A Languishing Cadre

Desaraju Surya
Hyderabad: "What is the state of bureaucracy in the state of Andhra Pradesh," a high-ranking Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer has been asked.
"Very sorry," was his simple reply.
Counted as one of the most efficient and upright officers in the state, this bureaucrat was evidently perturbed over the state of affairs, particularly in the last four years, in the state administration and the manner in which the political bosses have been running roughshod over the bureaucracy.
"Barring a minority of officers who have obvious leanings towards the powers that be, bureaucrats in general are certainly disgusted, to say the least. To say that the force is highly demoralised will not be an exaggeration," he observed.
Of course, this officer is not alone in lamenting over the sorry state of affairs as there are several others who echo similar feelings.
A certain despondency has crept into the bureaucracy as it increasingly feels the cadre management is awful. "Bad cadre management is adding to the problems of the already beleaguered ranks," many bureaucrats point out. With too much of politics in play in the posting of officials of various cadres, IAS officers are increasingly seeking political patronage to land in posts of choice.
"When an officer owes his position to a political master, can you expect him to be objective in his work? This scenario is also resulting in bad blood between the bureaucrats as well," another senior officer lamented.
The general complaint is that in the last four years, political masters have literally prevailed over the bureaucracy and vitiated the administration. So much so that some young officers are turning down coveted posts like the district Collector while some incumbents are desperately seeking to move out.
A very recent example establishes how worse the cadre management in the state is. A young IAS officer was posted as joint collector of a district but the order was revoked the next day. He was then kept waiting for 15 days for another posting despite clear vacancies in his cadre. Since the officer had no political patronage, he had to virtually beg the Chief Secretary and other senior officials in the Chief Minister's Office for a posting. "Such instances only leave the officers demoralised. If it is an young officer who is into his second or third posting, the impact is grave," a senior bureaucrat noted.
During the previous regime, top level bureaucrats had direct access to the Chief Minister and any new ideas used to be communicated to the top boss directly. Now, bureaucrats say, the scene has changed. "We will first have to please the secretary concerned in the Chief Minister's Office to put any new idea or proposal across to the Chief Minister. If this 'middleman' is not satisfied for whatever reason, the file is dumped in the dustbin. So, many highly-placed officers have stopped coming up with anything new or innovative and are content with doing whatever comes their way," one officer explained.
All this has resulted in antipathy and many senior officers are opting to leave IAS in search of better pastures. Many officers started feeling "out of place" in the current set up and are hence putting in their papers. Many others are seeking a deputation either to the Government of India or their home states.