Sir ,
IAS sans accountability.
It was with great interest that I read the article published in the Insight of The Hitavada of Sunday the 8th September2010 by Mr Gopal Dixit,IAS (retd).We all should be grateful to Mr Dixit for writing this article as it is written by the one who belonged to the IAS cadre and hence may carry more credibility . What he says is 100 % true . I will go one step further and say that corrupt politicians and more then them the IAS cadre is responsible for each and every draw back seen in India today , be it in social inequality , raising unemployment , increasing number of people below poverty line , and worst of all the massive and colossal corruption in each every walk of life . I hold IAS cadre more responsible because The Government run by the Ministers and the Ministers themselves are held accountable , that they are not punished is different matter altogether , where as there is no accountability for the Babus belonging to the IAS .
After the 1962 defeat by China , which was considered a National shame , Pt Nehru , The PM suffered a sever stroke . VK Krishna Menon the Defence Minister, Gen Thapar the Chief Of Army Staff , Gen Kaul the Army Commander , The Corps Commander and all the Commanders down the line were sacked .Hundreds of soldiers were killed thousands wounded . The Defence Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary who were privy to and major contributors/supporters in formulating and decision making of the all the defence related policies( Mr Dixit called IAS officers "pivot"of decision making.) got of scot free . Today you may not even find who those worthy gentlemen were .
More recently After Mumbai attacks Mr Shivraj Patil , was sacked from his job and so were other I PS officers .Lot of Police and security personnel lost their lives . What was the punishment mated out to The Cabinet Secretary or the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra .The pivots of decision making!!!
The I A S cadre rules India from the posts of Collectors of a District , Commissioners of a Region , Joint Secretaries of Departments and so on till at the apex stands the Cabinet Secretary . Heads of most of the Public Sector Undertakings , State Electricity Boards , . almost all the Major Projects and welfare schemes are being headed by Officers of the I A S . They are incharge .
Of all the welfare schemes only about 10 paise reach the target population . A fact acknowledged and stated by no less a person then Late Rajeev Gandhi as a P M of India.Who is held accountable .
Each and every project is delayed enormously and way beyond their PDCs (Projected Date of Completion). This results in cost over runs , at times almost doubling or tripling the original estimates and delays in the benefits reaching the population . Who is held accountable
Today's power cuts are result of non impletion and non completion of power projects in time . Who is held accountable..
In fact today there is no sphere of human activity and life which is insulated from the influence of the decisions taken and efforts made by the I A S to implement those decisions .A look around shows every thing in a mess with water logging , high prices , garbage heaps every where , the load shedding and what have you . Who is accountable .
The revelation by Mr Gopal Dixit that " the present system of decision making starts with initiating clerk so that the delays are explained away " was an eye opener .It is very rare to see an order , a important letter etc signed by an IAS officer . It is because they never sign a document specially after reaching the rank of Joint secretary . This means that they are not accountable . No wonder they are never held responsible or punished .
The Government and The Prime Minister owe it to the people of India to completely overhaul the system of administration and governance .If things are to improve ,The IAS officers must be held accountable and punished for their acts of commission or omission .
PM Velankar, Nagpur.
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