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