Former Union Secretary , Shri Anil Swarup wrote an
article in DNA ( 10 Dec ) , titled :
In the article , Shri Swarup
writes :
·
The crisis
actually is an outcome of this provision
that does not exist in law anymore.
The provision stipulates that if a private party gets a
benefit that is not in public interest, a civil servant could be held liable
even if there was no evidence of quid pro quo or mala fide.
·
Ironically,
in some of the judgments, it has been clearly brought out that the charge of personal benefit has not been levelled against
Harish Gupta; neither is there any
evidence available to this effect.
·
Certain sets
of “facts” and documents came before a committee that was chaired by Gupta.
Some of the documents provided incorrect information. These errors were not
apparent on the face of the
record. The committee, accordingly, made
recommendations.
These recommendations were
accepted at an “appropriate level”. This “appropriate
level”, the
decision-making authority, was privy to the same set of information that
the committee headed by Gupta had
·
Was it
practically possible to verify all the
facts that came before the committee ? Won’t the
administration come to a grinding halt if
all Committees of the government start verifying the facts that come before them?
·
However,
like any other segment of the society, civil service too has its share of those
that prefer not to stick their necks out. Such developments will only induce many more
of them to “ play safe ”.
·
The decision
will impact decision- making. Officers
will be averse to expressing their views on the files.
This is already in evidence in
a number of departments of the government.
The consequences could be
grievous.
Governance is suffering and
could become worse on account of the sense of insecurity
that such developments convey.
It is hoped the amendment to
the Prevention of Corruption Act will take care of
recurrence of such developments.
=========================================================
In my blog / email, [ Policy
Paralysis : Can be Avoided / 26 Aug
2016 ], I
suggested :
To encourage Officers and Ministers to take FAST decisions
, Shri Narendra Modi must
insist that they carefully " Record " on the files :
* What are the
" Options / Alternatives "
available ( with advantage / disadvantage , of each )
* What info / data he wished was available for a better decision
* What different " views / opinions " were presented to him for consideration
* What " Data / Views " he would have obtained if he had more time
* Who all , the decision might offend
* What is the likely " Cost " of postponing that decision,
And finally a Declaration :
* " This decision is not likely to benefit any of my near relatives / friends , directly or immediately "
After all of this , if the decision appears to be " Wrong " in hindsight , it must be " forgiven " and treated as an honest error
To err is human !
Speaking at the TRANSFORMING
INDIA lecture ( 26 Aug 2016 ) , Shri Modi said :
" We cannot march through 21st century with 19th
century administrative systems .
It would involve transformation of governance and mindsets as well as
transformative ideas
Further , it would require rapid
transformation and not gradual evolution "
I am afraid , despite all of this motivation / exhortation , no
officer would want to stick his neck out for fear of it getting chopped off !
Even a trapeze artist in a circus , needs a Safety Net before he can be motivated to
jump !
My suggestion is that SAFETY
NET !
True , Sati Sita had to prove her innocence through fire !
But , in 2016 , no officer would want to go through the public
humiliation of a media trial , till the courts prove him innocent !
For him , " No
decision " cannot be faulted !
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