HAS bureaucracy in Bengal been reduced to clerkocracy in power? A book on Bengal bureaucracy, written by Kalyani Chaudhuri, 1973 batch West Bengal cadre retired IAS, has become the talk of the town thanks to her explicit comments about bureaucrats’ difficult lives under the decades long Left regime.
Her explosive book, “When the Pendulum Stops -- Death of Bengal Bureaucracy”, gives a detailed account of how bureaucracy is being tamed by the political masters, reducing the ties to a mere master-slave relationship. Ms Chaudhuri who retired in 2008, as commissioner general and additional chief secretary in the land and land reforms department, has described the bureaucracy as clerkocracy in power. “…I see little to choose between the clerkocracy (kerananitontro) in power and the one in the wings, both prone to populism in capital letters,” while making it a point that her writing of the controversial book was not a launching pad for her to enter into politics.
Why then she chose to be a rebel exposing the Netas which most other bureaucrats prefer not to? In the introduction of the book she says: “The reason for my putting pen to paper is the need to generate detailed analysis of bureaucratic functioning in West Bengal and to assist in the pin-pointing of the reasons for its failures.”
According to local media reports, while most civil servants of the state find “truth” in Ms Chaudhuri’s revelation, some with strong Left leaning has doubted the author’s credentials. She was allegedly protecting a corrupt officer when she was the food commissioner, one of her detractors was quoted as saying in a local newspaper.
Yet, her book on babudom Vs Netagiri has gathered both substantive and gossip materials for those to begin a debate inside and outside the Writers’ Building. After all, talk on Mamata’s forward march has by now become a stale story!
Action and Appointments
a) Dr CB Venkataramana, a 1982 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS, presently joint secretary, Cabinet Secretariat has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of atomic energy for the balance period of his Central deputation tenure, i.e upto September 30, 2013 or until further orders.
b) Bhanu Pratap Sharma, a 1981 batch Bihar cadre IAS has been appointed as joint secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat.
c) The appointments committee of the cabinet has approved the proposal of the MHA for in-situ promotion of BC Nayak, a 1975 batch UP cadre IPS and RN Gupta, a 1976 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IPS, presently working in the Intelligence Bureau(IB), as Special Directors.
Who publishes the book? And where can we get it? What's the price?
ReplyDeletethe book is published by a subsidiary of The Statesman newspaper of Bengal, Nachiketa Publications. it can be availed from the office of The Statesman newspaper in Kolkata, among other places. it is priced at Rs200.
ReplyDeleteThe printing quality is very poor. As a result, some facsimile reports are illegible and not readable. The book needs to be reprinted.
ReplyDeleteWe all knew how the Bengal has been run into the ground for the past 34 years. This book explains the same in excruciating detail.
ReplyDeletethe book is out of print for long time ,is there any plan to publish it again?
ReplyDeleteI want this book one copy. No copy available in The Statesman House at Kolkata as on 4th March 2018. Pl help
ReplyDelete