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Generalist vs specialist

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September 25, 2017

What is the issue?

  • The debate on generalists and specialists is kick-started with rising demands for lateral entry into civil services.
  • Also, the changing nature of government creates the need for a reassessment of the nature of civil servants involved in administration.

What is the need for specialisation?

  • Changing nature - The Indian Administrative Service(IAS) was modelled on the colonial era Indian Civil Service as a generalist service.
  • It was conceived primarily to deliver the core functions of the state such as tax collection and maintenance of law and order.
  • But with the evolution of public administration and economic reforms changing the State's role, there is a higher demand for domain knowledge at policy level.
  • Drawbacks - IAS, as generalists, tend to over-weigh their experience of the process and form over understanding of policy content.
  • Generalists heading specialised areas seems to be an inefficient arrangement at times.
  • There is also a misconception that only generalists who have a breadth of understanding and experience can provide best leadership.
  • All these have raised questions about the role and relevance of the generalised IAS.

What could be done?

  • The Constitution Review Commission 2002 suggested the “need to specialise some of the generalists and generalise some of the specialists”.
  • However the task of managing specialisation needs the consideration of many factors:
  • When - From generalised field postings in the initial decade of service, an IAS gradually moves to policy formulating positions.
  • This mid-career level transition provides the ideal marker for beginning to specialise.
  • How - Possibly, complying to the demands of behavioural attributes and aptitudes, ministries could be broadly categorised into three groups - welfare, regulatory and economic ministries.
  • Secondly, specialisation process needs to be flexible according to the preference of IAS officers.
  • Given this flexibility, it is also essential that the government make the process more predictable and transparent to avoid favouritism.
  • Thirdly, once allocated to specialist positions, officers should be provided study and training for deepening their domain knowledge.
  • In addition to these, the specialised lateral entrants should be required to “generalise” through field postings.
  • The nature of policy-making at present demands that specialist expertise has to go with generalist experience.
  • Thus, proper cadre management that provides for a right proportion of generalisation and specialisation can improve the efficiency and relevance of civil services.

 

Source: Indian Express

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