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The book is a unique work, which combines "summarisation of the vast body of conceptual knowledge of public administration with the evolution of Indian Administration". The dynamic nature of public administration has been very appropriately brought out by the author in his Introduction: "`85Public administration can never be static or stationary, but needs to be constantly redefined". In Bidyut Chakrabarty’s words: "The Indian example is perhaps the most appropriate illustration to understand the changing nature of public administration." The first chapter, ‘Public Administration-Theory and Practice’ traces the evolution of the theory and practice of public administration from the classical concepts of Woodrow Wilson to the modern thinking of Amartya Sen. The second chapter, ‘The Theory and Practice of Governance’, distinguishes governance as a concept from public administration: "If assessed superficially, governance is just another mode of public administration. But if one locates governance in the global neo-liberal thrust for social economic and political homogenisation, the concept acquires completely different connotations". The third chapter, ‘Administrative Reforms in a Changing World’, highlights the inevitability of administrative reforms in response to a dynamic society. It has been brought out very lucidly that the Woodrow Wilson model of bureaucracy and Frederick Winslow Taylor’s scientific management, emphasized stability rather than change and, thus, administration is more of science than art. But with the entry of the behavioural school of thought, administration was no longer a science and was the ‘outcome of a unity of views under specific circumstances’. And, since the views that shape the articulation of administration are in a state of constant flux, the change in administration is a natural corollary. The book traces the history of public administration in India from the colonial era, in the fourth chapter. It emphasises that Indian administration represents both continuity and change — a colonial bureaucracy continuing with almost the same structure but with the roles changed from regulation to development. The fifth chapter on ‘Jawaharlal Nehru and Administrative Reconstruction’, brings out the contributions of Nehru and Sardar Patel. They helped the metamorphosis of the bureaucracy from being an agent of a colonial power for control by the masses to an effective instrument of a democratic government for bringing about socio-economic change. It also describes the intial steps, taken immediately after Independence, to reform the administration. Chakrabarty has given a good account of the administrative reforms in the post-Independence period—from A D Gorwala’s report in 1951 to the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission. These have been extensively covered in chapters 6 and 7. But there are a lot of portions which are exactly the same in these two chapters. (Indeed more than 30 pages of chapter 7 are an exact reproduction of chapter 6). Chakrabarty states that two major developments in the 1990s have been the 73rd and the 74th Amendments to the Constitution, and the Sixth Pay Commission. Undoubtedly, the democratic decentralisation brought about by the two constitutional amendments has been historic, as empowered local self- governments have become a reality. As far as the Fifth Pay Commission is concerned, it could be debated whether the Fifth Pay Commission’s Report is really a watershed in governance reforms. The pressure to reform the administration had already started mounting with the ‘liberalisation’ and ‘globalisation’ in the early 1990s. Yet, most of the substantive recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission, such as downsizing of government and contractual appointments in certain areas, have not been implemented. Although Chakrabarty gives a good account of the early reform initiatives, he has missed out the recent ones, namely, the Expenditure Reforms Commission 2000, the Civil Services Examination Review Committee 2001, Surinder Nath Committee 2003 and Committee on Civil Service Reforms 2004. For a book published in 2006, covering these reform initiatives would have further enhanced its value. To sum up, the book gives
a good conceptual account of the reforms in public administration and a
satisfactory description of the reform efforts in Indian administration.
The book lays the foundation for further academic research on Indian
administration. The last 10 years have seen substantial efforts towards
reforming public administration in India, and the state governments,
too, have been taking similar measures. There have been significant
achievements in institutionalising reforms measures. Right to
Information, constitution of Lok Ayuktas in various states, e-governance
initiatives, transparency and simplification of several service delivery
systems are some examples. However, despite the existence of a large
number of recommendations, the actual reforms have been very few. It
needs to be analysed why this is so. The ultimate challenge, however,
still remains: How to make public administration citizen-centric,
responsive, accountable, transparent and effective? The annotated
bibliography is a valuable resource for any researcher of public
administration.
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