Who will bell the cat?

Who Will Bell the Cat?

As the Indian economy is dangerously poised and the political establishment is totally paralyzed, Chetan Bhagat's call to “Rescue the Nation” is aptly timed. While volatility in economic affairs due to crises in the Eurozone and the world at large is understood, the situation in India is compounded by the sheer lack of decision making and the burden imposed by the numerous scams that have come to light. One could not agree more with Bhagat's recognition of the bureaucracy's role in running this huge nation. However, the call to action - “to raise your voice against inefficient and corrupt masters” has many dimensions that Bhagat has not explored.

As Bhagat explains rightly, a set of brilliant youngsters make it to the top of the Civil Services examinations through the dint of hard work and perseverance. It is natural to expect that each of these people wants to do his best and achieve his/her career goals. When was the last time one heard about a Chief Secretary or a Cabinet Secretary who has a record of taking on inefficient or corrupt masters? T.N. Seshan, one of the bureaucrats who brought in revolutionary changes by taking on powerful politicians and brought in a semblance of freedom and fairness in the electoral process, did so only after reaching the pinnacle of his civil services career. For his entire career prior to that, he was a typical babu, compliant to the establishment. On the other hand, look at the fate of Mr. Raju Narayana Swamy, who was an IAS topper in the early nineties. For raising his voice against corruption he had to suffer both personally and on the career front. His marriage ended up in a divorce after he demolished an illegal construction of his in-laws and he has been relegated to obscure positions in the government of Kerala. Another case in point is that of Justice Raghupathy of the Madras High Court, who complained to the CJI about a threat he received from the notorious A. Raja. The CJI was very keen to dump the matter without any investigation, the CJ of Madras HC was conspicuously silent. While, the CJI and the then CJ of the Madras HC were elevated, partly for being turning a blind eye to a serious offence, the whistleblower judge would very well have ruined his chances of promotion to any position in the higher echelons of judiciary.

Is fear of hurting career prospects the only reason for a babu's lack of will to fight the battle. The set of babus that align well with the corrupt leaders, vendors an contractors amass wealth, reach influential positions and lead easy lives. The second type, that constitutes the majority of babudom are largely honest in that they do not actively indulge in corruption, but do not go out of their way to challenge it. They too will have an easy life and a few of this type reach the highest positions. On the other hand, the ones that question the corrupt practices have to face extreme hostility from everyone – the political/administrative bosses, businessmen, goons and in some cases even their own family members. The 'reward' they get may include frequent transfers to god forsaken places at the very least, a few vigilance cases to even physical harm in many cases. The case of Satyendra Dubey, an IIT graduate who chose the IES over many lucrative private sector jobs is a stark reminder. A confidential letter written to the PMO exposing the corruption taking place in the prestigious golden quadrilateral project, cost him his life. Glowing tributes in the media will scarcely suffice to bridge the loss for his family members.

Is this “lack of guts” only applicable to the government officials? In the private sector, which is a much safer environment, do officers display guts to question the wrongs or unethical behaviour of their peers/bosses? In the past decade, I have witnessed an  increasing reluctance among officers at all levels to ask tough questions. The Enron saga in the USA and Satyam the desi version of it, are just two examples. It would be naive to assume that the scams were pulled off by a small set of executives. Many of the second or third level executives would at the very least have been aware of the cooking of the account books, but would have been too scared to ask lest that affected their career progression. Even in day to day matters, the fear of disagreeing with the boss is threatening organizational effectiveness. In addition to complacency, this fear constitutes a major internal threat to the growing private sector in India.

In any organization, be it private or government, substantial change is brought about by the so called rebels, who question the status quo and battle the wrongs. Unfortunately, many a time, these change agents are denied their rightful place in the very system they helped to improve by putting their career/life at risk. Many change agents suffer the “collateral damage” and fall by the wayside, while the pro-establishment forces end up being the winners. As much as I hate to end on a pessimistic note, I wonder why some one should risk everything in trying to bell the cat.