For the past 35 years, I have been both a partner and observer of administrative reforms in the state. I have also had the chance to lead decentralization for the past 15 years. I am divulging some of my experiences that I have had, not as chief secretary, but on the strengths of rights bestowed on a commoner.
The Civil Service is expected to help the government discharge its duties and also bring benefits to the people. Years ago, people had a belief in the civil services, but now, we need to check whether people still retain that trust. As and when worker organizations gained strength, civil services started losing its acceptability with the people. Officials started becoming haughty and they started losing touch with the common people. That is when perhaps opposition to the bureaucracy started creeping in the minds of the people.
These days, people pay a lot of importance to transparency and they pay a lot of importance to subtle things. They expect things to be transparent and truthful and they also give a lot of important to behavior of officials.
On the other hand, the inappropriate behavior of civil services officials has become the bane of the services. More than bureaucracy and red tape, it is bad behavior of officers that has kept people away from the bureaucracy. To be very frank, I am apprehensive to go into a government office without my identity card.
E. Chandrasekhran, one of the most successful ministers in the state, had said that it is enough if village officers and officers in Panchayats help people who visit the office. There is no need to do more to keep the people in good humor.
We need to make small changes because that makes all the difference. Even if we are irritated or angry, we must not show it to the people. Equally important is the sense of propriety. Even now, I get angry when someone jumps the queue in cinema theatres. All people who come to government offices have the same attitude. It is not enough that we perform things in the most appropriate manner; we also need to make people know that such an effort is being made. Officials need to be well versed with rules and regulations and they need to appreciate that there is a philosophy behind everything written down as rules. Therefore, it is not right to say that all norms are wrong. We need to help a person seeking service rather than intimidating him or her with the intricacies of rules and regulations.
When I was once posted as collector at Kollam, I noticed 11 applications for the position of peons, lying on my table. In the government services, those who are appointed as peons would have to continue as peons until they retire from services. On the other hand, a person joining as an LD clerk at the age of 21 can go on to become even the district collector. I called all the 11 people and asked them to study and pass their tenth standard. To my surprise, nine of the 11 passed the exams and that decision made a significant change in their lives.
Recently, the wife of my friend called to tell me elatedly that she could complete government procedures in an office in five minutes. The excitement she showed only points to the fact that people expect the worse from government offices.
Many people come to me to lodge complaints on many issues and many come seeking for jobs. I am, when it comes to jobs, mostly unable to do anything. The most I can offer them is the advice that I can arrange to get their advice memo from the nearest employment exchange or even arrange a small loan for them if they are interested in business. On hearing this, they might not return satisfied, but they never return angry.
More than the people who knock at our doors, there are scores who can never even make it to the door. Opening the door expecting their footsteps makes us real civil services officers. Another unfortunate development is what we call departmentalizm. Officers in a department would stay together for their own needs, but would never agree on one issue when it comes to helping the common man.
I would say that each officer needs to create a list of services that he or she can offer to the people. Details of the service also need to be listed by the official. They also need to keep a tab on how many hours they would take to provide a service. In many cases, there are services that can be provided in 12 hours, but would take three days because of lack of employees. Officials need to check whether they can provide the service at least in three days.
What the people need is timely service according to seniority and service with a smile. There is a big difference in services that are offered with a smile and services that are offered curtly. Good behavior brings a lot of changes to services offered. Similarly, it is important to attend to the needs of those who received a service and are not happy. If there is an issue with ration cards all over the state, the issue might be a generic one. On the other hand, if the issue is found only in Idukki, then it would be a problem only in that district. The advent of IT has made it easier to find out the reasons for complaints and solve them. Only if officials can identify obsolete norms can the government make the life of the people easier.
Corruption is another issue. Disguising a right as obligation is corruption. Same is the misappropriation of public funds. Social audit is required to prevent corruption in civil services.
When I visited England some time ago, I came across a leaflet that lets you know what all you need to build a house. The document was self explanatory and one did not need to run around searching for someone to clear one's doubts. Government officials need to provide help in such a manner. The Right to Information has to provide information to people without them asking for it. Even after 10 years since the law has been implemented, nothing much has been happening here.
Similarly, there also needs to be restrictions on transferring officials. Many trade unions are however not desirous of making changes to existing norms. That is because that is their strength. However, this only encourages corruption and leads to loss of confidence of those involved.
If norms are created for transfers, then one would know when and where he or she would be transferred according to norms in effect. For example, he or she would know when and where he or she would be operating at a particular point in time. This would give them the time and space to plan their time. Recently, I read a book by the Pope, in which he says corruption is more dangerous than sin. That is because a sinner might repent; a corrupt person would only justify the deviance.
An IAS officer has to go through five stages of training to get promoted. Similarly, all government officials also need training that spans five or eight stages.
Subhashini Ali recently said that governments were withdrawing from social services. It is true that many governments are doing so. On the same yardstick, one should also consider how many people are walking away from the government. If the same service is offered by the government and a private institution, how many people would continue with the government than seeking the same service from a private organization? There is a saying, 'voting with the fit.' It simply means that I would show my preferences by walking; from one service to another.