'World-class governance needed'

BANGALORE: Former chief minister MVeerappa Moily has seemingly seen it all ��� heading a state and beingcredited with introducing a clean admission mechanism for professional courses,dry number-crunching as chairman of Karnataka���s Tax Reforms Commission(TRC) and then Revenue Reforms Commission (RRC) interspersed with literarypursuits, more notedly his version of the Ramayana. Now, he hasanother assignment on his plate ��� as chairman of the country���ssecond Administrative Reforms Commission, with a one-year tenure, to overhaulthe way the country functions. (The first was headed by Morarji Desai in 1966and was taken over for a brief while by another Kannadiga, KengalHanumanthaiah). "When I do something, I plan to be the best. Myrecommendations will be practical," Moily said in an interview to The Times ofIndia. Excerpts: A lot of water has flownsince 1966. India is facing global competition. Only a world-classadministration can stand up in such a competitive atmosphere and integrate oureconomy with the world economy. It is the administration which drives a country.If that is antiquated and dilapidated, it will bog down the country.Vast. From reorganisation ofministries to devolution of funds and working of panchayats, the commission hasa huge task. However, for me, empowering people through systemic changes is thegoal. Systems.We need to change the systems tominimise discretion, and then orient people to work within them. This will notonly bring transparency and reduce corruption, but also benefit citizens. Thisis the only way to shed the image of corrupt country.Why not? Take the CETexample. I did face problems from the bureaucracy and colleagues. But once thesystem was in place and people realised it is good since it benefits citizens,they fell in line. Not really, but I feelstrongly that the colonial legacy should go. The bureaucracy is governed by someancient rules. We need a modern mechanism for a modern outlook and functioning.I believe that officers should be given authority withaccountability. Only then can we have achievement. Also, it is essential tomeasure performance and productivity rather than just clocking time. We shouldmove towards a more progressive work environment. Let's just say I am not unhappy, but that experience willstand me in good stead. Some departments have implemented the recommendationsquickly, others are doing it. But I'm happy that wherever they have, revenueshave gone up dramatically. I'm anoptimist. Recommendations have to be practical and implementable. I know how thesystem functions. I believe reforms must be like a strong wave, sweepingeverybody and making them look at things in a new light.With systemic changes and improvement,better devolution and reduced corruption, I hope we can plug at least 50% ofrevenue leakages. This will add another 3.2% to our GDP, taking it beyond 10%.It's a doable target. Just imagine the kind of economic growth and power thecountry will gain if we achieve this.