For past few years, there has been a radical change in the public administration of India. Government now has started using technology and innovative means to properly administer the law and order. These novel technologies comfort the Government in allowing experimentation and even process innovation.

Keeping this in mind, IIM Indore in association with Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, organized a guest talk by Alok Mishra, Dy Director, LBSNAA on January 09, 2019. Mishra spoke on the topic—‘Changing Face of Public Administration in India’.

Mishra began his talk raising a query as to how the participants perceive government bureaucracy in general.

The participants—consisting of students from EPGP, PGP and IPM enthusiastically took part in the discussion and noted that the government today is restricted, rigid, and opaque; and blinded by its own procedures. To this, Mishra questioned that why do we even need the government then?

The participants said that government helps in upholding law and order, security, infrastructure and public policies as well.

Mishra then conversed how government policy is diverse from the private sector policy and what is expected from the government.

‘There might be a difference or a gap between what is expected from the government and the delivery.

He then spoke at length about understanding state and development paradigm, public policy and the policy cycle, bureaucracy and its changing paradigm and the skills the leaders and managers need in order to become successful administrators.