06-20-2008, 10:56 AM
Recouping the Central authority
Harish Khare
There is a dangerous paralysis at the very core of the ruling arrangement. It is up to Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi to assure the citizens that they have what it takes to govern effectively.
Two Saturdays ago, a senior prime ministerial aide sent out an SMS, breathlessly inviting attention to an opinion piece by the editor of a newspaper. The sum and substance of the much-recommended column is that the Manmohan Singh government has done great work but somehow failed to impress the country with its competence and accomplishment. And, if there is anyone to blame for this regrettable state of affairs, it is the Congress. This view is of a piece with the bel ief that the government has been held back by the party, especially in the matter of the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal; some friends and admirers of the Prime Minister have even gone to the extent of taunting him to resign rather than let a timid party leadership prevent him from consummating a historic deed.
If only the calculus of listlessness could be explained away all that simply! Admittedly, a lack of synergy between the government and the party has been built into the very design of the present ruling arrangement; and, there has been no dearth of mischievous voices, in and outside the government and the party, wanting to exploit this division of responsibility and authority.
Now consider this: everyone in New Delhi and Srinagar knew that the term of Jammu and Kashmir Governor, Lt. General (retd.) S.K. Sinha was coming to an end on June 3. All these years, the UPA government had sullenly put up with the general-turned-politician-turned-governor. It could not summon up the courage and clarity to find a replacement for him lest it be accused of easing out an âL.K. Advani appointee.â Three cheers for bipartisanship in a sensitive State. But inertia and listlessness have become so embedded in the minds and habits of those who preside over the Centre that came June 3 and there was no replacement. It took a week after that before the Centre announced that the President was pleased to appoint the distinguished public servant, N.N. Vohra, Governor. And now comes the really interesting part. It seems no one in New Delhi deemed it necessary to tell Gen. Sinha of Mr. Vohraâs appointment; and, for days the incumbent pretended to be unaware that a replacement had been found. The Union Home Ministry was at its witsâ end about how to end the stalemate. Finally, a date of departure for Gen. Sinha had to be bargained.
Moral of the story: Among an undemanding Prime Minister, an unimaginative and unengaged Home Minister and an uninterested Congress president, the aura of the Central authority has been allowed to get diminished in the minds of all those who do not wish India well. The total abdication of responsibility and authority witnessed in the Sinha-Vohra episode gets replicated a hundred times every week in key areas of governance which demand application of mind. Observers are sad that the ruling arrangement at the Centre is running out of steam.
This virtual collapse of ministerial leadership and initiative is producing its own crop of collateral damage. The relationship between the Ministers and the bureaucracy, the key element in governing this vast nation, has become dangerously frayed. With the possible exception of the Finance and Agriculture Ministers, no Cabinet member is able to command the loyalty, attention and imagination of the senior bureaucrats. It is not that the bureaucrats are partisan to the BJP; it is just that they are no longer impressed with the intellectual calibre and political acumen of most Cabinet Ministers.
And without the active and willing assistance of senior bureaucrats, the Ministers cannot and do not steer effectively their vast administrative instruments towards collective policy objectives. Massive public resources are getting neither optimally used nor honestly spent. This, in turn, has produced a politically damaging trust deficit.
When the Congress and its Left allies were voted to power in May 2004, the nationâs expectation was that with Dr. Singh at the head of the government, the UPA regime would be able to restore the citizenâs faith in the competence and compassion of the public institutions. Sadly enough, this faith stands betrayed, largely because the leadership â read the Prime Minister and the Congress president, together and individually â remained indifferent to the very notion of ministerial performance and accountability. And now with a raging inflation and a global oil crisis, the government seems helpless.
On top of this, the two leaders have failed to impose a commanding narrative on the governing arrangement and its political objectives. Even the Congress Ministers discovered the joys of unilateralism and self-aggrandisement. The interesting innovation â the Core Group â in decision-making turned out to be a damp squib, but it is being allowed to linger on lest its members get shown in a less than favourable light. There has been no joyful camaraderie at the very core of the ruling arrangement; now it has become a forum for procrastination.
The unintended but disquieting outcome of this arrangement is an unhappy message: both outsiders and insiders have discovered that the democratic process and its openness can be made to work against the best national interest. This has consequences for the Indian state, given our uncertain and unstable neighbourhood, and an exacting globalised international environment. Those who seek to challenge the authority of the Indian state or those who do not wish India well can feel emboldened to take advantage of the paralysed decision-making in New Delhi.
Is it possible to recoup the Central authority assuming, of course, that the Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh team is aware of the depleting efficacy and that the twosome wants to set things right? To be sure, the long-term interests of the Indian state and the forces and ideas that abide by those interests will not permit this procrastination for long. If the Congress leadership is unable to safeguard those interests, the polity will devise a different ruling constellation, capable of meeting (often conflicting) demands of a buoyant economy, an assertive middle class, an energetic media, a vigilant civil society and an increasingly restless rural citizenry.
Leadership imperative
The leadership imperative in a crisis situation is to reach for reserves within, and to tap, to use a Churchillian phrase, the nationâs âvital and vibrant energy.â To be sure, the outsider may not always be aware of the structure of constraints and opportunities confronting national decision-makers. The difference between failed and successful leaders is the ability and daring to convert weaknesses into strengths, liabilities into assets.
The immediate task before the Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh team is to send out an unambiguous signal that the two of them are singing from the same prayer book; this must be made clear to not only those outside the ruling arrangement but also those within the government. There has been too much pussyfooting around for too long. Diarchy is defensible, duality of purpose or ambition is not.
To begin with, there has to be a comprehensive purge at the very top of the government and the party. The tired and the failed ministers and managers need to be sent packing, irrespective of their age or past loyalties. The same goes for the recalcitrant; those who are not willing to subscribe to the team leadership structure have no place in the dressing room. How and at what pace the country ought to be governed can no longer be a private argument between the Prime Minister and the Congress president; there is a very inconvenient third party âthe voter.
And, sooner rather than later, the voters will have an opportunity to make up their minds on whether to renew the mandate of those who have presided over the Centre so fitfully and so reluctantly. The voters have formed a reasonable judgment about the promise and performance of the UPA regime; and the verdict cannot be very reassuring. Unless, of course, the Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh team is able and inclined to respect the democratic sensibilities and to tell the voter that it has the team players who have the stamina, skills, age and hunger to want to keep pace with a changing India and a changing world.
Harish Khare
There is a dangerous paralysis at the very core of the ruling arrangement. It is up to Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi to assure the citizens that they have what it takes to govern effectively.
Two Saturdays ago, a senior prime ministerial aide sent out an SMS, breathlessly inviting attention to an opinion piece by the editor of a newspaper. The sum and substance of the much-recommended column is that the Manmohan Singh government has done great work but somehow failed to impress the country with its competence and accomplishment. And, if there is anyone to blame for this regrettable state of affairs, it is the Congress. This view is of a piece with the bel ief that the government has been held back by the party, especially in the matter of the India-U.S. civilian nuclear deal; some friends and admirers of the Prime Minister have even gone to the extent of taunting him to resign rather than let a timid party leadership prevent him from consummating a historic deed.
If only the calculus of listlessness could be explained away all that simply! Admittedly, a lack of synergy between the government and the party has been built into the very design of the present ruling arrangement; and, there has been no dearth of mischievous voices, in and outside the government and the party, wanting to exploit this division of responsibility and authority.
Now consider this: everyone in New Delhi and Srinagar knew that the term of Jammu and Kashmir Governor, Lt. General (retd.) S.K. Sinha was coming to an end on June 3. All these years, the UPA government had sullenly put up with the general-turned-politician-turned-governor. It could not summon up the courage and clarity to find a replacement for him lest it be accused of easing out an âL.K. Advani appointee.â Three cheers for bipartisanship in a sensitive State. But inertia and listlessness have become so embedded in the minds and habits of those who preside over the Centre that came June 3 and there was no replacement. It took a week after that before the Centre announced that the President was pleased to appoint the distinguished public servant, N.N. Vohra, Governor. And now comes the really interesting part. It seems no one in New Delhi deemed it necessary to tell Gen. Sinha of Mr. Vohraâs appointment; and, for days the incumbent pretended to be unaware that a replacement had been found. The Union Home Ministry was at its witsâ end about how to end the stalemate. Finally, a date of departure for Gen. Sinha had to be bargained.
Moral of the story: Among an undemanding Prime Minister, an unimaginative and unengaged Home Minister and an uninterested Congress president, the aura of the Central authority has been allowed to get diminished in the minds of all those who do not wish India well. The total abdication of responsibility and authority witnessed in the Sinha-Vohra episode gets replicated a hundred times every week in key areas of governance which demand application of mind. Observers are sad that the ruling arrangement at the Centre is running out of steam.
This virtual collapse of ministerial leadership and initiative is producing its own crop of collateral damage. The relationship between the Ministers and the bureaucracy, the key element in governing this vast nation, has become dangerously frayed. With the possible exception of the Finance and Agriculture Ministers, no Cabinet member is able to command the loyalty, attention and imagination of the senior bureaucrats. It is not that the bureaucrats are partisan to the BJP; it is just that they are no longer impressed with the intellectual calibre and political acumen of most Cabinet Ministers.
And without the active and willing assistance of senior bureaucrats, the Ministers cannot and do not steer effectively their vast administrative instruments towards collective policy objectives. Massive public resources are getting neither optimally used nor honestly spent. This, in turn, has produced a politically damaging trust deficit.
When the Congress and its Left allies were voted to power in May 2004, the nationâs expectation was that with Dr. Singh at the head of the government, the UPA regime would be able to restore the citizenâs faith in the competence and compassion of the public institutions. Sadly enough, this faith stands betrayed, largely because the leadership â read the Prime Minister and the Congress president, together and individually â remained indifferent to the very notion of ministerial performance and accountability. And now with a raging inflation and a global oil crisis, the government seems helpless.
On top of this, the two leaders have failed to impose a commanding narrative on the governing arrangement and its political objectives. Even the Congress Ministers discovered the joys of unilateralism and self-aggrandisement. The interesting innovation â the Core Group â in decision-making turned out to be a damp squib, but it is being allowed to linger on lest its members get shown in a less than favourable light. There has been no joyful camaraderie at the very core of the ruling arrangement; now it has become a forum for procrastination.
The unintended but disquieting outcome of this arrangement is an unhappy message: both outsiders and insiders have discovered that the democratic process and its openness can be made to work against the best national interest. This has consequences for the Indian state, given our uncertain and unstable neighbourhood, and an exacting globalised international environment. Those who seek to challenge the authority of the Indian state or those who do not wish India well can feel emboldened to take advantage of the paralysed decision-making in New Delhi.
Is it possible to recoup the Central authority assuming, of course, that the Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh team is aware of the depleting efficacy and that the twosome wants to set things right? To be sure, the long-term interests of the Indian state and the forces and ideas that abide by those interests will not permit this procrastination for long. If the Congress leadership is unable to safeguard those interests, the polity will devise a different ruling constellation, capable of meeting (often conflicting) demands of a buoyant economy, an assertive middle class, an energetic media, a vigilant civil society and an increasingly restless rural citizenry.
Leadership imperative
The leadership imperative in a crisis situation is to reach for reserves within, and to tap, to use a Churchillian phrase, the nationâs âvital and vibrant energy.â To be sure, the outsider may not always be aware of the structure of constraints and opportunities confronting national decision-makers. The difference between failed and successful leaders is the ability and daring to convert weaknesses into strengths, liabilities into assets.
The immediate task before the Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh team is to send out an unambiguous signal that the two of them are singing from the same prayer book; this must be made clear to not only those outside the ruling arrangement but also those within the government. There has been too much pussyfooting around for too long. Diarchy is defensible, duality of purpose or ambition is not.
To begin with, there has to be a comprehensive purge at the very top of the government and the party. The tired and the failed ministers and managers need to be sent packing, irrespective of their age or past loyalties. The same goes for the recalcitrant; those who are not willing to subscribe to the team leadership structure have no place in the dressing room. How and at what pace the country ought to be governed can no longer be a private argument between the Prime Minister and the Congress president; there is a very inconvenient third party âthe voter.
And, sooner rather than later, the voters will have an opportunity to make up their minds on whether to renew the mandate of those who have presided over the Centre so fitfully and so reluctantly. The voters have formed a reasonable judgment about the promise and performance of the UPA regime; and the verdict cannot be very reassuring. Unless, of course, the Sonia Gandhi-Manmohan Singh team is able and inclined to respect the democratic sensibilities and to tell the voter that it has the team players who have the stamina, skills, age and hunger to want to keep pace with a changing India and a changing world.