On February 10, 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi critiqued the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers and the ‘Babu culture’ in the country, as he mocked the powers vested in the hands of the bureaucracy in India.
On the floor of the Parliament he said, “By dint of becoming IAS officers, they’ll operate fertiliser warehouses and also chemical warehouses, even fly aeroplanes. What is this big power we have created?… Our babus are also citizens, and so are the youth of India.”
However, with total dependence on a select few bureaucrats, at times even at the cost of superseding the opinions of his cabinet ministers, Prime Minister Modi has been promoting the ‘babu culture’, and on many occasions by handing out extension in service to the retired personnel. Apparently, his is not the first time in the 75 years of independent India’s history and perhaps may not be the last time such appointments are made and promoted.
Goa too has not been aloof to handing out extensions to their ‘most trusted’ officers. The latest one involving former district collector ND Agarwal was bound to raise eyebrows as he has been appointed as advisor in the Department of Printing and Stationery, and at a remuneration of Rs 50,000 per month.
Just last week, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant criticised Goa’s youth for wanting government jobs. He said, “Youth look for LDC (lower divisional clerk) posts, though they are graduate and postgraduate. If LDC posts are not available, then they even prefer to take the posts below that.”
The reality is Goa’s unemployment in September 2022 stood at 10.9 per cent, one of the high unemployment stats in the country, almost 70 per cent higher than the national average.
While it would be an ideal state of affairs to have a Swayampurna Goa with very low to nil unemployment rates, but the fact is that educated Goan youth are running from pillar to post to get a placement suitable to their qualifications and aptitude. Therefore, it should bother the CM as to why the youth despite having postgraduate degrees apply for a position of a LDC or sometime even a lower grade.
An LDC in the government department draws a salary which is sometimes twice as much as a clerk or equivalent in the private sector, with the added advantage of other perks. Even the skilled youth in various sectors earn much lesser in private companies as compared to their counterparts in the government departments, despite the number of years served in an organisation.
Even in 2018, when the Centre introduced the lateral entry to appoint private sector specialists as top civil servants in the central government, more than 6,000 applications were received for filling up 10 posts of joint secretaries in various departments of the central government.
Therefore, it may be a genuine question and critique by the CM of Goan youth seeking government jobs, but the fact of the matter is that when one is part of the governance, it draws closer to power.
Thus, by extending or providing fresh appointments to retired bureaucrats, the government of the day is only ensuring that a youth in his/her peak is deprived of an opportunity to be well employed. In addition, with advancement in technology, a youth with fresh ideas will always be more beneficial, unless the government’s agenda is to maintain status quo.
So, while the CM chides the youth for seeking employment in government departments, he must ensure that retired bureaucrats and officers are not recruited in the garb of advisors and consultants. The ‘commission of such acts’ not only deprives new blood into the system, but also the promotion of those serving in the department with a hope to wear the boots of the master someday.
