Not curious : definitely injurious !
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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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