Professionals can act as force multipliers to the government programmes.

After 67 years of independence, India is still bracketed as a developing country- the reason is not the programme or policies, but its execution which has largely remain under the whims and fancies of an outdated bureaucracy made by the erstwhile english men. The strong vibrant democratic setup of India has solid foundations which creates a thought process for betterment of human life and distribution of resources in optimal manner. This augers well for the policy making.  Many election results have its seeding in these policies. However, over a 1.25 billion population with highest concentration of poverty ridden people in the world requires a much faster, nimble, flexible and modern methods to implement the policies.  A lot of water has flown in the Ganges since independence but the mode of delivering the programmes have remained same. The advent of technology and newer management concepts has made the archaic delivery method irrelevant in today’s terms. Even some of the central committees and surveys done for the flagship welfare programme of past governments have found that unless the human resource capital engaged in the delivery of the programmes are not equipped with cutting edge technology knowledge and capabilities, the policies will remain futile.

Agriculture extension workers as well as health workers tend to be outdated in their knowledge and skills to help people. Panchayati raj institutions do not have the capacity to plan and execute, and senior staff who lack grassroots-level experience are controlling the administration at the block and district levels. Talented, young professionals are missing in leadership positions in most government departments. District collector are overloaded with myriad roles, some administrative and protocol related, others ex-officio, leaving him with little time to pay attention to programme quality.

The professionals selected from open market based on meritocracy and right skill set can build the management capacity at block and district level in flagship programmes which requires detailed information about how programme is proceeding at the level of local and mid-level implementing units. More than that, it requires abilities to manage the resource centers which is catering to the technical assistance and institutional memory.

These professionals will not only bring the new energy, mindset and knowledge from already developed sectors but can become role model of the change. The focus from just delivery and meeting the plan targets will change. The programmes such as Indira Awas Yogna which was a great initiative, failed to deliver because the results are not technologically validated and largely has gone to undeserving population. The professional approach coupled with technology was missing in the implementation and hence it has been failing. The professional approach can help to change this management process and can multiply the impacts by making it transparent and organized.  The people coming out of organized advanced industrial sectors have the know how to manage delivery of such complex projects. They know how to bring “efficiency” and “effectiveness” in running programmes. They know what and how to measure.

The results could be not limited to one district or block but could become a best practice for others to follow and can lead the change. The success can show the examples for the last person in the chain to know, understand and demand for its right. The answers like “this is the only way” could be diluted and other avenue streams can be looked at. Worldwide, this has been identified as one of the biggest catalyst in improving the delivery and productivity of the government programmes. Some of elitist journals and management consultancy firms such as Mackenzie etc have also suggested this as biggest enabler in reducing the processing time, pilferage, better risk management, and transparent delivery. All the central government ambitious initiatives such as digital India, Skill India, rejuvenated MANREGA, Food security needs intervention of professionals to manage the delivery.  If we go through the programs in detail one can easily foresee that these  can bring drastic changes in development of states. Entrepreneurial Support for youth, Education, Social Justice, Electricity, Water, Roads and Cleanliness are the requirement for a developing state. Nevertheless, the emphasis should be on how to implement these.

Government has an opportunity – perhaps even a mandate, to have a high level view on the reasons for failure in past. It should develop road map with the help of expert professionals with strong base in project and technology management and change the way delivery is managed. I am confident only than these can be implemented with maximum force.