For the last several decades ambitious political leaders have sought to
create fiercely loyal battalions of bureaucratic palace guards who, if they
pass the loyalty test, are exempted from every other. The idea of the
neutrality of civil service has long since been jettisoned in practice and the
civil servant and political masters often show the internal cohesion of
predatory gangs. Occasionally civil servants reveal themselves to have been
secret party moles by seeking elections at an appropriate juncture on party
ticket or being nominated to legislative bodies. Governments, regardless of political persuasion,
are now ruthless even palpably unjust and vindictive in their approach when it
comes to dealing with those who do not have the talent to please or have
nothing but their professionalism and commitment to fall back upon. The perils
of independence are unacceptable, the rewards of collaboration unimaginable.
The very best of
civil servants – assuming that those who reach the top are the best –acquire a ‘”palimpsest identity composed of a
series of snap shots painted one over the other.” It comes in handy in passing the loyalty test of mutually
hostile regimes and speeds up their upward journey. By reaching the top they
become doubly blessed. The ripe old age of 60 opens for them the opportunities
for the various sine cure assignments, carrying huge responsibilities and
countervailing powers, privileges and immunities. In some measure on their
efficient and impartial functioning depends the strength of our democracy.
Montaigne who died at
the relatively young age of 59 felt that, “aging diminishes us each day in a
way that, when death finally arrives, it takes away only a quarter or half the
man.” At sixty the ravages of time and the effects of fighting many a
succession battles reduces the successful civil servant to one quarter of
a man and three quarters of moral vacuum. His outward appearance however is
closer to Levi Strauss’s description who felt like a ‘shattered hologram’ that
had lost its unity but still retained an image of the whole self. The image of
the whole self of the civil servant also hides the evolutionary miracle of his
regression to the stage of invertebrates. Rendered intellectually supple
and morally maneuverable, he is a handful of putty in the hands of governments who appoints them.
The political class is
in a win win situation .On paper they can boast of the most progressive and
forward looking oversight agencies. Central Vigilance Commission, Information
Commission etc which are tools of empowerment for the people, but one
supplicating incumbent heading such a body actually works to disempower the
people. Just one instance of the scandal relating to the recent
appointment of a CVC will jog the public memory about the general malaise.
There were credible allegations against the Chief Information Commissioner of
a state, a compulsive post retirement office grabber, of having killed
the RTI. The political class laughs all the way because by placing one reliable
pawn it can have at its command one whole compliant institution. And should
someone like the present CAG, who heeds to the call of his conscience and does
what his charter commands him to do, e a general murmur of disappointment and
betrayal is heard all around in the corridors of power!
By the way has anyone ever wondered that despite
an overwhelmingly large population of young men and women why do we end up
having a whole geriatric community, comprising of decrepit civil servants,
presiding over the crucial institutions on whose performance the health and
hygiene of our democracy depends? Would a young and conscientious lawyer make a
worse CVC than, say a retired telecom secretary? What special skill does he
bring to a job that a young and politically uncommitted lawyer cannot? Is a
social activist or a teacher less suitable than a cabinet secretary who may have
engineered several palace coups to head the Election Commission? This is where
the civil service comes in handy. Making of rules is a typically bureaucratic industry; unmaking
it or finding a suitable exception to suit every contingency is an art form of
which they are the greatest exponents. The inbred system resists injection of
fresh blood and stifles creative possibilities.
The appointment of
even class four employees is strictly regulated but the governments have
arrogated to themselves huge powers to appoint such functionaries many of which
do not require any parliamentary oversight or consultation. This is an ideal
situation for breeding political and bureaucratic corruption and the likes of
Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare would be equally well occupied in ensuring that
what is given to the people by the right hand by various progressive
legislations etc is not taken away by the left hand of the government.
