Bihar : On the Cusp of Change

22nd November, 2005 is a day that people from Bihar around the world would remember for a long time to come. It was on this day that the fifteen year misrule of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) finally came to an end in Bihar. The electoral result came as a shocker to political pundits who had calculated that Laloo would be back with a bang after his successful attempt to dissolve the former State Assembly (the infamous assembly dissolution case involving Buta Singh). Blaming them would not be fair, as nobody thought that a former Union minister not really engaged in state politics would be able to occupy the Chief Minister’s office. The RJD supremo had the caste equation intact and had played all his cards well but as luck would have it, NDA stormed into power.

I still remember the day the NDA government was sworn into power. The election results came had come out in the morning. While returning from school, I saw that Patna was flooded by saffron supporters shouting out the slogan “Naya Bihar, Nitish Kumar." Their excitement was contagious. Despite not being really interested in politics, I was really happy with the outcome of the election as governance in Bihar had reached its nadir and the new government gave its people new hope. A lot of credit for all the positive changes I see in Bihar today goes to the Election Commission for ensuring such a peaceful and fair election.

The elections is 2005 was a story in itself. The Election Commission left no stone unturned in making the huge democratic process a grand success. In the round up to the elections, in a special drive of the state police (under the President’s Rule), about 26,000 people against whom the police had issued non bailable warrants were arrested. About 90,000 police personnel including 72,000 men and officers of the 450 Central Paramilitary Forces were entrusted with the duty of conducting free and fair elections. Armed with shoot at sight orders, they discharged their duties with élan. Not a single election booth was left unguarded. As if this were not enough, the IAF helicopters undertook special aerial surveillance to thwart any untoward incident. The unprecedented security cover gave the state a war zone look but resulted in thousands of people lining up for exercising their fundamental right for the first time.

Three years down the line, I think the paramount effort put in by the Election Commission has not gone waste. Today the state, which is usually seen lagging in all developmental index and parameters, is getting back on track to economic progress and prosperity. The first change that the new government brought in place was instilling a sense of security amongst its people. Before this government took over, anarchy and lawlessness prevailed throughout the state. Not a day passed without some one getting kidnapped or some businessman getting an extortion threat. People almost stopped flaunting any items of wealth for inviting the wrath of extortionists. The fear etched in the minds of the people even translated into declining sales and footfalls across leading stores. Streets were almost deserted by 9 pm and few wanted to venture out at night. The last few years under the RJD rule, the state saw hordes of businessman, traders and industrialists migrating out of the state. Lots of business houses and industries shut down and the economy was almost in shambles. The officials under the former government were helpless as most of the criminal activities had the backing of the ruling party. Every time some policemen or administrator registered a case against a criminal, he would get a phone call from the higher ups and he would have to let the criminal go scot free. The politician-criminal nexus was inescapable. This led to a lot of frustration and angst among the officers and lowered their morale.

If you have been to Bihar in the recent past, what you would find in nothing short of a complete turnaround. The fear etched in the minds of the general public has almost disappeared and has made way for what I would call a “feel good factor.” Kidnapping, once rampant here, has almost been stalled due to the freedom given to the police officers under the present regime. Now even at night, shopping complexes, restaurants and theatres are brimming with activity. The once deserted streets now see vehicles jostling for space. Shops are open till late, sales have gone up and restaurants which were on the verge of closure are going in for expansion plans. Even flaunting wealth is no longer considered a taboo.

After instilling a sense of security among its people, the government is striving to develop all sectors of the economy. The public spending has increased manifold. The amount that the present government spent in its development activities in the last three years is more than entire amount spent in the last decade and a half by the previous regime. The average economic growth rate and its GDP have almost doubled. Ministers can now be seen at their offices and their chief talks of development rather than just about caste. New roads and highways are being built in every part of the state. Spending on building roads has gone up from Rs. 50 crores in 2003-04 to Rs. 2200 crores in 2007-08. The crumbing infrastructure is being redeveloped. Buoyed by the recent initiatives of the Government, major banks such as the World Bank, ADB, DFID and JBIC have shown keen interest in the redevelopment of Bihar.

The state is also getting favorable support from the private players and big business houses have shown great interest in promoting investments in Bihar. In recent years, Patna has seen many major business honchos flowing in to identify business opportunities. These include the likes of Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sunil Bharti Mittal and other corporate heads. Investments proposals worth thousands of crores have been cleared by the government. All major brands have ensured their presence in the state capital during the last few years. Many new shopping malls, multiplexes, hotels, retail majors and international restaurant chains are in the process of setting up shop in the state.

Even the education sector, once in shambles, is undergoing a transition. More than two lakh teachers were appointed recently. The drop out rate at the primary level has decreased to half its number few years back. In the last few years many national level institutes were established such as the Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Changragupta Institute of Management (CIMP), BIT Mesra Patna campus, a National Institute of Technology (NIT), a National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and finally an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Patna. The process of setting up the Nalanda International University is also being expedited. Once completed, it is slated to attract global scholars for postgraduate and undergraduate academic pursuits in subjects such as Buddhism, philosophy and religion.

Although these institutes have just been setup, it will go a long way in giving a fillip to the academic environment of the state. Establishment of such colleges would also lead to sprouting of private colleges and will increase opportunity for higher studies in the state. More importantly, it will help Bihar immensely in its image makeover. When students from all over India come and study in Bihar, their impression of Bihar would certainly change and that would help improve the general perception of the state. I believe that people’s perception of Bihar has to change first to facilitate its rapid development. It will also help stop the exodus of Bihari students to other states for higher education. You will be startled to find out that until recently, every student with reasonable means took admission in a college outside the state due to dearth of any decent college within Bihar. That explains the huge number of students from Bihar in engineering colleges across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharastra. Bihar is losing hundreds of crores annually due to the annual migration of students for under graduate and post graduate studies.

Though Bihar is finally back on track, there is still a long way to go. Fifteen years of chaos and mismanagement cannot be undone overnight. Illiteracy and poverty are quite prevalent. The power generated in the state is not even a tenth of what it requires and hence power cuts are rampant. Floods are a recurring problem and the state has a huge debt riding its back. Only a fraction of the investment proposals have translated into industries being setup on the ground. Caste still dictates the terms in politics of Bihar. Though the man at the helm has a clean image, a lot of the ministers are more inclined towards politics rather than development. The huge task in front of administrators and rulers of Bihar would only be over when every person with roots in Bihar would proudly flaunt his origin and its people would venture out of their state only by choice and not by force. I’m eagerly waiting for that day.

Play School I

The Pragati Power Station, New Delhi

It was with great enthusiasm that I boarded the metro from Dwarka towards Indraprasthra on the 22nd morning. It was the first day of our Practice School I (that is the internship we do after the 2nd year). Although it had started raining quite heavily by the time I got down at the I.P. metro station, it failed to dampen my spirits. Few minutes of wading through the waterlogged streets and I was finally at the IPGCL. The sight of some of my PS mates at the gate made me glad. We were not allowed inside by the C.I.S.F. guards as the permission letter was with our instructor who wasn’t there yet. Even his arrival could not ensure our entry as the person who was to accompany us inside had not come yet. It was finally about noon when we finally entered the power house. There was more in store for us even after we entered. The instructor told us that the we would have to wait for a few more minutes as there was no space to accommodate so many of us inside. Finally after wandering for another few minutes, we were finally seated in the “Training Institute,” a room on the 4th floor of the administrative block which had been lying defunct for months. The name gave me some hope that we would get to do something productive here. Here our instructor briefed the official who was accompanying us about our Practice School system. The official was taken by surprise when our instructor showed him a copy of the handout. He had wrongly inferred that the evaluative components were to be taken by the officials of the corporation and hence he was totally freaked out (He said it outright that all this wouldn’t be possible here). After some more deliberations, he summed up the conversation by an important revelation “After all, this is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) so don’t expect to get much out of it.” This statement gave me a rough indication of what was in store for us for the next seven weeks. Thereafter, he gave us a brief description of the organization. He told us that there were two power generating companies namely the Indraprastha Power Generation Corporation Limited (IPGCL) and the Pragati Power Corporation Limited (PPCL). These companies had four power plants under them. We were given an option to choose where we wanted to work. All of us unanimously chose PPCL as we were apprised of the fact that it was the most modern plant among the four.

Our next stoppage was the Pragati Power Station. The C.I.S.F. guards were here to bug us again as we did not possess valid passes. Getting passes made was the first thing we did after entering the administrative block. Even this task wasn’t as simple as we thought it would be and took us hours. For this, an official memo was created first which required the authorization of five different officials before it could make its way to the Assistant Commandant, CISF. It is due to such useless laws and regulation that the pace of execution of work in the government sector is so slow. After completing these formalities, we were divided into groups according to our branches. An official took us to our reporting officer, the Assistant Manager (Civil). We had quite an amusing interaction with him, on subjects as varied as coaching for engineering entrances to the new 1500 MW power project coming up at Bawana(don’t ask me where that is). Gradually through the conversation, we could decipher that there was almost no work for us here. He told us that there isn’t any ongoing construction work in the power house except for a small fire station and some regular maintenance work. He was quite amused at the fact that we were doing our internship here at IPGCL rather than at some top notch real estate firm (He was unaware of the fact that it was our institute that allotted our PS centers). After a few more minutes, he called in his secretary and told him to show us our cubicle. That is where I have been whiling away afternoons ever since! I forgot to mention the most important benefit of having your PS station at a government or a quasi-government organization : the flexible time schedules. People (that includes us now) start to fill in by about 11: 30 am and within an hour, it is time for lunch (I am still in a fix about when it ends, even people around are not quite sure !) and by the time you feel like working, the clock strikes five. What more could you ask for?

Politics

There is no denying the fact that politics is a dirty word especially in a country like ours. It is a word that the common man fears and the elite maintain a safe distance from. The political system in our country has gone from bad to worse. Today, we have a dearth of quality leaders. This is in stark contrast to the 1950's when our nation was teeming with leaders who had great patriotic fervor and acumen to lead us forward. The only thing that we find that most of our leaders have in common today is their criminal history. The very thin line that existed between a politician and a criminal is fading today and the criminal-politician nexus is inescapable. Quality governance is still a dream for most of us and it seems that it will remain just that in times to come.

Today, most of the educated youth (even those from the hinterland) would not want to join politics. The reasons are not very difficult to comprehend. The primary reason for this is that for fighting an election these days, huge financial backing is required which most of the people do not have. Here is where the criminals step in. Most political parties throw their doors wide open for these goons as they bring in the right mix of muscle power and money, the prerequisite of fighting any electoral battle. Some of these criminals demand a party ticket (to become an elected representative) and others just want the backing of the party if it comes into power. Political parties generally find it difficult to say no to such "lucrative" offers. A large part of the funding of the various parties is done this way. When a government backed by such unscrupulous elements comes into power, these goons get complete political patronage in return.

Hence our system ensures that the deserving people stay away from politics. A system of public funding of elections like that of the United States would change things for the better. This will pave the way for the honest people to join the electoral fray. The Lead India Campaign is a step in the right direction. What else could be more important for a country than having the right people to lead it? It is not that the country cannot afford to spend such huge sums on public funding but it is general lack of will on the part of the politicians. Why would they scrap a system that has nurtured them?

The Steel Frame of India

The State Secretariat, Patna

I had always been fascinated by the spirits conjured up by the three conjoined letters: I, A & S. The power and prestige associated with it cannot be matched by any other service in the country. One of the reasons might be that my dad is an I.A.S. officer and also another factor is my native state. In the words of Sanjay Singh (42nd rank, UPSC 2006) who hails from Bihar “Bihar has not seen the winds of change that swept through the country from the ‘90s, so we have a relatively older mindset. For us power and prestige still means the civil services, rather than fat salaries of the MNCs. (I don’t totally agree with him, most of the youth in the urban areas (like in the rest of the country) would definitely go for the MNC’s rather than the civil services but yeah to an extent the statement has veracity.)

The bureaucracy is known as the ‘steel frame’ of the country for its role in influencing and implementing government policies and decisions and running the civil administration. From manning the blocks of the districts to the corridors of power in the Central Government, it is the bureaucracy that runs the show. In a developing nation like ours, it is the government who the people look up to for providing development in addition to routine governance. That is why an efficient bureaucracy is the biggest asset a government can possess.

A recent survey by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) shows that despite the higher salaries of the private sector, civil services continue to be the preferred career choice for youth in the country. Many people might find this fact quite intriguing. So what is it that draws our youngsters to these coveted services? A newly inducted IAS officer offers a lucid explanation, “In our country, there are three people who are the most powerful-the PM, the CM and the DM. I wanted to be the DM.” The power and prestige that the service confers upon the individual are the main reasons that attract the youth. A beacon fitted Ambassador with police cover would make anyone jealous! Just three to four years into the service, and you are manning an entire district. Others feel that instead of scoffing at the inadequacies of the system, it is better to join it and power the changes one seeks. An efficient civil servant, with the powers conferred upon him, can change the face of his district be it in the field of education, law and order, health care or infrastructure. The bureaucracy has the power to cleanse the system and free it of its malaise. For the rural folks, the District Magistrate (also the Collector) has a larger than life image. The Collector is no less than a prince in his district, in charge of the administration and indirectly the police. People look up to them in awe as if they are someone different. An honest and efficient administrator gets respect from every section of the society. Some critics say that nothing much has changed since the British left, only the white men have been replaced with brown sahibs. Job security is an added attraction for the aspirants. The experience one gets while in service is simply unmatchable. IAS officers are in charge of departments of varied nature, ranging from Health, Education to Finance and Human Resource.

However not everything is as rosy as it sounds. The bureaucracy is afflicted by a plethora of problems. The most important factor which cripples the bureaucracy is the political intervention. Political intervention creeps in everywhere in the bureaucracy. This is how it works. For the bureaucrats, it is the chief minister at the state level, who decides the transfer and posting of the administrators. Generally the chief minister consults his ministers before transferring an official. Any disgruntled politician, ranging from a people’s representatives (Ministers, MLAs & MLCs) to even influential party workers may register his complaint with the person at helm of the affairs. In the times of coalition government, no sensible Chief can afford to ignore the “complaints”. This rule is misused by the politicians for leveraging their power. If a certain official doesn’t toe the line of a powerful politician, the minister may get him “shunted” (knowing how very sincere our politicians are) unless the chief minister says otherwise. For the uninitiated, shunting is transferring an official to a very insignificant post. Even the Annual Confidential Report (A.C.R.) is written by the Chief Minister and the minister of the department in which the bureaucrat is posted. Our very “sincere” ministers generally get along well with bureaucrats that are “pliable.” On a lighter note, in the bureaucratic circles, it is often said that the frequency of the transfers depicts the efficiency of the bureaucrat. It is the common man who finally has to suffer. Frequent transfers dampen the morale of efficient administrators and in the long run they become disgruntled with the system. It also impedes the rate of developmental activities especially at the district level. I think the system of a minimum tenure (as implemented now in the appointed of top bureaucrats in the Government of India like the Cabinet Secretary) would go a long way in improving administrative efficiency. Another drawback of the bureaucracy is that efficiency is not taken into account anywhere. The government should devise a system to reward to the efficient officers and shunt the inefficient ones. To retain the best in the system, the government should seriously think about revising the pay scales. To this end, the government had appointed The Sixth Pay Commission and the commission had recently submitted its report to the government.


Till the mid-nineties, the civil services (IAS, IPS etc) were the obvious option which attracted the best talent of the nation. At that point of time, private sector companies had not made it big. This was before the era of globalization and the IT boom. Most of those who made it into the civil services were the urban elite who had graduated from the top colleges of the country. Times have changed since then. Today when India is one of fastest growing economies in the world new job options are opening up everyday for the country’s youth.

The UPSC receives 3.5 lakh applications for the preliminary test of the three stage examination every year. Only 55 % actually take the test. The final 450-odd students [half of them from the reserved category again : ( ] actually get into the services. To fill in, if you did not know already, the government has had 50 % reservation in the central sector for long. This includes the much debated 27% for the Other Backward Castes (OBCs). Those who get selected come from all streams of study. Of late engineers have taken the top spot. They got almost one-third of all 450 ranks this year as compared to just 16% in 1985. But the share from the IITs has declined which may be due to the massive expansion of opportunities in the private sector. The average age of successful candidates has undergone a marginal change from 25.4 years in 1985 to 26.4 in 2005. Another paradigm shift is that more no. of women are getting through the civil services from a 10.4 % share in 1985, it has gone up to 20.6% in 2005. Also the age limit has been increased from the previous 24 to 26 to 28 to 30. The increase in educational opportunities has led to the democratization of these once-elite services. Less than 2 in 10 entrants were from a metro or a state capital in 2004 Compare that with the 70’s where two thirds came from the urban areas. The city born and city bred, apparently chasing IIMs, MNCs, foreign universities and a plethora of new economy options, are painting themselves out of the picture. In the 2004-2006 batch, the state wise breakup of those selected shows that Tamil Nadu leads followed by UP, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Bihar

On a closing note, I would like to reiterate that the opportunities one gets in the civil services in innumerous and cannot be matched by any other service in the nation but before stepping in one should also weigh the challenges.