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Of Secretaries and their Chief
THE CLINICAL analysis of the relevance of the post of Chief Secretary in contemporary State Governments by P. K. Doraiswamy ("Is Chief Secretary a fifth wheel?" Open Page, January 7) has come at a time when Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have had in the last few years abrupt changes of incumbent Chief Secretaries and Karnataka has witnessed, according to some, the elevation of caste consideration rather than seniority as the criterion for appointing an officer as Chief Secretary. The whimsicality that one associates with politicians like Bansi Lal of past and Mayawati of recent times in the North seems to have flowed down to the South crossing the Vindhyas with consummate ease. Well, there appears to be some Ganga-Cauvery link in the new administrative culture of the country!
While P. K. Doraiswamy has raised a number of valuable issues, one is not sure whether his portrayal of Chief Secretary, mainly in terms of the fortunes of Indian Administrative Officers, is wholly correct. Officially the Chief Secretary has been, for long, Secretary to the Council of Ministers, just as the Cabinet Secretary at the Centre. He is the keeper of the Cabinet papers and communicator of the decisions of the Council of Ministers to the officials of different departments. He is thus a link between the political executive and the permanent civil and technical services, mainly the interpreter of the political decision and the overseer of the Rules of Transaction of Business in the Secretariat.
Common to all services
Among the Secretaries, he should be considered primus inter pares, first among equals. However, as per the rules and practices, Chief Secretary is a little more than that, drawing an higher pay than that drawn by Secretaries and enjoying a higher rank also, with equation in rank to Secretary to the Government of India. With the implementation of developmental schemes gaining importance, Chief Secretary has also become the main instrument of inter-department coordination and arbiter in inter-departmental disputes. By convention and common acceptance, the Chief Secretary is also the leader of the Services, as some one common to all the services, perched on the top of the pyramid. It may not be wholly correct to view him only as an IAS officer, for he is expected to become the guardian of members of all the services — civil, police and engineering.
In recent years, Chief Secretary has also come to be seen as the handpicked confidante of the political boss, not so much to ensure that routine business is carried on according to the Rules of Transaction of Business, but to ensure that the unwritten word of the Chief Minister or rather oral orders are transmitted to and carried out by the Secretaries and Heads of Departments. A message from the Chief Secretary is given as much importance as that of a Minister.
The emergence of the Chief Minister's Secretariat, analogous to the Prime Minister's Office, has somewhat diluted this aspect. Experience shows that it is in the area of communication, interpretation and implementation of oral orders of the political executive that misunderstandings emerge between Chief Minister and Chief Secretary or between the Chief Secretary and the Secretaries. Politically ambitious Secretaries or Heads of Departments, whether from the IAS or other services, often trip the Chief Secretary. If the incumbent Chief Secretary is a gentleman, he suffers the challenge in silence, but if he has in him a fibre of political muscle or perception, he shows the officer concerned his right place under the sun.
In the ultimate analysis, the effectiveness of Chief Secretary depends not only on his personal reputation, track record of service, but also qualities of circumspection and pragmatism and qualities of leadership that mere seniority does not ensure. Knowledge of rules, procedures and details of programmes and policies help in a way to sustain his hold of the rein on the administration. Officers and staff down the line respect a Chief Secretary if he is perceived as a person compassionate and capable of intervening on behalf of junior officials chased by the political boss.
The 58 syndrome
The willingness and ability of Chief Secretary to help members of different services in matters of official grievances can make him a leader in his own right. Unfortunately, there have been several instances in many States where the Chief Secretary and other IAS officers have been only mute observers of the unsavoury treatment meted out to police, engineering and other services by the political executives. In some States even IAS officers have lost confidence in their Chief Secretary. At a different level one must say that the aspirants for the post of Chief Secretary and DGP seem to shed, on their way to the highest post, their sense of independent judgment and impartiality. Casteists' cliques and regional loyalties have also become conspicuous. If the IAS and the IPS officers have lost their sheen and lustre, it is on account of their acquiescence in the ill-treatment of subordinate services and their own colleagues. Senior IAS, IPS officers have also been caught in what is known as the 58 syndrome — in the last year of service many officers either become disinterested in serious matters of policies and programmes or, on the other hand, become active implementers of political dictates with a view to securing post-retirement appointments. Either way, they lose the respect of their subordinates.
Should we blame only the politicians? That Jayalalithaa and Chandrababu Naidu as also Mayawati and O. P. Chautala do not display the maturity of a Jyoti Basu or shrewdness of Brahmananda Reddy or the courtesy of Yashwant Rao Chavan or Mohan Lal Sukhadia may be a matter of regret.
Civil servants and police officials have to share the blame for the sorry situation in which the services are now placed. Integrity, Anonymity and Sincerity may have once characterised the IAS and if it is not so any more, it is as much a reflection on the conduct of senior civil servants as of today's Chief Ministers.
V.K. SRINIVASAN
Retd. Special Chief Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh
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