Abolish IAS, says Infosys’ Murthy: Is GDP faked or a myth?

Published: Wednesday, Aug 11, 2010, 2:17 IST
By Sreejiraj Eluvangal | Place: New Delhi | Agency: DNA

For a country accustomed to gloating about GDP growth figures and taking these as a measure of achievement, here is sobering advice from NR Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys Technologies, India’s second-largest infotech firm. Stop focusing exclusively on 8 or 8.5% growth, look at the sorry state of affairs on the governance front, he said at a function here.

Drawing a contrast between the success of the private sector and the decay and corruption in the government sector, he said: “In areas where public governance is involved, we have hardly made any progress.”

Murthy said the politicians and bureaucrats are trapped in a colonial mindset. “They feel they are the masters and there is no need to show fairness and transparency,” he said. Murthy, seen as an idealist by many, owns less than 5% of the total shares of Infosys. He will step down as chairman of the company in 10 days.

While admitting to some exceptions, he noted many of the leaders and bureaucrats were completely out of touch with the dynamics of the current world. “Once I was with a senior bureaucrat discussing how badly our high school students had performed in an international competition and he said, ‘we must stop participating in such competitions’,” he said.

The outdated mentality of the political class, he said, is accentuated by an equally apathetic population, which has almost accepted corruption and inefficiency. “For over 1,000 years, the government belonged to someone sitting either 2,000 miles or 4,000 miles away. There is no sense of societal ownership,” he said. “The penalty (for corruption) is minimal. As a result, there is no fear of repercussions and there is no accountability.”

Murthy’s cure, besides tougher punishment, is to abolish the system of generalised administrators under the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and replace it with specialists under a new ‘Indian Management Service’.

The new breed of government servants would have specialised knowledge to manage projects. Their salaries must also be increased to ‘near private sector’ levels, while making 60% of their remuneration variable according to how well they are able to implement projects. “If we had kept track of the activities using a project management software, we would not be where we are,” he said, about the delays in setting up the Commonwealth Games infrastructure.

He, however, refused to encourage speculation that he would join public life. “I am too old. Besides there is already someone from Infosys,” he said, referring to former CEO Nandan Nilekani, currently heading the UID project.
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_abolish-ias-says-infosys-murthy_1421753
Abolish IAS, says Infosys’ Murthy

A suggestion not a day too late!
The Indian bureaucracy is the biggest stumbling block in the nation's development as they are the real executives. In a survey by NDTV 86.87 percent participants agreed that we have the most corrupt bureaucracy in the world. A survey of 12 Asian economies done last year by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy based in Hong Kong blames India’s ‘suffocating bureaucracy’ for us falling behind countries like Vietnam, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar in providing our people with minimal standards of health care, sanitation and education. Tavleen Singh, writing in the Indian Express,said 'Every time I deal with Indian officials I become so depressed that I almost need therapy'.

One thing the Infosys mentor seems to have overlooked is the role of our judiciary. I can vouch for the fact that had the Indian judiciary been able to evoke even an iota of faith in the masses of getting justice in our courts there are enough pubic spirited persons who would have hauled all the corrupt politicians and bureaucrats over the coals. But the fact about our courts is what Arundhati Roy said: 'In India, everybody knows that as far as the legal system is concerned, the process is part of the punishment.'

When absurd and idiotic orders cannot be challenged for what they are, due to the Damocles' sword of contempt of court hanging over every body's head the quip 'power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely' is applicable in letter and spirit to the judiciary than to any other institution of governance in this country.
regards n bw
ravi
(Maj PM Ravindran, an activist about Corruption in Judiciary and RTI – Chander Kamboj)

Dear All,
Please find link to 2 websites with details of Our Honorable MPs of Lok Sabha as well as Rajaya Sabha.Those looking for email ids of our elected leaders may find it useful.
LOK SABHA
RAJAYA SABHA
Regards,
Jaspal Bhinder