Ahead of a crucial general election, it is hard to miss the growing ranks of former civil servants who have been recently welcomed by parties with open arms. A former R&AW chief, army chief and home secretary have joined the BJP, which can boast of the most high-profile entrants this time. But other parties, from the Congress to the CPM, the TMC to the BSP, have previously given tickets to former public officials. This has revived old questions about the propriety of administrators and police officers taking political sides the instant they quit government.
The civil services in India, following the UK model, was set up as a permanent, unified and politically neutral apparatus, meant to implement the policies of the elected government. By contrast, the US has a system of political appointees, whose loyalties lie clearly with the government that chose them, and who present none of the resistance that an entrenched bureaucracy often can. But given that the Indian system rests heavily on the assumption of scrupulous neutrality, any evidence of partisan affiliation can erode trust in the system. It provokes a harsh glare on decisions taken by the civil servant while in office, and raises questions about whether their preferred party’s interests played a part in their choices.
