• UGI USER
  • Sep 30, 2023
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Q. It has been argued that one of the characteristic features of the civil services in India is bureaucratic indecision and risk aversion. Discuss the reasons for the same and suggest remedial measures.

Approach

  • Give a brief overview about the characteristic features of bureaucratic indecision and risk aversion in the Indian civil services.
  • Discuss the reasons for the existence of risk aversion and bureaucratic indecision in India.
  • Suggest remedial measures.
  • Conclude accordingly.

Answer

Bureaucratic indecision and risk aversion are forms of rational self-preservation exercised by the bureaucrats from the various legal and extra-legal risks to their person, careers and reputation. These risks originate from the problems of organizational design, institutional norms and other political factors.

The causes for bureaucratic indecision are

  • Lack of autonomy and discretion: The decision-making ability of a bureaucrat is often subject to approval and authorisation by his/her superiors. Thus, most of the time rather than taking autonomous decisions, they wait for the orders.
  • Bureaucratic overload: An acute shortage of staff exists at all levels, leading to excessive workload that includes managing office and staff, planning and budgeting regarding schemes, field visits, handling individual complaints and requests from citizens etc. Work overload impacts their efficiency and decision-making.
  • Red tapism: The hierarchy of Departments and Ministries involved in decision-making often leads to red-tapism whereby certain issues requiring quick actions remain unresolved.
  • Lack of specialization: Frequent transfers and postings are done to ensure that the officers gain experience at multiple levels, however, it prevents specialization. This impacts the decision- making ability of a bureaucrat, as he/she might not be able to manage the associated consequences.
  • Lack of appropriate career and monetary incentives: Promotions are based on seniority and political discretion rather than performance. In the absence of any motivation, bureaucrats are likely to take a conservative and self-preservation approach to decision-making.
  • Obsolete and outdated procedures: Rigid adherence to rules prevents bureaucrats from focusing on innovations.

The reasons for bureaucratic risk aversion in civil services in India include:

  • Organizational design: The monitoring mechanism established to check and control bureaucracy is often misused and becomes a tool of intimidation of the bureaucrats. For instance:
  • The bureaucratic process has come under excessive scrutiny after the introduction of the RTI Act, 2005. Reports suggest that it has resulted in several baseless investigations having reputational consequences for the accused bureaucrats, as a result of which they now stay away from tendering frank advice.
  • Frequently transferred officials may not have adequate formal appraisals which affects their ability to get empanelled for promotions to senior postings. Therefore, to stay away from penal transfers and demotions, the bureaucrats become risk averse.
  • Penal action for honest mistakes: The work of bureaucrats is prone to public criticism and they may even face legal action if the policies implemented by them turn out to be inefficient or erroneous in the future. This happens even if they have not acted in a malafide manner.
  • Personal risks due to policy failure: Policies are frequently subject to failure and such policy failures have consequences for the bureaucrats’ reputation, career progression, financial standing and motivation.

Remedial measures that can be taken in this regard

  • Administrative reforms: A certain degree of bureaucratic independence is essential for quick decision-making and preserving the efficiency of governance. E-governance is touted as one such approach for bringing about increased efficiency in the bureaucracy.
  • Training: In the absence of behavioral changes, technological changes remain superficial. Training modules need to prioritize training on leadership and self-development to allow bureaucrats to understand challenges, break complex issues into smaller pieces and address them.
  • Legal monitoring: In order to safeguard the bureaucrats against malicious RTI requests, the ARC recommended that the PIO should exercise the right to provide information if the request is manifestly frivolous or vexatious.
  • Normative reforms: Along with financial incentives, it is important to socially incentivize bureaucrats, emphasize the importance of their role and provide social recognition for their services to citizens.

Moreover, the government must have tolerance for failure and the mindset needs to move from a fail- safe approach to a safe-fail paradigm that allows bureaucrats to fail within reason.