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Time to downsize

THE REPORTED MOVE to shut the offices of the Development Commissioner for Iron and Steel and the Joint Plant Committee (JPC) is part of the overall effort to downsize the government. An early decision could dispel the doubts about the Government's intent ions on downsizing. These two organisations are prominent among the large number of institutions and departments which have become redundant after liberalisation and globalisation of the economy.

According to the Minister of Planning, Administrative Reforms and Personnel, Mr. Arun Shourie, a Committee of Secretaries, headed by Dr. N. C. Saxena, Member-Secretary, Planning Commission, is trying to identify all the Central government departments and offices that have outlived their utility. In the era of closed economy, with all kinds of controls and regulations, a plethora of institutions and departments was created employing lakhs of people. With the dismantling of production, price and distribut ion controls, most of these outfits have outlived their utility. In the liberalised environment, hundreds of semi-government corporations at the Central and State levels employ thousands of persons with practically no work. In many others, there is surpl us manpower. In the Indian Railways alone, for instance, some 4.5 lakh workers are surplus, according to a World Bank study. It is against this backdrop that the Economic Survey for 1998-99 had called for the downsizing the government. Similarly, the Fif th Pay Commission, while recommending the substantially enhanced pay scales, had suggested a minimum 30 per cent cut in government workforce within a decade. However, not even a small beginning has been made in this direction; in fact, the Budget papers for 1999-2000 as well as 2000-01 show net additions to the number of Central government employees. In the case of the State governments, the new recruitment has been even higher.

The Finance Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, in his latest Budget, has promised concrete proposals to downsize the government by reassessing the manpower requirements of departments and reviewing the norms for creation of posts. He also indicated the possib ility of introducing a VRS scheme for staff in the surplus pool. Clearly, the time has come for a thorough review of all the ministries and departments to ascertain their utility and to identify the ones that can be closed down. While it is not going to be easy to trim the staff strength, the least the Government can do is to put a freeze on new recruitments and simply abolish the 3.5 lakh Central government posts lying vacant as a result of normal retirements. For others, the proposal of offering a VRS scheme should be expedited.

At the same time, there is an urgent need to extend the meaning and scope of downsizing from mere reduction of workforce to minimising the wastage of resources on various ongoing state-funded projects and schemes because of poor management. The Departmen t of Programme Implementation, under the Ministry of Planning and Programme Implementation, highlights the magnitude of time and cost overruns on mega projects every year. Similarly, the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) brings out the glaring deficiencies in the working of various organisations under the control of the government which result in the colossal wastage of resources. Unfortunately, no one is held responsible for the lapses and mismanagement and there is hardly any follow -up action to improve the situation.

In the new economic environment, clearly there is a need for greater transparency and strengthening the monitoring institutions and agencies. Also, the reports of the Department of Programme Implementation and the CAG should be given wider publicity to i mprove public awareness. This would help in arriving at a consensus on the need to downsize government.