A Big Bureaucrat Proposes and a Bigger One Disposes

The hulchul over reforms in tank irrigation is winding down - the outcome? Business as usual.

The seven month effort that went into designing a new delivery model running outside of regular government channels and enrolling expertise from the open market and the non-profit sector has come to nought.

If the analysis is to be believed the imperative for designing the new system is all because of the role a lowly minion in government known as the PAO plays. I dont even know what the expansion of that acronym stand for but apparently he is a person who can bring an IAS officer charging at full clip to a standstill through the inventiveness of the queries he can raise to delay payments endlessly. So all the systems that have been designed by creating 'societies' are apparently a tactic whereby the operational IAS head of a project retains financial control without reference to government systems. So much for what people wanted me to believe - that it is primarily a way officers with a strong 'social conscience' are able to bypass the inefficiencies and vested interests within government.

There may be some truth in the matter. There is surely a strong incentive within government financial systems to pass a small number of high value (multicrore) bills. A large number of smaller bills where the propensity of vendors to incentivise the payment may not be high or the incentives offered may not be attractive enough to hasten processes surely will recieve lower priority or even come up against some red-tape and bureaucratic harassment.

But is this sufficient cause to design a parallel system. Because, after all the guy causing all the hassle is someone who is way down the hierarchy of the very system these guys (IAS) are lording over. Interesting question.

Anyway the proposal of the Big Bureaucrat was shot down by the Bigger Bureaucrat - the reason? In his opinion 'societies' that have been set up in this manner hardly have a better track record in matters of financial probity.

What's one to make of all this. One thing is for sure - there is some redrafting we have to do of our report.