Administrative Reforms

1. Administrative Reforms Good governance is the single most important factor in promoting equitable development, eradicating poverty and ensuring stability. Administrative Reforms is critical to achieve good governance.

2. Definition of Administrative Reforms • “Consciously induced and directed changes in the machinery of government – both in its institutions and processes at all levels”. • It involves structural changes (rather than merely incremental or marginal adjustments). • Ideally Administrative Reforms should be an ongoing process since it needs to be in step with the requirements and needs of the time.

3. Two major Administrative Reforms Commissions (1966 and 2005). • In Maharashtra “Hebale Committee” appointed in 1968. • More recently “The MadhavGodbole One Man Committee on Good Governance”.

4. 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission • This was set up in 2005 because recent developments necessitated the need to look at administrative reforms in a comprehensive and holistic manner.

5. Major developments necessitating administrative reforms • Globalization • Increasing disparities – all regions have not progressed uniformly • Deregulation and privatization • Increased awareness about rights – State no longer main source of information • Emergence of powerful technological solutions - IT • The State now called upon to be a facilitator, promoter and partner; formerly interventionist, producer and seller. • Participative not merely representative democracy with the citizens at the “centre” of programmes/policies as clients not beneficiaries.

6. The ARC was asked to consider the following subjects • Organisational structure of the Government of India • Ethics in governance • Refurbishing of Personnel Administration • Strengthening of Financial Management Systems • Steps to ensure effective administration at the State level • Steps to ensure effective District Administration • Local Self-Government/Panchayati Raj Institutions • Social Capital, Trust and Participative public service delivery • Citizen-centric administration • Promoting e-governance • Issues of Federal Policy • Crisis Management • Public Order

7. The Commission identified five broad areas where Governance needs to be strengthened: (i) Public order, justice and rule of law • The ARC’s reports on Maintenance of Public Order, Combating Terrorism, Conflict Resolution and Ethics in governance have made a number of recommendations in these areas which need urgent implementation.

8. The Commission identified five broad areas where Governance needs to be strengthened: • Human development through access to good quality education and healthcare • Recommendations of the ARC in respect of the above are contained in its Reports on Citizen Centric Administration, Social Capital and Trusts and promoting E-governance.

9. The Commission identified five broad areas where Governance needs to be strengthened: • Infrastructure and sustainable natural resource development • Recommendations of the ARC are contained in its Report on Local Self-Governance.

10. The Commission identified five broad areas where Governance needs to be strengthened: • Social Security • As an illustrative example, we have examined how NREGA can be streamlined and enhanced for better capital formation. We have e.g. suggested that skills development can be dovetailed as a part of this important programme.

11. The Commission identified five broad areas where Governance needs to be strengthened: • Third Tier of Governance – Local Self Governance Institutions both rural and urban • Report on Local Self Governance

12. Challenges • Serious resource constraints • Laws alone cannot address fundamental fiscal problems. • Revenue cannot be increased by enhancing tax rates in a centralized administration. • Need to raise resources, reduce unproductive subsidies and get better outcome for every rupee utilized. • Administration must become far more accountable and effective in delivering results with the same expenditure. Outcome overlooked. • In order to accomplish these goals, conscious efforts to establish link between the citizen’s vote and public good and taxes and services. • Fuse authority with accountability at every level.

13. Challenges • Pervasive corruption • Pervasive corruption is the most disturbing element of our governance. It has been aggravated by various factors, which include: • The colonial legacy of unchallenged authority and propensity to exercise power arbitrarily. • The enormous asymmetry of powers in our society. • A set of policies whose unintended consequence was to put the citizen at the mercy of the State. Over regulation, severe restrictions on economic activity, excessive state control, near-monopoly of the government in many sectors and an economy of scarcity all facilitated conditions conducive to unbridled corruption. • Asymmetry of power

14. Challenges • Past valuable lessons in curbing corruption • Monopoly and discretion increase the propensity to corruption while competition and transparency reduce corruption. • Wherever transparency and technology has been introduced, corruption has been significantly contained. • Core principles of good governance are necessary to combat corruption. • Need to strengthen anti-corruption laws and enact new legislations, e.g. the False Claims Act on the lines of the US Act.

15. Common underlying theme of Reports: • Rule of law which requires that laws and their implementation be transparent, predictable, equitable and credible. • Accountability at each level of administration. Minimization of unfettered discretion. • Putting the citizen first. • Principle of subsidiarity (which implies both devolution and delegation of authority).

16. Focus for today’s discussion • Key components of Civil Services Reforms “Civil Services Reforms have to be an important element of any programme for good governance” MadhavGodbole • Organizational structure of Government of India

17. Civil Services Reforms- Introduction • There is a perception that civil services and administration have become wooden, inflexible and self-perpetuating, creating a barrier between Government and Society.

18. Civil Services Reforms- Introduction • Some reasons are: • Systemic rigidities; • Needless complexities and over-centralizationwith authority divorced from accountability.

19. Civil Services Reforms - Introduction: • The contribution of the civil services in our socio-economic and political development is well acknowledged. Even today competent allocation management and the way administration responds to major natural calamities indicates that we have an administrative infrastructure which responds well when: • Objectives are clearly defined; • Resources are made available; and • Accountability is enforced.

20. Civil Services Reforms- Introduction • Some core principles of Civil Services Reforms: • Professionalization with stability of tenure and competition; • Citizen Centric Administration; • Accountability; • Emphasis on outcome orientation; and • Promoting service values and ethics.

21. Civil Services Reforms- Introduction • Based on these core principles, a set of reforms has been suggested to cover the following broad areas: • Recruitment and capacity building • Placement and transfer policy • Performance Management and Accountability (horizontal delegation at every level) • Ethical Code for Civil Servants.

22. Civil Services Reforms – New Examination system: • Major reforms have been suggested in the existing system of Civil Services examination so that the concept of evaluating aspiring civil servants on a set of specific core subjects like Constitution of India, Indian Legal System, Economy, Polity, Culture etc. will become institutionalized and replace the existing system, which had allowed proliferation on a large variety of unrelated and often asoteric subjects not relevant for Public Services and not comparable for evaluation purposes.

23. Civil Services Reforms – Capacity Building • All civil servants should undergo mandatory training before each promotion and each officer/official should be evaluated after each training programme. • Successful completion of the training programmes should be made mandatory for promotions. • The objective of mid-career training should be to develop domain knowledge and competence required for the changing job profile of the officer. • Need for a strong network of training institutes at the State level.

24. Promoting Professionalism and Competition – Civil Services Authority • The phrase “right person for the right job” has become a cliché but it is the sine qua non for good governance. • This would require reforms and institutionalization of a number of processes which are transparent and free from extraneous considerations.

25. Promoting Professionalism and Competition – Civil Services Authority • To facilitate this, a 5 member Civil Services Authority should be constituted under the proposed Civil Services Bill. • The Chairperson and members should be persons of eminence in public life to be appointed on the recommendations of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition. • The Authority should perform the following tasks: • Assignment of domains to officers • Preparing panels for posting of officers at the level of Joint Secretary and above. • Fixing tenure of posts • Deciding on issues pertaining to lateral entry.

26. Domain Competency“Right person for the right job” • Domain competency relates to sufficient background in a certain context of policy making. It differs from general schemes of policy programme formulation in that such general skills would relate primarily to knowledge of formal techniques of policy analysis/programme formulation and experience of policy/programme formulation generally, while “Domain Competence” would involve, in addition, significant subject matter knowledge, gained from work experience, academic study, training and research.

27. Domains • The 2nd ARC has suggested following 12 domains: • General Administration • Urban development • Security • Rural Development • Financial Management • Infrastructure • HRD Social Empowerment • Economic Administration • Tax Administration • Agriculture Development • Natural Resources Administration • Health Management

28. Assignment of Domains • Domains should be assigned on completion of 13 years of service. • The Civil Services Authority should invite applications from officers specifying their academic background and other reasons relevant to the Domain applied for. • The Civil Services Authority through a consultative process should assign Domain on the basis of this exercise.

29. Placement at top management level • There is need to introduce competition for senior positions in government (SAG and above) by opening these positions in Government (including attached and subordinate offices) to all Services. This principle would apply to all posts including those that are presently encadred with the organised Group ‘A’ Services. • Note – Based on the concept of a Senior Executive Service in countries like UK, Australia etc.

30. Placement at top management level • The Civil Services Authority would invite applications from amongst eligible officers for positions for HAG level and above, would conduct interviews and shortlist suitable officers for these posts. Government would make final selection. • The Civil Services Authority in consultation with Government would earmark position for jobs for which outside talent would be desirable. Applications to fill up these posts should be invited from interested and eligible persons from the open market and also serving eligible officers.

31. Accountability • Although there are external and internal mechanisms to promote accountability, these are not adequate/effective in ensuring the same. • Various reasons have been attributed for this: • Lifelong job security provided to government servants • leading to a distorted incentive structure where rarely is a government servant punished or removed for poor performance, for acts of omission etc. • This has manifested itself often in terms of indifference and disregard of citizens’ concerns.

32. Accountability Table 13.1 : Institutions and Mechanisms that Promote Accountability Outside the State (Vertical) • To the people through elections • Through RTI Act to citizens High effectiveness • Citizens’ oversight committees • Civil society/watchdog bodies • Media Low effectiveness • Service delivery surveys • Citizens’ charter Low to medium effectiveness Within the State (Horizontal) • External (Outside the Executive) Parliament Judiciary Lokayukta CAG CVC • Internal (Within the Executive) Superior officers 1. Rewards/Punishment 2. Disciplinary procedures 3. Performance Management System CBI/police/vigilance Internal Audit Grievance Redressal Mechanisms

33. Accountability–measures recommended • A system of two reviews – one on completion of 14 years and another on completion of 20 years. The second review should assess the fitness of the officer for further continuance in government service.

34. Simplifying Disciplinary Proceedings • Today, there are over 30 stages involved in disciplinary proceedings from preliminary evidence to consultation with CVC and UPSC. • The ARC has suggested simplifying the procedure without compromising with the principles of natural justice. It has, for example, suggested that the two state consultation with the CVC should be done away and advice sought only once after completion of disciplinary process. • Consultations with the UPSC would be mandatory only where dismissal of a government servant is proposed. • Oral inquiry process be converted into disciplinary meeting or interview with the superior officer in summary manner. • Present CCS (CCA) Rules be repealed and substituted with appropriate Regulations.

35. Performance Appraisal System • Change in the Performance Appraisal System is a pre-requisite to ensure fairness in various Civil Services reforms.

36. Performance Appraisal System • Weaknesses in the present system • It does not recognize the difference in performance parameters applicable to civil services working in completely different departments; • There is element of subjectivity when it comes to assigning numeric rate grades; • It emphasizes the performance appraisal report as the key element; • It does not adequately size the potential of an officer; • There are too many levels for ratings; and • It emphasizes career development but does not link it sufficiently with performance improvements

37. Performance Appraisal System – Reforms Suggested • Performance Appraisal Forms to be made more job specific with three sections: • A generic section that meets the requirements of a particular service to which the officer belongs • Another section based on the goals and requirements of the department in which he/she is working; and • A final section which captures the specific requirements and targets relating to the post that the officer is holding.

38. Performance Management System • Linking individual contributions to strategic objectives of the organization • Annual performance agreements between departmental Ministers and Secretaries for providing verifiable details of work to be done based on the following principles: • What gets measured gets done. • If you don’t measure results, you can’t tell success from failure. • If you can’t see success, you can’t reward it. • If you can’t reward success you are probably rewarding failure. • If you can’t recognize failure, you can’t correct it. • If you can’t demonstrate results, you can’t win public support.

39. Performance Appraisal System – Reforms Suggested • Performance Appraisal Forms to be made more job specific with three sections: • A generic section that meets the requirements of a particular service to which the officer belongs • Another section based on the goals and requirements of the department in which he/she is working; and • A final section which captures the specific requirements and targets relating to the post that the officer is holding.

40. Punitive Transfers • Frequent transfers are often a result of punitive measures, which adversely affect governance and is demoralizing. • Study on IAS based tenures between 1978 and 2006 indicated that between 55% to 60% of officers did less than one year in their job. • To combat this, Hota Committee has recommended establishment of Civil Services Boards at the Centre and the States under a statute, with responsibility to fix tenure of civil service posts. • In case of transfer before tenure, a system laid down to deal with it.

41. Punitive Transfers • ARC recommended that in the code of ethics for Ministers the following should be included: • “Ministers must uphold the political impartiality of the civil service and not ask the civil servants to act in any way which would conflict with the duties and responsibilities of the civil servants” • ARC has recommended changes in the Prevention of Corruption Act to include obstruction or perversion of justice by unduly influencing law enforcement agencies and gross-perversion of the Constitution, including willful violation of oath of office.

42. Civil Services Code • ARC had conceptualized a comprehensive civil code at three levels • At apex level, there should be a clear and concise statement of values which should reflect public expectations from a civil servant with reference to political impartiality, maintenance of the highest ethical standards and accountability for actions.

43. Civil Services Code • At second level will be the broad principles which should govern the behaviour of the civil servant.

44. Civil Services Code • Third level would be a specific code of conduct stipulating in a precise and unambiguous manner, a list of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour with actions.

45. Civil Services Law • A new Civil Services Law needs to be enacted which would incorporate civil service values, code of ethics, recruitment and conditions of service, fixation of tenures, dismissal, removal, etc. of civil servants, creations of executive agencies etc.

46. Organizational Structure of Government of India Strengths • Time Tested System – adherence to rules and established norms. • Provided stability during transfer of power through elections. • Commitment to the Constitution – political neutrality. • Link between policy making and its implementation. • A national outlook amongst the public functionaries.

47. Organizational Structure of Government of India Weaknesses • Undue emphasis on routine functions. • Proliferation of Ministries/Departments – weak integration and coordination. • An extended hierarchy with too many levels. • Risk avoidance. • Absence of team work.

48. Changes in organizational structure of the Government • The principle of subsidiarity should be followed to decentralize functions to State and Local Governments.

49. Changes in organizational structure of the Government • Subjects which are closely inter-related should be dealt with together.

50. Changes in organizational structure of the Government • Separation of policy making functions from execution and Formation of Executive Agencies.