A FIXED TENURE FOR CIVIL SERVANTS: END OF NEXUS BETWEEN POLITICS & BUREAUCRACY?

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Free from Political Influence

In a path-breaking verdict, the Supreme Court directed that bureaucrats be given a fixed tenure and their promotions and transfers be decided by a board, in order to free the bureaucracy from the clutches of political bosses and put an end to civil servants being shunted out for not toeing their line. Noting that deterioration of the standards of probity and accountability with civil servants is due to the “political influence”, the apex court held that bureaucrats must not function on verbal or oral instructions given by their superiors and political executive as it gives room for “favoritism and corruption” and also defeats the rights guaranteed to the citizens under RTI Act.

Administrative reforms in India have been a long-drawn-out process, and recommendations on having a ûxed tenure system for bureaucrats have been repeatedly made since before Independence. The Supreme Court order directing the centre and the states to set up civil services boards for the management of transfers, postings, inquiries, promotions, rewards, and punishments of administrative personnel, while ensuring a ûxed minimum tenure for them is a laudable step. The apex court’s decision signals an important move towards much-needed administrative reforms in India and is a signiûcant step in a long journey that began decades ago. The idea of bringing about stability in the tenure system of bureaucrats has been the focal point of a number of administrative reforms initiatives, and despite the efforts of multiple commissions and committees, it has yet to be implemented in the country’s non-political and permanent executive structure.

Perspective

Stability of tenure has long been advocated by organisation theorists as the basis of effective and efficient management. This basic tenet was emphasised at the very inception of the discipline of public administration by classical theorists such as Henry Fayol. In his seminal work General and Industrial Management (1949), Fayol states that one of the principles of management is stability of tenure as it provides orderly human resource stafûng and establishes provisions to ensure that an employee possesses the requisite ability to perform his or her work efûciently. He points out that it takes time to develop the skills necessary to perform effectively in a particular position (Wren and Bedeian 2009). This logic holds true even today and has been the basis of many arguments in the favour of ûxed tenures in government services.

In India, the system of stafûng through tenure was established by Viceroy George Curzon (1899- 1905). A number of commissions and committees supported the system and also advocated stability of tenure. They included the Llewellyn Smith report (1919); the reports of the Simon Commission (1930); Wheeler Committee (1936); Maxwell Committee (1937); Rowlands Committee (1944-45); and the Bengal Administration Enquiry Committee (Avasthi and Avasthi 2004). After Independence, the ûrst Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC 1967) and the second ARC (2008) have dealt in detail with the need for administrative reforms and ûxed tenures.

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