Agitational Politics-we need long pending reforms

The years 2011-2012 have seen aggrieved citizens pouring out on the streets of their respective countries to protest and to register their dissonance with Political inaction. In Libya and Egypt and the ongoing civil war in Syria for their freedom from autocratic regimes and in India, to fight corruption, poor governance and anti-people policies of a democratically elected Government.

Anna,Khejriwal and  Ramdev have tried and are still trying to channelize the anger of the people by using their respective models. What do progressive and well meaning parties like PPI do to ameliorate the citizen's plight? By now it would be clear to all, that there are no quick fix solutions and that palliative measures are but temporary solutions to systemic weaknesses that need prophylactic actions.

Electoral reforms have been suggested by many eminent members of Election Commissions. If they were to be accepted many of our representatives would be disqualified. Police reforms were proposed by a retired senior police officer but remain unactioned by our elected legislators, despite directions of the Supreme Court. Judicial reforms are long overdue along with augmentation of infrastructure. But, the process of reforms are painfully slow.

To conceive and implement reforms you need qualified Legislators. Criminals in Parliament and  state Assemblies are not the right  representatives of the people. You cannot have unproductive Parliamentary sessions when so many critical bills are pending to be debated and passed.

Single issues are therefore not the solution to our dilemma. They will merely  bring millions on the streets. If electoral reforms, police reforms and judicial reforms are not addressed and  implemented on time, it is more than likely that the next single issue may turn violent enough to cause destruction and death, which is totally avoidable at this juncture of our history.

We all are aware of the problems but we need solutions to prevent regressive politics. You have to come out and vote for clean and good people who enter politics. Politics cannot be shunned as most of you are inclined to do.

Like minded and progressive parties are coming together to launch a consortium and to share scarce resources needed to reach out to you. All we need is an assurance that you will exercise your franchise to ensure that good people occupy the seats of Parliament and legislative Assemblies of this Country.

Jai Hind

RE-THINKING MARINE PIRACY OPERATIONS

I am delighted to be on board HNLMS Rotterdam for a seminar on Anti-Piracy operations. Not many seminars are hosted on board a visiting war ship. All war ships on long deployment look forward to their much awaited rest and recreation while those ashore eagerly look forward to making the best use of the ship's presence in harbour. It is in this context that i offer my sincere thanks to Commodore Ben Bekkering for this gracious hospitality accorded to us today. Equally I am pleased to make the acquaintance of the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands HE, Mr Alphonsus  Stoelinga as well as the Commander Royal Netherlands Navy, Vice Admiral Matthieu Borsboom .

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have been asked to talk to you on the experience of the Indian Navy in Anti Piracy operations, lessons learnt and hindrances if any.

The Indian Navy, was fortunate to have executed two unique operations separated by a decade. I was a participant in the first as a Commanding Officer of a Frigate and in second as Head of Operations in the capacity of Asst Chief of Naval staff operations, at Delhi.

The first was in 1988, when a sudden coup de tat was attempted by mercenaries/extremists from Srilanka at Maldives. About 300 of them had entered Maldives but the President HE Gayoom managed to hide and transmit a message to the Indian Govt for assistance. While the Indian Air force and an elite Para brigade of the army swiftly swung into action within hours, the leader of the coup commandeered a Motor vessel called Progress Light from Male and escaped with 23 hostages and 47 mercenaries and headed for Srilanka. It was the turn of the Indian Navy to execute Operation Cactus, by intercepting the ship in high seas before she entered the territorial waters of Srilanka. Graduated use of firepower had to be resorted to by two of our Frigates,led by INS Godavari, while our newly formed Marine Commandos boarded, neutralized the mercenaries saved the hostages and the ship which was being scuttled. All this is of course on the internet.

A number of lessons were learnt from this episode, which was no different from Marine Piracy.

A decade later on 22 Oct 99, Indonesian pirates embarked and captured Alandro Rainbow, a Japanese vessel enroute to Miike in Japan, from Indonesia. This was a ship registered in Panama, owned by Japan, with a crew of 15 Philippinos and two Japanese. It had aluminium ingots worth a Billion Yen as cargo. The Pirates set the crew afloat in a boat and in a fortnight or so changed the identity to Mega Rama, repainted, sold half the cargo and set sail to the Middle East.

In a meticulously coordinated operation in which PRC of IMB, merchant ships at sea, the Indian Coast Guard and the Indian Navy took part, we were able to capture the first, Phantom ship  at sea after using minimum fire power, return the ship to Japan with half the cargo and prosecute the pirates in our courts despite inadequate legislation, laws and knowledge of maritime environment by the judiciary. This had numerous lessons to learn which as you can see has been used in the ongoing  operations off Somalia.

Governments of most countries perhaps with the exception of USA and China are not known to expeditiously resolve issues related to legislation and laws to align with international treaties, conventions and laws.
 

Ask yourselves what would have happened if 47 commercial aircraft were to be hijacked and 867 crew were to be held hostage? Media would have ensured that the problem is resolved in the shortest possible time.

What then were some lessons on operations that we ought to have learnt? This is quite separate from addressing the core issues that create piracy as an option, due to poor governance, lack of development and a host of socio- economic issues.

Firstly, last 30 years have seen six different out breaks of Piracy. All were unique in their features pertaining to geography, motivation and execution. We cannot apply a common template to solve the scourge of Piracy round the world. For instance, phantom ships could be tracked if hidden transmitters could pin point their location at sea. In Somalia there was only one destination . All ships were taken to the home port of the pirates.

Secondly, a number of white collar workers have to support Piracy as a good business model. Imagine poorly run ports, money launderers, havala operators, qualified crew who take over and manage ships at sea, aircraft operators who drop ransom at predetermined locations, etc. If there is a will to track them the business model can be destroyed.

Thirdly, sharing of information among neighbours and diligent patrolling as has been done between Indonesia and India who share common waters  could be a deterrent.

Fourthly, we need a dedicated cadre of specialists on Maritime Law, who have had exposure to merchant marine, navy/Coast Guard in order to assist relatively small countries to come to grip with affairs maritime.

Finally, the Capt at sea should not be weighed down by restrictions of graduated application of force. Clear cut ROE's must be issued by Governments who deploy war vessels so that  officers are taught to use them with the discretion dictated by circumstances rather than fear of reprisal.

What might be classified as hindrances to operations?

Anti Piracy operations do not in the strictest sense fall under "Law of Armed Conflict". The Military options are quite limited.

Military assets are limited owing to various commitments including training. Hence such operations cannot be stretched beyond a point.

Limited legal options due to inability of most countries to prosecute pirates. Incidentally, after Alandro Rainbow we have discovered means to prosecute them . Presently there are 120 pirates undergoing trials in fast track courts in India. 73 have been released and repatriated.

Lastly, high risk areas are defined by various authorities. Best Practices at sea issued by Horn of Africa have imposed some burden on the Indian Coast as most shippers are hugging our coast which has implications to our fishermen. We need to rationalise this process.

In conclusion, much has been said about an integrated approach to addressing Piracy. We need academics, sailors, ship owners,regulators, insurance companies and crew who have been captured and released to participate in this exercise.
 Dalhousie University of Canada has launched one such project which addresses the human face of piracy and policy options available to decision makers. We can predict the next arena for piracy. The Gulf of Guinea is already a possible location.
 Piracy will not end as long as ships exist. If countries continue to emasculate their wealth and create abject poverty and illiteracy as means to keep the populace suppressed, pirates will find an easy way to earn easy money. Whichever is more lucrative, drug smuggling, human trafficking, gold smuggling or piracy. So long as ship owners are willing to pay ransom, Piracy could have a multi -Billion Dollar business model. It is time to wake up and smell the coffee!

THE HUMAN FACE OF MARINE PIRACY

This presentation was made at an International Seminar on Piracy at Karachi in Feb 2012. Courtesy-proceedings issued by Fazaldad Human Rights Institute.

THE ALANDRO RAINBOW CASE

At the outset let me place on record, my gratitude, to the organizers of this seminar for making it possible for me to be sharing some thoughts with this audience. It has taken many months of diligent and sincere communications between us to cross all the obstacles to obtain the necessary clearance to travel to Karachi. I am honoured and delighted to be with you.

Since the sub-continent provides a fair share of seafarers to the shipping industry, it is but natural that we will continue to have some of our crew in ships that are hijacked. The threat is common to all of us and it is imperative that we join hands to fight together since it cuts across our existing disagreements on bilateral and historical antagonism. It is in this context that we need to revisit the Alandro Rainbow case to draw lessons that may assist the international community to find amicable solutions to the scourge of piracy at sea. Let me briefly outline the facts related to the actual act of piracy, circumstances leading to the capture of the hi-jacked ship by the Indian Maritime forces and finally lessons learnt or unlearnt as perceived by us.

This is a classical case of good coordination and cooperation among agencies such as, the Piracy reporting centre at KL, alert standards of watch keeping by ships in receipt of warnings, quick reaction by Maritime forces and clear intent to pursue the pirated vessel and capture her and finally the successful prosecution of the captured crew by courts of law in India.

On 22oct 99, Alandro Rainbow,a Japanese ship of 7762 tons, registered in Panama with a crew of 15 Philipinos and 2 Japanese was hijacked within two and half hours of leaving Kuala Tanjung in Indonesia enroute to Miike in Japan.The crew was blind folded and transferred to a barge MV Sanho and thereafter set afloat in a life raft. Fortunately the crew was rescued by a Thai trawler and the Japanese Master promptly registered a case. Consequently IMB/PRC was informed and a bulletin to look out for Alandro Rainbow was put out on 27 oct. There is also a report that Thomas Cooper an insurance company offered a reward of US $ 200000; the cargo consisting of Aluminium Ingots was worth a Billion+ Yen. What was not known at this stage was that the ship was being converted into a Phantom vessel, which was renamed as Mega Rama. Half the cargo had been disembarked and the ship had set sail to the Persian Gulf.

At the south western tip of India, MV AlShuhada,a Kuwaiti  motor vessel sighted MV Mega Rama, on 13 Nov and an alert watch keeper found  considerable resemblance with Alandro Rainbow and despite the new name on display, he promptly reported the matter to the PRC. An equally alert Coast Guard of India decided to intercept the vessel and check its credentials.

It was CG vessel Tarabhai a small inshore patrol vessel which closed in and thus commenced a chase on 14 Nov. Mega Rama neither responded nor cared to establish radio contact, while increasing speed and altering due west. A CG Dornier aircraft joined at first light and flew across the bows of the ship to reconfirm that the new name was indeed painted over. By then Lloyds records had also confirmed that the ship called Mega Rama did not exist on the record books of ships in commission.

It is at this stage of the operations that the navy decided to support the efforts of the Coast Guard. Since I was the head of operations at that time, I can with certainty, recall the factors that were considered before arriving at the decision. It was established beyond doubt that the ship being pursued was indeed Alandro Rainbow. The then Prime Minister of Japan had made a statement in their parliament on the loss of the ship and the desire of the people of Japan to repossess the ship if possible. The interpretation of existing Maritime laws and specifically articles 100 to 107 of UNCLOS were carefully considered. It was also recalled that the original Regulations Indian Navy before the recent amendments, had very specific instructions to the Commanding officer of Indian War ships to aggressively pursue pirates at sea and that insufficient action in such pursuits may invite disciplinary action against the Commanding officer.

It was also envisaged that should firing be necessitated in self defence or to persuade the ship to stop, it would necessitate graduated use of minimum force to achieve the end result. The Commanding officer should not be burdened with restrictions and that laying down clear ROE’s was the task of higher echelons of the navy.

Finally the past experience of thwarting a coup at Maldives in 1988 at the request of the then President of Male and the subsequent engagement of MV Progress Light, which resulted in rescuing the hostages and arresting the rebels had a few critical lessons, which needed to be implemented. It was with these considerations that the CNS took the decision of deploying the nearest Missile vessel and later a frigate and a destroyer, the latter to prevent scuttling of the hi-jacked vessel through a large contingent of damage control teams available in larger vessels.

Missile vessel Prahar who reached the scene of action on 15 Nov after sun set, used all the available means of communication, illuminated the vessel in question, circled her at close quarters, when the pirates tried to ram Prahar and only when all efforts failed did he start with small caliber weapon firing across the bows of Mega Rama, aka,Alandro Rainbow.

By 16 Nov it was clear that the pirates were hardened criminals with adequate knowledge of ship management skills to delay or prevent the capture of their ship. The use of the highest caliber gun system was brought into action and it needed only two shots in the vicinity of the bridge and funnel to abruptly stop the pirates. White flags were hoisted by the pirates but they had also initiated the process of scuttling the vessel. The boarding parties had two objectives, to capture the pirates and prevent the sinking of the vessel. Both having been achieved the ship was towed into Mumbai harbour by the CG on 16 Nov.

Within a period of three months thereafter, the pirated vessel with half the cargo was returned to the rightful owner. The main battle was to follow in the courts of Mumbai.

The weaknesses in existing national legislation and laws and their alignment with evolving International maritime laws, conventions/agreements and International customs were huge impediments in courts of law. Thanks to the presence of the old Admiralty courts and processes which fortuitously remained in force, the court was able to sentence and impose fine/penalties on the offenders. There were many issues of jurisdiction, identification of offenders etc which later came to light at the higher courts of law, but then the seven year penalty had almost been completed by the pirates. Also the SUA convention had not been ratified at that point in time. The legal frame work and legislation to be worked by Parliament are matters of a detailed study by legal luminaries.

Let us briefly examine some interesting findings, which are my personal thoughts in retrospection and introspection.

Firstly, Phantom ship operations which involves pirating, renaming/repainting, disposal of illegitimately acquired cargo, use of poorly regulated ports to acquire legitimate charters,inter-alia, need a lot of white collar support from shore authorities, money launderers, lawyers and the whole gamut of well qualified and authorized phantom crew to run and manage the ship. How is it that the international community and commercial/UN led initiatives have not been able to generate cooperative measures to nail them down? It is like Somalian piracy, a lucrative multi-Billion dollar industry which is convenient to all stake holders. Like tax evasion agreements could there be bilateral or multi- lateral agreements among nations?

Secondly, sharing of information and diligent patrolling among littoral nations along with time shared presence of war ships for quick and seamless intervention is a need that merits attention. India and Pakistan can work at sea without prejudice to their disagreement on ongoing political issues.
.

Thirdly, in an increasingly globally net worked environment, is it not possible to 
maintain a centralized record of qualified Merchant marine officers and their whereabouts to locate those that sell their souls to indulge in piracy related activities? It would provide instant information of location and details of unemployed but 
.qualified crew who have the inclination and potential to support illegal trade

Rules of Engagement are essential to enable warship Captains to defend and use graduated and bare necessary offensive action to thwart and deter piracy. The Governments such as the Indian Govt were able to do so which led to effective neutralization of mother ships and remarkable decrease in high seas deployment of pirates.

Fourthly, it is time to create a cadre of specialists in Maritime law and nurture them by providing sufficient avenues of employment in the industry and state led initiatives. If they have a merchant marine /navy/CG background so much the better. I was delighted to meet one in Karachi, who having served the Navy is a successful legal luminary in maritime law.

I thank you for your attention.

THIS ARMY BASHING MUST STOP

The edited version of this  article was carried by IANS today 01 Nov 12 under the title "This uninformed military bashing must stop"

DEJA VU -THIS UNINFORMED ARMY BASHING MUST STOP

The print and electronic media have been eagerly lapping up some half truths ostensibly sourced from an Audit report of  Defence Account circulated within the MOD. It is a matter of great concern that every file noting/report from various organs of the Government is finding its way to the electronic and print media even without an RTI application. If many such papers are up for sale  the matter is even more serious, for the buyer is as guilty as the seller.

Quite obviously, the system of procurement whether by the Ministry or through recently delegated powers to service head quarters, has to be well understood before statements such as  "Generals have caused a loss of 100 crores..." is made by editorials of reputed media. Equally a television debate cannot establish facts, as most anchors interrupt the views of experts and juxtapose their own perceived views, thus leaving the viewer even more confused.

The Defence Ministers in most countries would have intervened with a press statement from MOD explaining the process of such an audit and the accuracy and finality of such reports. That would have not only clarified the veracity of information selectively placed in the public domain but would have eased the pressure on the Armed Forces to go public on facts and figures. Downward loyalty of the RM cannot be limited only to MOD. Surely he also needs to back the Armed Forces who are placed under him.

Without taxing the reader on technicalities, let me explain the process. These are facts not meant to defend the Army in this case but to place the subject in perspective for the reader.

Having established or reduced the office of Service Headquarters to Attached office status (now notionally designated as the IHQs) in the early 1950's,the MOD retained all controls of financial powers. The Chiefs did not enjoy delegated financial powers to even manage the day to day revenue expenditure, leave alone Capital expenditure for acquisition of assets.  The Navy was the first to suggest, discuss and get sanctions for New Management Strategy(NMS) commencing 1991. At that stage the intention was to address the first concern of unacceptable level of operational availability of ships and submarines. Delegated financial  powers to the Chief  to expedite decision making, resulted in achieving much higher readiness levels. Under the earlier dispensation, ships needing urgent or routine repairs and maintenance continued to languish along side, while MOD and MOD Finance raised objection after objections on modalities of repair. The operational and opportunity cost of delayed sanctions from the Ministry were so great that nearly half the fleet was awaiting some sanction or the other to be rendered operationally  fit for service.

It was not without years of discussion i.e.in 1997 and later in 2006, that the delegated powers with all the checks and balances were issued as Navy Instructions, thus making the Chief responsible for running the Navy through revenue budget delegation. Later these powers were grudgingly enhanced with more restrictions but were limited only to  the revenue expenditure and not to the Capital.

Not many would know that delegated powers for Capital expenditure were progressively enhanced to Rs 50 crores only from 2004 onwards and is now proposed to be enhanced to Rs 100 crores? Given that the annual defence budget has exceeded Rs. One Lac crores, over the years, every committee appointed by the Govt has forcefully sought delegation of adequate powers to the Armed Forces so that they are made responsible and accountable for maintaining  optimum readiness levels.

During this whole sorry episode Heads of large Government controlled departments such as Railways for instance, were allowed to exercise full financial powers commensurate with their operational needs.

Since the Navy, being the smallest of the three, had initiated ,documented and steered a successful pilot project, delegation of powers for other services was progressed on this model. MOD had ensured that at no stage was it possible for the Military authority, irrespective of rank, to sanction any expenditure without the concurrence of Integrated Financial Advisor,  barring few petty items of limited value. These officers were drawn from department of defence accounts. Needless to say the necessity to place so many of them in quick succession as advisors, created an avalanche of vacancies for promotion to this specific cadre-which could be a subject for another discussion.

The major weakness in the system was and continues to be the mindset of the IFA. Instead of assuming the role of an Advisor(which is not a part of his/her training) the IFA acts as an auditor for pre-acquisition formalities-the post event audit notwithstanding. More over there are not enough officers of the right seniority and experience to fill these increasing billets.

Clearly, no operational Commander under this dispensation would over rule the objections raised by IFA, since the latter forms an integral  part of processing/approving every step of procurement under delegated powers. It is ironical that the auditors who carry out post- audit at the centre, are from the very same cadre as those fulfilling  IFA functions in the field. Hence we have not heard of a single query raised on how the IFA allowed the process of procurement, if it was faulty. Such a system is not anchored on powers delegated to individual Commanders but to the system as a whole, with built in checks and balances.

Another interesting fact is that orders for delegation of powers do not empower the field commander to review the performance of the IFA whose final reviewing authority is  CGDA. Also if there is a conflict of interest between the delegated authority and the Financial Advisor, the matter is to be referred to Delhi. There is no situation in which the IFA who is involved in the entire process of procurement can be intimidated or arm twisted to acquiescence. If there is a faulty acquisition in procedural terms, the IFA is a party to it. Hence post- audit of the process should in the first instance ask for an explanation of the IFA.

This essay would be incomplete without reference to extraordinary delays in equipping the Armed forces with platforms,equipment,ammunition and ordnance due to the convoluted procedures of Defence Procurement which are handled entirely by MOD. AJT took about 20 years of negotiations and discussions, helicopters and guns are outdated. These need no elaboration as they are in the public domain. The cumulative shortages are so severe that most Commanders who have now been given limited powers of procurement, opt to procure a small numbers of critical operational necessities. Bullet proof vests are a case in point. Should a soldier continue to sacrifice his life  because there is protracted discussions on file between the Attached office and MOD? Most field commanders who feel for their troops would seek to provide what they can with what they have. The IFA knows it and hence he is required to advise and prevent procedural violations. If such violations are indeed discovered later, by an auditor who has neither the knowledge nor the responsibility to prevent loss of life, should it not be the responsibility of the IFA to explain the nature of such procurement? 

Lastly, most such observations made by the auditor is settled after explanations are obtained as per procedures. In the meanwhile, imagine the damage done by innuendos and television debates placing the blame squarely on Field Commanders .

Will the media carry an apology later? Perhaps it would be easier to obtain statistics from honest vendors(who prefer anonymity) who, reportedly, have had to and continue to bribe office bearers of Controller of Defence Accounts of all three services, just  to get their legitimate payments released with least delay and harassment.

Vice Admiral(retd.) Suresh Bangara, former FOC-in-C Southern Naval Command had held appointments of Director Naval Plans and later Assistant Chief of Naval Staff(Policy and Plans) when NMS was steered by the Navy.

DUSSERA AND GOLF-A HEADY COCKTAIL

Among many tournaments that start after the monsoon season,there is one conducted by RWITC-never bothered to find out the connection between riding and golf. I entered the tournament for fun as the club had found me not good enough to hold my handicap of 16. There was nothing to lose. What they did not explain was that it was a long drawn out tournament. Having collected 34 points at the first session, I thought it was the end,until my name appeared for a short list of play offs in pairs. One look at the board and I knew it would end in a whimper as I was drawn against AK Singh playing to 13. 

 This morning I reported at the crowded session due to Dussera,but AK and I were given priority due to the tournament schedule. The starter whispered to me and said that AK actually plays to 4 and that at the medal round last Saturday he had shot 59-an unbelievable 13 under par.AK rolled in, two minutes to T-Off, with his belly leading the way a few seconds ahead of him. Then the dual began. I gathered as we sauntered on towards the first green, that he was as old as my son.That did not not help my mind set. I was petrified playing with some one who had shot 59 in this very course. Every passing member waived at him with great respect and barely noticed me. That is when it struck me that all I had to do is to shoot pars and let him go for birdies to off set the many strokes that I had earned as a lowly golfer. I did just that and by the fourth hole I was four up with a naughty smile on my face. He was running to catch up. The front nine ended with my lead at 4 holes.

Normally my game goes to pieces at the back nine due to lack of focus and a tired back. So it did and AK began to dig my grave. By the 13th my lead reduced to just 1.  I held on with a couple of halves. At the 16th(par 3) I went right into the big banyan tree and AK was on the green. He had a wry smile-don't know why. I had a stroke but no ball to find. The ball just vanished,perhaps between the humongous branches of the Banyan  No quarters given. He asked me to walk back and take the 3rd shot from the Tee. As I walked back,a long walk at that, I said to myself no one managed to kill you off Karachi in 1971, how can AK get you now. Wham, I was on the green but 3 on. AK missed a birdie and shot a par. I putted a 12 footer and halved. I was still one up and did not want a sudden death after 18. I just had to win hole 17 and I would be 2 up and unbeatable-simple. Now the pressure got to AK. He had been driving straight and long till then. Wham and a scream-------his ball was sighted on fairway 18. I went straight as an arrow-to the middle of the fairway  and about 230 yards. I shot a par and he a 5. It was sealed with a couple of spectators who came to see the old man who had beaten the latest craze on the course. 

I may not survive the next play off but my Dussera was made-here on the Poona golf course. Please note Poona and not Pune!!

Are Civil Servants Accountable?

            GOOD GOVERNANCE-ARE CIVIL SERVANTS ACCOUNTABLE?

India is certainly at cross roads. When the country needs the most capable Ministers and a very professional bunch of civil servants to realize her true potential, we appear to be running aground on all fronts. We adopted the Westminster model along with the infamous White Hall system from the British. The British, from time to time, have tried to reform the structure of administration and decision making;  with little success thus far.

Our own efforts to reform the administration has addressed some components, including the induction and training pattern of our Civil Services; paradoxically called the Steel Frame of India. The steel in it has virtually disappeared while the frame keeps expanding horizontally and vertically. The more it expands, the more hollow it becomes.

The system that we inherited from the British was sound ,adequate then to meet our needs and it was perhaps assumed that administrative  reforms would follow even as we grew.  However, the British system was predicated upon certain axioms- that the politician would be driven by short term and selfish pressures and that common good of the people or public interest may not always be his objective.

The Civil Servant was to remain apolitical or politically neutral with a high degree of pecuniary and moral integrity. More importantly,  he was not to be motivated by the desire to make money .Integrity honesty ,objectivity and impartiality were to be his guiding principles. These checks and balances were meant to keep the system on a straight and narrow path, solely to defend the interest of the common man. The entire administrative apparatus was to ensure that they focus on the common good or public interest, which in turn would send out a powerful message that the Government was always right.

As happened in other democracies, with changing aspirations of the people, the fundamentals on which this edifice was built began to cave in. The British model saw an increasing convergence of interest between the greedy politician and the pliant Civil Servant. The latter may not have always had his hand in the till but often chose to remain silent or look the other way just to survive. This was captured powerfully and euphemistically in the famous BBC serial, "Yes Minister' and "Yes Prime Minister". Reportedly, Maggie Thatcher, often called the Iron Lady of UK, was assertive but patient in execution of programmes, which allowed space for the Civil Servant to adhere to established norms. More recently, the  Tony Blair-Sir Robin Butler controversy and David Cameron--Sir Guss O'Donnel- episode, when the Civil servant chose to remain, assertive or silent respectively, are good examples. These exemplify the nature of conflict between the desire of the Politician to push his programmes and the duty of the Civil Servant to protect public interest. In the Indian context, particularly in the State Governments there are scores of incidents in which Civil Servants chose to turn a blind eye to the wrong doings of their Political Masters. Worse, they were  willing consorts.

The existing decision making process in India, is based on files that move from the lowest rung of the ladder ,vertically within departments and thereafter horizontally to gather views of other departments. This system is open to manipulation. Decisions can be delayed or expedited on the pretext of awaiting return of files to the originator. Internal dissensions or disagreements can be overcome by arm twisting the dissenter to change his noting as if it is his own, so the superior with mala fide intentions, is seen to be  in agreement with the wisdom of the department. There are numerous loop holes waiting to be exploited. What is worse, a scrutiny of files by investigators/auditors in most cases cannot establish any accountability of individuals in a chain, due to subversion of the process in use.

Attempts have been made by some wings of the Government, both at the centre and State, to reform the process through Management Information System(MIS). The essentials of file work, especially its integrity depends on ensuring that the basic principles of promoting and accepting contrary views are valued and protected. Insufficient understanding of value of professional discussions and hasty introduction of E- governance with emphasis only on tracking of files without equal emphasis on contents, may damage the decision making process even more.

The Indian scene is well known. Those of us who have seen the degeneration of administration over six decades and the compelling desire of the Civil Servant to either share the booty or just survive, know the root causes. Money and muscle power continue to play an important role in the electoral process of India. Efforts made by successive CECs to cleanse the system through legislation for electoral reforms, remain unattended due to lack of will of Governments of the day. Thanks to more assertive citizens, a less deferential media and freedom of information, the scene has begun to change ,albeit, rather slowly.

Given the above scenario, on one hand, though paradoxically ,the interest of the citizen(who refuses to vote due to apathy) and those of enlightened politicians who are smart enough to sense the mood of the country, are bound to converge . On the other, economic reforms have the potential of resulting in chaotic administration. The Administration, if not reformed to meet the complex  challenges of a knowledge based society, would lead to more chaos and not less. The civil servant of today, cannot assume to be part of a vibrant democracy unless the process of selection, grooming and lateral induction to fill the gap in vertical specialization  is addressed as an inextricable part of good administration. Without that good governance would remain a distant dream.

Judge for yourself, is Administrative Reforms( with radical changes) any less important than Economic Reforms? 

FROM BATTLEFIELD TO BOARD ROOM

A group of dedicated professionals who are committed to bring the Indian customer to the fore, through deftly designed interaction between military veterans and Corporate Leaders, came up with a brilliant theme for 2012. That is the title of my blog.
While it is the sole privilege of the organizers to publish the take- a ways from this interaction, I shall limit my Blog to the immense potential of tapping talent from the Military and the Corporates to reshape the contours of business ethics.

It is not unusual to see Sun-Tzu being quoted ad nauseam in Corporate seminars in the US in particular. The Americans have the ability to produce books for all types of readers. Indeed book writing and publishing could be a very rewarding experience for qualified writers. Most successful authors use assiduously researched material and through imaginative interpretation of facts and figures they capture the attention of the reader.

In India however, it is a frustrating experience to publish a book,even if you have 'something to say' as opposed to 'saying something'. This conference/work shop would have been an ideal setting for those who wished to write on this subject,i.e.how can the Military experience enrich the Board Room.

Evolving Strategy,sharing experience related to Human Resource Development and most of all, understanding that every Corporate has the potential to contribute towards enhancing National Security, were some take aways from this seminar..

A subject not entirely related to the main theme, but which is often ignored or neglected, is the safety and security of personnel,inventory and property of corporate bodies.Violence among the work force due to inequality/exploitation of the less privileged,  natural disasters, terrorism coupled with man-made disasters are no longer the problem of the State alone. Contingency plans are required to be made, emergency drills rehearsed seriously and adequate resources sequestered to meet such contingencies. Despite serious losses caused to the  economic centre of gravity through terrorist strikes,cyclones,  tsunamis and cyber attacks,it would appear that the Private and Corporate sectors are unwilling to face the brutal facts of today even as they plunge headlong into profit-loss statements.

Time to smell the coffee.