The colonial history and the authoritarian orientation of Indian administration resulted in the negative attitude of citizens towards the administration. The gap between the performance of administration and the expectations of the people also created a negative image of administration. The democratic aspirations of the people and authoritarian attitude of administrators produced tensions between the two. The inconsistencies in the social landscape have led to disparities. 

There are instances of discrimination in the treatment of citizens by administration. The social gap between the civil servant and the citizen whom he is expected to serve also is a cause for hostile relationship between the two. The well-educated (mostly urban middle class) civil servant is expected to serve the poor and illiterate rural citizens. This creates a socio-psychological gap between them. Additionally, there are persistent delays in accomplishing tasks, along with countless rules and regulations that are often difficult for everyday citizens to understand. The combined impact of these elements results in a growing number of public grievances against the administration. 

In contemporary society, the State plays an important role in socio-economic development. The effectiveness of democracy and progress relies significantly on the efficiency of government operations. Nevertheless, the exercise of administrative authority always carries the potential for misconduct. This leads to public complaints regarding the administration. In a democracy people should have the opportunities to ventilate their grievances and there should also be a mechanism to redress such grievances.

‘Grievance’ can be defined as indignation or resentment arising out of a feeling of being wronged. IS 15700: 2005 defines ‘grievance’ as an expression of dissatisfaction made to an organization related to its products, services and/or process(es), where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected. 

Common Public Grievances Against Administration and Their Causes

Administration-citizen interface is often mired in conflicts and confrontations due to dissatisfaction of citizens about poor quality of service delivery by the administration. Following are some of the common grievances faced by the citizens against administration

• Corruption: Demand and acceptance of bribery for doing or not doing things . 

• Favouritism: Performing or refraining from actions to please influential individuals or important figures. 
• Nepotism: Assisting family or close associates. 
• Discourtesy: Employing offensive language or engaging in other forms of improper behaviour. 
• Neglect of Duty: Failing to perform actions mandated by law. 
• Discrimination: Overlooking legitimate complaints from the poor and less influential citizens. 
• Delay: Failing to carry out actions in a timely manner. 
• Maladministration: Ineffectiveness in meeting objectives. 
• Maladministration: Inefficiency in achieving the targets. 
• Inadequate Redressal Machinery: Inability to address public grievances concerning administration

Corruption as the Most Common Grievance in Public Administration

Every individual who interacts with the administration experiences the pervasive nature of corruption. Corruption has many negative effects on administration. This is a significant contributor to delays and ineffectiveness within administration. The bureaucratic norms of impartiality suffer due to this factor. There is loss of credibility of administration and it is the poor man who suffers the most because of it. 

What is corruption? 

Corruption is a general term covering misuse of authorities as a result of considerations of personal gain, which need not be monetary. It involves the misuse of public authority for personal advantage. Corruption involves deliberate deviation from one’s duty. It is done for personal aggrandisement or gain by violating some commonly accepted norms of the behaviour. 

Classification of corruption 

The primary classification of corruption include bribery, nepotism, embezzlement, fraud, extortion, clientelism, and rent-seeking. All of these shady behaviours can occur among people in government positions, positions of leadership in the private sector and among ordinary citizens. 

• Bribery:
  • Bribery is an offer of money or favors to influence a public official and can come in the form of a fixed sum, a certain percentage of a contract. 
  • A bribe is an illegal act involving the exchange of consideration, such as money, with the purpose of influencing behaviour. 
  • Bribes are often made to public officials or heads of other regulatory agencies to escape legal convictions or unfavourable rulings 
  • Bribe acts as an incentive for the payee to alter or overlook pertinent regulations that would otherwise restrict the payer. 
• Nepotism: It is another form of corruption that occurs when officials favour relative or close friends for positions in which they hold some decision making authority. 
• Clientelism: It is the exchange of goods and services to people by political parties for political support. It is characterised by patron-client relationship. 
• Embezzlement: It occurs when public officials steal money or other government property. When embezzlement occurs in the public sector it affects the innocent citizens because public officials misappropriate resources meant for public services. 
• Fraud: It occurs when a person cheats another through deceit. It is usually a financial crime in which someone manipulates or distorts information and facts. 
• Extortion: It is a form of corrupt behaviour in which one person coerces another to pay through money, goods, or favours for an action. In government, extortion occurs when government agencies do not provide services in a requisite time frame in an expectation that individuals would offer money for quick delivery of service. 
• Rent-seeking: It is an economic concept occurring when an entity seeks to gain wealth without reciprocal contribution of productivity. It is the process by which an individual, organisation, or firm seeks to profit by manipulating the economic environment, rather than improving or expanding economic activity. 

Modes of Corruption

The Central Vigilance Commission has identified the following modes of corruption-

• Acceptance of substandard stores/works. 
• Misappropriation of public money and stores. 
• Borrowing of money from contractors/firms having official dealings with officers. 
• Show of favours to contractors and firms.
• Possession of assets disproportionate to income. 
• Losses to the government by negligence or otherwise.
• Abuse of official position/powers.
• Production of forged certificate of age of birth/community.
• Irregularities in reservation of seats by rail and by air.
• Irregularity in grant of import/export licenses.
• Abnormal delay in settlement of compensation claims to displaced persons.
• Acceptance of illegal gratification in recruitments, postings, transfers and promotions.
• Moral turpitude.