Public Sector -- Making a difference

The public sector demands commitment in the new age that India is quickly marching into. In the post-independence era, the early part saw real leaders among the public sector across all levels. Gradually, we came to a rather unsavory stage of our nation’s life where a government job equated to a work-less, responsibility-less life where the job security was cent percent, performance based appraisals were non-existent and comfortable salaries were guaranteed out of the public coffer. An extremely sad age for a democracy.


But, all that had to change. It needed a catalyst. It came in the form of market forces. India declared itself a free market and truly entered the global marketplace. Soon, changes were everywhere. The license-raj went out of the window, and with it went away the power of the bureaucracy over the businesses, and hence supply chain of bribes was severed.

Extremely high salaries in the new age economy, pushed forward by the MNCs, made government jobs come very low in the aspiring level of the young. So naturally public sector employees were no longer demi gods, but poor cousins. They were no longer envied, but looked upon with contempt.

The free market salary structure was results driven. Appraisals depended solely on annual performance. The new generation, growing up in this competitive environment, started demanding results from public sector employees. They demanded service. For the first time, India woke up to the realization that a public sector job was not a privilege but a commitment to the public. These non performers realized that the public actually pays them salaries, so it is time they worked at the public’s behest.
Competition was in. monopoly was out. A host of service providers from the private sector challenged and bettered the behemoths of the public sector. The government started disowning huge loss making public sector organizations. Thousands lost jobs. The market forces decided that non performers can’t survive. Lakhs of public Thousands lost jobs. The market forces decided that non performers can’t survive. Lakhs of public servants were forced into premature retirement. There was fear in the rank and file of the public sector. Word was out: change or perish.


In this scenario started emerging the next generation of leaders among public servants. They were invariably young people, not relics of the terribly failed Nehruvian socialism. These were enthusiastic, driven, highly skilled and most of all, patriotic young women and men. They have chosen the public sector deliberately, in order to ring in the changes that everybody wanted but no body ventured to do. These young people attained positions of power and used that power for public good. These were the real leaders of an emerging India.


From the power sector to telecommunications, from the armed forces to the police, India was seeing revitalization, an awakening of the public sector to new technologies, result-oriented approach and a gradual erosion of the babu-culture. Employees at all levels realized that each need to own up for a task, the days of passing the buck is long gone.


As Indian corporate houses started gobbling up global giants, and Indian companies held their own or bettered global competitors, a new self-respect dawned on India. That self respect brushed off on the public sector as well, and from diplomats to the chaprashi, the image of the public sector employee became more proactive.

Alas, there was one exception. The bane of india’s existence, its politicians, did not pay heed. Except for an exceptional individual here and there, most politicians remained the non-leaders they are, the sloppy sloths who have one leg in the coffin and both eyes on the chair.


It is time for the Indian vote bank to be more savvy, to demand service from politicians, to seek out true leaders, and to throw out of reckoning any politician who does not deliver.


At this juncture, the forever young best politician-leader India ever produced remains our inspiration.

None other than the fiery Netaji Subash Chandra Bose.

Jai Hind!




Let me illustrate the points I made above with an example which is essentially personal in nature. In my capacity as a public servant myself, I did try to implement my ideals in the best way I could. I understand that the individual can not make much difference. The system has to change. But since my power is limited, I believe I should start the process somewhere. In the history of the world, all major era-changing events happened with a single individual. One person’s example fired the thoughts of millions, in each instance. I call it he snowball effect. You take a pebble, roll it down a snowy hillside, and it starts gathering little bits of snow as it rolls down. On its own, the pebble can change nothing, destroy no object. But as it rolls down, the snow it gathers around itself becomes thicker and thicker and soon you have other pebbles jerked out of their static state and following the first pebble down. More snow gathers around these pebbles. Soon, the first pebble reaches the plains and breaks to a thousand pieces, making no major impact. Ostensibly, its downwards spiral no earth shaking effect. But the movement it created on its way down gathers momentum, and an enormous avalanche of rock and snow comes crashing down on the plains below, destroying everything on its way and shaking up the world.

One person with conviction is a little pebble. His effort is the spiral downwards. And the avalanche is the ripple effect of his positive actions that might create a movement that changes a system. The pebble will die an ungainly death or will not be recognized for its good work, but the avalanche that will follow will be a direct outcome of the efforts the pebble put in.


I am employed as a BDO (block development officer) in a remote district in the hindi heartland of Madhya Pradesh. Sadly for me, the infrastructure I inherited from my predecessor to the post was the same the britishers left us 60 years back. Nothing has happened ever since. Public servants came and went, and retired with fat pensions, but the lost district of Umaria was left untouched by progress. It is as if erstwhile public servants came here as a punishment posting or for a break between more demanding roles in their water-tight hierarchy of administrative service.

First thing I tried to change was the apathy towards the government among the common people. I invested a lot of time on public relations, reaching out to the remotest villages, calling on households, knowing people by name…

I also LISTENED. Hardly anyone does it these days. Especially the politicians and the babu-s of the public service. Being brought up in a liberal and democratic academic system and family, I understood the importance of respecting the other person’s point of view. When I listened, people opened out. Then I set myself to address the problems they drew my attention to. Soon, even when I could not solve a problem, people gave me a benefit of doubt that it is not for lack of trying. The blanket resignation with the government’s functioning was changing to empathy. That was a huge step.


Next, I went around making the image of the administration that of the friendly neighbourhood trouble shooter. People started walking into police stations freely, and FIRs were accepted promptly. The local panchayats were being sidelined, and more people flocked to the APEX courts.


Gradually, things were changing. The health care was being goaded into being effective. Just a few calls from me got things done. Earlier, the doctors almost never visited this remote posting, but got paid salaries nonetheless. With me being here, I made notes of their dates of absence and forwarded notes to the health commissioner. Results started showing. The witch doctors lost their field. Modern medicines made a foray into the hinterlands.

Alas, I was too effective a leader for my own good. For my high performance, I was recognized, by a flash transfer! I was amazed that my tenure was not completed ! I was given no notice, but my replacement for the position, a pot bellied snoring babu variety counting his pensioned days, reached me with the transfer letter. It was an insult AND an injury.

The roads were lined on both sides the day I left. Tears rolled down impoverished cheeks. My whole department was creftsfallen. From their paan-khaini days, they have migrated to self respecting public servants, and they had never known the pleasures of living for the people. They knew they would miss me, but they also were convinced they would not revert back to the set ways. They would demand change from their superiors, and so would the public of the district.


In my little way, I have set the ball rolling. Would the nine pins of non performing public service fall?