Spineless bureaucracy: From Siddaramaiah to the officer who washed a Kanwar pilgrim’s feet.
N.K.Singh May3,2025
Spineless bureaucracy: From Siddaramaiah to the officer who washed the feet of a Kanwar pilgrim
Spineless Bureaucracy: From Siddaramaiah to the Officer Who Was Slapped for Doing His Duty
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was addressing a public meeting when BJP workers suddenly began raising slogans. Annoyed by the disruption, the state’s top leader promptly summoned the senior police officers present to the stage. Among them was an ACP tasked with security, who approached with due seriousness and saluted the Chief Minister. But instead of acknowledging the salute, Siddaramaiah grabbed the officer’s right hand and slapped him.
The stunned officer, clearly unprepared for this kind of “law and order lesson,” stepped back. Alarmed by the Chief Minister’s outburst, a security officer rushed forward. Realizing that cameras were recording and thousands of people were watching, Siddaramaiah quickly withdrew his hand. What action might be taken against the officer later remains to be seen.
It seems the fate of the permanent executive is to endure humiliation. Consider this: in 1922, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George praised the Indian Civil Service (ICS) in the British Parliament, calling it the “steel frame” of British rule. This was at a time when Gandhi was mobilizing the masses against colonial oppression—yet the ICS’s loyalty to the British rulers was unwavering.
A significant part of the ICS worked tirelessly to suppress India’s freedom movement. After independence, Nehru was eager to break away from this colonial legacy. Many in the Constituent Assembly shared his sentiment. But Sardar Patel, despite initial doubts, famously said, “We do not destroy the machinery we have to work with.” His confidence grew over time; by October 1949, Patel declared in the Assembly that he had full faith in these officers’ loyalty, patriotism, and commitment, and that without them, the union might have collapsed.
Under Patel’s leadership, the IAS and IPS cadres were formalized as part of the All India Services. The Indian Forest Service was added later. All other services, including the prestigious Indian Foreign Service (IFS), come under Central Services.
We saw the same bureaucratic obedience during the Emergency, when officers were willing to carry out any orders from their political masters. When Narendra Modi rose to power in 2014, he sidelined senior ministers and leaned heavily on the bureaucracy. Today, even top BJP Chief Ministers tread carefully around a few powerful officers in the PMO.
From Lloyd George to Patel to Modi
Whether praised by a colonial-era British PM or by the home ministers of independent India, one thing is clear: Indian bureaucrats have always been masters at following orders. From the ED and IT departments to the CBI and local police, many have turned into instruments of political will, trading integrity for plum postings and transfers.
The recent Karnataka episode is just one more example of how deeply power imbalances have corroded India’s administrative framework. But it’s not just the politicians to blame. Bureaucrats themselves vie to curry favor—whether by posting photos of bulldozed homes and grieving families on official websites, or by slapping criminal charges on journalists who expose grim realities like children receiving just rice and salt in their school mid-day meals.
This culture of subservience—rooted in colonial legacy and nurtured by successive governments—continues to erode the backbone of India’s democracy.
