Big B thinks that there are two Indias: "one India is straining at leash, eager to spring forth and live up to all the adjectives that the world has been showering on us recently; the other India is the leash."
Maybe, but if Big B's intent is to subtly characterize the Indian bureaucracy as the leash in this national struggle then his analogy is a bit off because, as seen last week, the Indian bureaucracy is capable of inflicting a strong bite. 66,058 crore worth of a bite to be exact, according to India Today. That's the expected cost of the reforms recommended by the sixth pay commission in its recent report.
Needless to say the report didn't exactly receive a thunderous applause from the popular press. (The title of the India Today story on the report was "Making Us Pay More for Sloth.") The common complaint is that the report advocates pay hikes but, according to many pundits, does not contain any real steps to hold bureaucrats responsible for the performance of their agencies.
Overall, the criticism is well deserved, especially in the the education and health sectors where even the most basic level of accountability -- that of workers actually showing up -- is absent. Yet I'm at least slightly optimistic about the recommendations to allow for performance-based pay increases. (The report recommends annual salary increases of 2.5% for most employees but 3.5% for "high performers" along with the introduction of a performance-based incentive scheme.) I've met a number of government bureaucrats who complain that their departments are completely incompetement and that they are powerless to change things because they are incapable of sacking the worst offenders or reward those who make an effort. At least, if passed, these reforms will allow well intentioned bureaucrats to do the latter.
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