New Delhi: May 14, 2008
A disgusting photo in The Indian Express of today showed a district magistrate in Gujarat, an IAS officer, touching the feet of the chief minister, Narendra Modi, at a public function. A similar occurrence took place in Jharkhand some months ago.
In the op-ed accompanying the photo, the writer, Meeta Rajivlochan, a professor of public administration, says:
“It is the danger of relinquishing a commitment to the Constitution of India in favour of a more personalised commitment, and not corruption, which is by far the greatest malaise facing the civil service today. Corruption merely undermines the moral integrity of the individual. Abandoning of political neutrality undermines the entire structure and logic of bureaucracy.”
Actually, “impartiality” is one of the most important “values” of traditional Weberian bureaucracy. I read of a study conducted in Europe many years ago, reported in The Economist then, in which senior European civil servants were polled for their highest professional values. The overwhelming response was “impartiality”.
Thus, the old “steel frame” has rotted.
The entire system sucks.
Also, read my old article "Bureaucrats And Chairocrats", which puts the spotlight on the traditional bureaucratic value of impartiality. Please excuse the editors for the glitches on the text.
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