The Hindu : No role for Govt. in economic activities

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 29, 2003

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No role for Govt. in economic activities — Infy chief

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JUNE 28. N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman of the board of Infosys Technologies, today called for phasing out the role of Government in all economic activities and handing them over to the private sector.

Delivering the Govind Ballabh Pant memorial lecture here today, Mr. Murthy wanted that all developmental activities for the common man such as education, health care, shelter and food distribution too should be handled by reputed private sector institutions. The theme of Mr. Murthy lecture was "Is there a role for managers in the Government in India''

Advocating the handing out of developmental activity to reputed private institutions, he said the contribution of the Government should be by way of vouchers that should be redeemable at any of these private sector institutions. "This ensures that the money is used for the intended purpose, as these vouchers cannot be traded with that of any other sector. Consequently, people will have the freedom to obtain the best value for money from competing players in the field.'' Mr. Murthy's case for moving out the Government from economic and developmental activities is based on his assessment that "we have administrators who are not managers in the Government. Administration is about conforming to and maintaining the status-quo; it is about hierarchy based on titles and age. Management, unlike administration, is about a hierarchy based on value-addition and performance; it is about fostering innovation and excellence; it is about new ways of doing things and out-of-box thinking. Administration is about sticking to the past while management is about adapting to dynamic change.''

Taking on the administrators further, Mr. Murthy said, "Lack of meritocracy in the system results in low quality people being hired and promoted. Our bureaucracy is characterised by a complete lack of accountability. At the same time, our citizens are expected to be totally accountable for their activities. Again, this is a system designed to protect the rulers while offering no protection for the ruled!''

Mr. Murthy also points out that there is no punishment for lack of performance or for gross violation of rules and regulations. "Our bureaucrats are seldom punished for wrongdoing. Moreover, the corrupt and the criminal escape punishment by taking advantage of the delays in the process.''

"However, there will still be several functions where the Government should have direct control. This includes defence, security, conducting elections, law and order, space research and related activities and external trade. There should be two kinds of activities in these areas--project based activities and activities related to maintenance and upgradation,'' Mr. Murthy adds.

Prescribing that civil servants should be trained in management, particularly project management, Mr. Murthy feels continuous training is necessary to keep managers abreast of the latest advances in management thinking. "It may be worthwhile to recruit top rankers from the Indian Institutes of Managements and other reputed management schools directly into the Government. In addition, the Government should implement performance-based pay for civil servants,'' Mr Murthy advocated.

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