Civil servants, pejoratively referred to as “Babus” have been at the receiving end for pretty long. Not very ago I conducted a survey on Twitter. The question asked was, “According to you, which of the following institutions is carrying out its responsibilities in the best possible manner?”
1. Civil Servants
2. Judiciary
3. Politicians
4. Media
Of more than 3000 participants, 65% voted in favor of Civil Servants, 22% for Judiciary, Politicians 9% and Media was last with 5%.
I conducted a similar survey subsequently on Twitter and Linkedin to ascertain whether there was consistency in the findings. The question was changed a bit. The question asked now was, “With which of the following institutions are you comparatively most satisfied or comparatively least dissatisfied in terms of carrying out the tasks expected of them”.
More than 1500 voters participated in this Twitter poll. The sample size was admittedly a small one but the Civil Servants were yet again at the top (39%). Judiciary at 34% was a close second. With 15% votes, politicians were way below and the Media at the bottom at 13%.
Similar pattern was visible in the Linkedin Survey too. Civil Servants led with 44% of the votes polled, followed by Judiciary at 22%. Media were marginally ahead of Politicians (17%) at 18%
Civil Servants continue to be at the top even though the gap between them and the Judiciary has narrowed considerably. Despite being a democracy, politicians don’t seem to enjoy the confidence but the real surprise is in the context of media that seems to have lost all credibility. Ironically, some amongst those that have don’t have credibility or lost it continue to refer civil servants as “Babus”. Even the Prime Minister chose Parliament to express his angst against the IAS. This was even more surprising because his own PMO is run by IAS officers. He even chose an IAS officer to replace a world-renowned economist to head the RBI. All quite inexplicable.
Why is it that certain part of the social elite still dislikes (some even hates) the civil service in general and the IAS in particular even though the common man perhaps does not?
Often “barbs” are thrown at civil servants but they don’t protest. And, if the person is the Prime Minister himself, the quintessential bureaucrat, bound by the Code of Conduct, has no option but to keep quiet. Dismay was indeed expressed by a large number of them but in private. They appeared to be quite demoralized at this unwarranted outburst. Most of the retired officers too didn’t protest publicly. It wasn’t very surprising though. As one of my senior colleagues put it, we are all “Durbaris”. He was referring to the period when we were in service but I thought many of us remain “Durbaris” even after retirement on account of our servility over the years or indifference, or fear or perhaps still expecting some “rewards”. So, when no one is contesting, an ex-parte judgement gets given by the social elite. The term “Babu” has now the stamp of the Prime Minister himself.
Gurcharan Das was perhaps reflecting not the view of all Indians but the social elite when he wrote, “Today, our bureaucracy has become the single biggest obstacle to the country’s development. Indians think of the bureaucrats as self-servers, rent seekers, obstructive and corrupt”. And, as is evident in his book, his personal experience with a Joint Secretary was not a pleasant one. We often tend to generalize our personal experience instead of using scientific and data- based analyses to prove our point. This is not to say that all is well with the bureaucracy. There are indeed huge problems. However, such generalized condemnation doesn’t help except that it would resonate with those that dislike bureaucracy. We all love to criticize and only criticize without suggesting a credible way forward. Perhaps the easiest thing to do
There are a number of those like Gurcharan Da amongst the social elite that have had a bad experience with civil servants (there are indeed some bureaucrats who put the entire civil service to shame but, as they say, it takes all types to make this world) and they tend to generalize their experience. Public display of pleasant experiences is rarely witnessed though many do praise a large number of civil servants in private. Consequences of such an approach have had devastating consequences. Mr Harish Gupta, an honest and efficient IAS officer, was caught in political cross-fire and was hounded. No one had doubts about his credentials but hardly anyone spoke about it in public. Some amongst the social elite who did not know him professionally or personally, even felt that he must have done some wrong. Mr Gupta suffered.
So long as we are not part of it, we all love “masala”. We are, accordingly, presented with negative stories, including those relating to civil servants. If we look at Twitter, the negative stories trend much more than positive ones (that are in any case few and far between). This also creates a negative image of the civil servant.
Much of the responsibility also rests with the civil servants for the image they carry. There have been instances of irresponsible behaviour in public glare. This is deplorable. The visibility of such incidents has increased on account of an increasingly aware public and the social media wherein everything gets magnified quickly.
It is ironical that despite the image that the civil service carries, lakhs of students aspire to become civil servants. If the civil services were as bad as they are made out to be, why should so many want to join the “bad company”? And, perhaps for some of those that don’t make it, it is not merely a case of sour but bitter grapes. And, a few of them carry this bitterness right through their lives.
It is evident that the civil servants are not as bad as they are made out to be. However, there are, as I mentioned earlier, huge issues that beset them. Criticism alone will not help. Calling them “Babus” is not serving any purpose. Bureaucracy has not withered away in any part of the world. Hence, the need is to see how improvement, perhaps transformation, be brought about. The debate should be around this change, this transformation. Criticism is fine and should be welcome. Condemnation will not help.
Anil Swarup has served as the head of the Project Monitoring Group, which is currently under the Prime Minister’s Offic. He has also served as Secretary, Ministry of Coal and Secretary, Ministry of School Education.
