Owing to its large size and importance, bureaucracy has been regarded as an organized governance subsystem of the total societal system. Over time, it has developed its structures, processes, values, norms and process of behaviour. These are what form part of the bureaucratic work culture. The manner in which administration is carried out, the way state machinery interacts with other organs of the state, including other departments as well as citizens, the procedure of taking decisions, etc. all form part of the work culture of bureaucracy.

Bureaucratic work culture in India

The bureaucratic work culture in India is characterized by a strict hierarchy and a rule-based decision making. An important characteristic of the government is that it is spread thin- i.e. it has been performing many functions without necessarily having the manpower to successfully execute them.

At the same time, although government appears understaffed in totality, many departments are riddled with underemployed personnel, i.e. non-optimal utilization of human resources. As a result, the work culture that has developed in administration is that of red-tapism, inefficiency in providing services, inordinate delays in decision making and even lethargy. In view of this misallocation of resources, it is no wonder that many state and central PSUs are making losses after allowing private players to compete with them.

Downsizing government

There is a need of restructuring, reorganizing and downsizing various ministries and departments which would bring greater efficiency and cut cost in the spirit of minimum government maximum governance. Second administrative reforms commission, has also recommended the winding up or merger of several government departments. Downsizing can be achieved through:

• The ministerial staff divided in numerous categories such as UDC, LDC etc. to be replaced by a multiskilled computer savvy position called Executive Assistant.
• In Singapore government services are digitized. Apart from this, the government selects best bureaucrats on contract which can renew. This model is worth replicating.
• Lateral entry from other services and from open market and a reward system for performance.

It also important that downsizing should not lead to manpower crunch at the field level. Therefore, government should focus on rightsizing rather than mindless public sector downsizing and retrenchment.

Privatization of Services 

• Post liberalization, the role of state has changed from being the major provider of services to being a facilitator for development. As such, there has been a trend towards privatisation, especially of loss making and peripheral businesses such as hotel, tourism, engineering etc. Resultant competition improves cost effectiveness and service quality. However, essential services of the state in a developing country with large poor population and huge inequality cannot be privatised. Bureaucracy being more people oriented than the markets ensures that responsibility of the state towards all citizens are carried out in a fair and just manner.
• PPP models such as in infrastructure and other services like health are still evolving and complete withdrawal of state from them in an attempt to downsize government should be proceeded with caution, keeping in view the affordability of services for common citizens.
• It is expected to promote competition leading to cost cutting and greater customer satisfaction. However, handing over infrastructure work and people-oriented services like health etc. to the private sector may not necessarily lead to improvement in efficiency because the private sector would lay stress on profit making and may therefore neglect the public interest. As the result, essential services may no longer be affordable or accessible to large segments of the population.

Conclusion

Thus, the concerns related to affordability of essential services, social equity, accountability, labour concerns like employment conditions, erosion of wages and decreased levels of union membership need to be addressed before outright downsizing of government machinery. In order to improve the work culture and increase productivity, following steps may be considered:

• Address the political-bureaucracy relationship: Political pressure and instructions erode the decisionmaking culture of bureaucracy. Rather than being citizen centric and functioning as a unit, the administration becomes self-centered and works in a manner to meet individual interests.
• Transparent and objective performance assessment system to keep the staff motivated.
• Accountability towards decision making to be instilled in the organisation.
• Measures such as biometric attendance, timely reporting in office and meetings, regular feedback and updates, etc. can help develop a health work culture and increase productivity.

GS PAPER IV Ethics UPSC Mains Question

In order to improve the bureaucratic work culture and productivity, there is a need to downsize government and privatize some of the services. Critically discuss with examples.

Approach: 

• Brief introduction about Indian bureaucratic work culture.
• Discuss both the pros and cons of downsizing government and privatizing some services.
• Conclude

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