This refers to A K Bhattacharya’s article ‘Regulatory capture’, March 17.
The column brings to the fore, once again, the public grievance on the stranglehold of the IAS on regulatory chiefs’ positions. Not only this, the ease with which this fraternity manages to spot possible positions and get into them is a remarkable phenomenon. This premier service has also captured, long ago, one more of its exclusive preserves, the position of the Comptroller and Auditor General which was until then regarded justifiably as the domain of the accounting and audit service. The latter’s protests fell on deaf ears.
Compare this to the way the UK fills the regulatory chief’s position. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is a little over a decade old and has seen three chiefs since its inception. The British government’s short advertisement appears in The Economist spelling out the range of selection criteria. Though we always try to ape the west, we do not profit from their experience in matters enriching good governance.
Mr Bhattacharya may be giving a good certificate for the UPA government. However, we must look at the last appointment of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) chief. The chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh was nearing retirement and he found a suitable position right in the town by taking over as the chief of the Irda. Strangely, not even a few more names from the IAS fraternity appeared in the media, leave aside the claims of any eminent private sector professional or an experienced actuary, or at least a few from other central services.
These are election times. Political parties talk a lot about good governance. They should remember that good governance begins with casting a wider net for talent for manning important positions. It will be appropriate if the election regulators’ positions are also open to eminent judges. If they can work so well as the heads of the Delimitation Commission, they would make good regulators too.
S Subramanyan, Mumbai
