December 16, 2009 Administrative Reforms Bullet Points Second Administrative Reforms Commission was set up in Aug 2005

Commission submits 15 reports Nov 12, 2009: UPSC favours Aptitude Test over Civil Service Prelim Exam Alagh Committee Report in 2001 had favoured testing candidates in a common rather than an optional subject Hota Committee in 2004 had favoured introducing aptitude & leadership tests for selection Current two-stage examination structure is a legacy of Kothari Committee report in 1976 Backgrounder Far-reaching changes in the global economy have made it necessary to build a competent and well-functioning civil service and as a result of recent changes induced by globalization, countries are competing inter-nationally not only in the market place but also on the quality of their governance structures. The changed policy of deregulation, liberalization and competition has suggested a new role for the civil services, emphasizing the strategic management of the economy in less prescriptive and more market-driven approaches. The changes in the economic structure have raised new demands related to control and accountability of the civil services as well as new definitions of professional obligations. In addition, the role and importance of civil society organizations and the private sector in the Indian economy and in society in general have increased substantially over the years, leading to the demand for a more participative government. It is in recognition of the above mentioned realities that the Second Administrative Reforms Commission was set up in August 2005 with a wide ranging mandate to prepare a blueprint for revamping the public administration and to suggest measures to achieve a pro-active, responsive, accountable, sustainable and efficient administration for the country at all levels of government. Administrative reforms is a complex subject. While civil services reforms is a key component of administrative reforms because the quality of public service is critical to determining outcomes administrative reforms would require addressing a number of legal, structural and procedural issues in not only the executive but also in other organs of government, i.e. the legislature and the judiciary. Perhaps because these were not comprehensively addressed in the past by the several commissions and committees that had been set up, the reforms undertaken so far have been somewhat incremental and ad hoc. In this context, the mandate given to the Second Administrative Reforms Commission seeks to address reforms in a much more holistic manner on issues and institutions which have a direct bearing on a transparent inclusive and accountable system of governance. The commission has thus inter alia given far-reaching recommendations in respect of ethics in

governance, social capital and trusts, crisis management, conflict resolution, apart of course from issues pertaining to reforms in the police and the criminal justice system, further strengthening the Right to Information Act, empowering local self-government institutions so that they meaningfully function as the third tier of government and so on. All these reforms are interconnected and interrelated and when implemented would play a major role in transforming our entire system of governance. Civil services reforms itself encompasses a wide range of areas starting from the recruitment to the civil services, capacity building, system of placements, relationship between the political and the permanent executive and most importantly, the ethical values that the civil services must inculcate. Because of existing systemic deficiencies in these areas, our administration in general and the civil services in particular, are perceived to have become wooden, inflexible, self-perpetuating and inward-looking. It is sad but true that the civil service in India evokes the metaphors of what Michel Crozier calls bureaucratic behaviour; the normal association that people have with the vulgar and frequent use of the word "bureaucracy", which as Crozier explains, evokes the slowness, the ponderousness, the routine, the complication of procedures, and the maladaptive responses of "bureaucratic" organizations to the needs which they should satisfy, and the frustrations which their members, clients, or subjects consequently endure. While recommending a wide slew of reforms in the civil services, the Administrative Reforms Commission has identified and been guided by a set of core principles which form the raison detre for the proposed reforms. These core principles are as follows: Setting right the asymmetry of power: There is an imbalance in the exercise of power in governance. Often systemic rigidities, needless complexities and over-centralization make public servants ineffective and helpless in achieving positive outcomes. On the other hand, negative power of abuse of authority through flagrant violation of law, petty tyranny and nuisance value is virtually unchecked. This situation is further aggravated by the asymmetry of power in our society. The privileged government position gives even the lower government functionaries enormous power over most of the citizens given their abject poverty, illiteracy and a lingering feudal culture. This needs to be set right in any effort towards public services reforms through sustained capacity buildings and training which can change mind sets. Insulating civil servants from undue political interference : In a democracy, the civil service has to be answerable to the elected government. There is criticism, however, that increasingly partisan intervention and cronyism are undermining the rule of law, distorting incentives and condoning corruption. This is adversely affecting the morale of public servants. The relationship between the political executive and the civil services needs to be transformed on the basis of mutual understanding, respect and recognition of each others distinct roles and responsibilities. Professionalization with stability of tenure and competition : There is need to recognize the complex challenges of modern administration in various spheres of activity. Meeting such challenges require domain expertise and long experience in the sectors concerned. There is also need to foster excellence in the public system. Existing procedures and practices do not adequately help in developing domain expertise, nor do they help in utilizing the available domain expertise.

Citizen-centric administration: The fact that the functioning of the civil services has an impact on the quality of governance and thus on the well-being of the citizen and the welfare of the community as a whole is often forgotten. The perception of the civil services today is of a vast impersonal organization without commitment to human needs and values. It is necessary to redress the situation, particularly in this era of participative democracy, by making the governance apparatus an instrument of service to the people. Accountability: There is a general feeling that existing mechanisms of accountability are inadequate. On the one hand, there are alibis for non-performance and on the other, competence and integrity are not adequately recognized or rewarded. Therefore, innovative and effective mechanisms need to be put in place to protect public money, guarantee intended outcomes and enforce accountability. Outcome orientation: Monitoring in government is primarily through measurement of expenditure against outlays and at best through defined outputs. Clearly, there is need to move towards measurement of outcomes. A change in this direction has already started with the initial outcome budgeting exercises. In order to engineer this shift to outcomes, major changes in attitudes, monitoring and evaluation systems, incentives and accountability measures are necessary. Promoting public service values and ethics : Apart from the traditional civil service values of efficiency, integrity, accountability and patriotism, it is necessary for civil servants to inculcate and adopt ethical and moral values including probity in public life, respect for human rights and compassion for the downtrodden and commitment to their welfare. Based on these core principles, a set of reforms has been suggested to cover the following broad areas: a) Recruitment and capacity building. b) Placement and transfer policy. c) Performance management and accountability. d) Ethical code for civil servants. UPSC Exams The quality of governance is critically dependent on the quality of public servants and a major determinant of the quality of civil servants is the rigour and integrity of the recruitment process. The commission has suggested reforms in the system of recruitment focusing on substantially lowering the age of entry of candidates into the civil services so that candidates can be groomed at an early age to take up the responsibility of becoming public administrators a concept it has designated as a system of post school grooming of civil servants. The commission has to this end, suggested establishment of national institutes of public administration to run bachelor degree courses in public administration/management. Selected centres at other universities should also be assisted to offer such graduate level programmes which should cover core subjects that are materially relevant for the civil services such as the Constitution of India, Indian legal system, administrative law, Indian economy, Indian polity and Indian history. Only graduates completing their degrees in public administration from these national institutes of public administration and the selected

universities would be eligible to appear in the civil service examination. However, in order to keep the process inclusive and attract talent from all fields; graduates in other disciplines would also be eligible to appear in the civil service examination provided they complete a bridge course in the core subjects mentioned above at the designated institutions. The commission has suggested that an expert committee should be set up in consultation with the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) to develop the curricula for these proposed new courses so that these can be started early. In the meantime, the commission has also suggested major reforms in the existing system of civil services examinations so that the concept of evaluating aspiring civil servants on a set of above mentioned core subjects will become institutionalized and replace the existing regime which has allowed the proliferation of a huge variety of unrelated and often esoteric subjects that are not relevant for the publics services and are not comparable for the purpose of evaluation. In addition, the commission has suggested conduct of the preliminary and main examination either simultaneously or within a period of two months of each other so that the present trend of a nearly year long recruitment process is substantially compressed. The commission has also suggested lowering the permissible age for appearing in civil service examination to 25 years for general candidates, 28 years for OBCs and 29 years for SC/ST and physically handicapped. The commission has suggested these age reductions because such age concessions actually amount to double jeopardy for the socially backward students since their late entrance into the public service de facto ensures that they would retire before they can reach the senior most positions in government while at the same time many unsuccessful candidates end up spending and wasting a large segment of their most productive years repeatedly appearing for these exams. To ensure greater accountability, a system of two intensive reviews, one on completion of 14 years of service and another on completion of 20 years of service, has been proposed to be established with the first review aimed at warning those who need to improve their performance and the second review serving the purpose of a fitness bar to weed out non performers. To meet this objective, the ARC has recommended that appointment letters for new entrants into government service should specify that the term of appointment is for 20 years only. UPSC favours Aptitude Test over Civil Service Prelim Exam Nov 12, 2009 "UPSC is convinced of the need for important changes in the method of recruitment to the higher civil services that are the vehicle for public service delivery. One of the recommendations made by the Commission to the government is that a Civil Service Aptitude Test replace the existing Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination," UPSC Chairman, Professor D P Agrawal said. The proposal is to have two objective type papers that are common to all candidates. The emphasis is on testing the aptitude of the candidate for the demanding life in the civil service, as well as on ethical and moral dimensions of decision-making, he said.

"It has also been proposed that the structure of the Civil Services (Main) Examination may remain the same till a Committee of Experts, that may be appointed by the Commission, goes into various aspects," Agrawal said during the inauguration of UPSC lecture series on governance, in New Delhi. The UPSC chairman said "Careers in public service have become more attractive in the context of a better emoluments regime, as also on account of the changes in the global economic scenario. This places a responsibility on the government system to tailor procedures and careers to suit the newer vistas." The Commission is also of the view that while lowering the age of entry to the civil services may be desirable, interests of rural candidates who may complete their graduation later than their urban counterparts needs to be considered also, the UPSC chairman said. "A reduction in the number of attempts allowed at the examination, as proposed by the 2nd Administrative Reform Commission (ARC), is however called for, so as to remove the premium on cramming and memorization that a large number of attempts provides," Agrawal informed. "We have plans for introducing computer based applications for various examinations, and an always on interactive voice response system over telephone so that interface between aspirants and the Commission is easy, efficient, and quick," he said. UPSC receives more than a million applications for all of the 14 regular examinations and other recruitments it conducts every year. It recommends for appointment of about 5,000 officers annually, after a rigorous process of screening, testing, and personal interview as necessary.