The Hindu Business Line : Thought @ the speed of government

Vividly, and anecdotally, long-time journalist and recently-turned politician, Mr Arun Shourie, captures the sloth in government in his 18th book. As a Minister in the Vajpayee Cabinet, he made most of his privileged access to chronicle the pace of governance, and to find out why the system is able to fend off attempts to change it. A rewarding read for those who believe in reform of government, says K. Venugopal.

BUSINESS @ the Speed of Thought was how the world's richest man and Microsoft Chairman, Mr Bill Gates, styled the book he wrote in 1999. The 21st Century would be all about velocity, he predicted. In an age where digital tools moved information at the speed of light, the key to success would be how fast businesses could change their nature to adapt to the needs of their customers and how fast and easily they could transact with them.

Obviously, Mr Gates was not inspired by the pace and methods of India's bureaucracy. As a former Union Minister for Information Technology, the long-time journalist and recently-turned politician, Mr Arun Shourie, of course, could well see the irony of the times because he has thought it fit to borrow the idea from Mr Gates to spin out the title for his introductory chapter to the book Governance And The Sclerosis That Has Set In (Rupa & Co; Rs 395) that captures the sloth in government.

Mr Shourie's first anecdote is classic. About the time Mr Gates was promoting his book, an officer in the Ministry of Steel, who had spotted notes in a file made with red and green inks, raised a query with the Department of Administrative Reforms whether officers could use inks other than blue or black.

The query was to convulse several limbs of government as they attempted to devise the logic for a ruling on the question.

The National Archives were consulted on the longevity of the various inks, the Armed Forces on the ranks that could use red and green inks. After more than a year of fitting consultations, the Manual of Office Procedure was amended to give the privilege of using green or red ink only to officers of the level of Joint Secretary to the government and above.

The studied advice of the Archives that the inks used must have had the approval of the Bureau of Indian Standards strangely did not find mention in the newly-inserted clause!

For journalists reporting on the government, gaining access to official files has long been a sure route to getting the scoops. As a Minister in the Vajpayee Cabinet, Mr Shourie made most of his privileged access to chronicle the pace of governance, and to find out why the system is able to fend off attempts to reform it.

When he assumed charge as a Minister in charge of Programme Implementation, he found the government embroiled in arbitration cases valued at Rs 53,000 crore with the construction industry.

A singular cause for all the disputes was the lack of a standard form for tenders, the task of devising which had been launched in earnest by the Finance Ministry in 1987 but had not been accomplished till June 2000 when Mr Shourie was assigned another portfolio.

This book has an engaging narrative of how the Disinvestment Ministry, which later came under him, attempted to sell off the hotels owned by the India Tourism Development Corporation, a graphic tale of the determined efforts by vested interests to frighten off prospective bidders and to delay perpetually the sale.

ITDC had eight hotels in New Delhi. But not one of them had the title deed or lease documents in order, or the Completion Certificate for their buildings, or even the mandatory Certificate from the fire authorities.

On the ITDC Ashok hotel property, four hundred yards from the Prime Minister's residence, 347 quarters had been constructed illegally.

The Municipal Corporation would give the completion certificate only if the illegal quarters were demolished. "But it is easier to bring down Pakistani bunkers across the Line of Control than these! And so, no Completion Certificate. As no Completion Certificate, no privatisation!"

Mr Shourie draws attention to the fact that many of the public sector units were not depositing even the statutory dues towards Provident Fund, gratuity, etc.

In 68 units for which information was gathered, the dues not deposited added up to Rs 1,578 crore. In addition the units had not paid wages to the extent of Rs 357 crore.

"How is that no one had ever been punished on that count... What would our champions of the Public Sector have been shouting if these figures related to private firms?"

As the Minister for Telecom, he grappled with a contentious and complex licensing system where licences were service-specific, user-specific, technology-specific, area-specific and even vintage-specific. Courts were kept busy by rival licencees till they were all migrated to a single universal access licence.

The lesson Mr Shourie draws from the experience is that merely ironing out one wrinkle in the system after another does not work effectively because the loop will be brought back again.

"Going by the way the system swallows efforts to reform it, do not attempt to reform the operation. Whenever possible, just hack away the function." The real route to reform, he says, is to continue to transfer functions and power from the state structure to society.

Filled with anecdotes and trademark sarcasm, the book, his eighteenth, is a rewarding read for those who believe in reform of government.

Mr Shourie, of course, should thank the bureaucracy for making this venture possible. If it had not faithfully documented in the files its tortuous ways of tackling every issue, commentators like him would have had neither the evidence to prove the system's failure nor the solutions to redeem it.

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