We have a classic case at Hyderabad in India where a serving secretary has been arrested for signing a government order under which mining rights have been given to a particular business group without due diligence bringing losses to the government . The secretary’s contention that the order was issued after approval on file by the Minister for Mining did not cut ice with the investigating agency as the agency felt that Ministers are not accountable for such acts and it was the duty of the bureaucrat to advise the Minister correctly .
In India , The Indian Administrative Services [IAS for short] used to be very coveted during the fifties to seventies till it got politicized through frequent interference by politicians in arranging their postings , transfers etc to get the bureaucrats toe the political line . Frequent transfers have now become the norm and the morale of such officers is very low. Many of them have resorted to corrupt methods to curry favors from the politicians and also at times take initiative to even corrupt the politicians with black money and other favors.
It is a sad commentary to the democratic institutions in India that the conscience keepers of the nation whether an elected representative or a bureaucrat become a party to corruption at the cost of public good and bring great harm to the country’s image globally.