SBP President highlights need to replace India’s outdated bureaucracy

New Delhi: India's only liberal party, Swarna Bharat Party's(SBP) President Vishal Singh highlighted the critical importance for India to replace its outdated bureaucracy which is the legacy of the colonial times and which has had limited knowledge of governance.

He said that corruption would be eliminated entirely when the new bureaucracy will come and that be fully accountable for the results. He added that with the help of knowledge in the field of public choice theory and new public management in last fifty years, an entirely new machinery of government can be brought in force.

He said to achieve this there is a need for the appointment of senior officials by the relevant senior person. For example in the case of a secretary, the appointing authority would be either Prime Minister or Chief Minister. The appointment would happen on hire and fire contract basis which ensure total alignment with performance. These contracts dispense with all the unnecessary and dilatory processes which stop accountability to be ensured in the current system if the integrity of the appointing authority is assured.

The senior officials would be hired from the open market and would be paid well in the comparison to the private sector. These would be mainly the citizens of India. It would ensure that bureaucratic system consists high-quality capability, expertise and demonstrated capability.

Vishal Singh said, "Our party is committed to replacing all tenured civil services such as the IAS, with accountable public servants. This task has been undertaken in many advanced countries without much disruption. All it requires is political will. While we acknowledge that there is considerable talent in the current tenured services, the lack of appropriate incentives has delivered one of the world's least efficient and accountable bureaucracies."

Swarna Bhartiya Party's manifesto includes an extensive discussion on this issue. Party's President, however, pointed out that it is not enough to undertake this reform without other associated reforms. Importantly state funding of elections and in relations to political incentives and accountability, to let honest people enter politics consistently.

He highlighted the need for honest and committed political leaders without which a new machinery of governance will not be practicable.