Civil Servants

 In the intellectual circles, it is often a commonplace practice to mock, deride, look down upon the bureaucracy. At times, it does appear valid, too! The great German philosopher/intellectual in the twentieth century, Hannah Arendt, wrote a brilliant book entitled "The Banality of Evil". Born out of her coverage of the Eichmann trial, in this book, she concluded that the quite ordinary Eichmann, who was cruelty personified when it came to the Holocaust injustices, was not evil by nature. As a bureaucrat, he followed the "orders from above" thoughtlessly, without any empathy. 

That often is the image of the bureaucracy as an institution; thoughtless, heartless, boot-lickers of the current power that be. In India, moreover, they are considered monetarily, and not merely morally, corrupt. "Babugiri" and "khabugiri" are synonyms in the Indian scenario. On this day, April 21, dedicated to the bureaucrats to commemorate the memory of the first Indian Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, I would like to object to this image.

As a daughter of a hyper-sincere, hyper-committed government officer, I would like to assert most vocally that the country runs effectively and efficiently because of the (may be, just two per cent) genuine civil servants.

Well, to begin with, let me ask you a question. Can you show me any institution in the public space which is not vitiated by these very viruses? Let us look at medicine and education, two disciplines that can make or mar a life. 

All of us know the horrors padding up the medical field. As for the uglinesses in the education system, one can comfortably write enough books, fat at that, to fill at least half the library of any good, decent nursery school! 

There are, however, two percent perfect doctors and ideal lecturers/teachers who command respect because of their integrity and genuine committed contribution to their respective vocations, right?  The same rule holds good when it comes to civil servants!

The term bureaucracy was first used by an eighteenth century Enlightenment  'philosophe', Vincent  de Gournay.  The term is made of "bureau" which in French means  an office/writing desk and the suffix "-cracy" which stands 'for the rule of'. In a way, in the bureaucratic mode, important decisions are guided by the civil servants rather than the elected  representatives/rulers. These worthies tend to use officialese, full of terminologically challenged gobbledygook, and extremely complicated administrative procedures.

Remember the BBC comedy show "Yes, Minister"? It showed hilariously how ministers may come and ministers may go, but the secretaries of various designations stay, and (mis)rule as per their own whims and fancies!

 Comedies depend on a mole of truth made in to a mountain hill of exaggeration. Despite the undeniable truth in such depictions, i would insist that nations continue to be for the welfare of the citizens because of the (may be, just two per cent mentioned above) bureaucrats.

Can you imagine a city without the police 'mama', however inept? Remember the chaotic scenes in the parliament that at times appears sane because of the quiet efficiency of the officers there? A good, committed collector, why even a 'talathi', an official at the lower rung, can change the face of a place. A good judge makes all the difference, right? Examples can be multiplied ad infinitum. I think though that these many would suffice to make my point.

This does not mean that civil service as a concept does not need sprucing up. Irrelevant colonial laws need to be deleted more and faster. The bureaucracy must be made more sensitive and citizen-centric, too. Oh, yes, they have to be technologically savvy, given the current trend of the AI, digital money and cyber crimes.

In brief, let us not throw the baby with the bath water. As citizens, we, too, must learn to follow our duties as well, and we have to respect the sincerity of civil servants who run the show, and effectively! Long live the sensitive and sensible bureaucracy!

Pratima@Literary texts are full of the depiction of the bureaucracy as woodworms.  I intend writing a story or two, comic yet grim, about the other side of the coin!