Abstract
‘The Oxford India Short Introductions are concise, stimulating, and accessible guides to different aspects of India. Combining authoritative analysis, new ideas, and diverse perspectives, they discuss subjects which are topical yet enduring, as also emerging areas of study and debate.’ This statement, which appears in every Short Introduction, is the only series introduction that the reader gets. It is open-ended enough to accommodate a range of unconnected topics—Natural Disasters and Indian History, The Poverty Line and The Indian Constitution. A closer look at four books in the series, Affirmative Action in India(AA) by Ashwini Deshpande, Panchayati Raj (PR)by Kuldeep Mathur, The Right to Information in India (RTI) by Sudhir Naib and The Civil Services in India (CSI) by S.K. Das—all published in 2013—confirms the claims made in the ‘series introduction’. The writers are well-known experts and their analysis is authoritative. They present their themes clearly, and locate them in their historical contexts. They outline the current debates in their subject areas and provide their own perspectives on these debates. The small-sized books are compact—each is roughly 200 pages long, but in an easy to read format. They are reliable and provide detailed introductions to the topics they deal with. Each book is bound to be appreciated by the general reader who wants to be better informed, and by students of the book's theme. But more importantly, in a discipline like management, a selection from the list, or perhaps chapters from the various titles, can be put together to provide students, administrators, and practitioners with a fairly deep understanding of the socio-political contexts in which management operates. For instance, chapters from the titles on caste, affirmative action, panchayati raj, Indian cities, the Indian Constitution and the civil services would make for an interesting set of readings on the socio-cultural environment in which we operate. Add titles dealing with the poverty line, trade and environment, water resources, capital flows and exchange rate management, and one has a fairly comprehensive coverage of the macroeconomic environment. Postgraduate programmes in management would do well to use this series to teach an under-emphasized area in management education—the social, political and economic contexts in which our formal and informal enterprises operate. The books are moderately priced, around ₹ 200 to ₹ 250, making them attractive to the average reader.
Of the four books considered here, Affirmative Action, Panchayati Raj and Right to Information deal with social justice and reforms in governance; Civil Services in India deals with a bureaucracy that is still to fully adjust to a shift from its command-and-control role of the pre-liberalization days to that of a facilitator in a deregulating and liberalizing environment. Debate on AA is highly polarized, with AA being ‘either demonized as the root of all evil or valorized as the panacea for eliminating discrimination’ (AA, p. 7). Deshpande shows why it is neither. Using AA interchangeably with quotas and reservation, which are instruments for AA, she notes that AA in India is primarily a compensatory discriminatory measure based on caste, and in the electoral sphere, on gender. The three issues adding to the contentiousness of caste-based AA, namely the assessment of caste disparities, the validity of caste as an indicator of backwardness, and the desirability or otherwise of AA in principle, frame the discussion on the pros and cons of AA. Deshpande lays out a case for AA (pp. 19–42), on the basis of the facts that ‘material realities [inequalities] are systematically related’ to the hierarchy of caste, such inequalities are persistent and economic inequalities between castes lead to inequality of opportunity. A separate chapter discusses the ‘quota debates’ that underpin AA in great detail. After making a well-balanced assessment of AA programmes, Deshpande concludes that targeted policies to eliminate caste disparity (through AA) are essential and that their implementation has to improve—for instance, announcement of quotas is often seen as sufficient, but more attention needs to be paid to the outcomes of AA. Deshpande also discusses the arguments made against AA—usually based on the assumed desirability of a concept called meritocracy, inadequate performance of AA, elitism, promoting casteism and so on. She finds that many of these arguments do not hold. She argues in favour of adding supplementary measures, like a strict ban on manual scavenging, to help AA programmes truly achieve their purpose. Readers will note that, overall, Deshpande takes a clear position, bases her arguments on the actual experience of AA, and presents a perspective that sees value in AA but finds its current practice inadequate.
The story of the growing influence of neoliberalism on India over the last quarter of a century is well known. The shift in emphasis from ‘government to governance’ and the greater emphasis on the role of the market and civil society in the delivery of services have generated fresh thinking on both decentralized governance and the role of the bureaucracy. Panchayati Raj and The Civil Services in India offer valuable perspectives on these two outcomes. Though PR was mandated by the Indian Constitution in 1993, it has a long history during which the vision of our leaders soon after independence allowed the ‘centralizing features in the Indian economy and polity’ to posit a mistrust of panchayats, while at the same time, keeping the Gandhian vision of local governance—based on a more romantic view of village society—alive through various initiatives. Kuldeep Mathur provides a fascinating account of this history and goes on to describe how the provisions of the 1993 legislation, while allowing the states to decide through their own legislation on how to implement the mandated structure and the suggested autonomy, had a significant impact on participation—a ‘democratic revolution’, through the mandated elections every five years. This has certainly made the panchayats an ‘arm of Indian democracy’ but the goal of self-governing, decentralized local bodies still seems to be some way off as states vary in their enthusiasm to hand over power to the self-governing bodies. A second problem is the plethora of local governance structures like project implementation structures of the state and donor-driven programmes, and traditional institutions, all competing with the gram panchayat for the position of primary level of local governance. Mathur seems to be suggesting that as a result, autonomy, a characteristic of decentralized governance structures, has eluded the panchayats which are today seen more as additional appendages in the service delivery structure. Yet, there are grounds for optimism because the ‘democratic revolution’ is, sooner or later, bound to go beyond participatory democracy and raise serious questions about substantive democracy.
The initiation of liberalization brought about not just a renewed emphasis on decentralized governance, but also questioned the role of the bureaucracy. S.K. Das in The Civil Services in India provides a very clear account of the challenges which the new economic policy has posed to our civil services. But the author situates these challenges in the historical evolution of the civil services. The book is an ideal course material for a course on government systems for management students. The evolution and structure of the civil services, the changing roles played by bureaucrats, issues of recruitment and training, placement of civil servants, mechanisms of accountability and performance management, the political executive–civil servant relationship, are all dealt with in a clear and factual manner. But it is in the sections on the changing role of the civil services and the reforms that are needed that the author's insights and perspectives help the reader. For instance, referring to the PR imperative that has made civil servants move from implementers to facilitators, Das notes that ‘most civil servants at the field level are yet to come to terms with their diminished role’ (CSI, p. 57). Or, while referring to the protection granted to civil servants by Article 311 which has ‘created an environment of excessive security without any fear of being punished for poor performance’ (p. 106), Das wants a simpler system to deal with poor performance and ensure accountability. In the final chapter, Das provides an assessment of the contribution of the civil services. While Das rates their contribution to the development agenda of India highly, he also remarks that their ability to ‘tender policy advice without fear or favour has declined over the years [since many civil servants] act at the behest of politicians’ (p. 180). To tackle this problem, Das recommends a stress on the institution of the Lokpal and the enactment of a civil service law, including a legal declaration of values and code of conduct for civil servants, as other countries have done.
The reforms noted by Das are especially important because the path-breaking right to information legislation has made the functioning of the civil services and the government more open to scrutiny—witness the frequency with which this right is used by civil society. The Right to Information in India, by Sudhir Naib, provides a compact overview of the philosophy and practice underpinning the RTI Act. After providing a global perspective and tracing the evolution of the RTI in India, Naib discusses the statute in great detail. He follows up with a presentation of the rights (of information seekers) and duties (of information providers) under the RTI Act, and then discusses the exemptions from disclosure of information and when such exemptions do not hold. Finally, he indicates some reforms that are needed to further strengthen the right to information. Throughout, the writing is clear and non-technical; charts are used skillfully—for instance, there is a flowchart on the application and appeal process which would appeal to a lay reader (p. 106). The chapter on the rights of information seekers would likewise help the average reader in appreciating who can seek information. The author's illustrations of ‘How the RTI Act has helped’, some assessments of the impact of the Act by various agencies, and state-level initiatives (pp. 70–88) bring the Act to life. Naib's observations on the key contentious issues—whether file notings are to be included in ‘information’, and the definition of public authority (p. 199 onwards)—lead him to a few recommendations not just on these two issues, but also on raising awareness about RTI, on training information officers and on protecting information seekers and whistle-blowers.
Taken together, the four books provide a comprehensive overview of one aspect of the reform process—its impact on governance. Affirmative action is a very contentious issue, but a governance system that swears by social justice has to deal with it; the neoliberal agenda and the new economic policy have raised questions about the role of affirmative action not just in the state-sector jobs but in the other sectors of the economy as well. These are still to be addressed. Public management is also under pressure to transfer power to self-governing PR institutions; at the same time, the civil services are expected to transit from regulators–development implementers to facilitators operating in an environment which comprises the state, the market and the civil society—an environment which is more transparent as a result of initiatives like the right to information legislation. Clearly written ‘concise, stimulating, and accessible guides’ like the Oxford India Short Introductions certainly help in understanding ‘different aspects of India’ which, as this review shows, are interlinked in many ways.