Abstract
K. S. R. N. Sarma has done a yeoman service to the Indian Institute of Public Administration, set up in 1954 by the Government of India, by encapsulating in his book, the entire history and growth of the Institute from the beginning till date. There has been no other work of this type which has captured so vividly how the Institute evolved and the contributions it has made in the field of Public Administration. The history has been captured not only in words but in photographs throughout the six decades of its existence.
It is usually very difficult to find in one compilation the entire record of the Institute, starting from the Memorandum of Association signed in 1954 as well as a pictorial presentation of the Presidents of IIPA, the Chairmen of the Executive Council as well as the Directors of IIPA from its birth to the present day. The author must have put in a lot of effort to get them from the archives of the IIPA and he has to be complimented for the same. It was interesting to find the name of Shri Jawaharlal Nehru among those who signed the Memorandum as a member of the first Executive Council of the IIPA, together with stalwarts such as C.D. Deshmukh, Dr K.N. Katju, H.M. Patel and Dr B.C. Roy.
The objectives of the Society (Institute) were:
Publication of a regular Journal and of research papers from time to time, Maintenance of a Library and a clearance house for information, Conducting research projects and studies on Public Administration problems, Holding Conferences and Seminars, Conducting Post-Graduate Study courses and refresher courses, and Assisting the development of graduate study programmes in Public Administration in Universities and the establishment of a School or Schools of Public Administration.
The author has correctly pointed out that the legacy left by the founding fathers, seems to be helping the Institute in its dealing with client government organisations. The continuing interest and support of the Prime Ministers in the initial years, cannot be equalled elsewhere as a prime factor in support of the Institute.
As the Institute grew in the subsequent years, the Executive Council came to constitute its Standing Committees and function-wise sub-committees and Advisory Committees for the various Specialised Centres.
As far as the School of Public Administration was concerned, the author has painstakingly chalked out how the Diploma programme in Public Administration was initially chalked out in 1958. He has also covered the Annual Day functions of the school from 1958 to 1967 to highlight the effective functioning of the school. Notwithstanding these facts, the Executive Council of the Institute set up an Evaluation Committee in 1966 to evaluate the working of the School and to see whether it is achieving the aims for which it was set up. This Committee recommended the closure of the MDPA programme as the number of participants had dwindled and the per-student cost was fairly high (₹5,000 per student per year)! It was further felt that the MDPA programme was duplicating the academic teaching of the subject in the Universities, where this discipline was very popular.
The author then traces out how in 1975 this Diploma programme got to be replaced by the long- term Professional Programmes in Public Administration for Deputy Secretaries-and-above-level officers. This suggestion was also made, according to the author, to absorb the faculty who had been working for so many years in the school and would have now become redundant. This programme has now evolved into the ten-month APPPA programme. Initially, there were no officers from the Defence Services but now almost 40% of the participants are from the Defence Services.
The author K.S.R.N Sarma has also given a detailed account of the Research Strategies and Support Structures set up for extending the frontiers of research as per the other objectives mentioned in the Memorandum of Association. He credits his major accomplishments in this field to Professor V.K.N. Menon. The author has given a brief narration of the efforts made during the formative years of the Institute till 1966; then he discusses the recommendations pertaining to research made by the Evaluation Committee chaired by Shri S.G. Barve; and lastly, a write-up on the substructures that were put in position primarily for focusing the research in some selected specialisations and to help the training capabilities in those areas.
The author has also traced the history and evolution of the Specialised Centres set up in IIPA, namely Centre for Urban Studies, Centre for Consumer Studies, Computer Centre, Dr B.R. Ambedkar Chair, Centre for Learning in ICT and E-Governance, Centre for Disaster Management, Centre for Rural Studies. Shri Sarma has also compiled research projects in various areas, which would serve as a ready reckoner to those who are pursuing research.
All in all, the author has done invaluable research in compiling the history of IIPA. I am glad that the present Director Shri Surendra Nath Tripathi motivated and encouraged him to carry out this research and make all of us who have worked or studied at IIPA so proud of this Institution.