HVK Archives: Bureaucrats hope to call the shots in Gowda Govt
Bureaucrats hope to call the shots in Gowda Govt - Times of India
Kingshuk Nag
()
7 June 1996
Title : Bureaucrats hope to call the shots in Gowda Govt
Author : Kingshuk Nag
Publication : Times of India
Date : June 7, 1996
When a secretary of the Karnataka government was
imprisoned for a month by the orders of the supreme court
last year, Mr Deve Gowda was very upset. He virtually
wept at the fate of the officer and lamented that he
could not do anything to save the unfortunate man.
So goes a story doing the rounds of blocks and bhavans of
the capital on Monday. The story, which may or may not
be true, is being held out as proof of the new prime
minister's friendly attitude towards the bureaucracy.
Little wonder that bureaucrats are by and large happy
with the installation of the United Front government, But
this is not the only reason why the bureaucracy is
elated. Some key ministers in the new ministry, such as
Mr Inder Kumar Gujral and Mr P Chidambaram, are anyway
considered pro-bureaucracy.
"A weak coalition government with a large number of
ministers with no experience at administration means that
the bureaucracy can rule the roost," admitted a joint
secretary in a central ministry candidly. He said:
"Pardon my saying so, but in such a situation the
ministers eat out the hand of the bureaucracy." Similar
views, albeit in a guarded fashion, were expressed by
other officials.
A counterview was, however, expressed by an official who
knew Mr Deve Gowda closely. "I cannot say about other
ministers but bureaucrats should do well to not take Mr
Deve Gowda for granted. He takes quick decisions and
grasps a lot of administrative matters very quickly,
especially those related to the areas of agriculture and
irrigation," the official said. The official also
revealed that Mr Deve Gowda did not know "too many
bureaucrats personally" and therefore was "not expected
to play favourites".
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