One of the things that has occured to me here, is the waste of human resources in India. If you have a public-service mind in India, the first thing you would do is avoid the formal public service, either the bureaucracy or elected office. Some start NGOs and struggle through their lives to keep things going. Their massive capacity and dedication does not bear fruit in the absence of sufficient support and an enabling environment. Others give up and go into other professions. Likely they are always weighed down by visions of the path not travelled. They do some non-profit volunteering but it rarely leads to something that fulfills them. Personally, I spent some time in the private sector and then came to the NGO world. It has been a rewarding journey but it is also clear that I could have done much more.
Overall it is a great waste of human resources. In Singapore, if you are service-minded, there is every opportunity to join the bureaucracy and be rewarded materially and in public respect for that. The payoff for the national interest is big.
Some great bureaucrats have given up and opted out early. People like Aruna Roy, Jayprakash Narayan and T.R. Raghunandan. In most cases, they would have contributed more within the bureaucracy had it not been so stultifying that they had to get out.
Exceptions are instructive: Narayanamurthy, who was always very clear in his mind that his work in the market was primarily as a tool for wealth creation for other people. A remarkable man. Nilekani, who was able to make a successful transition from business to the bureaucracy/technocracy (though not to politics).
Overall it is a great waste of human resources. In Singapore, if you are service-minded, there is every opportunity to join the bureaucracy and be rewarded materially and in public respect for that. The payoff for the national interest is big.
Some great bureaucrats have given up and opted out early. People like Aruna Roy, Jayprakash Narayan and T.R. Raghunandan. In most cases, they would have contributed more within the bureaucracy had it not been so stultifying that they had to get out.
Exceptions are instructive: Narayanamurthy, who was always very clear in his mind that his work in the market was primarily as a tool for wealth creation for other people. A remarkable man. Nilekani, who was able to make a successful transition from business to the bureaucracy/technocracy (though not to politics).
No comments:
Post a Comment