple trusts – be it of Vaishno Devi or Tirupati – were based on just one deity and operated in the close geographical vicinity of the deity, the Char Dham Board represented four different patterns of worship. Perhaps having four Boards – one for each Dham — would have been more inclusive, and these could then have been federated into a Yatra Prashasan Sangathan. Before closing, one would like to place on record the hard work put in by the editors – Ashish and Iva Ashish Srivastava. The task of selecting ‘contributors’, assigning them working titles, following up with them to submit their articles on time, and acting as the interlocutor between the publisher and the individual authors is indeed an uphill task, which is difficult but also exhilarating, especially when the finished product is in your hands! The book is being launched during the inaugural session of the Valley of Words.

The writer, a former Director of LBS National Academy of Administration, is currently a historian, policy analyst and columnist, and serves as the Festival Director of Valley of Words — a festival of arts and literature.