COVER STORY
corruption m g devasahayam
Civil Services: O Tempora! O Mores!
Today,
the objectives of civil servants and their political masters have
seamlessly coalesced, with the former awaiting ‘orders from above’ on
almost everything
IN
the mid-fifties, Management Guru Peter Drucker advocated ‘Management by
Objectives (MoB)’, a system that seeks to align employees’ goals with
the goals of the organisation. This ensures that everyone is clear about
what they should be doing and how that is beneficial to the whole
organisation.
Nowadays,
any American idea is instantly gulped up. But this concept took time
and became a rage only in the early eighties. As the then chief of
Haryana’s State Transport Undertaking, I attended a World Bank training
course at the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) for senior
Government and PSU officials. A professor from one of the Ivy League
universities in the US gave a two-hour lecture on MoB. Balwant Reddy,
ASCI’s officiating Director, was present.
During
question-time, I remained silent, but Balwant goaded me. So I queried:
“Government is a combination of employees (civil servants) and
non-employees (Ministers). On whose objectives should an organisation be
managed?”
The
Professor was baffled and could not understand the question. So I
elaborated: “I am the Chief Executive of Haryana Roadways and my
objective is to run the organisation in an honest, efficient and viable
manner. My Minister’s objective is to make money on purchases, transfers
and protecting corrupt elements. The Chief Minister wants big deals.
Now, by whose objective should Haryana Roadways be managed?” The
Professor acknowledged the mismatch of objectives, but did not give an
answer....
No comments:
Post a Comment