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When I tell my friends that I (and most of my friends) have never faced any political interference in my career as an IRS officer, most people refuse to believe. How is it possible that the department which collects almost Rs 15 lakhs cores of revenue can be so politically neutral, when the same types of politicians head the Centre as well as State Governments? The difference is visible even in organization which are doing identical works but under the state and central government. You have to only compare the professional caliber of CBI and State CID to know the difference. Interestingly, both the organizations are headed by only IPS officers. You can compare the other Central Police Organizations like CRPF, CISF, BSF with the State Police and know the difference. In all the airports in India, the security is now managed by CISF, which was earlier managed by State Police. Recently, the Madras High Court has replaced its security of State Police with CISF.We often wonder how such divergent work culture can exist in the same country?You must have noticed that governments come and the governments go, but the system does not change. In many states, as soon as a new political party takes power, they replace all DMs and SPs. However, when the same political party comes to power in Centre, there is never any change whatsoever in the important positions of the government. The centre government does not look for any particular officer to deliver results and it usually choose the senior-most officers to head important organizations like CBEC, CBDT, Railways, Defense and other departments.I am reminded by the wise words of the world famous management guru Peter Drucker, “No institution can possibly survive if it needs geniuses or supermen to manage it. It must be organized in such a way as to be able to get along under a leadership composed of average human beings.” Any officer can deliver results in centre government due to the systems developed by them over period of time, which has lead to the political neutrality and left some muscles in the steel frame of civil services. The government departments in centre work almost on auto-mode without any interference from top at any level. Let me present some of the systems of the Central Government, which has perhaps made the difference in its work culture.1: Uniformity of FacilitiesAll the perks and facilities in central government are based on rank and not on post. All officers of a particular rank enjoy exactly same type of government accommodation, vehicles, telephones etc. For example, all officers of Deputy Secretary are entitled for Type V accommodation, which will be typically a 3-BHK flat with a servant room of around 2000 sqft carpet area. However, the perks in State Governments (IAS/IPS) are based on the post. So as a DM or SP, you may get a Bungalow having the area of couple of acres, a fleet of attendants to take care of you and your name prominently published on daily local newspapers. Over a period of time, DMs have been given powers to supervise almost all state departments within the district and SP is in charge of all the police stations of his district. However, as soon as you are posted on the same rank at other charges, you get a small flat as given to their central government counterparts. You lose all the (legal and illegal) perks and the aura of DM/SP. You suddenly feel quite small in relative term. In the central government, officers lose neither their accommodation nor any of their perks, when transferred to any charge. Hence they are not afraid to take tough decisions. Further, central government always constructs apartments for all the officials of the government from the lowest rank to the highest rank and ensures that everyone gets a government accommodation. In the states, it is often the opposite. While the top officials are treated like kings, the lowest rank officials are left to fend for themselves.2: Transparent Transfer/Posting PolicyThere is usually no policy for transfer and posting in any state. Any officer can be transferred from any place to any place at any post by the Chief Minister. I remember that once there were six SPs posted in Ghaziabad within a period of six months.However, in IRS, there is a well laid down transfer policy approved by the Finance Minister. The Prime Minister hardly interferes with the transfers/postings of officers and it is left to the FM to do the needful. The FM too does not have unlimited freedom because he approves the transfers list which is prepared by the Revenue Boards (CBEC/CBDT) Placement Committee headed by the Chairman of each Board. The officers usually enjoy upto 8 years of postings in the big cities continuously. If transfer is not made according to the policy, the officers have the option of go to Courts and Tribunals and get the order quashed. And this actually happens in IRS.Due to a transparent transfer policy, officer can work fearlessly without bothering about the displeasure of the ministers and politicians.3: The Penetration of GovernmentIn India, the governance at grass root level is done by the state governments. They are responsible for the implementations of schemes pertaining to lands, education, sanitation, power supply, poverty alleviation and job guarantee programmes. They are responsible for law and order and criminal justice system. You can find the state government officials in every small place. However, the central government deals only limited matters (like taxation) with a small cross section of society; though they oversee all the schemes of the state government and contribute major funds for these schemes. CBEC (Customs, Excise and Service Tax) deals with hardly 10-15 lakhs taxpayers. Even CBDT (Income Tax) deals mostly with salaries employees whose taxes are deducted automatically by the companies/departments. The major taxpayers are concentrated in big cities and the tax officers are concentrated only in major towns.The urban Indian have to hardly deal with government on day to day basis. Their children study in private schools, they pay all their bills online, they use private hospitals when they are ill. It is the poorer sections of the society and the rural population who are always looking for government supports to build roads, education, hospitals, low-cost houses and seeking job-guarantee programmes. They constitute most of the population of India and hence the greatest number of voters. They also go for voting because it matters to them a lot who comes to power.It is for this reason that the politicians have to constantly intervene and interfere in the affairs of governance within the state. IAS who controls almost all the departments within district and IPS officers who heads the police departments are too powerful to be left alone. The control on IPS become very critical as nowadays a large of politicians have criminal background or they use criminals for winning the elections. IAS and IPS are reined by the party in power to further their goals. The numbers of people directly under influence of the centre government are so small that they hardly make much of a difference for winning or losing an election.4: Discretion and Fair PlayThe Centre Government has given up most of its discretionary powers in the matter of administrative matters. The organizational structures of all government departments in central government are strictly pyramidical. In CBEC for example, there is only One top post of Chairman, followed by six posts of Members, followed by around 50 posts of Principle CC, followed by 450 posts of Commissioners and so on. All posts are filled strictly by seniority subjected to the minimum qualifying criteria. I have never found anyone getting appointing as a Chairman or Member of the Board out of turn.However, in the IAS/IPS, there are several posts at the top of the same level. All major states have almost a dozen posts at the rank of Chief Secretary and DGP, and the CM has the option to choose any of them. Often the CS/DGP is couple of batches junior to the senior most IAS/IPS officer of the same cadre, who are given other assignments of the same ranks (like training etc.).As the central ministers don’t use discretion in their matter, the department too develops a great objectivity in their world and implements the laws in fair and just manner.5: Accountability and TransparencyThe officers of the central governments are accountable to several agencies including many, which are outside the control of the Government of India. PM does not have the sole privilege to appoint/remove all key functionaries. For example, the CBI Director and Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) are appointed by a committee consisting of PM, Leader of Opposition and Chief Justice of India and they can’t be removed before their specified tenure. Controller and Auditor General (CAG) of India is appointed on the recommendation of PM but can’t be removed by PM without impeachment by Parliament. The officers of CAG visit all the central government offices every year to conduct audit and submit their findings to the government, which has to be also placed before Parliament. It is CAG office, which has unearthed scams like 2G, Coal and Commonwealth in recent years. CBI is free to take action even against the top functionary of the central government without seeking any permission from government. All the central government departments are subjected to RTI also.Further, the central government departments are using e-governance extensively. You can file all documents of Income Tax, Customs, Central Excise, Service Tax etc. online without ever visiting any of these offices physically. The process of issuing Passport had been almost outsourced to private parties. All the allotment of government quarters are made online strictly according to rules with no discretion of the officials of the Directorate of Estate.ConclusionsMan is the product of the system. We adapt to the system where we work. An IIT graduate who works in NASA, INTEL, Google or Facebook develops different set of values as compared to when he is working in the Indian government. The officers selected from the same UPSC exams quickly adapt to the governments for which they work. If the governments really wish to make the officers work fairly and accordance to law, they have to change the system, instead of focusing on individuals. In an ideal government set up, every officer should work according to the law rather than working according to the wishes of the political masters.

Very far. It can change your life and what you thought of it.Let me give you 2 such examples:In the second year of my college life, I started preparing for CAT (a competitive exam to pursue MBA). After about an year I sat for college placements (only for the interview experience. I wanted to go for higher studies and had no plans of taking up a job), guess what I got through Google! I didn't see it coming, I had planned for an mba since high school but life had other plans for me.So how did that one year prep for CAT help? During the interview process, a lot of things that I learnt from CAT classes came handy and helped me get through the interview. That one year, took me to a totally new city and a company, people dream working for.Now coming to the second example:When I joined Google, I thought I'd prepare for CAT again while working there and go for an MBA (yes, I took my high school plan very seriously). However, I didn't get enough time or peace of mind to study after office hours. So I worked there for an year as an Online specialist for AdWords (Google's product that let's you advertise on it) and then thought - I don't want to do this job, I will go for higher studies. So I quit and took up a post graduate diploma course. Since my course allowed me plenty of time to myself, I started working as a freelancer and helped people with their AdWords accounts. Presently, I'm working full time on building my own AdWords agency. So, that one year at Google has brought me far enough to start my own company.Honestly, now I've stopped expecting how life would turn out. It surprises you in its own way. And yes, 1 year is a very long time and it can take you very far!

Well, you can read military history (serious stuff, not pulp fiction). But as had been said, amateurs study tactics, and professionals study logistics.You could start playing wargames (NOT first person shooters). Start with something squad level, and then add higher echelon stuff. This will give you some basic knowledge of things (but don’t even think that this comes close to “expertise”, it doesn’t).Learn to shoot a weapon, good, REALLY well.Start exercising like your life depends on it. Officers are EXPECTED to max or very close to max the PT test. Look up the Marine PT test for details.If your High School has a JROTC program, join it.Contact your Congressman/Senator, and tell them you want to qualify as their nominee to the US Naval Academy, and ask what do you need to do to be the best qualified. Then do it.Join the Boy Scouts (and then become an Eagle Scout).Assuming you get into Annapolis, study, study study. Then do PT, and work well with others. “Cooperate and Graduate”.When you join the Marines, go for a combat arms job, like Infantry.In the Marines, listen to your senior NCO. They will generally have 10–15 years experience on doing this job. Listen to your supervisor and make his job easier.Don’t accept anything except the best from yourself.