While the choice of a CBI director has been in the news, the selection of new members for the Central Information Commission (CIC), which takes care of appeals under the Right to Information Act (RTI), has received hardly any coverage.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by RTI activist Anjali Bhardwajin the Supreme Cout, requested the government to fill up the vacancies in CIC. In the process an issue plaguing India came to light.
Out of 280 applicants, the search committee had shortlisted 15, 14 bureaucrats and a judge; the Supreme Court could only wonder why bureaucrats alone could make it as information commissioners.
A Bench headed by Justice AK Sikri asked the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Pinky Anand: “According to the search committee, this class (bureaucrats) is the only class which is eligible. No doubt many of them would be very good after clearing the IAS and serving in the government for 30-35 years. But why not people from other fields - academics, journalists, scientists and lawyers."
The learned judge could have added eminent Indians from civil society, who are the main sufferers of the bureaucratic arcane. The government defended the search committee's choice as “all were deserving people having experience in the government.”
For an outsider, it looks rather like appointing convicts as jailers. The RTI Act, 2005 is meant to tackle the lack of transparency in the administration; it mandates a timely response to citizen requests on any government action.
One does not need to be Sherlock Holmes to trace the culprits for the opacity in the Indian administration; laws are not to be faulted, it is those who interpret and implement them, in other words the babus, who are responsible for the lack of transparency.
This raises a larger question: the pivotal role of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in running the country.
The present IAS cadre was created in January 1950 under the new Constitution of India, for taking over the administration of the Indian Dominion.
While some officers get promoted from the state civil services, the main recruitment is through the Civil Services Examination (CSE).
As only some 180 candidates out of over 1 million applicants, are selected through the CSE, one could consider that it is the cream of the nation.
However, the world has changed since 1947, when ‘generalists’ could effectively govern the country, it is not the case anymore.
To give an example, it is ridiculous that today a ‘generalist’ from the Madhya Pradesh cadre can one day be transferred from Bhopal to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and proceed to dictate his views to someone who served more than three decades in the defence field (a Joint Secretary is supposed to be equivalent to a Major General …on paper).
The courageous late Defence Minister George Fernandes had made a step in the right direction; he started sending the babus to the Siachen glacier to acquire a glimpse into what it meant to defend the border.
Unfortunately, it was not followed by deeper reforms.
One wonders for example, why before joining the MoD, a Joint Secretary is not required to go for a compulsory one-year course at the prestigious National Defence College? He could certainly learn a few things for when he would later deal with procurement or other sensitive fields in the Ministry. Similar rules need to be applied to other ministries.
Another solution would be to have specialized cadres; there are already some, but they are usually considered ‘inferior’ by the IFS/IAS big shots.
It is time to realize that the world-over, the private sector is thriving simply because it gives a due place to innovation and specialization; the world has indeed become more complicated and it requires one to possess a deeper knowledge on specific subjects …while keeping the larger perspectives.
In the 1950s, a remarkable experiment was made with the Indian Frontier Administrative Service (IFAS). The initial recruitment to the IFAS was made by the Central Government through a Special Selection Board with representatives from the Ministries of External Affairs, Home and Defence, along with an expert in tribal affairs.
KC Johorey, who later became Chief Secretary in Goa, was one of the first pioneers who joined the IFAS; he still remembers what Nehru told his batch: “The staff must go along with the flag and the typewriters can follow later on.” He recalls his first posting in Along in the Siang Frontier Division: “There were two houses, one for the burra sahib [Rashid Yusuf Ali, his boss], and behind another smaller hut. The houses were really huts made of bamboos, palm leaves and canes. Even the tables and the beds were of bamboos. There were no mattresses, no electricity and no furniture. The houses were very clean and airy. That was all,” says Johorey; IAFS officers are still remembered sixty years later.
One of the most illustrious members of the IFAS was Maj Ranenglao ‘Bob’ Khathing, who single-handedly brought Tawang under Indian administration in February 1951; he is still considered as a god around Tawang.
Incidentally, most of these officers had an Army background which was extremely useful to tackle the strategic issues involved in the border areas.
The IFAS was a success; unfortunately in the late 1960s, one ‘generalist’ babu decided that the Service was illegal; it was dissolved and officers were merged into the IFS or the IAS. Bu why can’t this type of experiment be attempted again?
It would bring deep changes in India, to create a modern and professional set of administrators, who would, at the same time, be in touch with the grounds realities; the time of the generalist is over.
As far as the CIC is concerned, the Commissioners should come from all walks of life, including the civil society.
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