And they will happily point fingers at politicians (I'll come to that separately! – a further recent intereaction).

I rest my case. The IAS MUST GO.

RSP: Capitalism cannot have any religious hue.. It is ruthless and materialistic… sans any religious motivation… Capitalists all over the world are – "CHOAR CHOAR MAUSEYREY BHAAYEE" .. AND SO ARE THEIR IDEOLOGUES…

Sanjeev Sabhlok This is an entirely incorrect position re: capitalism, the most moral system of all. Do study it. You may wish to start reading my book, Discovery of Freedom, still under preparation: http://discovery.sabhlokcity.com/

RSP Books on the evils of Capitalism outnumber those on evils of Socialism… by a factor of 100 is to 1…. Read them all…

Sanjeev Sabhlok I suggest the truth doesn't depend on numbers. Fools tend to follow numbers. The wise think for themselves.

RSP Every ideologue considers his own view to be the supreme ..the rarest among the rare… fools included…

Sanjeev Sabhlok RSP you are commenting without understanding, nor reading what I've written. I must ask you to either give me the courtesy of reading my work or leaving this group. Thanks!

RSP The five Gems of Truth (1) Wise think for themselves… They don't read others' books.. They write their own books..

(2) Fools follow numbers.. Wise follow their own path..

(3) If one does not read the book of the wise , he must be driven out of the arena.. Only those who follow the self-proclaimed "wise", are allowed to remain..

(4) Those who differ with Capitalist ideologues, must be branded as misguided …

Centralisation leads to arrogance and arrogance leads to not listening to what others are saying. These guys, in their hubris, simply won't listen!

They ought to build a community based jury system to resolve hacking/theft of page/ theft of property issues – on the pattern of Wikipedia. Then at least the truth can emerge and be dealt with.

1) Incredibe India Facebook page: This page with half million fans, owned by Harsh Vora (an FTI member) has been hacked. One of its purposes is to promote ideas regarding liberty. Harsh put out the Sone Ki Chidiya movement banner on the page but then it got hacked.

Rubbish messages are being posted on the page but despite REPEATED efforts to contact Facebook, they did not bother to respond.

I then lodged a trademark violation complaint (i.e. loss of reputation to Sone Ki Chidiya movement – see details below) and this is what they sent:

====

Hi,

Thank you for your email. Please note that this channel is reserved for reporting alleged violations and/or infringements of your legal rights. It appears you are instead writing to us for support about a Page admin issue.

Facebook is not in a position to resolve disputes regarding admin privileges. For additional information about admin privileges, you may wish to visit our Help Center:

https://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=221819491164051

If you believe that your legal rights, such as copyright or trademark, are being violated or infringed, you may report that to us by using our form:

https://www.facebook.com/help/contact_us.php?id=208282075858952

Removals for rights infringement are typically permanent. Please use this form only if you wish to remove this content or Page altogether. [Sanjeev: So just because a THIEF steals HALF A MILLION fans and Facebok will DELETE that page? How about I steal facebook.com - will the police then delete facebook.com? Is that how a theft is rewarded? By destruction of property?]

If you are seeking some other outcome than complete and permanent removal from Facebook, or do not believe or are unsure whether the reported content or Page is in violation of your legal rights, please work directly with the current admins to resolve your issue.

Thanks,

Catriona
User Operations
Facebook

==

This is fine – complain re: admin hacking. But there is NO RESPONSE! And complain that your brand is being ruined, and they say shrug off responsibility.

Why are FB pages so easy to hack? Are they not responsible for anything? Many consumers spend hugely on FB advertising to build pages. And if they get hacked, FB will say: "sorry! not our business".

This is generating a lot of ill will against Facebook and such hubris will lead to its downfall

2) There are people who are MALICIOUSLY FALSIFYING what Lord Macaulay wrote. I complained and they refused to entertain the complaint on the argument that they only care about "hate speech".

So I can falsify what people said, and ruin their reputation. And that's fine?

Wikipedia succeeds because it cares for the TRUTH.

Facebook doesn't care either for the truth or for property rights.

It is such people and organisations that give markets a bad name. And it is for such people that I want government regulation: the crooks who want your money but have NO INTEGRITY.

FOR MORE DETAILS

http://aryatva.com/2013/04/30/please-report-hacking-of-incredible-india-facebook-page/

and

http://sabhlokcity.com/2013/04/please-report-hacking-of-incredible-india-facebook-page/

MY COMPLAINT

I lodged various complaints against this hacking, but this was the content of my complaint regarding trade mark violation:

From: sabhlok@gmail.com
To:
Subject: Trademark Notification Complaint: #334195880041332

Please identify the content on Facebook that you allege is violating or infringing your rights. Please provide links (URLs) to the specific content wherever possible.: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Incredible-India/201064157358?ref=ts&fref=ts
What is your trademark?: Sone Ki Chidiya Federation
In what countries do you claim trademark rights that you believe are being infringed by this content?: India
Do you have a registration?: yes
Trademark registration number: This is a registered Trust in New Delhi (http://sonekichidiya.in/)
Country or jurisdiction where your trademark is registered: India
Categories of goods or services for which you assert rights: This page was started by a fellow member (Harsh Vora) of the Freedom Team of India, which is the Secretary of the Sone Ki Chidiya Federation. The use of the phrase "Incredible India" and "Sone Ki Chidiya" is part of this work.
Please describe how you believe this content infringes your trademark: The hacker has started putting commercial and FILTHY material on the facebook page, thereby lowering the status of the Sone Ki Chidiya Federation in the eyes of its members. He has also stolen the page with over half a million fans.
Contact Information: I am reporting on behalf of the rights holder, as their authorized representative.
Name of rights holder: Sone Ki Chidiya Federation
Your relationship to the rights holder: Founder of Freedom Team of India, which is Secretary to the Federation
Your name: Sanjeev Sabhlok
Your job title: Member, Sone Ki Chidiya Federation
Your employer: Voluntary work
Email: sabhlok@gmail.com
Confirm your email: sabhlok@gmail.com
Where are you (or those you represent) based?: NonUS
Country: Australia
 : By submitting this notice, you declare under penalty of perjury that all of the information contained in this notice is accurate and that the use of your intellectual property described above, in the manner you have complained of, is not authorized by the rights owner, its agent, or the law.
Do you agree?: yes
Electronic signature: Sanjeev Sabhlok
 

Current image of the hacked page

​

I also notice he "unfriended" me on Facebook by the time I got to send him further information. So much for the SUPREME ARROGANCE of IAS officials, who not only refuse to learn, but when questioned, become your enemy.

I'm QUITE FINE with having such people as enemies.

==EXTRACT==

My comment:

Let the state stop running schools. And get out of setting "syllabus". I'm happy for a minimum standard e.g. PISA related which ensures a second layer of check to that of natural competition, by providing objective requirements of quality, but that's a small part of what is taught. Schools should be free to reach out and teach the best. We don't need bureaucracies to set the syllabus.

Here's the rest of the conversation:

SK Sanjeev Sabhlok, I have been the Education Secretary of a State. The syllabi for school education are prepared by a cross section of subject matter specialist academicians drawn not only from within the State, but all over India. Both the private and government schools coexist. The government schools and government teachers have also produced the brightest of students. Sanjeev, there are issues of inclusive development, and also arguments in favour of affirmative action through the State instrumentalities who are not driven by the considerations of profit alone. And above all, we have to appreciate our challenges in the Indian context. By the way, Sanjeev, you have left IAS for the reasons I don't know, but why should you carry your bias against the civil services? There are good and bad specimen in all walks of life. What is necessary is to have an open mind and tap the best resources. Believe me, the bureaucrats can be as useful as anyone else, and vice versa. We appreciate people outside the government for their valuable contributions to public interest. We expect and deserve the same rationality and poise from everyone, including the stand-alone know-alls.
about an hour ago

Sanjeev Sabhlok I too was Secretary of Schools (in Assam). The key is not just syllabus, but the fundamental design. Government should get out of managing schools. Light handed regulation, plus direct funding of needy students (through vouchers not cash).
about an hour ago

SK The right time will come for that. The Indian transformation can not be carried through jerks and jumps. Transition has to be carried through a process of evolution. Government is gradually withdrawing fully or step by step from such areas where private sector is ready to take over. The transition can not afford a vacuum of services even for the shortest time. Private players are showing greater presence in telecommunication, health, education sectors. To that extent, government is withdrawing. It is to be seen whether the private players go beyond green pastures to uneconomical areas too. Yes, direct cash subsidies are a better option, but the Indian challenge is too big and we will take some more time to reach a foolproof cash subsidy dispensation platform. We know very well the options offered by economic theories, but it takes time and effort to provide a reliable and foolproof mechanisms of delivery in the local contexts.
   
Sanjeev Sabhlok S , the reality is that bureaucrats in India don't want to give up their empires, nor do the politicians. I don't expect reforms to occur in India since there is no internal capacity to study world-best practice. Where these have to occur, they have already occurred. Time waits for none. In the meanwhile we are producing dunces. India's schools are the world's lowest in performance. Our children in class 5 can't read what others read in class 2. So kindly carry on whatever you are doing, but I'm not supportive of any excuses that destroy the lives of hundreds of millions of children. If there is no urgency to our reform actions, we will become the garbage bin of the world.

SG पर सरकार कहती है की यदि हम शिक्षा नहीं देंगे तो लोग अपने बच्चों को अशिक्षित रखेंगे उन्हें स्कुल नहीं भेजेंगे !और इस तरह से देश अशिक्षित बन जाएगा !फिर तो देश में कोई भी पढ़ा लिखा नहीं बन पायेगा ! क्योंकि आजादी से पहले देश में एक भी शिक्षित नहीं था ! You are talking quite absurd mr. Sablok on government to stop running their schools. Are you in a capacity to make the payment of equal amount of Rs 144000 crores the politicians earn per year out of primary education only through bribe? If not then you can't talk of stopping govt schools. That is the largest business empire with monumental returns for the govts/ for the rulers in this country and this system could have been established through consistent efforts by the govts and their allies…

SK I can't help remove the biases. We have no empires, and therefore no urge to hold on to them. It is also an insult to our own country producing millions of the brightest professionals when you brand our students as dunces, i.e, dull – witted idiots. And it is again an exaggeration that we are the lowest in performance in the world. The easiest thing is to lecture and pass value judgments, rather than doing something yourself on the ground. I have travelled most parts of the world, attended seminars, workshops, structured trainings, and keenly studied the systems in the context of identically placed school students in terms of poverty, health, housing and nutritional access. To say that we in government do not have the internal capacity to study world's best practices is a joke, and nothing but intellectual arrogance. Rest assured, we are right minded people, and claim our share of patriotism and public spiritedness. Who said we have no sense of urgency in reforms, but despite nudges, we can not lead the people to cross the river just by calculating the average depth of water.

SG Despite all efforts and huge expenses we are put at the lowest notch in a survey of education quality in 73 countries. It was 72. The cost of education for primary education in our country we pay is some what around 4000-5000 per month/student where as the same quality of education in open market worth Rs 30/- only as we have conducted a survey in 100 schools. See the gap is the amount of corruption the govt can't leave the lucrative business so easily.

Sanjeev Sabhlok S, the only international comparison of Indian students with international was done last year (PISA). China was No.1. India was LAST. Only two states agreed to get tested. HP and TN. My blog is down but I could have pointed you to the results, in case you are not aware. I'm sorry, but if you are not even aware that India is producing dunces then how can you possibly take corrective steps? Please don't be defensive. I've seen the IAS thoroughly. They are least interested in reform. I came all the way to IIPA to speak and explain for 2 days and not ONE IAS officer attended. I know exactly what interests them: UN/World Bank jobs, etc. Not reform. That don't expect from the IAS. Let's be very honest. I've also not seen a SINGLE paper by any IAS officer that promotes genuine reforms in any field. And that's not for want of trying. I've been keenly following all reform efforts in India for many years. Whatever little reform has come has come from outside. And 90 per cent of IAS officers get "outstanding" ACRs! Please let's first become honest. Then we can do things. Without honesty India will suffer even more, as governance standards continually decline.
a few seconds ago

SK O my God. Sanjeev, is the object of this discussion to mutually benefit for performing better in respective roles, or single handed IAS bashing? I think most of the IAS officers would not have attended your lecture for the same reason. If it is a sin to join IAS, most of us including you committed it. And if it is a sin to continue in the IAS, we are committing a sin. By leaving it, some attain sainthood. You seem to have an upper hand on that score. Lets forget about these discussions and focus on our job.

Sanjeev Sabhlok This was about education. You clearly don't even think this is a problem. That's why I brought in the whole of IAS – which has grossly failed in its fundamental duty to even understand the problems, leave alone find solutions. I hope you realise it is your job to research and offer India solutions. Not your job to deny the existence of problems. It is my job to point out that there are fundamental reasons why India's bureaucracy is so defensive and will never bring any reforms to India – it is totally unaccountable for results. Do you see where I'm coming from, now? We should talk SYSTEM REFORM. but you are refusing to even accept that something is wrong.

[And finally my blog is back and here's the post. But before I could show this to SK, he "unfrieinded" me!!!!!]

http://sabhlokcity.com/2011/12/himachal-and-tamil-nadu-bravely-face-the-truth-about-their-rotten-education-system/

The very fact that Advani is part of BJP is PROOF that he is corrupt. 100 per cent corrupt.

"Advani never inquired where the money came from for his rallies and yatras and neither did he ask the source of funding that brought the BJP to power in Karnataka in 2008". [Source]

I'm constantly amazed at people who pretend that Manmohan Singh is "honest" or Advani is "honest" (even Modi, I think, is quite corrupt – given overwhelming LACK of evidence that he complies with election expenditure limits).

Guys, get used to it.

If you find someone willing to join Congress or BJP, you KNOW that the person is corrupt, or will tolerate corruption. And black money.

And that point should never be forgotten.

BJP and black money GO HAND IN HAND. Just as Congress and black money go hand in hand.

I have direct first hand evidence of a BJP person who came to my house a few years ago and described how he distributed Rs.35 lakhs in cash in ONE night in the slums in Mumbai during an election.

Please spare me this surprised look when someone suddenly finds that "even" Advani is corrupt.

Of course. They ALL ARE. Without exception.

But the only difference between me and others is that I insist that these people are merely following the REQUIREMENTS of our system. Our system does not allow ANY honest man to enter politics. For details see BFN.

Yes, all these people must be brought to book, and anyone in the position of PM or CM who has been corrupt should be hanged (after due trial, of course!). But we must focus on changing the system.

That's where Sone Ki Chidiya movement comes in.

Well done BJP. You are now a great moral force in India. Corruption was not enough qualification to get promted in BJP. Direct violence is an essential qualification now, as well.

I do hope if Modi comes in at the national level, the first thing he'll do is to get this man behind bars.

But let me be clear: if Modi does not CLEANSE BJP's INTERNAL GOONS, then I'll OPPOSE BJP and support Congress (assuming Sone Ki Chidiya Movement has not yet progressed into national limelight).

At least Rahul Gandhi is not a violent goonda.

From http://tehelka.com/how-varun-gandhi-silenced-the-system/

"all 88 witnesses in the cases have turned hostile. This is perhaps unprecedented in any criminal case in the world. Many of these witnesses have been caught on TEHELKA’s hidden cameras admitting they were coerced or bribed into changing their testimonies."

"though thousands had heard his speeches at the rallies and millions had watched it on television, on 4 May 2013, the Sessions Court of Pilibhit acquitted him of all the charges in these three cases, on the grounds of insufficient evidence.

"Varun did not like this and slapped Bharatveer. Varun’s supporters also started beating him. The villagers tried to stop them but Varun’s supporters had weapons and no one had to courage to stop Varun.”

Download (Word).

Congress is as strong a unit as one can possibly imagine. People prefer the comfort of a strong united party to an equally corrupt, but fragmented party.

And with the thousands of crores of rupees of black money that Congress has accumulated, it can "outgun" any opposition in more ways than one.

There is one way, of course: for a new mega-party to be created to mop up a significant chunk of the non-BJP/Congress vote (and in fact, cut into both of these as well): that is a party based on the RULE OF LAW and FIRM NEUTRALITY towards all religions; and a party that will promote liberty while ensuring a social minimum.

Please assemble at Ramlila Maidan on 4 June at 4 pm.

We'll then march to Jantar Mantar to conduct a public event in which eminent people will speak and demand TOTAL REFORMS.

[Event on Facebook]

THIS IS NOT A GOVERNMENT BUT TYRANNY

The Sone Ki Chidiya Federation proposes to hold a public rally on 4 June 2013 in Delhi to remember and mourn the Black Night of 4-5 June 2011 in which Delhi Police committed unprecedented atrocitities against innocent people who were peacefully fasting.

Rajbala became martyr to merciless police beatings. 

On 4 June 2011 Swami Ramdev had launched a fast unto death to oppose corruption in India. That night, Delhi Police committed some of the most heinous atrocities against the people of India. It was Jallianwala Bagh with lathis instead of bullets.

Swami Ramdev repeatedly asked to be arrested but the police did not do so. Instead the police kept beating the people in the dead of the night.

The police were clearly intent on killing Swami Ramdev. No amount of pleading with them, no amount of requesting that the participants be arrested, worked. All humanity was lost. The concept of rule of law was entirely ripped apart.

That night a woman – Rajbala – was so badly beaten, her back was shattered. She later died.

We protest tyranny. We protest the Black Night in Independent India's history.

The Sone Ki Chidiya Federation is holding a public rally on 4 June 2013 at 4 pm in Delhi to mourn the Black Night of 4-5 June 2011 in which Delhi Police committed unprecedented atrocitities against innocent people who were peacefully fasting.

THIS GOVERNMENT HAS FAILED TO PROVIDE SECURITY TO WOMEN

We will also protest the system of injustice in which women, particularly, are unsafe in India, and Police unable to protect them.

THIS GOVERNMENT IS PREVENTING CONTRUCTION OF THOUSANDS OF NEW HOUSES IN DELHI

In addition, we will oppose the artificial scarcity of housing created by bad policies of the government. This means prices of houses are at least more than double the price they would have been without such bad policies. The solution is to liberalise the allocation of land, get government out of its discretionary control on use of land, and increase floor area ratios (FAR) while increasing infrastructure spending on sanitation, roads and electricity.

THIS GOVERNMENT IS PREVENTING LABOUR FROM EARNING A LIVELIHOOD, AND BUSINESSES FROM INVESTING

Also, we will protest bad labour laws which have forced outsourcing to contract labour which is paid a quarter of the market rates (according to The Economist). The solution is to liberalise labour laws to minimise militant unionisation which has reduced job opportunities for unorganised labour and blocked companies – both Indian and international – from investing in India.

THIS GOVERNMENT IS PREVENTING FARMERS FROM RECEIVING DUE RETURNS FOR THEIR CROPS

We will also protest the low costs which farmers receive due to artificial controls imposed by the government in the trade and production of agricultural products.

Please confirm your participation here.

Please do yourself a favour. Widely share this. It will help to change India, one click at a time.

I hold the view, however, that all such efforts are going to fail for many fundamental reasons – one being that even if the politicians finally reform, the IAS – the world’s most third rate civil service – can never reform.

It needs to be built from scratch, else we are wasting our time entirely. It is not that the people in IAS are stupid. They are very smart. And that’s one more reason why the IAS can never deliver – under the current system design. When you place some very smart people and give them enormous power (and poor salaries) but NEVER hold them to account, then these people will do one or more of the following:

a) become fat parasites, whom nothing can budge; they will get mindless paperwork filled up and send tonnes of it to you, but it would be largely cooked up and meaningless;

b) become arrogant as hell (there is none in the whole world more arrogant than an average IAS officer), refusing to learn or improve;

c) become great chamchas of thoroughly corrupt political leaders with the goal of getting themselves a fat sinecure in the World Bank or various UN agencies (or as Governor/ambassador after retirement); or

d) become direct “players” (corrupt scoundrels) preparing for a political career by accumulating crores of rupees of corruptly sourced funds.

What do these people care for performance management system and related paperwork?

They don’t even care for empanelment as Joint/Additional secretaries. They are going to enjoy even greater perks in the states in which they live, and you can NEVER KICK THEM OUT. So why would they care?

There is a word in Hindi called ढीठ. That’s what most of these guys are. Simply incorrigible.

They are our SERVANTS but they act like our MASTERS.

But this is not their fault. It is the NATURAL CONSEQUENCE of the system in which we put them.

Put these people in a performing system like Singapore's and they'll produce the world's BEST results. Same people diferent system. That's what explains performance.

So below I’m extracting a few comments I made on a Linkedin group:

My basic contention is that the current Indian system's incentives are fundamentally defective and it will NEVER deliver any meaningful improvement in governance unless it is totally rebuilt from scratch. My focus is therefore on first principles reform.

I was looking at Singapore bureaucracy system yesterday and found that it follows world-best principles, even as we follow world-worst principles. http://sabhlokcity.com/2013/05/singapore-followed-arthashastra-india-abandoned-it-results-are-inevitable/

We are talking about systems. When we have a flawed system we will get SHABBY results. We must think about systems – then we'll find the answer. Current system can NEVER perform. No matter how much "shifting/reorieinting" you do.

To suggest that "There has been an overall deterioration in the moral fabric of society" is a load of rubbish.

The SAME Indians behave ethically elsewhere. That's because SYSTEMS are everything. Our systems are DESIGNED for corruption, as I've explained in my book, Breaking Free of Nehru (download from http://bfn.sabhlokcity.com/ ). Please don't blame Indians for their "moral" failures. Blame us, the policy designers.

[I received this suggestion:] "we need some means of changing the 19th century mindsets, and bringing new ideas to the Secretary level officials – since change will need to be fostered from that group".

The best way to change the Secretary's mind is to say: You can lose your job in ONE MINUTE (without notice) if you don't perform.

When all over the world the focus is on accountability of the bureaucracy, why do we pander to them by trying to "change their mindset"? I was in the IAS and knew many Secretaries. Worse, I know many IAS officers who are extremely senior now. They WILL NOT CHANGE. Their mindset is corrupted the moment they realise they can't be removed from their job.

I'm not saying people should do nothing within the current system. By all means work on these other ideas. Yes, you'll remain busy and you'll generate a lot of paperwork. But be aware that you'll NEVER change these people in this way.

[Question received:] "Does anybody have a concrete proposal on how this is to be done".

I provided a detailed transitional pathway in Breaking Free of Nehru, chapter 6. About 10 pages of details. Download: http://sanjeev.sabhlokcity.com/book1/BFN-fullbook.pdf . Please also read chapter 5 (I think) on bureaucracy that sets the context.

A summary of the transitional path is available in the draft Agenda for Change ( http://sonekichidiya.in/Documents/SKC-agendaforchange-draft.pdf ). We also had an extensive discussion for a few hours at the IIPA governance reforms conference on 13/14 April 2013 on the precise pathway. I've yet to consolidate the notes and issue the minutes of the conference.

Your considered feedback and questions will be useful. The more detailed the analysis, the better.

The key performance driver in the private sector is the employment contract. If you had an employee in your company whose job was 100 per cent assured and who short-circuited the official reporting lines and dabbled with politics and took "directions" from people outside your company (in the case of IAS, from politicians of all hues), please explain how any of your past experience in the private sector would apply.

We have to start with the employment contract of the civil services, not with establishing performance frameworks more suited to a jet plane than to a bullock cart. With an unruly bullock cart, where a bull runs helter skelter and is TOTALLY disobedient because it knows the master (ultimately the citizen) can't do any harm, there is a drastic limit to the performance the master can get.

The most arrogant and unruly (and incompetent) people in the world are IAS officers. How can you possibly expect them to perform by giving them more paperwork to deliver?

I haven't even mentioned the other side – that more than 90 per cent of the policies in India simply can't be delivered because they are undeliverable, being poorly designed. Even if you get the world's smartest bureaucrats (from Singapore) you can't do that.

I assure you that late Ashok Saikia (who was Vajpayee's favourite Joint Secretary) and I – when we ran the education department in Assam, were not less than the most honest/efficient bureaucrats you can possibly imagine. But our combined results were practically zero. We were totally stymied by the system.

Btw, I chanced upon an excellent comparative study of different country administrations. Seems to take a very sensible approach: http://www.dpmc.gov.au/consultation/aga_reform/docs/benchmarking_australian_government_KPMG.pdf

 I've tried to depict India's relative performance to Singapore's here: http://sabhlokcity.com/2013/05/indian-administrations-pathetic-performance-compared-with-singapores/

The country is totally sick of its non-performing and corrupt bureaucracy. If enough people offer [fundamental overhaul] as the key solution, there will be a lot of uptake of this suggestion.

Performance management systems will merely increase red tape, paperwork, and costs to be borne by taxpayers without any hope of improvement. Such "systems" will have no effect on anything on the ground.

This conclusion I make based on my deep knowledge of the inner functioning of the IAS and Indian bureaucracy. They will treat performance management as a big joke and laugh at it. Indeed, I know officers in the IAS who hold such a view and treat it with contempt.

Of course, the problem is not just performance, it is policy.

If you were to ask me, assuming the fundamental change doesn't take place first, I'd work out a reward system for those IAS officers who can design good policy. I'd get such a system endorsed by politicians and I'd throw a challenge at these people to come up with serious policy analysis that points out fundamental flaws. Those who identify the flaws, and also identify ways to remove the flaws, will be rewarded.

When we develop a culture of asking questions and giving honest advice in the IAS, we might then start talking about performance management.

Merely trying to transplant performance management systems that work well in the West into the Indian system won't work because there is an entirely different set of incentives at work, which rewards political "savvy" and/or corruption, not performance in the sense we mean it.

Why don't we challenge the civil servants of India to tell us why the policies they implement are fundamentally defective and can't work. They are smart people. If you reward them for plain-speaking, they will come up with good ideas.

Once that has happened, we can change the policies, then they will at least work better without any "performance management". Today, 90 per cent of the policies we have won't work no matter how smart the performance management system you introduce.

It is worth a read. In it I found a diagram that I believe represents everything I've been saying.

I've extrapolated India's system in this diagram, to show where it would stand if ANY rational survey of performance were undertaken.

Below, I've outlined the blueprint for reform that the Australian Government is implementing, based on the report cited above, to improve its admininstration. It is only about incremental improvement, so it doesn't deal with the fundamental reforms I've explained in Chapter 5 of BFN.

Some interesting areas are highlighted below in red, by me.

1. Delivering better services for citizens

1.1 Simplify Australian Government services for citizens

• Simplify and align Australian Government service delivery.
• Implement simplified citizen focused service delivery with automated and simplified business processes.

1.2 Develop better ways to deliver services through the community and private sectors

• Provide greater flexibility to respond to local circumstances in service delivery through the community and private sectors.
• Provide simplified funding arrangements.
• Develop integrated case coordination for citizens and their families with complex needs in particular locations.

1.3 Deliver services in closer partnership with State, Territory and local governments

• Partner with State, Territory and local governments to achieve better outcomes for citizens.
• Integrate delivery teams using employees from multiple Australian Government agencies in particular locations to enable more joined up delivery.
• Share more information between all levels of government.
• Make information accessible to citizens on services provided by all levels of government.

1.4 Reduce unnecessary business regulatory burden

• Extend the Standard Business Reporting (SBR) functionality, (due for release in July 2010),to ease the regulatory burden imposed by government on business.
• Minimise reporting and compliance requirements for business and remove unnecessary or poorly designed regulation.

2. Creating more open government

2.1 Enable citizens to collaborate with government in policy and service design

• Develop and implement new approaches to collaboration and consultation with citizens on policy and service delivery issues.
• Make public sector data available to the wider public in a manner consistent with privacy principles.

2.2 Conduct a citizen survey

• Conduct a survey of citizens’ views on their satisfaction with government programs, services and regulation to inform government business.
• These surveys desirably would be expanded to include all levels of government.

Provides strong leadership and strategic direction

3. Enhancing policy capability

3.1 Strengthen strategic policy

• Every Department to strengthen strategic policy and delivery capability.
• Establish a Strategic Policy Network and create a policy tool kit to assist the development of strategic policy capability across the APS.
• Establish cross-agency strategic policy project teams.

3.2 Build partnerships with academia, research institutions and the community and private sectors

• Reinvigorate and establish new relationships with academia and research institutions.
• Strengthen links with private sector experts.

3.3 Improve policy implementation

• Provide clear guidance and standards to agencies on policy implementation, particularly in the areas of regulation, program and project management.
• Increase every Department’s capacity to oversee implementation activities.
• Establish an APS -wide forum to share best practice in regulations.

4. Reinvigorating strategic leadership

4.1 Revise and embed the APS Values

• Revise the APS Values to a smaller set of core values that are meaningful, memorable and effective in driving change.
• Embed the revised values into the work of the APS through senior leadership and learning and development and performance management frameworks.

4.2 Articulate the roles and responsibilities of Secretaries

• Amend the Public Service Act 1999 to recognise the roles and responsibilities of Secretaries and the Public Service Commissioner.
• Strengthen the performance framework to assess individual and collective performance against the above roles and responsibilities.

4.3 Revise employment arrangements for Secretaries

• Revise the processes for appointing and terminating Secretaries
• Reinforce the terms of appointment for Secretaries to provide for a five year term.

4.4 Strengthen leadership across the APS

• Establish a new APS leadership group, the Secretaries Board.
• Create a senior leadership forum, the APS 200. Require leaders at all levels to act as role models and drive reforms in their agencies.

4.5 Improve talent management across the APS

• Introduce APS -wide talent management programs.
• Establish a Leadership Development Centre.

5. Introducing a new APSC to drive change and provide strategic planning

5.1 New APSC with responsibilities to lead the APS

• Reposition the APSC to deliver on broad reform goals and charge it with responsibility for leading and implementing proposed recommendations agreed by Government.
• Transfer responsibility for Australian Government policies for agreement-making, classification structures, APS remuneration arrangements, work level standards and workplace relations advice from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) to the APSC.
• Revise the Public Service Act 1999 to reflect reforms to the APSC.

Contains a highly capable workforce

6. Clarifying and aligning employment conditions

6.1 Ensure employment bargaining arrangements support one APS

• Strengthen the Australian Government Employment Bargaining Framework to ensure that it supports one APS
• Identify areas where a further streamlining of existing APS bargaining arrangements would better support one APS.
• Examine the extent to which existing APS classification arrangements and work level standards continue to meet the needs of APS agencies and employees.
• Provide APS employees with appropriate career paths.

6.2 Assess the size and role of the SES

• Complete a review of the size, capability and work level standards for each level of the Senior Executive Service (SES), before any new net growth in the SES occurs.

7. Strengthening the workforce

7.1 Coordinate workforce planning

• Establish an APS -wide workforce planning framework.
• Develop a Human Capital Priority Plan that initially prioritises the reforms proposed in this Blueprint and over time will identify emerging systemic workforce issues.

7.2 Streamline recruitment and improve induction

• Develop best practice standards for recruitment that uphold the merit principle.
• Establish regular labour and demographic analyses in relation to APS employment.
• Coordinate initial graduate and trainee recruitment application processes.
• Utilise new recruitment processes, where appropriate, for SES Band 3 officers.
• Implement specific mechanisms to increase APS diversity.

7.3 Expand and strengthen learning and development

• Identify core service-wide development needs.
• Endorse a principle of annual professional development for all APS employees.
• Deliver core learning and development programs that are centrally procured.
• Evaluate a range of courses and negotiate the best rates for the APS.

7.4 Strengthen the performance framework

• Introduce a performance framework that fosters a high performance culture.
• Provide performance management training for all SES employees and managers.
• Develop common APS -wide guidelines for dealing with underperformance.

7.5 Encourage employees to expand their career experience

• Develop mobility mechanisms that encourage more APS employees to obtain diverse career experiences.
• Reinvigorate the mechanism for advertising of temporary non ongoing positions (for example, expressions of interest).
• Work with State, Territory and local governments to identify and address the barriers to jurisdictional mobility, including the recognition of State, Territory and local government public service entitlements and vice versa.

Operates efficiently at a consistently high standard

8. Ensuring agency agility, capability and effectiveness

8.1 Conduct agency capability reviews

• Conduct periodic external reviews of agencies’institutional capabilities, covering strategy, leadership, workforce capability, delivery and organisational effectiveness.

8.2 Introduce shared outcomes across portfolios

• Introduce shared cross portfolio outcomes in priority areas where more than one portfolio is responsible for achieving government outcomes.

8.3 Reduce internal red tape to promote agility

• Streamline administrative and legislative compliance in areas such as Financial Management and Corporate / Human Resources.
• Develop mechanisms that ensure red tape is minimised.

9. Improving agency efficiency

9.1 Review the measures of agency efficiency

• Review the current mechanisms used to drive agency efficiency.

9.2 Strengthen the governance framework

• Simplify governance structures for new and existing entities by consolidating the categories of entities that can be created.
• Amend the Governance Arrangements for Australian Government Bodies (Governance Guide) to ensure:
  • Clear governance arrangements for inter-jurisdictional entities;
  • APS employees are clear about their responsibilities when appointed to company boards; and
  • All new and existing agencies are fit-for-purpose.

9.3 Small agencies to improve the efficiency of their corporate functions

• All portfolio agencies should review the most efficient way to conduct their corporate functions.
• New small agencies should obtain their corporate services from a parent agency or shared service provider.