BOOK-LEAF
Title : JI Mantri ji
Publisher : Penguin Books,
Panchsheel park, New Delhi
Price : Rs. 195/
A replica of BBC's YES MINISTER in letter and spirit has brought out the essence of struggle between pseudo public servants viz the politicians and the bureaucrats Here is a sample from the diary page of the minister Suryaprakash dated November 27th.
"Strange though it may seem to those members of the public who read numerous abusive speeches in which members of rival political parties revile each other as incompetent, dishonest, criminally stupid and negligent, cross-party friendships are extremely common. Infact it is much easier to be friends with a member of the opposite party than a member of one's own party-for one is not in direct competition for office with members of the opposition in the way that one is with one's own colleagues.
All my Cabinet colleagues and I were naturally in bitter competition with each other during our years in Opposition. In the last three months we have all been so busy trying to deal with the real opposition - Administrative Services - that we've not had any real time to do-down each other.
......paradoxically, government is more open when it is less open. Open Government is rather like the live theatre: the audience gets a performance. And it gives a response. But like the theatre, in order to have some thing to show openly there must first be a hidden activity. And all sorts of things have to be cut or altered in rehearsals, and not shown to public until you have them right. "