Indian civil services run the risk of producing just clones who seek precedence not innovation in work | The Indian Express

Indian civil services run the risk of producing just clones who seek precedence not innovation in work | The Indian Express

Written by Meeran Chadha Borwankar |Updated: May 6, 2019 8:17:53 am

The writer is an IPS officer of the Maharashtra Cadre, and retired as the Director General, Bureau of Police Research and development (BPRD)

Indian civil services run the risk of producing just clones who seek precedence not innovation in work

What the civil services need is a culture that accepts and values questioning and the irreverence of bold officers: The ultimate objective, of course, is to have integrity in one’s work ethic, and a steady commitment to the common good.

In India, the colonial culture gave way to the culture of ‘cloneism’ in the civil services. That’s the reason why the country is stuck the way it is. (Illustration by Suvajit Dey)

Irreverence has its place. Especially if it is coupled with integrity and there is no serious breach in discipline. I am talking of the civil services and with particular reference to the sudden and before-time shift of the Chief of Enforcement Directorate, Western Zone. The government has been prompt in avoiding the prolonged and painful tussle that the country recently witnessed in the fight between the two powerful blocks of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). To that extent, the citizens have been spared the turmoil, but the reasons for the sudden action have not been made public and may never come out either. Despite the Right to Information Act, governments — irrespective of the party in power, are wary of disclosing anything as they feel threatened. So, lesson number one is that the Right to Information is a long battle and the citizens have won only the first round.