India at 75: The Executive tops the list of worst-performing institutions

There is an "us vs them" approach to governance that has permeated all the services that constitute the Executive

This is the fourth in a six-part series on how institutions—Constitution, Legislature, Executive, Judiciary, RBI and Concluding article—have worked since independence. This series will appear on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the run-up to 75th Independence Day on August 15. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

As in other democracies, the executive part of the government has two branches: the administrative and the political. Over the last 75 years, both have done badly, but the administrative arm has done worse. So, let’s discuss it first.

In the late 1780s, the East India Company started