Manish Sabharwal, Chairman of TeamLease, has started a new debate about reforming the civil service by saying that India’s current system of government is much bigger than it needs to be. He said that the country doesn’t need almost 75 departments and almost 200 secretaries in order to work well. He said that having such a big group makes things less accountable and takes longer to make decisions, which makes running the government more difficult than it needs to be. Sabharwal looked at other systems around the world and said that some big countries run with a lot fewer departments and top officials.
He made it clear that the rise in high-level jobs over the years has not always led to better results. Instead, jobs that combine and too many levels of power often make it hard to tell who is responsible for what and slow down performance.
The performance system needs to be reset
Sabharwal said that one of the biggest problems is that the civil services don’t have a good system for evaluating success. He said that most cops get the same high scores, which makes it hard to tell the difference between good and bad workers. He thinks this makes people less motivated and less likely to do their best.
He said that changes will only look good if they are accompanied by real performance-based reviews. To make the bureaucracy more quick and efficient, it needs a clear system that rewards success and deals with underperformance.
Push for specialisation and entry from the side
Sabharwal also said that government jobs should put more emphasis on having knowledge in a certain area. He said that the policy problems we face today in areas like healthcare, education, infrastructure, and economic management need experts to solve them. He said that planning is less consistent and in-depth when generalist officers are moved around a lot.
To fix this, he pushed for more experts from the business sector and education to move into the public sector.Making and following rules could be better with the help of experts who have worked in the real world, especially in areas that involve a lot of difficult technology.
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How We Think About Governance
In addition to changes to structures and procedures, Sabharwal stressed that the civil service needs a change in its culture. He said that managers shouldn’t see themselves as bosses but as public agents and helpers. He thinks this shift in thinking is very important for boosting trust, speed and government that cares about its citizens.
People across the country are talking faster about changing how the government works because of what he said. The economies and societies of India are changing fast, and it’s becoming clear that the country’s government processes need to change too.
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