Debate Over Generalists Versus Specialists Finally Settled By Ex-IAS Officer
- Sharad Gupta
- Published on 4 Oct 2023, 9:00 am IST
- 2 minutes read
Highlights
- Civil services haven’t withered away anywhere in the world, including Communist bastions
- Training should be focussed on enhancing efficiency, honesty and man-management
- Young officers need to be mentored by former officers who were both honest and successful
Mr Anil Swarup, a 1984-batch IAS officer belonging to UP Cadre, is touchstone of honesty, integrity and efficiency. In this second part of this free-wheeling interview with Indian Masterminds, he talked about whether training being imparted to young officers at LBSNAA, SVPNPA, IGNFA etc is adequate and what changes should be ushered in the training modules.
He formulated a landmark scheme called Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), ascheme replicated by many countries with help of the World Bank. He also planned a completely transparent auction of Coal Mines as the sector had come to a grinding halt after the alleged Coal Scam during UPA regime. As head of Project Management Group (PMG) in Central Secretariate he revived stalled mega projects worth lakhs of crores.
In the second part of Candid Talk, Mr Swarup spoke about the need for creating an institutional framework for mentorship for young officers through which they can learn to be civil ‘servant’ and not be part of the ‘arrogant red tape’. “They need to be mentored by both serving senior officers and retired officers who were not only honest but efficient and successful as well.Related Stories
He also discusses how far officers should go to follow the political governments. Whether illegal orders should be followed or what should be their attitude on “legal but wrong” orders? What should be their response to resolving orders falling in grey areas?
To get candid and honest answers to such questions, kindly watch the full interview here-
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