Jun. 3 – Expatriate business executives believe India has the most inefficient bureaucracy in Asia, according to a survey released on Wednesday by Hong Kong’s Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC).
The report ranked 12 leading Asian countries and utilized a scoring system running from one to 10, where 10 was the worst possible scenario. India topped the list with a score of 9.41, followed by Indonesia (8.59) and the Philippines (8.37).
“Politicians (in India) frequently promise to reform and revitalize the Indian bureaucracy, but they have been ineffective in doing so – mainly because the civil service is a power center in its own right,” the PERC report said, adding that dealing with India’s bureaucracy “can be one of the most frustrating experiences for any Indian, let alone a foreign investor.”
In comparison, China came in at number five on the list with a rating of 7.93 – not encouraging by any means, but a good deal better than India. PERC believes that, while bureaucratic red tape is a serious problem in both China and India, “the differences in the political systems of these two countries have made inertia much worse in India than in China.”
Singapore got top marks in the survey with a score of 2.53 followed fairly closely by Hong Kong which earned a score of 3.49.
Very True, Just try to get your Indian passport by yourself. They are a pain in the exterior portion of your back. LOL
Its partially true. However in business establishment, the procedure for setting up the Indian equivilent of a Representative Office is actually one step less than it is in China. Part of the bureacratic problem is also down to demand outstripping resources.
The weather might have a lot to do with Indian inefficiency. The British ruled India from Shimla seven months out of the year. Productivity was much higher in Shimla than Calcutta, and lifespan of officers too.
Nowadays, we have ACs, but they’re still not widespread, and they’re considered a luxury. We need to have them everywhere, like Singapore, whose weather is so bad the Japanese used it for keeping POWs.
Ha ha indeed. India is rather hot! I’m sure that affects efficiency. However things are improving – after all my firm deals with legal and tax adminsitration in India and I can definately vouch that it’s getting better. However, one still needs professional assistance to find your way through the maze, thats’s for sure. Fortuanately I know of such a practice…
Country-wise Bureaucracy Survey May Not Be Comparable:
Any survey on bureaucracy is meanigful only if the respondents are the stakeholders. Stakeholders ( that is the public for whom the bureacrats and the system have to deliver the services) views or perceptions are the right way to judge the efficiency and efficacy of the system. Inter-country comparisons may not help in drawing inferences to judge the efficiency of the bureacratic system because the system has several influencing factors which make it operationalized e.g. social system, education, political system, peopleâ��s participation, cultural values, method of governance, judiciary system, freedom of expression, power games prevalent in the system, control mechanism of the system etc. We should not also forget that the main weapon of bureacracy is POWER. Whenever, bureaucrats got access to power, majority of them either may misuse it or may not use it in the best interest of the public. Bureaucrats are considered as public as servants, however, in most of the cases they turned out to be the servants of politicians and less to serve the public. There is a need to strengthen internal and external accountability mechanisms in India in order to address widespread corruption within the bureaucracy; Also, there is a greater need for an enhanced efficiency and transparency: The need to promote greater efficiency and transparency by replacing manual processes with automated ones and rationalising antiquated and outdated rules, procedures and regulations; even scrapping some of the outdated ministries. This will reduced the number of bureaucrats from the system and also their power. There is urgent need to introduce professionalism in Indian bureacuratic system and that is possible through a lateral entry of professionals in the government. This system will be more efficient and less prone to corrupt practices in the system. — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — Please see the latest survey on Indian bureaucracy based on the views of Indian public. 1. India: Steel Frame of Indian Bureaucratic System Needs Revamping http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=623624 2.INDIA: Bureaucracy needs reform http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?… Professor P L Joshi Bahrain