Between the Files

The word governance has now become a buzzword and there is hardly a government anywhere in the world that doesn8217;t promise to deliver go...

The word governance has now become a buzzword and there is hardly a government anywhere in the world that doesn8217;t promise to deliver good governance. But what is good governance? The expression isn8217;t easy to pin down. Because the answer is contingent on what one expects the government to do. Should the government produce scooters, run hotels and manufacture bread? There is thus the issue of core governance functions and what one wants a lean state to do. A minimal set of core governance functions should include preservation of rule of law and property rights, some state role in financing if not actually providing some elements of physical rural roads, drinking and irrigation water, sanitation, sewage treatment and social education, health infrastructure, some anti-poverty programmes and providing an enabling environment for growth. A subset of this is what came to be called bipasa bijli, pani, sadak. Splice that with ensuring civil and political freedoms.

The debate on reforms goes on and on. Whichever way one looks at it, this debate is really about the role of the state and what we expect the state to do. Unfortunately, our mindset is such that we expect the state to do too many things and it doesn8217;t even manage to deliver the core governance functions satisfactorily. We don8217;t have a lean state. We have a mean state. Despite decentralisation, despite Right to Information Acts, despite citizens8217; charters, the interface between the citizen and the state is with the citizen as a supplicant, rather than as an applicant. In India, there aren8217;t that many people who work for the government. If one includes the public sector, we have a figure of 20 million, with almost 3.5 million working for the Central government 8212; 400 million people work outside the government. Unfortunately, the action of the 20 million impacts the lives of the 400 million and understandably there is cynicism about what the three main organs of government in the Constitution executive, judiciary, legislature have delivered.

It8217;s not the case that we have a large government. But it is indeed the case that this government does the wrong things and, in the process, imposes significant transaction costs on our lives. And because the benefits of government functions are not obvious and the costs are palpable, there is tax fatigue. Even the poor pay indirect taxes. Reforming, reinventing and downsizing government and improving governance thus also concern electoral and judicial reform. They also concern administrative or civil service reform, sometimes equated with improving governance. And the domain is not just the Centre, but also the states.

Just after the election results, a journalist asked me, 8220;What do you think Arun Shourie is going to do now?8221; 8220;Probably write a book,8221; I replied. There was no insider information. Nor did this guess require great expertise and given Shourie8217;s 17 other books, the probability of this prediction coming true was greater than many economic forecasts.

As Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Disinvestment, Planning and Programme Implementation and Commerce, enough ammunition must have been collected. The NDA8217;s loss is the country8217;s gain. The British left us a bureaucracy and red tape and we have perfected these colonial hangovers beyond their wildest imagination. And Shourie documents these decision-making processes. Not just for disinvestment, which was expected in any case, but also for other ministries. Read what he has to say when the issue of colour of ink used in government files comes up. Or what happens when a tree falls on the residence of the Indian high commissioner in Singapore. Or the description of the 8220;parking lot8221;, also known as the Planning Commission. These are instances that Sir Humphrey Appleby would have been proud of. Had it not been for the tragic message that emanates, these examples are hilarious.

There is a complaint though. The title is a bit of a misnomer. Of the 255 pages of text, 229 pages document the sclerosis that has set in, based on Shourie8217;s experience in government. With Shourie8217;s knowledge and with the title this book has, one would have expected some suggestions on how to improve governance. Admittedly, the last chapter, titled 8220;Towards an enabling State8221;, is supposed to be that. But this too, is fundamentally about experiences and reform suggestions are all too brief, although in all fairness, such suggestions also occasionally figure elsewhere in the book. How do we create the enabling state? Perhaps one has to wait for Arun Shourie8217;s next book.

8220;The first lesson thus is for those who are outside the system: keep up the pressure. As citizens whose cases languish. As consumers who do not get the quality of service that they have been promised, that is their right to expect. As investors.8221; To create the countervailing pressure, one needs information, awareness. In case you are optimistic about the Indian state, read this 8220;rare glimpse into what has become of governance8221;. The cynicism will hopefully result in countervailing pressure and eventual change.