Politics of reforms: Rightsizing vs job creation

Blaming the ruling dispensation for failure to create jobs, political parties try to entice voters by promising them government jobs at the time of Elections. On closer examination, it has been found that successive governments have from time to time appointed Committee after Committee to suggest measures to downsize the bureaucracy. This is especially true of the post liberalisation era when there was pressure from international agencies on developing countries to downsize their bureaucracies. Rightsizing or downsizing is a challenge confronting not only the Central government but also State governments. An attempt will be made to examine the recommendations made by various committees and their implications for the political dispensations. The article will also revisit Modernisation/Development theories which tried to establish a correlation between prosperity and the welfare state. The Politics of Reforms not only undermines the broader Economic argument, it at the same time challenges the central principles of Public Administration namely, Economy, Efficiency and Rationality.