Major General Mrinal Suman (Gfiles Nov 2008)
The most worrisome time in the career of a bureaucrat is just prior to his retirement. He dreads loss of power, recognition and perks that he had got so used to during his long innings with the Government. The worst of course is the fear of losing Government accommodation in the capital. 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.
Every retiring bureaucrat undertakes a highly systematic exercise regarding his future prospects. First, he explores the possibilities of obtaining extension of service in his current appointment. This is the most preferred option as it provides continuity and additional time to fix up things. In case that does not appear possible, he starts assessing his chances for post retirement employment. Governorship is by far the most sought after appointment. All god fathers cultivated over decades of service are contacted and sounded. If the response is not too encouraging, the next option is to ascertain vacancies existing in UPSC, CEC, CAG and other such establishments. CIC has opened new vistas, both at the Central and state levels.
In case none of the above measures work, many functionaries initiate proposals for the constitution of monitoring/regulatory commissions to create suitable slots for themselves. As a final resort, the retiring bureaucrat ‘offers himself’ for appointment on an expert committee, howsoever obscure it may be. At any given time there are numerous expert committees functioning under different ministries. It is often said that Indian governance is totally dependent on expert committees.
Expert committees serve three important purposes. First, constitution of an expert committee is a time tested method of deferring decision making and putting an inopportune subject in deep freeze. Therefore, the Government finds it to be a highly convenient expedient. Secondly, the serving functionaries obtain desired recommendations from a pliant expert committee and in case things go wrong later on, they shift the onus to the committee concerned. And finally, expert committees provide employment opportunities for the well-connected.
To be eligible to be appointed on an expert committee, an aspirant should have retired from a Secretary level appointment. It helps as many erstwhile subordinates can be persuaded to recommend aspirant’s name for old time’s sake. Most bureaucrats feel obliged to help out an unemployed senior, knowing fully well that they would also be on the other side of the fence in near future. Therefore, they recognise that it is in their own interest to keep the tradition of accommodating ‘oldies’ going.
It is essential that an aspirant is located in Delhi or NCR as frequent contacts and networking are essential. If located away from the centre of power, one may get forgotten. Most importantly, an aspirant has to convince and assure the environment that he carries no independent opinion and would submit recommendations as desired by the appointing authority.
Every ministry has a well recognised pool of self-proclaimed experts. They always remain employed on one committee or the other and ensure that their employment on another committee is ready prior to completing the current assignment. In case of time lag, the tenure of the current committee is got extended. Another ploy is for a committee to recommend constitution of another committee to look into a specific aspect of its recommendations. Naturally, experts of the first committee are considered ideally suited for the follow-up committee as well.
There are some whose influence spans across more than one ministry as they feel competent to handle any subject under the sun. In some cases, they may be on more than one committee simultaneously. Committee members get office, staff, telephone, car and other perks along with honorarium. Many well-entrenched experts have permanent offices allotted to them. They continue to occupy them, irrespective of the committee they are working with – only the name of the committee is changed outside their office.
Committee members keep the appointing authority (generally the Secretary of the ministry concerned) happy through periodic personal briefings. Proposed recommendations are shown and directions sought. At times even the Minister is kept in the loop. Committee recommendations are prepared as per the ‘guidance’ provided by the appointing authority. Such an exercise is commonly called as ‘tailoring a recommendation’ or ‘situating an appreciation’. It is amazing as to how skillfully the whole exercise is carried out.
Some veterans with long experience of committees are sensitive about their public image and do not want to be seen toeing official line. A convenient middle path is found. In addition to all the recommendations sought by the functionaries, a few unrealistic but innovative looking suggestions are also included. Such suggestions are only for academic purposes as even a lay man would know about their impracticality.
No proficiency is required to be a member of an expert committee as every committee is permitted to engage skilled persons to do the spade work. In any case, most committee reports are compilations of submissions made by different affected entities. Although they run into a number of volumes, they contain nothing new or pioneering. However, voluminous reports serve two purposes – one, no functionary dares to try to read them and, secondly, they show hard work put in by the concerned committees. Needless to say, most reports are consigned to proverbial shelves to gather dust. All recommendations remain unimplemented except the one suggesting constitution of another expert committee. The cycle thus goes on and the employment continues.
The most worrisome time in the career of a bureaucrat is just prior to his retirement. He dreads loss of power, recognition and perks that he had got so used to during his long innings with the Government. The worst of course is the fear of losing Government accommodation in the capital. 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.
Every retiring bureaucrat undertakes a highly systematic exercise regarding his future prospects. First, he explores the possibilities of obtaining extension of service in his current appointment. This is the most preferred option as it provides continuity and additional time to fix up things. In case that does not appear possible, he starts assessing his chances for post retirement employment. Governorship is by far the most sought after appointment. All god fathers cultivated over decades of service are contacted and sounded. If the response is not too encouraging, the next option is to ascertain vacancies existing in UPSC, CEC, CAG and other such establishments. CIC has opened new vistas, both at the Central and state levels.
In case none of the above measures work, many functionaries initiate proposals for the constitution of monitoring/regulatory commissions to create suitable slots for themselves. As a final resort, the retiring bureaucrat ‘offers himself’ for appointment on an expert committee, howsoever obscure it may be. At any given time there are numerous expert committees functioning under different ministries. It is often said that Indian governance is totally dependent on expert committees.
Expert committees serve three important purposes. First, constitution of an expert committee is a time tested method of deferring decision making and putting an inopportune subject in deep freeze. Therefore, the Government finds it to be a highly convenient expedient. Secondly, the serving functionaries obtain desired recommendations from a pliant expert committee and in case things go wrong later on, they shift the onus to the committee concerned. And finally, expert committees provide employment opportunities for the well-connected.
To be eligible to be appointed on an expert committee, an aspirant should have retired from a Secretary level appointment. It helps as many erstwhile subordinates can be persuaded to recommend aspirant’s name for old time’s sake. Most bureaucrats feel obliged to help out an unemployed senior, knowing fully well that they would also be on the other side of the fence in near future. Therefore, they recognise that it is in their own interest to keep the tradition of accommodating ‘oldies’ going.
It is essential that an aspirant is located in Delhi or NCR as frequent contacts and networking are essential. If located away from the centre of power, one may get forgotten. Most importantly, an aspirant has to convince and assure the environment that he carries no independent opinion and would submit recommendations as desired by the appointing authority.
Every ministry has a well recognised pool of self-proclaimed experts. They always remain employed on one committee or the other and ensure that their employment on another committee is ready prior to completing the current assignment. In case of time lag, the tenure of the current committee is got extended. Another ploy is for a committee to recommend constitution of another committee to look into a specific aspect of its recommendations. Naturally, experts of the first committee are considered ideally suited for the follow-up committee as well.
There are some whose influence spans across more than one ministry as they feel competent to handle any subject under the sun. In some cases, they may be on more than one committee simultaneously. Committee members get office, staff, telephone, car and other perks along with honorarium. Many well-entrenched experts have permanent offices allotted to them. They continue to occupy them, irrespective of the committee they are working with – only the name of the committee is changed outside their office.
Committee members keep the appointing authority (generally the Secretary of the ministry concerned) happy through periodic personal briefings. Proposed recommendations are shown and directions sought. At times even the Minister is kept in the loop. Committee recommendations are prepared as per the ‘guidance’ provided by the appointing authority. Such an exercise is commonly called as ‘tailoring a recommendation’ or ‘situating an appreciation’. It is amazing as to how skillfully the whole exercise is carried out.
Some veterans with long experience of committees are sensitive about their public image and do not want to be seen toeing official line. A convenient middle path is found. In addition to all the recommendations sought by the functionaries, a few unrealistic but innovative looking suggestions are also included. Such suggestions are only for academic purposes as even a lay man would know about their impracticality.
No proficiency is required to be a member of an expert committee as every committee is permitted to engage skilled persons to do the spade work. In any case, most committee reports are compilations of submissions made by different affected entities. Although they run into a number of volumes, they contain nothing new or pioneering. However, voluminous reports serve two purposes – one, no functionary dares to try to read them and, secondly, they show hard work put in by the concerned committees. Needless to say, most reports are consigned to proverbial shelves to gather dust. All recommendations remain unimplemented except the one suggesting constitution of another expert committee. The cycle thus goes on and the employment continues.
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