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3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
challenging
informative
inspiring
I actually got to travel through the minds of the administrators through this incredibly insightful account.The author gives us hope in these gloomy days that an efficient and honest officer indeed can thrive through the system. The chapters relating to RSBY scheme actually makes one wonder about the complexity of the governance structures in India. It is an excellent read for somebody who wants to understand how a scheme is planned, thought out,in this case marketed and finally being implemented inspite of immense challenges and obstacles. One of the few lines which touched me were the fact that the satisfaction which an administrator gets when his/her efforts impact billions of people in a positive way is simply unparalleled. Indian Administrative Services still remains the most dynamic and challenging job one can ask for and as sir suggests a job where you get immense satisfaction and blessings of people without doling out single dime. The only little complain I have is that the humane stories section was indeed a short one. I am sure Anil sir must have loads of other instances like these mentioned in the section.
They say the bureaucracy of India is the steel frame of India and this book offers the X-Ray vision to examine how this steel frame functions and what role does the bureaucrats play.
A great read, offers great insights about our country through the eyes of someone who has been the very part of it.
A great read, offers great insights about our country through the eyes of someone who has been the very part of it.
Unbeknownst to the background of Anil Swarup, there was a yearning to read his service to the nation because of his widely applauded 'out-of-the-box' contributions to a vocation which is more often than not known for its obsolete thinking.
Anil Swarup is a name that emerged especially during RSBY and, thereafter, as a Coal Secretary, in rectifying the mistakes that had been committed during Coal Scams. Being aware of his oration, I didn't consider myself as a reader; rather, I felt myself as a part of the audience.
Be it pulling up a sinking ship of PICUP with his sassy attitude or managing one of the finest and unprecedented services of the Central Government, RSBY, Anil Swarup has explained how will-power of a single person can make the ship sail through. The serious stands he took and the scrutiny he was being faced to as a Coal Secretary defined one of the best bureaucratic phases of a civil servant in contemporary times. Besides, digging out the dark secrets of education industry in this nation was a remarkable task the future governments should moot of.
After going through the most important phases of his bureaucratic career presented before us in an euphemistic as well as forthright manner, there lies an avowal of the fact that Anil Swarup is a redoubtable civil servant who was 'Not Just A Civil Servant'.
Anil Swarup is a name that emerged especially during RSBY and, thereafter, as a Coal Secretary, in rectifying the mistakes that had been committed during Coal Scams. Being aware of his oration, I didn't consider myself as a reader; rather, I felt myself as a part of the audience.
Be it pulling up a sinking ship of PICUP with his sassy attitude or managing one of the finest and unprecedented services of the Central Government, RSBY, Anil Swarup has explained how will-power of a single person can make the ship sail through. The serious stands he took and the scrutiny he was being faced to as a Coal Secretary defined one of the best bureaucratic phases of a civil servant in contemporary times. Besides, digging out the dark secrets of education industry in this nation was a remarkable task the future governments should moot of.
After going through the most important phases of his bureaucratic career presented before us in an euphemistic as well as forthright manner, there lies an avowal of the fact that Anil Swarup is a redoubtable civil servant who was 'Not Just A Civil Servant'.
After reading David Epstein's Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, I had to read a book by an accomplished generalist and this book was my obvious choice.
What stands about the book:
1. Political Neutrality that shows in his writing and unbiased viewpoints on the state of bureaucracy
2. He tries to show the nuances of his work across various departments and postings- Pardeshiya Investment Corporation of UP, Ministry of Labour & Employment and his work on health insurance , work in Project Monitoring Group, Ministry of Coal and finally Ministry of Education.
3. Utilising simple jargon and making sure credit is shared with his junior and senior officers at all junctures
What I did not like in the book:
1. Severe Stance taken on Vinod Rai's action (Ex-CAG) which truncates the neutrality part
2. Problem of Flow in showing work of 38 years, which I felt had abrupt beginnings and endings
That being said, his ending note " If I were born again, I would love to live the life of a civil servant all over again" fills me with immense respect for Mr. Anil Swarup.
What stands about the book:
1. Political Neutrality that shows in his writing and unbiased viewpoints on the state of bureaucracy
2. He tries to show the nuances of his work across various departments and postings- Pardeshiya Investment Corporation of UP, Ministry of Labour & Employment and his work on health insurance , work in Project Monitoring Group, Ministry of Coal and finally Ministry of Education.
3. Utilising simple jargon and making sure credit is shared with his junior and senior officers at all junctures
What I did not like in the book:
1. Severe Stance taken on Vinod Rai's action (Ex-CAG) which truncates the neutrality part
2. Problem of Flow in showing work of 38 years, which I felt had abrupt beginnings and endings
That being said, his ending note " If I were born again, I would love to live the life of a civil servant all over again" fills me with immense respect for Mr. Anil Swarup.
As the title aptly suggests this book isn't only about administrative procedures and the daily struggles in the life of an IAS officer.
Mr. Swarup analyzes the problems he worked towards solving on in sufficient detail to convey to the reader the deep rooted systemic nature of the challenges at hand.
The section on the RSBY was truly informative for me and is a great primer to understand how PPP can solve a lot of social challenges in India. Having worked in school education myself I deeply resonate with the issues fleshed out in this section especially Mr. Swarup's views on the dismal state of affairs on teacher education in India. The sections on the shorter assignments such as PICUP, Board of Revenue etc clearly reflect the breadth of experience Mr. Swarup had over the last 3.5 decades.
On the whole I found the book a swift read and the simple nature of the language should make it accessible to almost all sections of readers. However, I was a little displeased at the sections on the Coal Allocation Blocks, the context to the situation should have been provided in greater detail and the protracted section on the opinions of the CAG left a bad taste in an otherwise wonderfully informative read.
Mr. Swarup gives credit to a whole bunch of people involved in the projects he worked on including external experts, development sector professionals, his IAS colleagues at times even avoiding to add sections on his personal experiences. This clearly reflects the team player nature of the writer.
Recommended to those who wish to understand the variety of issues plaguing modern India and the efforts taken by a dedicated group of people to solve them.
To conclude I would like to say that I sincerely hope a lot of young people out there read the book and derive inspiration to run the gauntlet to transform India.
Mr. Swarup analyzes the problems he worked towards solving on in sufficient detail to convey to the reader the deep rooted systemic nature of the challenges at hand.
The section on the RSBY was truly informative for me and is a great primer to understand how PPP can solve a lot of social challenges in India. Having worked in school education myself I deeply resonate with the issues fleshed out in this section especially Mr. Swarup's views on the dismal state of affairs on teacher education in India. The sections on the shorter assignments such as PICUP, Board of Revenue etc clearly reflect the breadth of experience Mr. Swarup had over the last 3.5 decades.
On the whole I found the book a swift read and the simple nature of the language should make it accessible to almost all sections of readers. However, I was a little displeased at the sections on the Coal Allocation Blocks, the context to the situation should have been provided in greater detail and the protracted section on the opinions of the CAG left a bad taste in an otherwise wonderfully informative read.
Mr. Swarup gives credit to a whole bunch of people involved in the projects he worked on including external experts, development sector professionals, his IAS colleagues at times even avoiding to add sections on his personal experiences. This clearly reflects the team player nature of the writer.
Recommended to those who wish to understand the variety of issues plaguing modern India and the efforts taken by a dedicated group of people to solve them.
To conclude I would like to say that I sincerely hope a lot of young people out there read the book and derive inspiration to run the gauntlet to transform India.