So remarkable a journey

BOOK REVIEW

development

 

So remarkable a journey

Bihar through the eyes of a seasoned IAS officer

 

by Diptendra Raychaudhuri

 

A book like this, almost each page of which is filled with interesting anecdotes, that too by someone who has remarkable insight, is a reader’s joy, particularly for those who want to have a better understanding of the functioning of the system. 

 

Some of the observations by the author, like the one on the Finance Ministry that ‘has become a choking point in speedy disposal of matters’ are not unknown. But the author has not stopped there. He has recommended a way out, one that could have sounded utopian even a year ago. But no longer. Take for example: ‘There should be a penalty for deliberate delays recoverable from the person responsible. The outer limit for taking a decision should be three months’. If only the government of the land was a little sensitive to what its own employees felt, it could have brought into effect changes that would have saved it from Team Anna’s wrath. Even now, the agitators on the streets have not raised their voice against the slow functioning of the government due to its own internal ‘choking point’ that Sharan is talking about (p. 263). But will anyone listen to him?...http://www.gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=276&Name=BOOK%20REVIEW%20-%20development