Today's question...What are the institutional weaknesses in the Ministry of external affairs? Give suggestions to reform the ministry.
Points -
- Write briefly about MEA
- Give the institutional weaknesses
- Give suggestions to reform the ministry
- Conclude
Answer -
●Write briefly about MEA Ministry of External Affairs of India is the government agency responsible for the conduct of foreign relations of India. The Ministry comes under Government of India and is responsible for the country's representation in the United Nations. It also advises other Ministries and State Governments when the latter have dealings with foreign governments or institutions.
●Give the institutional weaknesses MEA has a little over 900 diplomats, far fewer than Brazil (1,200), the UK (6,000) and the US’ State Department, which has over 20,000 diplomats. Pallavi Raghvan adds that the ministry can at best handle a couple of major challenges at a time. It handles crises well whereby it concentrates resources for urgent issues like nuclear negotiations, a consular problem or a major summit — but other areas like Africa or Southeast Asia then slip down in priority. Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs (2014-2015) recommended: “The Ministry must engage with the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) and impress upon them about the urgency of providing more staff, including through recruitment from other cadres and the academic and private sector, as per the specialized needs of the Ministry. Recruitment on contract basis from individuals with academic or private sector experience that is directly relevant to urgent needs should be permitted.” The report recognises in equal measure that simply being fluent in English is not enough. It notes that among the 770 IFS officers in service, only 569 are fluent in a foreign language — a factor that can be detrimental to diplomacy in countries where language can be a major barrier, as in China. Recently, Commerce Ministry’s proposal to create a separate cadre of commercial counsellors in key Indian missions shows ineffectiveness of MEA.
●Give suggestions to reform the ministry Shashi Tharoor-helmed Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs's latest report gave several recommendations like more eminent persons who have excelled in the field of community affairs, diaspora issues, foreign policy, area studies, literature, journalism etc should be considered for appointments as ambassadors/high commissioners. Report suggests that the long-overdue cadre review be conducted immediately. Also, experts from academia and the private sector should be enlisted and deployed across important divisions. Their role as consultants or advisors, it is believed, will not only add expertise, but also boost numbers. A policy must be implemented that aligns at least half of all foreign postings with the language in which officers are fluent. Additionally, a month's training in terms of language, culture, society and customs must be provided before anyone is posted overseas. Another suggestion is to add a course of mid-career training to equip officers with expertise that builds on their existing knowledge bases. The aim of this endeavour is to create a certain amount of "specialised domain knowledge instead of exclusive specialisations".
●Conclude on following lines The implementation of these recommendations will certainly boost India's diplomatic strength and its global standing in lieu with the energetic programme of foreign outreach New Delhi is undertaking.
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