Now that the report of Sixth Pay Commission has been presented recommending a decent pay package for the government employees and the bureaucrats, it is imperative that attention is also paid to their accountability and efficiency. Intellectual capital will go a long way in capacity building and revamping the moribund bureaucracy which has been insulated from new ideas and inputs. It is unfortunate that while economy has been liberalised unleashing its infinite potential, bureaucracy continues to stagnate under protectionism. 

At a time when India is at the threshold of becoming a great power, the imperatives of a knowledge society and knowledge economy are of paramount importance in our nation building. Without a strong knowledge base and intellectual capital in place, it would be difficult to envisage economic, industrial, entrepreneurial, social and cultural growth.

Knowledge society

History the world over will only attest the truism that industrial growth and development have mostly been driven by a strong knowledge base.  The industrial revolution in Europe was preceded by Renaissance and Reform.  In this pyramid of knowledge paradigm, research is poised to occupy pivotal position and there should be interface between academia, research and the practioners of knowledge, be they engineers, doctors, architects, lawyers, or civil servants who execute policies and programmes for the people at large.  There should be synergy between practice and theory.

A related issue to improving the efficiency of the bureaucracy is to create a regime for horizontal mobility providing for lateral induction encouraging aspirants from other backgrounds such as technocrats, professionals from private sectors and also academia in senior positions and top slots.

It may be mentioned that the Sixth Pay Commission has recommended that certain posts in Senior Administrative Grade (SAG) and Higher Administrative Grade (HAG) requiring technical or specialised expertise and not encadred in any of the services to be opened up for being filled by suitable officers within the government as well as by outsiders on contract.

It has also been recommended that creation of additional posts in senior administrative grade/equivalent/higher grades in future to be strictly on functional considerations with such posts invariably being created outside the cadre to be filled by method of open selection including contractual appointment from within or outside the government. 

There are instances of technocrats and scientists having been appointed to the secretary level post in Government of India.  The most illustrious example being that Montek Singh Ahulwalia, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission, who held the position of secretary at the ministry of finance.

Inviting outside talent

What we need is cross fertilisation of ideas, be it in the domain of bureaucracy or academia. Similarly, the universities and research Institutes should welcome talent from outside like the civil service, private sector, civil society.  In any advanced and developed knowledge society, lateral induction are normal thing. It is not uncommon that universities in the US and other developed countries are at times filled with experienced personnel from a variety of fields as diverse as defence, finance, foreign affairs, civil society or from media.

Similarly many of the top federal executive when they demit the offices, they willingly revert to teaching and research. Thus there is a continuum and synergy supplementing and complimenting one another.  In India also, such a trend has already begun with serving and retired officers availing sabbatical or study leave for training, research or teaching purposes.

Many of the universities and research institutes have also instituted chairs and visiting fellowships to attract talent.

Such initiatives and trend should be encouraged.  Similarly there should be opportunities for those outside the steel frame to be inducted to the civil service.  Thus the cross fertilisation of ideas will contribute for the mutual benefit of both.