Dear Gadkari-ji ,
As
always , it was a pleasure listening to you last evening on TV , at ET Startup
Award function
Answering
some question on trial of a new technology , you said :
"
Bureaucrats are afraid to try out new technologies because , if it fails to
work out , they will be accused by media of corruption / ulterior motive etc
No
honest officer wants to experiment , for fear of getting his neck chopped off
"
So
well said !
In
our country , leave alone being celebrated , failure is not even tolerated !
Fear
of failure has paralyzed , even honest officers . This "
Fear-of-Failure " culture has got to change
Do
you think , my following suggestion can pave the way for a " Just Do It
and Discover " culture , while satisfying the likes of CVC / CBI etc ?
During
my 30+ years at L&T , I was never
haunted by our Internal Audit department
, simply by practicing what I have suggested
with
regards,
hemen
parekh
Marol
, Mumbai , India
( M
) +91 - 98,67,55,08,08
PS
:
I can
send you some technology-related suggestions for the Transport Sector , should
you so desire
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, 26 August 2016
Economic Times ( 25 Aug 2016
) carries a news report titled :
" Charges Against
Coal ex-Secretary may Lead to Policy Paralysis "
The report quotes :
# Shri Amitabh Kant ( CEO ,
NITI Aayog )
" He is the most honest
officer I have come across in my entire career. Real travesty of justice. Sad
& tragic. Errors
in commercial decision
making should be decriminalized. There cannot be a more honest person than
Gupta "
# A current Govt Secretary
:
" He is more honest than
I am or anyone of us here . If he is jailed, functioning of the government will
come to a grinding halt . There are already too many concerns . If such things
happen , no one will take any decisions "
No doubt , it is very
difficult to conclude whether a decision was just " an error of judgment " or whether it
was truly , a " mala-fide "
decision to benefit the officer himself or his relatives / friends / business
interests !
I request that the Central IAS Officers Association ,
consider my following suggestion :
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, 20 June 2014 ( source : www.hemenparekh.in > Blogs )
To err is human
To forgive is divine ( provided it was a honest error )
To forgive is divine ( provided it was a honest error )
All of us keep making errors , all the time
But rarely same " mistake " twice
Often , decisions taken at a point of time , turn out to be " poor " , with passage of time
Reasons are simple :
* We never have all the information - relevant to the problem we are trying to solve - available with us , at the time of taking a decision
* Even when most of such relevant info is available , we may not have the capacity / competence to " process " such info
* As humans , we have our biases / prejudices , based on our previous experiences , which influence our decisions
* Quite often , and often against our own better evaluation / judgment of a given situation , we are wrongly influencedby our peers / bosses / subordinates or even voters - all of whom have different expectations / vested interests !
* Additional - and more relevant - information surfaces , AFTER we have taken a decision (happens all the time !)
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 !
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
27 Aug 2016
www.hemenparekh.in / blogs
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