SECOND ADMISTRATIVE REFORMS COMMISSION RIGHT TO INFORMATION

International Public Management Review, 2006

In review of Indian administrative structure in 1950s, Appleby certified Indian Civil Service to be one of the best in the world. While there is still a lot to commend the civil service for, this article will focus exclusively on the deficiencies that have crept in the services over last few years. This should not be taken to mean that all is wrong with it. The article does, however, attempt to present the critique of the service from the perspective of an insider with a view to rid it of its malaise. Despite its notable achievements, over last five decades, disenchantment with public administration in India has dramatically increased. It is criticized for inefficiency, lack of professionalism, irresponsiveness, nepotism and corruption. After the assumption of power by UPA government, civil services have come under a real scanner. The government appointed an expert committee, under the chairmanship of the Hota committee, to review and suggest changes to the administrative structure. The committee submitted its report recently. It suggested changes in recruitment and performance appraisal system, opening of civil service position to outsiders and relaxing norms pertaining to removal from service to shake complacency of the civil servants. This article argues that these proposals are too restrictive in nature and scope. They are limited to changes in the upper echelon of bureaucracy. These don't just exclude a large part of bureaucracy from the reform efforts, but also fail to address the factors external to the administration that hinge upon its performance. To be specific, the article presents evidence of the linkage between the deficiencies in the political, electoral and judicial system and the decline in performance of civil service. It reasons that it is meaningless to talk of administrative reforms without undertaking simultaneous reforms in political and electoral system. Finally, it suggests a more comprehensive reform agenda to improve the performance of civil service, and above all emphasizes the need for adopting the systems approach to problem-solving.

Journal of European Public Policy, 2008

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2011

Public Administration is an activity as old as human civilization. Public Administration as independent Subject of a social science has recent origin. Public administration is the implementation of government policy and also an academic discipline that studies this implementation and prepares civil servants for working in the public service. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal... is to advance management and policies so that government can function." Some of the various definitions which have been offered for the term are: "the management of public programs"; the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day" and "the study of government decision making, the analysis of the policies themselves, the various inputs that have produced them, and the inputs necessary to produce alternative policies." Public Administration, an ancient activity of the state, is vital to the efficient running of the government. As a specialized academic field, it deals essentially with the machinery and procedures of government. It is the action part of the government. It is both an institution of public service and a centre of power. As an institution of public service, it provides services to the people and promotes public interest. As a centre of power, public bureaucracy tends to be concerned with its own privileges. In recent years, the discipline has been undergoing rapid changes and has vastly expanded its frontiers. As a discipline, it has evolved and is still evolving to respond to the challenges of the changing times. With the onset of Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization (LPG), one can see a number of significant changes are in the roles of individuals and institutions and public administration is no exception. It represents a paradigm shift from the traditional model of public administration to New Public Management (NPM), which favours a dominant presence of market forces over the State, for effective governance and efficient delivery of the goods and services. Many new concepts like Competition State, managerial orientation, contracting out, de bureaucratization, downsizing, etc., have started gaining prominence in many countries. The new perspective has emerged as a management tool through which the developmental goals can be achieved. It has brought in reforms, which have attempted to create a new entrepreneurial, useroriented culture in public organizations, with focus on performance measurement and autonomy to the organizations and individuals in contrast to the traditional model. In fact, managerialism is a 'determined effort to implement the "3Es" of economy, efficiency and effectiveness at all levels of government activities. Public administration, in present times, has thus become complex and is slowly moving towards enlightened public governance. We define the term 'administration' and 'public administration'. Subsequently, it discusses the nature, scope and significance of public administration.

The ancient Indian Culture evolved a synthesis in government which has a living relevance to modern polity. This article examines the Indian synthesis and its implications for building a healthy culture of governance.