The real test for Arvind Kejriwal: Will Babus be his friends or foes?

The life of Arvind Kejriwal’s government in Delhi - to be sworn in on December 28 – will obviously depend on its arms-length ally (or is it a cuddled-up foe?), the Congress party. The government’s performance, however, will crucially depend on another, less acknowledged foe - Delhi’s gargantuan bureaucracy. Kejriwal and his ministers will enjoy the luxury of making policy, but in India’s system of Government, it is the bureaucracy which actually does the work of implementation. On this score, AAP has more than a few reasons for concern. For a start, how will Delhi’s higher bureaucracy (Chief Secretary, Secretaries of Departments) composed of IAS officers react to Arvind Kejriwal, IRS (resigned)? In the hierarchy within babudom, the IAS believes it comes first, above the other all-India Indian Police Service and Indian Forest Service and much above the Indian Revenue Service, whose senior-most officials in the Government of India (Chairmen of the Board of Direct Taxes and the Board of Excise and Customs) always report to an IAS officer, the Revenue Secretary in the Ministry of Finance. It is not unreasonable to expect some tension between Delhi’s senior officials and Kejriwal. [caption id=“attachment_130770” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Reuters[/caption] How will Delhi’s lower bureaucracy react to the anti-corruption crusader Arvind Kejriwal? AAP’s voters are likely to have been frustrated with petty corruption as much if not more than the grand corruption of high offices. AAP’s mandate is to crack down on petty corruption along with high level corruption. If Kejriwal and his new Jan Lokpal train their guns at officials of the lower bureaucracy - who may not believe that their small time corruption is deserving of strict punishment - the Government can expect a backlash from junior babus. It would be foolish for any politician to underestimate the power of the lower bureaucracy - a file can go missing or be stalled for indefinite periods effectively stalling decisions. Now leave aside any animosity factor in either the upper or lower bureaucracy. The fact is that Delhi’s bureaucrats have an infinitely superior knowledge of the working of Government than Kejriwal and his Cabinet of novices. At least Kejriwal has some experience in Government having served as an IRS officer for several years. But the other ministers in his Cabinet will depend on the bureaucracy to guide them through the complicated beast that Government is. This asymmetry of knowledge will favour only one side, and that is not AAP. Perhaps Kejriwal and his ministers could spend the next two days watching the old British comedy series Yes Minister to prepare themselves for what lies ahead. Arvind Kejriwal doesn’t hide his almost rabid dislike of the establishment. On the campaign trail, this usually referred to the Congress and BJP. But the reality is that the bureaucracy is as much a part of the establishment as the established political parties. Kejriwal would have no love for the bureaucracy, but if he is interested in running a performing Government, this is one part of the establishment he needs to reach out to, be conciliatory with, and win them over. Every successful Chief Minister in India, whether from the BJP or Congress or a third party, has managed to propel the bureaucracy into productive action. What matters for citizens is the delivery of important Government services (from law and order to education to health) and these can only be delivered by an empowered and effective bureaucracy. Once in Government, Kejriwal needs to stop making new enemies. He needs a few new friends if he intends to keep his promises.