The system of introducing civil servants to careers in administration by posting them to states allocated to them has been turned on its head. IAS probationers will now move from the historic training academy in Mussoorie in the hills to the capital New Delhi to learn the ropes before they shift to their “home” states. The idea is to give them a different orientation as well as a wider national perspective, which is to be welcomed provided the change brings about a change in attitudes in the civil service.
Officers would usually have to work a certain number of years in the states before they could hope to move to New Delhi and fulfil their ambitions of becoming like Sir Humphrey of the television serials Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister and dictate the true direction of government administration. Of course, they may soon realise that although Delhi may appear to be the ultimate base of power, postings in the states can often be more fulfilling with their decisions likely to impact people more.
In India’s federal set-up, states are often more powerful as owners of land, which is essentially the site of the means of production. But to give the neophytes academy training and a Bharat Darshan as a way of acclimatisation and a chance to see the bigger picture is not a bad idea. It remains to be seen if the systemic change would lend a fresh perspective to the emerging generations of bureaucrats, who would be expected to get over Indian inertia and strike a new course in clean administrative practices free of excessive political interference.
