YesGovernment policies are important in deciding the future of a country. Good public policies promote economic development and public welfare and make life easier for citizens. However, there is little interest in public policy education in India. Only a small percentage of policy makers – civil service officers – are exposed to the formal study of public policy and public administration. In this context, this article makes some suggestions that can boost public policy education in India. The term ‘public management’ is used for both public policy and public administration.
There are many talented people working at different levels in the Indian bureaucracy. However, governance is still considered to lag behind private sector management in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. This is largely due to lack of training in public management. In a span of 37 years in civil service, I have observed that many policy makers are less equipped to develop effective policies. By the time I went to IIM Bangalore for public policy education, which was after 20 years of service, I was also an instinctive decision maker. But institutional training in public policy changed the paradigm I was following in my role.
lack of programs
Most executive jobs in the organized sector are in government or government-owned agencies and require an understanding of public management. However, the supply of formal education in public management is inadequate as compared to business management education. According to data from the All-India Council for Technical Education, there are 3,182 institutes with 4.22 lakh approved admissions in business management programmes, but there are only about 130 public, private and non-profit universities that offer public administration programs and only 29 Institutions that offer public policy programs. Of these 29 institutes, 17 are private, four are semi-private and eight are state-funded. In general, the batch size for public policy courses is 20-60.
The reason why there are not many public management programs in universities is because there are very few jobs available for people who do such courses. The private sector offers limited opportunities in government advisory roles, consulting and corporate social responsibility. For public sector opportunities students have to go through competitive exams. Therefore, neither the educational institutions nor the students have any incentive to prefer public management courses over technical or management courses which offer lucrative private sector opportunities.
Furthermore, there are very few civil servants who have had public management experience prior to joining the service. Most of them undergo departmental induction training program which is focused on their role in their department. They don’t learn much about how to make good public policies.
There are some opportunities for in-service officers to study public management in India and abroad. According to data available with the Capacity Building Commissions, in the 10 years between 2012 and 2021, 194 civil service officers (including 86 from the IAS) went abroad to study public management at the master’s level. Within the country, there are five institutes in which 194 civil service officers have been sponsored by the government for full-time public policy courses in the last three years. Compare this to the 1.3 lakh Group A officers in the Government of India today.
three tips
Given this background, my first suggestion is that Public Management should be one of the compulsory subjects for UPSC Civil Services Exam. The introduction of a Public Management paper can either be an optional subject or a substitute for an additional paper. This will help in many ways. First, civil servants who join the government will receive formal education in public management before entering service. Second, since around five lakh candidates appear for the UPSC Civil Services every year and each of them will need to prepare for the Public Policy paper, this is an opportunity for universities and private institutions to offer undergraduate or postgraduate subjects or Creates Incentives- Graduation level. This new demand will greatly encourage public policy education, research and case studies. Third, even if only 10% of UPSC candidates are successful in various government jobs, including at the state level, others studying the subject for the exam will develop a better understanding and sensitivity to the complexities involved in public management, as well as better Will also make citizens. As effective private sector managers.
Some may wonder whether it is advisable for the candidates to study Public Policy as a fresh subject. Yes, this is correct and should not cause any difficulties. As per the statistics of last three years of UPSC aspirants, on an average 50% candidates preferred an optional subject other than their graduation subject for UPSC Mains exam. This indicates their willingness to learn anything to succeed in the exam.
The second suggestion is that there should be a greater public policy component as part of the initial training in the existing training institutions of the government. Also, they should create a case study bank for training.
Third, the government may create some niche positions of public policy analysts to be directly recruited from the market, thereby creating new employment opportunities for graduates of public policy programmes.
Hasmukh Adhia is the former Finance Secretary to the Government of India. views are personal