(Essay) Contest Essays for Jan 2008 : How should a civil servant conduct himself?

How should a civil servant conduct himself?

"The perfect bureaucrat everywhere is the man who manages to make all decisions on his own and escape all responsibility." This defines the Civil Servants of today who try to be the perfect bureaucrats. They decide as per their own and politicians interests and forget about the needs of the people in a country like India where we speak of Populous Sovereignty. And the most beautiful part of it is that they are not responsible for their actions. It is Authority without any kind of responsibility. This has been very clearly demonstrated in past by our eminent administrative thinkers authority without responsibility is of no use. The sword with the civil servants is their power. Their power is so effective that it sometimes overshadows the goals, idealism and political fervor of politicians. For one thing ministers keep on changing; it is the civil servants that provide the permanent machinery for running the government.

The former Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi often criticized public administration for acting as a stumbling block in the way of country's social and economic progress. Officials understandably obey and help pliant ministers. They make things hot for those who overrule them and issue orders contrary to what civil servants think as the correct line of action that is the line that tradition, red tapism and rule book dictates. The rigidity associated with the government is in reality imparted by the civil servants who are well entrenched in their posts. Looking in to such a behavior and conduct, it is the high time that there should be a change in their conduct. With India developing so dramatically and coming as an international centre for commerce and trade and many other fields the representatives of government need to be really careful of their actions. They should act as real servants to the people of India. They should take in to account the need of people of India and their make decisions. Civil service should consist of people who think and see that things which are necessary for progress are implemented properly. The Civil servants should remember that the reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour.

Megha Chitkara

Courtesy : civilserviceindia.com