The reality of Indian Management Systems ( Highly Qualified are Working Under Uneducated Ministers)

In India, the management system, especially Government Ministries and the departments are headed by politicians. Though most of them are educated and are well versed with the administration, there are several others who are under-educated or even uneducated. The irony is, they control the bureaucracy manned by the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officers who are highly qualified and get selected only after a tough rigorous selection process which is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. These officers are from various faculties including humanities, science, arts as well as engineering and medicines. There are many officers who come from the elite Indian Institutes of Technology and the Indian Institutes of Management.  They undergo thorough training and probation period on joining service. In comparison, the ministers are rarely highly qualified. At most, they may be graduate in some cases. But, invariably they are inadequately educated to handle the department and the officers who work under them. There are examples where in spite of this, a minister may have administrative acumen and can run the ministry efficiently. But these are seldom instances.

The situation arises wherein the ill-equipped minister faces a challenge to grasp a complex issue:

1. The minister may have to rely heavily on the Babudom.  He may feel crippled without their assistance and face hurdle to take a decision.
2. At the same time, the highly educated officer may feel awkward to take instruction from the uneducated or under-qualified minister and it may be a hindrance in the day to day functioning.

The question which arises from these happenings is, aren’t there enough well-educated people in this nation of more than a billion people who can efficiently govern the ministries across the states and at the centre? Isn’t there any way out from always electing the candidates with little or no qualification at all who are responsible for the present condition of the country in several ways? The educated leaders are necessary for the country’s prosperity, growth and a bright future.  In India, about 25% of the Members of Parliament (MPs) in current 16th Lok Sabha are not even graduates which is a trend continued for several years now. But one can’t arrive at the conclusion that graduation has to be the sole criterion for selecting a candidate by the political parties. Yes, education will certainly help understand issues and analyse the same for making a decision, but again lot depends on the inclination of the concerned minister to make the right one.