Bringing the Bureaucracy to Book

Romeo Naorem *

In the running of the world's largest democracy, people's participation is often taken for granted, with the sole exception of the citizenry exercising their right to adult franchise once every five year. In such a mammoth government with multi-level power centers comprising of the legislative, executive and the judiciary, holding the powers that be accountable for dereliction of duty is wishful thinking.

Political leaders that constitute the legislature are accountable through elections. His performance or non-performance is often reflected in the election verdict, when people give their mandate through the ballot. The executive and the judiciary are often way beyond reach.

Elected representatives, be it MPs, MLAs, Panchayat Members or Municipal Councilors, are subject to accountability. People's writ runs large in any elected bodies, at least in the statute books; it's a 'perform or perish' case scenario. Though, in a country, whose politics is as polluted and contaminated as the river Yamuna that runs through its heart, one can always expect the worst and should be ready to face the inevitable.

Politicians are a rare breed, variety their pedigree. There are bad politicians and there are good politicians, the balance debatable. There are those who misuse their clout to flout the law that they swear on, but as they say, at the end of the day, it's our call that matters. With the public, the voter to be precise, getting wiser by the day, if anything goes against the welfare of the electorate, there's the Damocles sword dangling above his neck. Public have the last word. No confusion there.

But what of the bureaucrats and the officials in babudom, who literally run the showbiz called governance? It's them, not the politicians that conduct the day-to-day business of the government. Well, what of them? Who are they accountable to? They are not elected by the people, and hold their office by virtue of their own merits and hard work (not always the case).

As salaried employees of the government (that constitute the people), rendering their service to the state, shouldn't they be answerable to the people; after all they are not called public servant for nothing.

A cursory glance at the working of any department is nauseating for a country heading towards global economic dominance; definitely unbecoming of a nation ready to rule the world. The entire framework of the executive machinery is in shatters and tatters, a systemic failure to be exact.

There are government schools that have cent percent failure in the board exams, year after year. Many primary schools and public health centers appear only in papers, and in the few instances where they are in existence (in the remotest corners of the country), there is rampant absenteeism of teachers and doctors.

Unpaved streets remain untouched for weeks on end; missing streetlights take days to be replaced; leaking pipelines remain unattended when other parts of the city have taps running dry; the list is never ending, it goes on and on….

How do we make them accountable?

The public has a habit, and a very bad one at that, of laying the blames for anything and everything that goes wrong in the society or the state on the politicians. Most of the time we take lopsided views and doubt the political will and insight of the politicians; we never bother to question the integrity and administrative acumen of the bureaucrats.

Politicians are easy scapegoats; they easily fit the bill of a corrupt and vile criminal. After the 26/11 Mumbai Attack, when heads rolled, costing dear the post of the Home Minister of the Union and the Chief Minister of a state, there was no visible sign of tremor in the entire bureaucratic machinery of the nation.

Most of the time, politicians have to bear the brunt of the people's ire and indignation, often ending up as burnt effigies, even when things that go wrong are not entirely of their doing. That's an occupational hazard that comes with their job.

Nonetheless it doesn't mean that all politicians are upright and sacrosanct. Bureaucrats, most of the times go scot free under the cloak of bureaucracy, sadly. We often overlook and tend to downplay the role of the bureaucrats in the execution of the policies and programs of the government in power, and of course the cardinal sins they commit in the process of governance.

Holding a bureaucrat accountable for going against the morals and ethics of the law is no easy task, but of paramount importance nevertheless. A politician is always a suspect in the public eye, (and there is nothing that can be done about it) while a bureaucrat is generally viewed as clean, upright, intelligent, good mannered and well-rounded.

We see them as helpless maidens forced into corruption and other white collar crimes with the rowdy politician and his coterie riding roughshod over them. Well, that sadly is not the case; and saints, they surely are not. With an above average cerebral facility, many among them are masters of the game, be it bribery, siphoning of public money, you name it.

Well, the question still is how do we bring the bureaucrats to book, and the real crafty ones at that? As postulated in The Hindustan Times series on 'Inspired India' a Right to Accountability Law, as an extension or a part of the sunshine Right to Information Act would go a long way in checking graft and corruption in the bureaucracy.

A systematic method of governance with a law that affix penalties for negligence, absence and underperformance, or impose fines for missing deadlines of projects, etc. can come into place. There should be Accountability Officers (like Information Officers in the case of RTI Act) at all levels of governance, be it the panchayat, or the municipal council, to provide proper guidance to the people.

In the absence of a legislative domain like Right to Accountability Law, the media can be a catalyst in the endeavor with an active participation of civil societies, clubs and other local bodies. For a change, keeping aside the always burning issues related to insurgency and its collateral damage, the media could focus more on development and investigative journalism.

They should educate the public on the nitty-gritty of government's policies and programs in the layman's tongue, a language they can understand and identify with. Only then would the public be empowered to stand up and demand their rightful share. The role of the media doesn't end here, it's only the beginning. Once people know what is due to them, the media can facilitate interactive dialogues and debates between the babus, civil societies, elected local bodies and the public on various civic concerns.

The electronic media can be very effective in creating transparency in governance by holding live sessions where they pit the powers that be against the stakeholders, making the bureaucracy answerable to the public.

Ministers have a short life-span; they can manage five at the maximum. They do muddy the system, but they are not the only culprits. It's the bureaucrats - the secretaries, advisors and directors, who frame the policies and programs for the minister, and it's their ilk that executes the same.

The inner clique of the politician in power may dabble in some dirty power games, but overall, it's the bureaucracy that is the rot in the system. One come across politicians and other elected representatives resigning on moral grounds, but the bureaucrats always take the high moral ground, and are always spared the axe. It is time we make them a little more accountable for their own good.

What say?