Quack and the BCG

In today's Indian Express(06.10.2017), Janmejaya Sinha who has been described as Chairman, Asia Pacific, Boston Consulting Group.  has in an edit page  article: "India needs a new IAS "(Indian Express, 6.10.2017) outlined a case for a more effective bureaucracy in an "

 increasingly specialised, complex and changing world." He has offered a prescription of recommendations without checking on his facts or adequate research.The Civil services Examination he is describing has changed in content in the last few years.The subject component is less than a fifth in weightage. at present.The Civil Services examination for some years now  has moved away from two optional and one General Studies Paper (and at least for 35 years there has been no General Knowledge paper) to one subject based optional, an essay and several common papers. Some of his comments  do appear relevant but in the absence of any evidence of serious subject knowledge, his prescription can be likened to that of a quack who also gets some of his diagnosis right.This is symptomatic of the consulting industry at least in India.Young rookies just out of college hold forth on every subject under the sun without checking on facts.In literary criticism, future scholars are told to stick to facts, so much so that if an author says something which the text does not, the text will be sacred.

One wishes it is is the same in consulting.Otherwise even correct recommendations may appear frivolous and less authentic as the homework has not been done properly.Obviously, things have changed from Janmejaya Sinha's time when his contemporaries at Delhi's St.Stephen's College  would have beenn writing the Civil Services examination.Moreover, Sinha has kept silent on the performance of so called specialists in Governments in the Central services from the IFS to various other Accounts and Finance and Revenue Services where over the years the officers have earned domain and subject specialisations. Most of the officers are no more a specialist in their subjects as Sinha is a historian.After an Honours in history, if he can become an economist, others in the Government come from diverse areas and become experts.However, are they able to perform at expected levels?It would be pertinent to point out that the edit page ediors at the Indian Express did not bother to edit factual inaccuracies in their lead article or the superficial nature of the Consultant's examination would have  not been  noticed by the readers.