Viewpoints
While many of our arguments against brain drain as one of the
worst plagues of higher technical education seem to have lost their appeal in
the age of globalization, one hears voices of discontent about a special kind of
brain drain in the field today. The number of IIT graduates branching out into
administrative services has seen a noticeable increase in the last few years.
There is a perception that the primary goal of institutes of higher learning
such as the IITs is to contribute to the overall scientific and technological
development of the country while another associates a tangible advantage with
the deployment of the technically equipped in the administrative sector.
In an effort to understand/define our attitude to this
phenomenon, we invited two of our colleagues to present their points of view on
the issue of Administrative Services as a Career Option for the
IITians.
Though a certain opprobrium is associated with the word
`bureaucracy', yet it is an institution indispensable to modern government. The
BBC serial Yes Minister was an excellent exercise in revealing and
capturing the soulless and self-serving nature of bureaucracy, The Indian Civil
Service (ICS) which had its genesis in the untrained, underpaid and greedy
underwriters of the East India Company, grew to become the `steel frame' of the
British Raj, and gave way to today's Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and
other all-India and central services. The civil service has always attracted the
best in the country. The members, recruited after a fair and competitive
examination (much like our JEE), undergo an intensive training in revenue
management, legal procedure, and community administration. It is a formidable
institution, with excellent service conditions. Its members control virtually
all levers of administrative power, enjoy high remuneration (the best in the
government sector), immense prestige and status. While defending the
constitutional guarantees to civil servants, Sardar Patel told the Constituent
Assembly, "I am speaking with a sense of heavy responsibility and I must confess
that in point of patriotism, in point of loyalty, in point of sincerity and in
point of ability, you cannot have a substitute."
In the last few decades, the civil service has lost some of its
shine, and a sense of disenchantment has set in. However, the debate on whether
the civil services should be a career option for young people today is marred by
a myopic view of the opportunities it provides for career advancement, for a
fulfilling life, and the capacity to carry out the benevolent functions that
were once associated with it. Primarily, two reasons are advanced why a career
in the civil service should be shunned. Firstly, that it epitomises a
degenerate, decadent and corrupt system, so anyone who enters this service will
naturally succumb to its faults. And secondly, that individual personality and
creativity have no place in the service and so, it is bound to lead to a dull,
repetitive, and alienated working life. As for corruption, my argument is that
the civil service is only a microcosm of the society we live in; corruption is
not unique to the civil service. And in any case, acts of corruption are matters
of personal choice. There are several examples of honest and upright officers in
the civil service, some have even become media celebrities for confronting
corruption. The creativity argument is a basic criticism about a wooden
bureaucracy made since the time of Lord Curzon and has often been repeated. In
my view, it is meaningless to blame the perceived nature of the job: a truly
creative person is capable of leaving the imprint of his personality on the most
mundane chore. Besides, the vast array of sectors that a civil servant handles
is unmatched by any other in our society.
In the specific context of the IITs or engineering graduates, it is
sometimes asserted that the wealth of talent and skill, carefully nurtured, is
`wasted' in the civil services, that these can be manned by `lesser mortals' or
the `generalists'. This argument has further gained ground as the number of
engineering graduates who qualify for the services has gradually increased, now
accounting for more than 40 per cent of the recruits, with IIT graduates
securing very high positions in the entry examinations. It seems odd to me that
a service that is highly valued in terms of the potential contribution it can
make to the management and governance of the country, should be considered
inappropriate for the skilled and the talented. I would think it is here that
their services would be required the most for the greater common good.
"It seems odd to me that a service that is highly valued in
terms of the potential contribution it can make to the management and governance
of the country, should be considered inappropriate for the skilled and the
talented. "
Further, the civil service is not merely the preserve of the
`generalist'. Governance today is a complex matter. In any case, civil servants
are not only responsible for maintaining law and order or collecting revenue,
they also head scientific and technical departments. The expansion in the duties
of the government, more so since the independence, makes it imperative that the
civil services are manned by people with calibre. After all, the standard of
administration depends on the people appointed to these very responsible posts.
It might even be said (without being flippant) that it is the duty of talented
young persons to serve the country.
It is true that rather than a service motive, some show a
preference for the civil service charmed by the flashing red light on the
official white ambassador cars, some might even think of it as a haven for the
indolent and the status quoist, and thus wish to be a part of it. Yet it is also
a place for the dedicated workaholic, the reformer, the man of ideas, the man
who wants to replace red-tape with flexibility and initiative (qualities we
cherish at IIT Kanpur). It is not fair to assume that individual motivations to
opt for the civil services are always malevolent. There are several examples of
civil servants who valiantly crossed seemingly insurmountable hurdles, sometimes
at a great cost to their personal lives, and contributed to social development
or sought to clean up the system. A few names that readily spring to mind are
K.J. Alphons, Arun Bhatia, Keshav Verma, and S.R. Rao. Civil service activism is
now a reality. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that civil
service provides possibly the best platform for activism.
Moreover, since the recruits enter the services in their mid-20s,
they can even choose to opt out after serving for a few years, as indeed some
do. The wide and varied experience gained as a result of their postings to a
diverse variety of jobs stands them in good stead in finding employment
opportunities not only in large corporations, but also if they choose, in the
voluntary sector, or even in electoral politics. Civil servants work in various
capacities as legal representatives of the government, implementing programmes
of the popularly elected governments as heads of district administration to jobs
at the United Nations and the World Bank, formulating policies which touch the
lives of millions of people across the globe. So far, no civil servant has
complained that he `wasted' his time while in service, whatever other misgivings
he might have.
The apparent intellectual disdain of the civil services is perhaps
caused by some of our own insecurities, especially in institutions of higher
learning where entry into the civil services is thought of as `brain in a drain'
as opposed to `brain drain'. The former is worse as the student is `lost' within
the country! Fortunately, this is not the case at IIT Kanpur. An open and
unconstrained atmosphere here encourages the students to decide their own
future.
The need of the hour is the bold, fearless, independent, skilled
and competent civil servant. In providing competent civil servants to the
country, centres of excellence such as the IITs are only performing their task
of nationbuilding. As a result, the brilliant record of IIT Kanpur graduates in
gaining entry to the civil services has only enhanced the prestige of the
Institute.
Munmun Jha
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Kanpur - 208016
e.mail:
mjha@iitk.ac.in
How suited is an administrative career for a graduate
of IIT Kanpur? This question is best answered by considering what qualities our
graduates are supposed to possess, and also what an administrative career in
India requires. The Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) endeavours to select 18
year olds with superior analytical abilities, along with a good knowledge of
10+2 Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics. The JEE is tailored to provide
challenging problems, most of which require some independent thought for
solution in a timely manner. Out of the successful JEE candidates, generally
those with better All India Ranks come to IIT Kanpur. At the Institute, the UG
curriculum aims to hone the problem solving abilities, and to provide a solid
foundation in state-of-the-art engineering and science education. Our UG
students take numerous courses, most of which demand initiative, planning,
independent thought, and resourcefulness in carrying out the assignments and
projects, and in passing the examinations. It may be argued that these
youngsters are not very good at time-management, but after facing the incessant
and demanding schedules of quizzes, examinations, assignment and project
deadlines for four years, they graduate with a healthy respect for time. The
ability to solve problems in a time-bound manner sets our students apart in the
job market. Despite the increasing difficulties in the recent years, a high
level of undergraduate education has been maintained, which is perhaps the best
in the country.
"It appears that only a miniscule fraction of the civil service
aspirants are attracted to the career because they genuinely think that they can
make a difference."
Engineering and science education in itself demands the following
qualities in a student: honesty, objectivity, creativity, and diligence.
Furthermore, IIT Kanpur has traditionally taken pride in imparting the technical
education in a very open and democratic fashion, which encourages a student to
ask questions. A lecture (or tutorial) is not considered complete until the
teacher is able to remove the fundamental doubts of a student. Upto a certain
extent, it can be argued that such a transparent and democratic academic
environment instills the courage to question the judgement and knowledge of
one's superiors, which in turn, keeps the teachers on their toes in the
classroom.
How useful are the qualities of creativity, honesty, objectivity,
diligence, independence of thought, respect for time, and the courage to
question the wisdom of superiors in an administrative career in India? Ideally,
a developing country such as India needs precisely these same qualities in its
administrators. Combined with a good knowledge of science and engineering, such
skills may even be considered best suited for an administrative career. However,
the ground reality is quite the opposite. The administrative set up in India is
outdated. The bureaucracy of the colonial era has, by and large, survived. The
administrative structure was not reformed after the independence to suit the
needs of the young republic. Moreover, the checks and balances were gradually
removed yielding to a lack of accountability and corruption. Since democratic
ideals of the founders are yet to be implemented at the grassroot level, there
is no public demand that the administrative set up be overhauled. The latter is
primarily due to the fact that a large majority of the populace is deprived of
basic education, and thus the people are largely unable to demand their
fundamental rights through democratic means. Thus ignorance of the public, which
had facilitated colonial rule, now facilitates the rule by inefficient and
corrupt political class. One even wonders whether there is a vested interest in
maintaining the status quo! Whatever be the reasons for it, the administrative
machinery, instead of being a dynamic engine of economic growth and social
development, has remained a puppet in the hands of its political masters. The
results are quite obvious. It is a prevalent belief that a civil servant who
displays independence of thought, honesty, and courage to question his superiors
is least likely to advance in the administrative hierarchy. The prevailing
culture of sycophancy quickly stifles creativity and objectivity. In this
scenario, it is difficult to imagine of what benefit an engineering/science
education can be for an administrator. A significant number of IIT Kanpur
graduates have passed - indeed topped - the Civil Services Entrance examinations
in the past several decades. How many of them have applied their special skills
and knowledge to offer a solution to the basic problems of the country? It
appears that only a miniscule fraction of the civil service aspirants are
attracted to the career because they genuinely think that they can make a
difference. Most of the aspirants have in mind the proximity to power, the VIP
status, and the illegitimate gains that accrue from the unchecked power and the
prevailing lack of accountability. Unless these be the career objectives, the
present administrative services are definitely not an avenue of professional
advancement for a young engineer or scientist.
Ashish Tewari
Department of Aerospace Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Kanpur - 208016
e.mail:
ashtew@iitk.ac.in
The viewpoints have been taken from IIT Kanpur
website.