ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM : EXPERTISE NEEDED

Rope in more Technocrats
We need to make space for technocrats in our administrative league.

A year back, a survey and a report by Hong Kong-based Political & Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) stated India’s bureaucracy was “suffocating” and further concluded that “working with the country's civil servants was a slow and painful process.” The report also mentioned that the powers-that-be are quite reluctant in bringing in structural reforms and changes in the system. This report should not come as a surprise to any Indian, especially those who have had a first hand experience interacting with the civil servants – aka babus.

The leverage that these babus have is primarily because of the communication link they are able to monopolise between India Inc. and politicians/government. Not only does such a bureaucracy help in smooth 'execution' of corrupt activities but also helps in diverting funds (meant for development schemes) to their and politicians’ own treasures. The whole aura of ineffective bureaucracy has actually intensified during the last couple of decades – while the influx of well experienced technocrats fell to a large extent.

Entry of technocrats from various professions to handle administrative jobs (or ministries as secretaries) would reduce the inefficiency that is rampant across all departments to a large extent. This will not only allow ministries to function as Strategic Business Units but will also make the entire hierarchy more efficient and productive. Take for instance the DMRC project. Had this project been headed by some legacy bureaucrat, the project wouldn't have been such a success. It was all thanks to a technocrat– E Sreedharan, a former professor and engineer – that DMRC could meet the deadlines. On similar lines, the UID project is running on fast track largely because a technocrat, Nandan Nilekani, chairs the initiative.

It goes without saying that when a novice heads a ministry that calls for technical knowledge and years of experience, the result will be what this nation is facing with almost all development projects – from cost overrun to time overrun. Yes, there’re exemplary exceptions like Maruti (even the current Chairman, RC Bhargava, is the 1965 IAS topper). But in general, these exceptions remain, well, exceptions, with a growing demand that technocrats be put at leadership positions in our defence, railways, agriculture and other ministries.

In most of the developed countries, the head of the government comes to power along with his team of experts (derived from think-tanks, experts, economists and so on) who have had impressive career records. For example, most of the members of the Obama Senate Transition Team are exemplars in their areas of work. Similarly, China adopted a technocratic economic model since its reforms period. The same goes for UK where Political and Economic Planning, a think-tank, assists the government. Similar are the cases with Germany a nd Russia. Presently, even European countries (especially the eastern ones) are experiencing a massive technocracy movement. Just pumping in money for development projects won't suffice, unless these are headed by people who know how to deliver efficiency. The conclusion to be drawn from these examples is that the existing politico-bureaucracy nexus needs to be broken and a conscription started where the nation’s top executives, management graduates are compulsorily made to work for a few years in government companies and ministries. 

SPORTS : TRANSPARENCY

Fear of FIFA
FIFA needs to democratise itself

This FIFA World Cup should have come as a slap to all those skeptics who thought that an erstwhile apartheid-loving nation won’t be able to pull off this mega sporting event well. Not only did South Africa pull off the game well but it also raised the global standards when it comes to hosting a mega sporting event like FIFA. South Africa took care of every possible measure in order to squeeze maximum economies out of this gaming event. From refurbishing and building new infrastructure to vacating slums – almost all attributes under the sun were taken care of to make sure that the dividends of the game flow well even after the World Cup got over. But then, amidst all these romantic developments, it was someone else who ran away with big money, leaving pittance for the host country. The figures will prove that – while FIFA made a whopping $3.2 billion as profit, it gave a trifle $80 million to the South African government, and that too because the amount was a guarantee.FIFA is more than a century old organisation. Talking about big moolah, FIFA on an average generate revenues that is well above $1 billion per year and more than $4 billion in the World Cup year. A brief research would be enough to unearth the fact that most of revenues come from television and marketing rights, which are under direct control of FIFA. So much so that FIFA charges rent from the host country and does not pay taxes for revenues earned as it insists on having a ‘Diplomatic status’ (amendments allowing FIFA's activities as 'diplomatic' via the Revenues Law Amendment Act 20 of 2006, guaranteeing 17 provisions granting 'supportive financial environment' as well as various other free services, have been passed). Unlike the International Cricket Council (ICC), where the tenure of the President lasts on an average for 2.5 years, FIFA has no term limits (tenures average over 13 years). Moreover, FIFA allots tourism rights to its agent, Switzerland-based Match AG (the company is said to have family connections with heads of the FIFA body), without any bidding process. Match AG is reported to practice marking up of services charges and licensing fee and surcharge. Match AG is the official accommodation provider since the last six World Cups. All in all, FIFA retains on an average 95 per cent of total profits. In March this year, a UN human rights expert, Raquel Rolnik, said FIFA ignored clauses on adequate housing in the bid proposals and commented that the organisation should be "more transparent." In July, 2010, Transparency International pin-pointed FIFA being involved in multimillion dollar illegal transactions on account of broadcasting and TV rights. As per a recent article published in Forbes, "Executive power has remained with the president and his unaccountable cabinet of highly paid advisors, despite the 24-strong executive committee drawn from FIFA's member associations."FIFA needs to understand that World Cup – or for that matter soccer – is not just a mega sporting event but a game that unites the world. History is testimony that the game played a major role in bridging the racial divide. FIFA should not dent a host country's development activities and burden them with exorbitant costs, especially in developing economies. Instead of asking countries to build new stadiums and infrastructure on their own cost, FIFA should productively engage member countries to invest in such capital expenditure in the host countries. Imagine the camaraderie that can be generated within even enemy countries by such a model through the world's greatest event.

Pervez Musharraf - dictator in democracy

Give me my legal right this time - The Return of the Last Samuri...

Ex-President Pervez Musharraf’s desire to enter Pakistan’s politics, again, has some good and some bad with it. However, the good seems to surpass the bad at the moment

Few were ready to denote General Pervez Musharraf’s Presidential exit and his unannounced exile as his walk into the sunset; the general view was that he would return to fight another day. It seems that the time has come, as he seeks the company’s top post again, albeit via the democratic route this time. In his address on Feburary 16, 2010, to the Chatham House think-tank, he said, “I love my country and I would do anything for Pakistan. However, it is for the people of Pakistan who need to decide… I have to come through the political process, through the process of elections. But I think it’s very good, it’s very good because I think I will have that legitimacy, which I never had…” This remark of Musharraf shows that he still lives in the belief that this reign (rather eight year long dictatorial regime) was the most successful political period in the history of Pakistan. In addition, he expects the Pakistani people to now vote for him and bring him back to power. And as he admits himself, being a dictator wasn’t helping his cause either.

There is no denial to the fact that Pakistan, today, is in a process of utter disintegration. A brief recall of Pakistan’s past will make it clear that the ground for Pakistan’s disintegration was all set during Musharraf’s presidency. It was actually during Musharraf’s time that corruption found its new highs within the whole bureaucratic hierarchy. Today, Musharraf stays in one of London’s most expensive areas. Covertly and overtly supporting terrorist and extremist blocks and even manipulating their actions against India, Musharraf is an excellent example of how shrewd scheming and manipulation can be diplomatically window dressed in hyperbole words.

Musharraf has himself admitted boldly that the Kashmiri insurgency was fathered in Pakistan. But in the same voice, he also says that the Indian Muslim youth are increasingly feeling alienated. Strangely, one doesn’t hear him commenting on Pakistani Muslim youth that much. While stating his desire to return to power – and commenting that the Pakistani people need to decide on the issue – Musharraf forgets that it’s the same people who want him to be punished for the mammoth money laundering case that is still pending against him.

But then, Pakistan also saw something remarkable in Musharraf’s time. Between 1999 to 2007, Pakistan’s economy, revenue, per capita income, exports grew by 100% while foreign reserves, stock exchange, foreign direct investment grew by a jaw dropping 500%. The country also saw marked reductions in poverty and illiteracy levels. In 2006, Pakistan was the 3rd fastest growing economy of the world and a preferred destination for investment and also saw its ranking in almost all international lists improving. This dictator also gave licenses to almost 50 TV channels to operate.

But then, the current gloomy future of Pakistan is not safe for India’s internal security. Undoubtedly, if Pakistan disintegrates, the probability of the power and nuclear weapons falling into the hands of extremists will be quite high. In the given situation, would Musharraf be a good choice for India to support as the President? That’s a choice between the Devil and the Deep Sea, as India stands a loser whichever way the Pakistani cookie crumbles. Irrespective of any person in power in Pakistan, India would be seen as a legacy enemy and a violator of the rights of Kashmir. To that end, the American hold over Pakistan – however managed – is not only to India’s benefit, but to the whole region as well.

A joke in Pakistan goes like this. With 50% of Pakistani citizens illiterate, at any given moment only half of them make sensible statements. Musharraf qualifies on that statistic pretty well. He makes sense only half the time.

Punctuality

Sample these: In spite of the West Bengal state government’s circular asking all employees to be punctual and to follow the 10 am to 5 pm official working hours, there was hardly any change in the ‘late work culture’ at Kolkata Writers’ Building (the West Bengal Secretariat and Assembly). This state circular also had a clause that made sure that the employees who failed to maintain the schedule would face penal action. According to various reports, most employees still arrive amicably between 11.15 am to 11.30 am and then leave at around 5 pm. Recent reports now also show the obvious, that even our MPs do not attend Parliament sessions regularly (if at all), what to talk about public appearances where they keep masses waiting for hours, if they appear that is.

Chidambaram, despite all the acrimony that he seems to scrape on to his personality, might have hit the truants with the hammer right where it hurts – the finger. In order to counter the problem of late attendances, the Home Minister has introduced bio-metric scanners at the offices of the Home Ministry. Chidambaram announced a few months back that a ten-minute delay three times a month will count as one day of leave. In the first stage of the scheme, 5000 home ministry employees – regardless of rank – will have their index fingers scanned to enable them to be tracked with respect to their attendance time and leaves. On week post the system, the Ministry claimed that 90% of their ‘subordinate staff’ and 70% of ‘junior officers’ were in office by 9.05 am (comparative pre-system figures were not provided; but one assumes it’s an uppish curve). Endgame? Not so fast Wodehouse.

One, the system only checks fingers and not whether the person stays in office post ‘fingering’ in his attendance! Two, it won’t be long before an employee takes the equipment to court claiming it malfunctions. Three, vandalism! Still, what would get the cheasel of the weasels is the fact that now even the tax department is thinking of issuing biomentric PAN cards! As Indians would put it quite crassly, attendance was a game for their left hands once upon a time... now their right