Creating leaders out of civil servants (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2 : Polity
Prelims level : Civil Servants
Mains level : Role and Qualities of a civil servant

Context

• There was a news report published in The Hindu (March 27, 2019) wherein a report, published jointly by Azim Premji University and Lokniti, was quoted.
• In this report it was clearly brought out that the citizen of the country had greater trust in the office of the Collector (manned by the IAS officers) than even the President and the Prime Minister.
• Unfortunately, there has so far been no concerted or sustained effort to manage senior civil service in a comprehensive manner.
• The steps have been ad hoc in nature. Lateral recruitment is also one such effort.
• What really needs to be done is to look at the manner in which recruitment takes place, the in-service training, transfers, assessment of officers, incentives and disincentives by way of promotions and selection to critical posts.

Leadership role

• However, before taking a call on these aspects, it would be essential to determine what is required in an officer who mans the senior civil service.
• Almost all the IAS officers occupy leadership positions right from the beginning of their careers, be it a Sub Divisional Magistrate, District Magistrate or Head of Department. Even in the Secretariat jobs, each officers has to lead a team.
• Hence, the objective should be to select such persons who have leadership qualities or have the potential to become leaders.
• The training should also centre around honing leadership skills. Perhaps this is not what is being done now.
• The selection by the UPSC is above board but the entrance exams primarily selects brilliant individuals by testing written communication skills, some analytical skills and general awareness.
• What it tests is the examinees capability to “crack” the exam, and various coaching institutes assist them in doing so.

Qualities

• A leader requires much more than that. He has to be able to build a team and carry it along with him by motivating those working with him.
• This entails setting up examples and even a few personal sacrifices. He has to excel in communication skills beyond the written one.
• He has to be ethical in his behaviour with a positive attitude. None of these are tested at the time of recruitment.
• We have tools today to assess these and are being used in the private sector and elsewhere in the world.

Age criteria

• The maximum age of entry into the civil service has gone up. Hence, to mould them into leaders becomes extremely difficult. They are already “hard boiled eggs”.
• Training assumes an important aspect in moulding these entrants into accomplished leaders.
• The maximum age of entry needs to be brought down to 26, as was the case a few decades ago.
• The training itself has to be focussed on imparting skills and attitude that would enable the officer to evolve as a leader.

Ethical behaviour

• Thus, more than individual activities, emphasis has to be given to group activities.
• It is during the training that the ethos and the purpose of the service needs to be drilled.
• Case studies-based methodology needs to be adopted to drive home the points.
• The officers have knowledge and they are capable of acquiring more of it.
• What is required is the transformation of attitude as an officer, the necessity and utility of ethical behaviour.
• Periodic upgradation of skills and learning from each other should be the focus of in-service training.
• This is imperative in the context of a fast-changing world both in terms of technology and management.

Assessment issues

• Annual Confidential Roles (ACRs) were an instrument through which officers were evaluated annually and their promotions were based on these ACRs.
• However, consequent to the Supreme Court order, these ACRs have ceased to be confidential as they have to be communicated to the officers.
• This has impacted the efficacy of ACRs as no officer wants to get embroiled with an officer dissatisfied with a grade.
• The 360 degree evaluation in vogue for the past few years is even worse as it is opaque and has had a demoralising effect on the civil service.
• Unlike the private sector, from where this concept has been borrowed, the one in practice in the government is a perfunctory one where assessment for empanelment is made on the basis of phone calls to peer group officers.
• No discussion is held with the officer who is being assessed and he is not even informed about the reason for not being empanelled.

Conclusion

• There is no harm in lateral entry of officers but whether that will improve governance is a moot point.
• Governance will perhaps improve only if senior civil service is itself managed appropriately.

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Prelims Questions:

Q.1) With reference to the report titled, “Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2000-2017: Special focus on inequalities”, consider the following statements:
1. It was released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
2. India accounts for almost two thirds of the 650 million people globally who stopped practising open defecation between 2000 and 2017.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both 1 and 2
D. None

Answer: C
Mains Questions:
Q.1) Senior civil servants assume leadership positions right after they join. But they are not tested for leadership skills or ethics. Comment.