The IAS de-constructed

Book review of Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Bureaucracy But Were Afraid To Ask

This book is highly recommended for those who aspire to be civil servants. Coming from an author who served as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer with distinction but quit perhaps realising the limitations of this premier all-India service, the book provides an authoritative account of what an IAS aspirant needs to focus on and the notions she should disabuse herself of.

The easy style, often fun-filled and peppered with self-deprecating humour, makes the book eminently readable. The author provides a theoretical basis to why the IAS has failed to deliver on its promise of providing better governance and why it is caught in its own trap of red-tapism. You may not always agree with him. But it is a perspective that comes from his vast experience and solid research. More importantly, he achieves all this without sounding bitter, didactic, dreary or pessimistic. 

Equally notable is the author’s ability to laugh at the IAS and its system that is stuck in a time warp. This, however, may not be enough to cushion the hard blow dealt by his trenchant criticism to the spirit of the civil service aspirant. The book picks many holes in India’s governance structure, largely managed by the IAS, and yet its criticism has an optimistic touch. That delicate balance has been achieved by the author right through and enhances the book’s credibility. 

You don’t give it up mid-way as a rant from a former IAS officer, who gave up service before finding the holy grail of becoming a secretary in the Union government, after being slotted in a “selection” grade and later being “empanelled” to become a joint secretary at the Centre. Mr Raghunandan also makes a valid observation on how the IAS system does not encourage officers to become specialists, preferring generalists but he hopes this would change soon. There is, thus, plenty of criticism, but each of the nine chapters also provides a road map for improving the system. 

From tips on how to deal with files to those on managing postings and transfers, securing promotions and to building leadership skills, the author also offers hope and promise that all is not lost for the IAS. Thus, it presents the tedious prospect of a young IAS officer deciphering the nitty gritty of leafing through files with colourful stickers serving as pointers. It lists out the many tricks an IAS aspirant should learn quickly to beat the examination system that has been put in place to filter out the wheat from the chaff. In the end, the reader will be sad to learn of the deep problems from which the service suffers. But in the process, he will also be wiser about dealing with the challenges.

The depth of the book’s analysis of what ails the IAS becomes evident when it discusses two specific issues of governance. The two issues pertain to the manner in which the IAS structure refused to empower the local tier of governance in spite of Constitutional amendments and the IAS’ inability to create a more practical and contemporary framework for securing honest and corruption-free behaviour from civil servants. 

Both issues have been analysed on the basis of recent research and Mr Raghunandan’s experience. He shows how the government’s laudable goals of decentralising governance failed to grow roots because of the collective refusal of the IAS network to make itself less powerful and share power with officials in lower rungs of governance. 

What is not entirely clear, however, is why the political class did not force that devolution of power or decentralisation in spite of its commitment to that idea and the obvious gains it would have seen for its local leaders. This analysis may appear simplistic, but it does rightly highlight the basic reason the dream of an empowered third tier of governance was shattered. 

The second issue Mr Raghunandan raises is the need for a more holistic approach to corruption and ethics among civil servants. His thesis that ethical conduct and corruption are not simplified lessons in morality, but they exist in a broader context of society and governance goals. An upright officer whose rudeness becomes a barrier to smooth and easy communication to the people or beneficiaries may not help the administration become more effective. The author believes that younger civil servants are relatively more conscious of the multi-layered concepts of ethical conduct and honesty. Hopefully, senior civil servants and the political establishment would heed to this advice too and introduce changes in norms that should determine the conduct of an IAS officer. 

This review will not be complete if adequate praise is not showered on the Afterword section, written by the author’s elder sister, Renuka Vishwanathan, also an IAS officer and who was known for her ability to fight against deep prejudices against women in the civil service. Not surprisingly, she recalls how Gopi Arora, then finance secretary, had wondered if she would be able to work in a division in the finance ministry and oversee the government’s policy response on the economy, which then required 24-hour monitoring. She writes that she finally got that job and discharged her responsibilities, hopefully without having Arora to regret his decision.  

Mr Raghunandan rues the fact Ms Vishwanathan exceeded her brief of only focusing on the state of women in the civil service. But this book is even more rich because of her crystal-clear analysis of how the IAS is no longer a meritocracy, how the bureaucrat is not a democrat and how the bureaucracy can improve itself manifold with better skilling and more appropriate use of technology.

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Bureaucracy But Were Afraid To Ask 

T R Raghunandan

Penguin, 310 pages, Rs 399