IAS officers enjoy the freedom in the private sector Synopsis Babus taking up jobs in the private sector are happy about the freedom they enjoy and the challenges they face. When a 24-year-old IAS officer walks into an office as sub-divisional magistrate, he is no less than a chief executive (CEO) of a company. From day one, he has 200 people working under him. Call hima modern-day Maharaja whose words are the law of the land. This is what Rohit Modi, CEO of L&T@@@s development projects, who left the elite IAS cadre to join India Inc. nine years ago, feels today. In fact, Modi and a growing breed of bureaucrats typify this change. A change @@@ that the great India dream of joining the elite IAS ranks is gradually fading away. Today, mid-career IAS officers are ready to abandon their white ambassador cars to jump onto the private sector bandwagon. For Mr Modi, he had no second thoughts on sending his two sons, Apoorva and Ananya, to study in the UK on his own expenses. @@@It would have been impossible monetarily, had I still been working in a government department. But money is not the only reason why many IAS officers are shifting to the private sector. Now, I can decide the sector I want to work in as well as the posting, @@@ says Mr Modi. Welcome to the second life of former bureaucrats getting a taste of freedom! Taking independent decisions to maximise growth of their individual companies, they realise what freedom is all about. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) executive director Dhiraj Mathur, who left the IAS only a few months ago, says he has been enjoying the @@@freedom@@© the most. For him, it@@@s freedom of speech as well as the pace of things moving in the private sector that matters a lot. Former Assam cadre IAS officer O P Agarwal, too, is enjoying his freedom outside the government. As the CEO of Urban Mass Transit Co (UMTC), he does not need to get several approvals before implementing any plan. In fact, the UMTC is a joint venture of the ministry of urban development, the Andhra Pradesh government and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS).If you need to go somewhere or if you want to take a decision on a particular expenditure, you just go ahead. If you commit something, you don@@@t need any approvals. That@®@@s what I am liking about the private sector,@@ said Mr Agarwal, former urban development joint secretary and a post-graduate in transport from MIT. Along with freedom it is the challenges that the jobs in the private sector bring that are attracting many. For Shailesh Pathak, director (investments) at ICICI Venture, it is back to putting his skill sets to good use. A product of IIM- Calcutta, Mr Pathak was with the merchant banking divisions of ICICI and HSBC before joining the IAS in 1990. Today, he feels the difference. @@@My generalist days are over, @@ he says. As an infrastructure private equity investor, his expertise in financing and developing infrastructure is valued as a specialised skill. And his objectives? OOOltOOOs all clear ©@© stakeholders are transparent about the expected outcome. Processes are important but the outcome is the major criteria for performance evaluation, @@@ he says. He, however, finds it difficult to say what he is missing out now. @@@There are so many good things in the government. Almost all senior people I know in the government are as bright as in the private sector. However, the system effectively rewards risk aversion, leading to analysis paralysis. There needs to be a better incentive-disincentive structure that prioritises outcomes and not processes, Indian entrepreneurs have shown that given the right set of incentives and disincentives, they deliver well. The government officials are no exception, @@© he says. Though most IAS officers leaving the coveted cadre are an entrepreneurial lot, they do take time to adjust within the corporate culture, Mr Agarwal from IL&ES, for example, is now contemplating picking up golf. @@@I used to play cricket, At times, I play tennis. I feel, I should now start playing golf, @@@ he says. For Mr Mathur from PwC, pursuing his hobbies like swimming and listening to music has become quite difficult mainly because of tighter schedules. In fact, playing golf is no longer just associated with corporates alone. The green course tribe has been swelling as many IAS officers are becoming major golf, bufis. About 700 civil servants, including IAS, IFS and IPS, regularly play golf under the umbrella of All-India Civil Services Golf Society. Ina recent intra-civil servant golf tournament in New Delhi, over 100 bureaucrats, including deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, revenue secretary P V Bhide, expenditure secretary Sanjiv Mishra and secretary (West) of the external affairs ministry Nalin Surie were teeing off.OO@ At the IAS level, it is not the difference in life-style which motivates them to move to the private sector. Many get a feeling of stagnation in their careers. Even the frequent transfers make them unhappy and look for jobs with more freedom,@@@ a senior IAS officer at the Centre says. It is also the lure of money taking the bureaucrats to the private sector. Most [AS officers who have recently been hired with packages of Rs 50 lakh to Rs 3 crore per year, are asked to carry out difficult project implementation tasks, apart from the liaison work with the government. And the officers with IIT and IIM backgrounds, or those with specialised degrees from foreign universities are getting more offers than their peers. An experience of both the worlds makes them only brighter. Most private sector honchos with the experience of working ina government department act as easy conduits between the two worlds. Since they have experienced both the worlds, they have a clear vision as well as some bright ideas for the future. © Having worked for six years in the private sector and 16 years with the government, one has seen many differing perspectives. My friends in both the private and public sectors are essentially the same, but there is a glaring public- private dichotomy in terms of focus on outcomes. Many successful countries have revamped public services. We could really transform governance in India if the emphasis shifts to delivery, rather than procedure. India needs good governance more than anything else, and perhaps only enlightened elected officials can make this happen,@@© suggests Mr Pathak, We'd love your feedback on immersive Reader. Did content appear properlyon this webpage?