India has long way to go in indoctrinating a culture of meritocracy...esp in its federal govt...(and large number of state govts too).
Private forces have to do so or perish (more generally) given the degree of free market/competition (and thank you god for letting that at least arrive on Indian shores again in the early 90s..as late as that was, better than never).
But there is no such intrinsic whip available to discpline and re-gear the fat flabby largesse of babudom in India. They stay pretty much the same like a rank foul smell (Esp in things like defence where contact lists, nepotism and insulation become even more acceptable past the norm) whoever the people elect over them....because it all comes down to who you know rather than what you know.
Things are changing somewhat now compared to before (often propelled by the sheer disparity in resource efficiency/intensity in whatever sector that is apparent between us and adversaries/competitors)...but the road is long.
The good news is the size of India affords a good mix to come up with results at the state level and we are seeing some real champs there (even in govt performance)...the key is to have it permeate it back into the largest population states....most of them are lagging bad. Only then do the best policies (and how best to get discipline at lower levels of bureaucracy where things are actually delivered) get the required bulk to form good federal power dispensations/coalitions long term.
@GeraltofRivia @Joe Shearer @VCheng @Vibrio @M. Sarmad @saiyan0321 @jbgt90 @scorpionx @MilSpec
