Young men and women join civil services with high enthusiasm and determination to bring about path-breaking reforms and proposals. The zeal to reform is a strong motivating factor that makes many aspirants keep repeatedly appearing for the civil services. Luck favours a few, while many fade away disappointed.

Upon entering active service after training, the realisation dawns that seniors sitting inside cosy air-conditioned rooms were also once full of dreams about initiating new reforms and projects, but now prefer to be happy with perks, timely promotions, and high-profile postings, for which they quietly cultivate political lobbies. The only active everyday occupation is endless file pushing, and evasive file jottings, and routine meetings enlivened by coffee, tea, samosas and cashews.

Many lessons that training academies can never offer during training get quickly imbibed when one gets exposed to the real work culture prevailing, to finally earn the title of a ‘seasoned bureaucrat’.

This writer entered service as an Assistant Collector of Customs in the Foreign Post Office (FPO), a joint bureaucratic venture of Postal and Customs officials. The postal employee unions during those days were very strong, and fixed the quantum of daily work, which was mostly minimal. No Indian Postal Service officer dared to disturb the working norms, as decided by the Unions. Nobody wanted to clean the Augean stables, rather preferred to have a peaceful office time schedule of 10am to 5pm and go home. So that was it: your work output would be decided by others, and you never mattered for them.

Next, work would be interesting depending on the files that land and take-off from the officer’s table. The young........

© News18