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Indian Institute of
Technology, Delhi Being an IAS officer how does it feel like when you have to
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follow stupid orders of illiterate politicians?
Indian Institute of
Technology, Ila Tripathi, IAS 2017 batch Follow 6 more
Kanpur (IITK) topics
Answered Sep 12

Indian Institute of The question made me laugh! It looks like someone has written this straight after Find your friends on
Technology, Quora
watching Gangajal movie!!
Bombay (IITB)
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Two very harsh adjectives here- stupid and illiterate. Believe me not all good answers
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politicians are illiterate and mostly none of their demands are stupid. I am an
Links Ask your first
IAS officer of Telangana cadre and I say it with experience- mine as well as
question
Psychology others.
Add 3 credentials
Technology Before you draw the conclusion of me living in a false reality, let me tell you why
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do politicians even come to you as an officer. MLA or MP are elected executives.
Writing
They are chosen by the people, unlike an officer who is posted there and might or
Economics might not be liked by the locals depending on how he works.
History
Hence, a political representative interacts with locals, listens their problem and
Books wants you to act to solve their problem. Now, there are two scenarios-

Health I: You're super duper busy. You absolutely have no time. Moreover you think you
Food cracked the most tough exam in the world and hence are better 'educated' than
those chosen through dance of democracy! So, you reject the plaint of the
Education
MLA/MP.

II: You're super duper busy. You absolutely have no time. But, you realise that the
person on the other side is an elected representative and perhaps equally
capable, if not more, than you. You give a patient hearing, see what can be done
and promise speedy action.

You see the working condition of both officers are same but the response is
different. Scenario I will land you in some trouble. Ego clashes are best avoided
in our service. Scenario II is great. It's a win-win for both.

Now coming to illegitimate demands. There might be cases of some 'powerful'

political heavyweight asking some tweaking of rules. This does happen. But
believe me it all depends on what your reputation is.

If you are an upright officer who has never earned under the table, politicians
know this. They will never have the courage to come to your office and make
unfair demands. In bureaucracy, there are no secrets.

But if they already know that Saahab khoob khaate hain (Officer makes money
from unfair means), they will approach you. And in that case, the officer loses
the moral authority to not entertain their corrupt demands.

Telangana is in election mode and it does happen sometimes that political

representative want some road to be repaired in their assembly constituency or
some certificate to be given to a beneficiary. These are all legitimate demands. In
fact, this is the work of an IAS. Had we done it on our own, there would have
been no need by the MLA or MP to tell you.

Now coming to illiterate part. I cannot help but laugh at it. Bollywood has done
considerable harm. No politician will come to your office eating Pan and guthka
and spit on the floor. Or sit with his legs hoisted up on your table. No one does
this.

Political representative maintain their dignity with an IAS officer. In Telangana, I

have met the representatives on various occasions like state formation day, I-day,
etc. They have been very courteous enquiring me about my whereabouts and
suggesting me to learn Telugu. Even in North India it's very polite. My husband
was earlier posted in Bihar and every political executive with whom he met
during flood relief or protocol meetings would address him as SDM Saahab and
rendered utmost courtesy.

I write this answer to clear the myths about a service that I so respect. It all
depends on how egoistic an officer is and how much hand in glove he is with
corruption. It is wrong to brand all politicians as evil and all officers as victim.
The service is above and beyond it.

I have penned down my struggle, motivation to join the services, and a complete
preparation strategy in my book 71 to 51. It is already helping many aspirants.
Here's more about it- https://www.quora.com/profile/Il...
116k Views · View Upvoters · View Sharers

Upvote · 4.8k Share · 32

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