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Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments
By narrow domestic walls
Where words come out from the depth of truth
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where the mind is led forward by thee
Into ever-widening thought and action
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
Rabindranath Tagore
Now having hung my boots after spending my entire adulthood in uniform and now trying in a second innings to make a living as a consultant, part time writer, entrepreneur, respectable and responsible citizen. I have been stuck with a phenomenon which I have encountered in service which at that time I dismissed as an aberration of being in a military service where the pyramid is too narrow. Fear of the system.
Although I concede that this is endemic to most government servants, especially the honest variety and not society at large. The instinct against acting boldly and decisively for national good. I have been witness to small talk in informal get togethers when various officials caution friends on perceived bold actions. Decision by committees, slow decision making, file jottings that would delay and cover the decision makers backside from all possible angles etc are the norm in most governmental departments. Whether national and public interests are harmed etc are of no consequence. Self preservation is the primary motive.
If India as a nation has to have a chance in a competitive world, nimble and bold decision making need to be incentivised. The time has come for the government to carryout a study on this..
