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Staying on

R. Sundaram, e-mail

It cannot be anybody's fault that the top rung of the bureaucracy at the Centre was severely handicapped in its efforts to make the ruling politicians wiser, that too after more than fifty years of experience, about the affairs of the state solely becaus e the tenure of the cabinet secretary has often been short. The top officers are masters of the art of sycophancy. By currying favour with the king-makers, they know they can manipulate a situation to remain in their seats beyond the normal age of supera nnuation or at least secure post-retirement sinecures.

However, what is galling in the cabinet secretary's extension of tenure is that the person who is the top-most civil servant, and ipso facto the custodian of all that is ideal and moral in the conduct of the entire class of government servants, should st oop low to acquiesce in the gameplan of the politicians.