Title: A survey of positive and negative aspects of the Indian administrative bureaucratic system

Authors: Prem Lal Joshi, Rajesh Kumar

Addresses: Department of Accounting, University of Bahrain, Box 32038, Bahrain. ' Institute of Management Technology, Dubai, UAE

Abstract: This online survey, based on a sample size of 340 responses, was carried out to ascertain public perceptions of the positive and negative aspects of the Indian administrative bureaucratic system (IAS). Only 13% of the respondents were satisfied with the system. The most important positive aspect with respect to the IAS system was the factor of decent living and working conditions, and the most important negative aspect was the tendency to serve their political masters rather than the general public. The most important positive aspect of the lower level bureaucracy was the greater dependence on the junior bureaucrats by their seniors, and the most critical negative aspect was that lower level bureaucrats have no sense of wastage of public money. The more the experience that respondents had with the system, the more negative their perceptions of the system became. The Indian residents held much stronger negative views about the IAS system than their non-resident Indian (NRI) counterparts.

Keywords: India; administrative bureaucracy; bureaucratic systems; positive; negative; constraints; effectiveness; professionalism; lateral system; NRIs; non-resident Indians; corruption; accountability; transparency; performance appraisal; public perceptions.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2011.042913

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2011 Vol.4 No.6, pp.658 - 684

Published online: 31 Jan 2015 *

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