Anupam- The Dreamer

With the inauguration of the new government, the US moved with the pace of light to establish a new government department called DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), to fulfill long-cherished pre-poll promise. And with the world’s wealthiest businessman (a non-government and non-elected person) as its head, the DOGE is turning out to be a Frankenstein monster for the US administration! A monster which, on the face of it, seems to be working towards the goal of reducing government spending and improving government efficiency, but at the core is withering away the core values of the government itself! And what are the core values of a government? Democracy, freedom of speech, governance, inclusiveness, justice, liberty, equality, fraternity etc. These core values are although desirable but in no way are they essential for running a business which thrives only on efficiency, profits, talent, and survival of the fittest. Here lies the inherent anomaly and the biggest paradox! There are fundamental differences in the way they government operates and the way a business operates. And, no successful government can be run like a business corporation! To have a better understanding of this, we have to step back a little, and delve into the theoretical underpinnings of this phenomenon in the government administration.

With the advent of a welfare state after the World War II, the governments all across the world faced an onerous task of carrying out welfare works in the war-damaged nations. And for the newly independent poor nations which experienced a drain of wealth for centuries at the behest of colonial powers, the governments faced a more onerous task of rebuilding a nation even with a low budget and fewer resoruces. As the responsibilities of the government kept on rising with a consequent increase in its size and bureaucracy to carry out multifarious roles, the budget requirement grew manifold. But, in 1970s and 1980s, it was realized that the government cannot be as efficient as private businesses in performing certain functions like executing highway projects, running corporations like power sector, etc. Therefore, across the world, the governments started divulging these ancillary roles of development to the private sector. In India too, the LPG reforms in the 1990s saw a massive change in the role of government, from being the controller and operator to being more of a provider and facilitator. The once strong fort of license quota permit raj started to fall brick by brick!

Additionally, some of the private sector practices were also adopted by the government in its functioning to make it leaner, more efficient and effective and goal-oriented. This world-over phenomenon of introduction of private sector practices in the government is known as New Public Management (NPM) in the public administration theory. The government now outsourced non-core work like running PSUs, employed more contractual workers, introduced technology for improving coordination and efficiency, and withdrew completely from the pure business functions like operating an air travel company. The government expenditure declined, with a leaner bureaucracy and more focus on delivery of the targets.

All this seemed good and rosy, until it was realized that in the process of cutting down expenditures and just focusing on efficiency, has backfired massively! Because, if the government virtually runs like a business and espouses only business values of efficiency and profit, then it risks becoming just like a business! And, mind it, the government is not a business corporation! Because the business (or pure capitalism) is not concerned with the values of democracy, freedom of speech, governance, inclusiveness, justice, liberty, equality, fraternity etc. It is government and only the government, which can uphold these values for each and every citizen, and especially for the poor, downtrodden, weaker sections of the society like children, women, elderly, socially and economically backward sections etc. The government cannot renege its promise to be a government for every citizen, irrespective of economic or social status, irrespective of their paying capacity, and irrespective of their talent and efficiency. It is the moral responsibility of a government to provide basic human rights and fulfill basic human needs of good quality education, healthcare, water, electricity, basic infrastructure, opportunities for all to achieve their maximum potential. The corporate houses do not care for the poor and the needy (although they may be forced to pay via Corporate Social Responsibility, but still their fundamental values are different).

In this context, I find the DOGE trend in the USA worrisome. Since its inception, within 2 months, about 62,000 jobs have been lost in the USA, with federal employees thrown to the streets to fend for themselves. Billions of dollars of USAID funding to poor nations for basic education, healthcare, has been withdrawn. More and more emphasis on transactional business approach to deal with foreign nations to set right the balance of trade with threats of high tariffs, upending the decades of diplomatic relations with little respect to the international law and morality, will only prove to be more harmful than helpful in the long run. The government cannot and should not give up on its long cherished of freedom (and not threats of occupying Canada etc.), democracy, human rights, commitment to global organizations working in the domain of health and climate change, just to save some extra dollars. The government cannot turn a blind eye to focus just on profits made by coal and power companies, while completely ignoring the climate change concerns and giving up on Electric Vehicle Policy.

All said and done, if the government cannot uphold the democratic values and the constitutional morality, then does it have the right to be called a government? Does it not become a company solely oriented to profit its owners? And I am afraid, the company owners or business-minded people cannot run a government, which works for the benefit of even those who cannot contribute a single penny to the exchequer!

Because a company exists to provide goods and services to only those who can pay,

But a government exists to provide goods and services to also those who don’t even have their say!