Top-heavy bureaucracy

The appointment of 21 additional chief secretaries in Haryana against the sanctioned six positions has taken flak from the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee, which has cited an observation of the CAG from 2014 in this regard. The fundamental objection raised is over the additional cost to the state in view of their pay scales being equivalent to the Chief Secretary, though there are other more consequential implications too. To be fair, it must be noted that this is a practice being followed in nearly all states. Punjab has more than a dozen officers in that scale, besides 13 Directors-General of Police.

What is at issue here is the top-heavy administration. That means large salary packets being given out for little additional benefit. No corporate structure could sustain itself like that. Of course, governments cannot be run on corporate principles, but then it is also a fact that most state governments are barely sustaining themselves. One thing governments cannot escape is they run on limited budgets with unlimited demands on them. Punjab has been holding back on hiring lower staff even in departments where they are needed, essentially because it cannot afford the salary bill. That is affecting the quality of delivery of public services, whereas the top brass can hardly make contributions commensurate with their positions.

Most promotions at the top level happen to accommodate people lower on the seniority list at a higher position. That often is in accordance with the preferences of the political executive of the day. A large pool gets created to give flexibility of choice. And that is where the crucial question needs to be asked: Why this picking? No officer reaching that level can be — or deemed — incompetent, and should not even lack integrity. Simply observing seniority would ensure there is no incentive to follow a particular political line. The defence services have largely observed seniority — perhaps not recently — without disastrous consequences. And even pick-and-choose has not ensured perfect governance in states. It may be time to have a relook at the promotion policy, especially in the Central services that remain a useful legacy from the colonial past.