OROP: Are Bureaucrats the Real Villains?
Major General Mrinal Suman
Whenever the
blame game starts for delay in OROP, bureaucrats are painted as the
incorrigible villains who doggedly impede its implementation. The services
consider bureaucrats to be their biggest adversary. Read any mail on the social
media, bureaucracy is blamed for stalling all pro-services measures – endless
litigations, rank pay, equipment deficiencies and so on. Are we being fair to
them? Are they really culpable? Can bureaucrats disobey the political
leadership and block OROP?
The answer to this
convoluted mystery lies in the Indian bureaucracy’s split-personality syndrome.
It is a neurosis disorder in which the personality becomes
dissociated into two or more distinct parts; each of which becomes dominant and
controls behaviour from time to time to the exclusion of the other parts. A
modern name for this condition is dissociative identity disorder.
Regrettably,
Indian bureaucracy suffers from triple split-personalities. Each personality
manifests itself as per the target group. A bureaucrat is an arrogant ruler
while dealing with the public. In this persona, he looks at the citizens as
seekers of favours and considers himself to be the dispenser of largesse. As a
result, he behaves in a haughty, pretentious, condescending, pompous and
supercilious manner.
The second
personality becomes dominant when a bureaucrat interacts with the American and
European authorities. He becomes an epitome of humility and decorousness; and displays
immaculate manners (bordering on servility). He seeks scholarship and green
card for his progeny. Further, he craves for a lucrative appointment under UNO,
World Bank and other international organisations. He knows that his
candidature would need positive support from the developed nations and hence puts
up a show of ‘good behaviour’.
However, it is the third personality of a bureaucrat that concerns
us with respect to the implementation of OROP. It manifests itself when he
interacts with his political master. He becomes the most servile, timid,
gutless and spineless creature on the earth. Even the most degrading treatment
meted out to him is endured with inexplicable reticence. Some states treat
bureaucrats in an offensive manner but there is not even a whimper of
protest.
No bureaucrat ever opposes or questions his minister. During a
social gathering, a senior bureaucrat was candid enough to admit, “I stay in my
job as long as he is happy. Otherwise, I will be shunted to some innocuous job
in some NE state. Who wants to risk it? Therefore, during meetings, I keep
looking at the facial expression of my minister for clue and tailor my response
accordingly”.
It is commonly joked amongst the bureaucrats that their degree of
impotence is directly proportional to the nearness of their retirement date.
Every bureaucrat dreads retirement and consequent loss of power, recognition
and perks that he had got so used to during his long innings with the
Government. Thus senior bureaucrats become the most pliable officials. Fading
away gracefully is not a trait that most bureaucrats can be accused of
suffering from. They, by their very nature, are ‘lingerers’ and hate the sight
of an ‘exit door’. For reemployment, they need to cultivate their political
mentors and stay on their right side.
Governorship is
by far the most sought after appointment. The next option is to grab a vacancy
in UPSC, CEC, CAG, CIC and such other establishments. Many functionaries
initiate proposals for the constitution of monitoring/regulatory commissions to
create suitable slots for themselves. As a desperate resort, some bureaucrats
‘offer themselves’ for appointment on an expert committee, howsoever obscure it
may be. Committee members get office, staff, telephone, car and other perks
along with honorarium.
In view of the
above, is it ever possible for any senior bureaucrat to go against the wishes
of his minister? It takes no time for a minister to remove a recalcitrant
bureaucrat. They are ‘survivors’ by temperament and swim with the tide. No
bureaucrat stopped scams related to 2G spectrum, coal mines and Commonwealth
games.
To prove my
point, let me recall Rahul Gandhi’s demand for an increase in the number of
subsidized gas cylinders from 9 to 12 per month at a Congress rally at Delhi on
17 January 2014. The Cabinet approved it on 30 January and the new policy came
into effect on 01 February 2014. Wishes of the Congress Vice President were
implemented within a period of 15 days. Although the then Oil Minister M
Veerappa Moily estimated the increase to cost the exchequer Rs 5,000 crore
annually, no bureaucrat objected to the huge fiscal penalty to stall it. They
knew what was good for them.
The contrast is obvious. In the current dispensation, one year has passed;
neither the Defence Minister nor the Prime Minister can fulfill the solemn
promises made by them on the OROP issue. Progressively, Modi is appearing to be
a weak and powerless leader, whose writ does not run at all; making some wonder
if Rahul has a bigger chest than Modi’s proverbial 56 inch one to enforce
orders.
Therefore, it is grossly unfair for us to blame the bureaucrats for
the OROP logjam. No bureaucrat can dare to stall it unless so instructed by his
ministers, whose bidding he does so very diligently. Someone in the apex
authority is sabotaging the issue by asking the bureaucrats to keep raising
infructuous and irrelevant queries. Bureaucrats are simply following orders.
Postscript
OROP has ceased to be a question of financial compensation. It has
become an article of faith with immense emotive connotations. It symbolizes
reluctance of a government to fulfill its solemn commitment to its soldiers and
is considered symptomatic of the moral deprivation of the worst kind of a
two-faced political party.
The Modi government could not have handled the issue in a more senseless
manner. It is surprising that Modi appears unconcerned at the inordinate delay denting
his credibility. In a short period of time he has frittered away goodwill of 50
lakh strong military community and their family members, whose en-block support
ensured his electoral victory. Modi is certainly going to rue it.
