Guest Column| Need to sensitise young civil servants to develop soft skills

The training of a young, fresh mind is of great importance. Particularly, when that person is envisaged to take on administrative responsibilities.

As a premier institution for training of newly recruited civil servants, the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) emphasises that the Foundation Course is designed to orient offices to the administrative, social, economic and political environment of the country; promote overall awareness of challenges; and development of personality traits of officer trainees. It includes village visits to train the officers in problems of rural areas, including issues of equity and development.

Now, for the critical question. What is important for administrative personnel in our milieu? Is being exposed to management skills from faculty of best business schools enough? Does a visit to a rural area suffice? One can argue that this exposure to administration at the grassroots level is enhanced in the district training. But the focus needs to be on developing soft skills and the awareness of the needs of the people.

Imbibe empathy

The first quality to be imbibed is empathy. Unless our future policy-makers and administrators are not encouraged to listen and ‘feel’ for people, the academy’s motto of civil service, ‘Sheelam param bhushnam (Character is the highest virtue)’, is put to test. That comes from first being human, feeling the pain and distress of people.

Unfortunately, training modules encourage officers to be emotionally detached in their course of work. The fine distinction between being detached and being aware of the pain of others is lost on young minds. While empathy can’t be taught, it resides deep within us, a quality to be nurtured.

Right action is reward

The second, and most important, lesson that civil servant trainees need to learn is ‘Karma phala tyaga’, meaning the renunciation of results of your action. The Bhagavad Gita emphasises doing one’s duty without the selfish desire for reward of the action.

The crux of administration should be to do good, and to do the right thing. The administrator is in an envious position to do the right action that will benefit hundreds if not thousands. But this action is to be done without any desire for extra fruit, whether it be fame, money or recognition. Right action is an award in itself.

Be silent and listen

The third important attribute that the training needs to hone is evenness of mind. Detachment from dualities of pain and pleasure, success and failure. This would mean being calm, observant and most important to be silent and listen. This capacity to listen is linked to the skill of mental training and empathy. Most young officers, given the nature of hype surrounding these services, feel they have arrived. The administrator is not to be swayed by false praise or frivolous pleasure. The beauty of listening to his own self fosters an openness to listen to others.

Positive discrimination

Fourth, the art of positive discrimination. The Gita describes three gunas (attributes) – Sattva (harmony and equilibrium), Rajas (activity for selfish desire) and Tamas (inertia). All three attributes are present in each one of us. It is which attribute we feed and heed to that makes us. Thus, we have all paths of action open before us. It is our positive discrimination done with a pure heart and still mind, keeping all our senses and selfish desires in check, that can help us make the choices that will benefit many.

There are many such behavioural attributes that can be emphasised. Young administrators should be exposed to what is pure, true and good. That goodness is to be encouraged. The mind has to be stilled. Action is to be done with the spirit of service, albeit without any selfish desire for reward and recognition. This training can be achieved by constant meditation, exposure to such teachings that encourage harmony with nature and people.

Effort worth making

The difference between civil servants and the ‘common people’ has to be de-emphasised. Would we achieve better results with such training? Perhaps, the awareness would stay with a few, but it would be a beginning.

Thus, behavioural and character building would not be a module, but a constant by developing the art of meditation by exposure to what is the best in Indian philosophy. This becomes all the more important, with more officers coming from the engineering background. In reply to a question in Parliament, it was revealed that from 2017-21, 63% of candidates recommended for the UPSC civil service (main) were from an engineering background. This is not to discriminate against a particular stream or qualification, but to re-emphasise the need to sensitise the young trainees to soft skills.

Holistic development should include daily meditation, a retreat, and an effort at calming the mind. For many, such exposure courses come too late and much talent is lost in wasteful thinking and chasing unimportant things. The development of evenness of mind and self-control is not easy, but an effort worth making. nishajainsingh87@gmail.com

The writer, a 1987-batch IAS officer, has retired as chairperson of Himachal Pradesh Capacity Building Commission. Views expressed are personal.