Cooling off period for bureaucrats before joining politics - Should it be mandatory?

Should cooling off period for bureaucrats before joining any political party be mandatory?

The Election Commission recommended that any bureaucrat before joining any political party must have a cooling period post his retirement so that there is no conflict of interest between bureaucracy and politics. This recommendation has sparked a wide debate over the participation of bureaucracy in politics.

As we know that politicians form the legislative arm whereas the latter forms the executive arm of constitution, but whether or not bureaucrats should be refrained for sometime from joining politics after retirement, let’s see:-

Yes, cooling off period should be given

1. In case of private sector, bureaucrats are given a cooling off period after their resignation and before joining the company, then why not in the case of politics?

2. The politicians, many a times have an ostensible control over the functions of bureaucracy. If any civil servant joins a political party soon after retirement or resignation, it would put a question mark over his decisions as a bureaucrat.

3. If a cooling off period is given to the bureaucrat then the executive would not be criticized of taking biased decisions and being a sycophant of politicians.

4. Recently, the police commissioner of Mumbai gave his resignation and the next day joined BJP. This step had put the credibility of his work at stake as now he is being blamed as working as a BJP agent.

5. If a cooling off period is given, it will help creating a distance between policy making and policy execution.

6. Imagine if the ex CAG of India, Vinod Rai would have joined any opposition party soon after retirement, wouldn’t the govt. have raised questions over his audit reports that went strictly against the govt.

7. It is very important to keep the vested interest of politicians aloof from bureaucracy and a cooling off period is just the right way.

8. A higher official has all the know-how of the department when he retires. If he joins politics immediately after retirement, there are high chances of him being able to influence the outcomes of some important tasks.

No

1. If any bureaucrat joins a political outfit soon after his retirement, he might help in recovering the loopholes which he has experienced in the system and can provide better administration.

2. Bureaucrats joining politics is a welcome step as it will raise the credibility of politicians but a cooling off period might mar their spirit to work for the nation.

3. If there is no cooling off period, bureaucrats can maintain continuity in working for the welfare of the society.

4. Cooling off period might discourage the honest and determined civil servants to join politics and clean the system from inside as their talent would not be utilized properly during the break.

5. There might be instances where a civil servant resigns voluntarily only to join politics to improve the nation. A cooling off period might be an unnecessary hindrance in his way.

6. Cooling off period can’t separate the vested interests of politicians and bureaucrats as even if such a period is given, this unhealthy nexus will not be broken.

7. What if during the cooling off period, a bureaucrat supports a political party as a strategist or as an independent intellect and people trust him and later on he joins the same party? Wouldn’t that betray the trust of the people and diminish the credibility?

Conclusion

A cooling off period for bureaucrats is a welcome step as this is very much an open secret that that how bureaucracy works in this country but the time limit of that period should be heavily examined and all the legal aspects should be weighed. It should be made sure that it doesn’t discourage the honest civil servants from joining politics.