Courtesy: http://www.napsipag.org/pdf/prasad.pdf
Public Administration is an instrument of action as a profession and academic discipline (Teaching and Research). Public Administration in theory and practice aims at all round development and improvement of the quality of life of the Indian masses but without tearing the socio-cultural fabric or socio economic order. This has been the crucial contradiction of Public Administration in India. Contradiction between its intent and content, the content and the text, the distinction between the constitutional goals and operational goals is paradoxical.
An attempt to analyse the challenges of the paradoxical situation and to propose a future course of action to resolve the paradox has been made. The translation of the constitutional welfare goals into practice have infact remainded a mere constitutional obligation and been far off even after 57 years of independence within the existing socipolico-economic power structure based on the capitalist model of modernization /market economy framework which the democratic and constitutional state of India has adopted. It has widened sharpened disparities, frustration, estrangement, deprivation, exploitation, poverty, insecurity, oppression, unemployment, starvation, corruption and injustices of all sorts, affecting adversely the social, political and economic conditions of the disadvantaged, vulnerable, weaker sections and the poor women of the Indian society. The weaker/deprived sections are not only deprived of the development programmes in most cases, they are kept out of development process. Because poverty question is a power question. It is rooted in the model of development, the country has adopted and the socio-economic power-structure that obtains in the country.
Nature, scope and importance / significance of Public Administration in India is determined today by the external factors playing dominant role. The discipline of Public Administration, the very education, which has been imparted all these years in Indian Universities, is an American Product (1887). It has developed alongwith the growth of capitalism in the USA alongwith many countries. Briefly, American Public Administration is rooted in American political culture which is widely acknowledged as advanced capitalism blended with pluralism. The nature of the state in American Public Administration is never questioned. So the essential thrust of American Public Administration towards enhancing the capacity of public organizations without disturbing the basic character of the capitalist state. Even the New Public Administration Movement did not raise – the fundamental issue of the changing the basic character of the capitalist state in America. India could not also escape the Americanization of Public Administration.
This education of Public Administration has nothing to do with the native, social, cultural, political and economic factors. In its practice, the institutions were / are built, the issues are dealt for the requirements of their directors (west interests). But it appears, the entire policies and programmes were/are designed not to touch the socio-cultural fabric of the Indian society. Thus public administration in India has been an instrument of the Government and a creation of political philosophy where as public administration as an academic discipline has been ‘non-political’ but in matters of governance. It by and large is committed to ruling political elite. The ruling elite in India with the willing cooperation of the bureaucracy has maintained colonial structure paving the way for the development of a capitalist order but not without sermonizing the socialist rhetoric, marring the very spirit goals of the Constitution of India.
Keeping in view the above and the adoption of the New Economic Policy (Liberalization, privatization and globalization) the liberalization policy is to foster privatization and globalization of the Indian economy. Privatization and Liberalization also advocate : rolling back of the state from the sphere of production and productive investment and significant curtailment of the level of social expendicture. Hence the most important change in public administration in India has been its reduced scope and significance. It has been also asked to chage itself in the nature of dealing with certain public. The manpower of public administration in India, who manages public institutions, and who regulate activities (Directorates, Commissionaries, Collectorate, Inspectorates etc.) was/is neither highly trained by an efficient and well organized system of Public Administration Education / Training, nor skilled enough to understand the socio-economic fabric. However, the public managers (officials) with the co-operation (not direction) of the non-officials (politicians) could/can maintain the traditional interests at the cost of good governance. The result is the emergence of a National Human Rights Commission. The recent widespread changes, which have 3 altered the International Economic order, also demand the public administration in India to further reduce its significance to respond and adjust to the market economy. With a view to meeting the requirements of this external demand, public administration in India needs to make certain changes in its structure, policy context, programme intent and implementation style.
The emerging trends of this new context are as under :
1. Market friendly economy – Liberalization, privatization, globalization, denationalization, disinvestment in public sector, (market friendly government, intervention, private group and the state work together for common objectives.)
2. New social policy – more percentage of reservations, facilities to scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, other backward classes, women and minorities in less expensive educational institutions and restricted public employment (less expenditure on social development)
3. New political policy - Decentralization of political power – constitutiuonal status to local government – reservations of seals to women SCs, STs, OBCs, (Deconcentration of political power may give more power to local elite but not to the local population).
4. Cooperative relations between Central and State Governments in maintaining the law and order and development.
5. Coalitional Politics – Consequently weak/ineffective political leadership, demoralization, criminalization of politics and mobilization of underworld /criminals/mafias.
6. Institutional restructuring / administrative decay deregulation, delicensing, debureaucratisation, less civil rule, more use of para military forces, encounters with organized extremists/underground groups.
7. Proliferation / participation of non-governmental / voluntary organization leading / voicing public demands.
8. Man-power development – Science, technology, computers, professional and management education through private (International minority and business) institutions leaving the poor, and the unfortunate to distance education / open learning.
9. New labour Policy – golden shake hand, Exit Policy, (VRS)
10. Globalization deepens communal / caste consciousness, spreads religiosity, superstition and obscurantism – secularism will be at stake, the state public administration is expected to be neutral.
The neutrality of the civil service and the neutrality of the state whittled down the power of the state. The poor, the weak and the minorities have been expecting to utilize the state power for their uplift. Socio-economic transformation and the socio-economic justice to the masses, no longer remains the objectives of the governance. Concept of rule of law, democracy equality are now threatened. The public interests are dictated by private interests. The human rights, the civil liberties, the judicial independence and review are at stake. There is less public representation, no bureaucratic accountability and more inefficient administration. The labour cooperation, workers participation will not be sought. New Economic Policy through structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) tends to further marginalize women leading to reduction of their employment opportunities, wages, exclusion in the productive process and casualisation. The gravest crisis of Indian Political, economic and social order is its mounting unemployment. The NEP promotes capital intensive technologies and as a result, employment opportunities have further declined. Unemployment is an economic malady and a social curse. It degrades man, generates hatred, depresses socialactivity and economic prosperity and constitutes a great liability to social stability. The dominant sections of the society weild more power of domination over the unorganized weak and minorities. The welfare state is waning a way and giving place to the police state and regulatory government. The emerging trends may not be in tune with the objectives of the Constitution of India. The Supremacy of the legislature, the rule of law, the judicial independence and the principle of equity are sidelined. These trends further lead to friction between the constitutional stipulation – ideals of a socialist, secular state and the public policies of economic liberalization.
The discipline of public administration in India has to undertake research on the newer changing aspects of public administration. The impact of the emerging trends of the 4 concepts, theories of public administration in the 21st century and the probable consequences on the existing theories must be analysed. Briefly, a problem oriented approach which conceives of public administration as an ameliorative science is to be pursued, Public Administrators and Public Administrationists in India need to think and act as an instrument of social change. In this context, the focus of public administration should be on the entire area of public policy and its analysis. To evaluate the public programmes, public administration unlike other discipline is required to be an action oriented applied Social Science. Modern Public Administration in India has to be made unbiased and impartial and it has to be delinked from economic pressure groups and loyalties built around caste, religion and regional identities. Public Administration both as a profession and discipline should understand the problems or rural misery and the inequalities policies and programmes to reduce inequalities have to include food, housing, health, education, poverty, unemployment, credit programmes for the welfare of other backward classes, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and weaker sections are included in the above list. As is experienced, the university departments of Public Administration have neither engaged in prioritization nor theoretization of Public Administration. So the gaps have to be filled up and it is urgent to gear the discipline of PublicAdministration towards the study of the masses in the society. So it may be further added that in the Indian setting in contemporary perspective, the Public Administration scholars, teachers and students must reassess the role of Public Administration and also consider alternatives. But the study of exploring alternatives require courage conviction and concern.
