Critically examine the nexus between bureaucrats, politicians &businessmen.

Critically examine the nexus between bureaucrats, politicians &businessmen.

A.  After India gained independence Democratic Socialist or Nehruvian model of the economy was adopted. It is the mixed economic model where Public sector Units were the basis while the Private sector also survived under the protective umbrella of the state. While key infrastructure sectors like road, electricity, ports, etc were under the public sector while government permission or license was required for every small and big thing necessary for setting up a business for the private sector. This had a cascading impact as -

1. License Raj - The license to do business was responsible for the increase in corruption as the discretionary power rested with the bureaucrat who could grant the license against favors granted by the concerned businessman. Alternately, the bureaucrat also had the power to withhold the permission on the concerned party’s refusal to please the government official. Very often, the bureaucrat and the political boss to whom he reported shared in the spoils, as the ultimate sanctioning authority was the politician. This was the genesis of the notorious ‘Licence-Permit-Quota Raj’ which in about 20-30 years from independence completely derailed India’s socialist pattern of development. The planning process, the mixed economy, all got off track because of the immensely powerful and corrupt troika of the officer-politician-businessman often contemptuously described as the “Babu-Neta-Bania’ syndrome. The corruption among the nexus was responsible for the exploitation of natural resources, an increase in the divide between the rich and the poor, nepotism and many other social ills besides ruining the economy. 

2. Corruption and Rich-Poor Divide - The nexus resulted in an increase in corruption in all government departments as accountability towards people was absent. There was an increase in nepotism. Due to the policies adopted there was the accumulation of power and money in the hands of few. This resulted in the growth of a divide between rich who had the resources to pay and influence decisions and the poor who were at the mercy of the system. This led to widespread poverty as a large section of the population was illiterate and oblivious of their rights. The system slowly became completely ineffective and inefficient. The welfare policies initiated by the government failed to reach the people and they could not benefit as the money allocated is swindled by corrupt officials. Due to corruption the infrastructure created was also of poor quality thus Indian economy faltered. 

3. The politicization of Bureaucracy - Due to the sharing of money accumulated through corruption the ministers and bureaucrats in India enjoyed a highly mutually beneficial relationship based on a quid pro quo basis. This relationship was based on mutual exchange of favors between the two. The net result of all this has been a highly politicized bureaucracy. The officers who did not participate in corrupt practices faced many hardships like transfer or demotion. This further made the system inefficient and ineffective as political loyalty and political patronage became a necessity. Plum postings were offered to those bureaucrats who toe the line of their political bosses, while those who insisted on following an independent line based on professional opinion were punished. The punishment took the form of arbitrary transfers, postings to insignificant departments and in some cases, even suspension from service. A system of rewards and punishments got institutionalized in due course of time with civil servants being rewarded and punished on the basis of their loyalty and commitment to politicians or parties and not on the basis of their professional performance. Over a period of time, the resultant politician-bureaucrat nexus grew into a powerful force immensely benefiting both the parties, but spelling a blow to the concept of development and citizen-friendly administration. 

              Thus the politician-bureaucrat-businessman combine led to corruption, nepotism, stagnant economic growth, lack of accountability and thus increased poverty. The license raj was instrumental in increasing corruption in the bureaucracy.