POLITICAL CULTURE & BUREAUCRATIC CULTURE

DailyPost 2173
POLITICAL CULTURE & BUREAUCRATIC CULTURE

Does the politician mean what he says? Does he understand the impact of every word he says, in the context spoken? Which takes us to the next valid point, does he hold himself responsible for every action of his! What parties teach is how to organize protests, fall in party line, fight out leadership, influence, position grabbing battles inside the organisation, create you own band of followers, and take as control of the organization as much as you can. The ability to fight elections and win is at the core of a successful party-political culture. No party has ever delivered anything while not in power.

Party whip is way more important that a democratic diktat. Loyalty to your leader is more than the loyalty to the party. Power is the only glue of the party; every single activity is aligned for that purpose. Either be in power or fight for it. Professionals are big no in any political party but for decorative or firefighting purposes. Anybody who means serious business does not get attracted to this culture. Internal democracy, dissent, worthwhile criticism and any good idea being accepted even if coming from the lowest cadres, is generally not heard of. Chintan and Manthan is for political gain, survival, electoral chess game and not for any ill or for issues facing the nation.

No political party has ever gone into any brainstorming to create a blueprint for execution. Nearly all political parties all the time do not have sufficient number of elected representatives with relevant expertise to man different ministries and departments, once they come to power. Anybody can run any ministry or department as long as he knows the political route to reach there. This is broadly the political culture of India, to support the political executive and elected representative avatar of the political class is the bureaucratic culture of India. The steel frame as it was called, was to provide the expertise, acumen and executional capabilities to the political culture we have talked about.

The culture of intellect, expertise, independent thinking, writing your professional mind, while the only thought playing on a bureaucratic mind was expected to be public good. The endless immunity provided to bureaucrats is for this purpose. Governance standing tall in the morass of political democracy is the prescribed culture of our bureaucracy. Subservience is the antithesis of bureaucratic culture, which seems to so predominant today. Standing tall on competence and living by it is the prescribed bureaucratic culture. The chasm is for everyone to see and experience. Affiliations to political parties have slowly and steadily given way to commitment to individual leaders. The backdrop of corruption the less said the better. From handling of Covid-19 to construction of Supertech Twin Towers and the current running urban misery in the IT capital now are some of shining examples of our extreme incapability to deliver.

THE MISERY OF INDIA WILL SEE NO END IF THERE IS NO END TO THE CURRENT POLITICAL AND BUREAUCRATIC CULTURE.
Sanjay Sahay

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Scroll to Top