Sudha Bhave. A. Ramakrishna. Rajeeva Sinha. Sonia Sethi. Mahesh Pathak. Jayant Kawale. Prabhakar Karandikar. Important as the people behind the names are-all once held modestly senior positions in the Maharashtra government; Kawale, for instance, was Principal Secretary, Energy, and had served as Chairman of the State Electricity Board; Sinha was Transport Secretary-it is unlikely too many people have heard of them. Still, arrayed thus, in a series of seven, the names represent the beginning of a very significant trend. Since late last year, these senior bureaucrats have quit, or taken a sabbatical (or applied to do the same) from government service, and have signed on with the private sector. And five of them have landed plum jobs in companies in sectors such as transport and logistics, construction, and infrastructure.

There are other examples, from states other than Maharashtra, like that of Rajeev Talwar, who recently resigned as Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, and signed on as Executive Director, DLF, and Ravi Kant, who, in June this year, resigned as Labour Commissioner, West Bengal government, and joined Hyderabad's Ramky Group as Vice Chairman. Still, it seems only apt that Maharashtra, the most industrialised state in the country-its seat of governance is Mumbai, India's commercial capital-be the one to feel the pinch of one of the most happening trends in India Inc., that of Indian Administrative Service officers leaving government service for private companies, largely in the hotter-than-hot businesses of SEZs (special economic zones), energy, and transport.

The phenomenon of IAS officers moving to the private sector isn't new. Yet, spurred by the boom in sectors such as transport, infrastructure, and SEZ-mania (at last count, the government had given in-principle approval to 164), all areas where bureaucrats have more experience than private sector managers and come with the additional skill of being able to manage the regulatory regime-after all, not too long ago, they were the regulatory regime-India Inc. is targeting the IAS. "The number of requests from the private sector for civil servants has been on the rise. They have the necessary skills to go about the government systems," says Sonal Agrawal, CEO, Accord Group India, a recruitment agency. And as a direct result, the count of civil servants forsaking job security for the choppy yet rewarding waters of the private sector is on the rise.

The New Gold Rush

The last year has seen an explosion of activity in the areas of construction and infrastructure, from housing to ports to airports to, the new new thing, SEZs. All these businesses have a common thread running through them, substantive government interface, which could simply be regulations and policy impacting business or involve securing several clearances to just do business. This environment has created opportunities for civil servants to cross over. "Bureaucrats are enabled to deal with companies as they grow in scale and globalise," says DLF's Talwar. "And they are familiar with policy issues." The latter, in fact, may be more relevant to the private sector.

Still, the current migration is unlike that recorded a few decades ago when retired civil servants became facilitators for corporate houses, liaising with the government to 'expedite' business in a command-control economy (read: the licence Raj). And some of the officers in question boast professional qualifications that can be put to use. "The experience I gained spending 13 years in the ports sector has helped immensely," says Rajeeva Sinha, Managing Director, Gujarat Pipavav Port Limited. "My main forte is project management," says A. Ramakrishna, CEO, Aakriti Builders.

It is not as if the trigger for a career change is the plethora of opportunities alone. There are those like Ramakrishna who feel that the government did not evaluate their talent fairly. Having missed a promotion, Ramakrishna felt the urge to move on. "The disappointment surely was a trigger," he admits, "but the system allows for a review in two years." Entrepreneurship is another thing that encourages civil servants to review their calling. "I was selling the Karnataka it story to the world and seeking investments in the state," says Vivek Kulkarni, formerly the state's it Secretary (he quit in 2003), who now runs an outsourcing firm Brickworks. "It was then that I realised I could step out on my own."

"I was selling the Karnataka IT story to the world. Then, I realised, I could do something in IT too," says Vivek Kulkarni, formerly the state's IT Secretary

Hedging Bets: Route 622

Facts are sometimes stranger than fiction. In 1954, the government formulated a policy that allowed bureaucrats to move out of their fold and return after a short stint. The original idea must have been to enrich other sectors, since the bureaucracy then attracted the best talent in the country. The rule was long forgotten, for opportunities, especially in the private sector, were few and far between. Today, however, this, the legalese of which is articulated in Section 6(2(2)) of the All India Service Rules (Conduct) Rules, 1968, happens to be the most prized ticket in the civil service. Only that, getting one is not that easy, as it is given on a case-to-case basis. It was easy when civil servants used it for lesser gains, staying back in Delhi, for instance, for a few years for personal reasons, and that too in quasi-academic institutions. Today, the new vistas happen to be more than simple sinecures, and come with very attractive salaries.

The highest incidence of bureaucrats hoping to take route 622 is in Maharashtra where around 10 applications are pending before the state government for this assured return ticket to bureaucracy. The immediate destination, for the bureaucrats in question, range from SEZs (for Kawale and Karandikar who are hoping to join the SEZ business of M&M) to airports (Pathak has joined the Mumbai International Airport project, a venture of the GVK Group). Not surprisingly, some of the state governments, like Maharashtra, are now planning to clamp on this exodus. Down in Karnataka, the story is no different, with several officials planning to undertake a stint in the SEZs coming up in the state. Interestingly, even some of those who have put in their papers are now reconsidering their options and seem inclined to take route 622; Ramakrishna is one such.

The government is clearly not amused. Indications are that securing the assured return ticket is going to get tougher. The Central government has written to the states saying that permission under section 6(2(2)) cannot be given by the latter (all cases now have to be cleared by the Centre). Further, each of the cases will be considered by a high-powered committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary. And permission will be given only where private sector exposure will be relevant when the officer returns to the government. "If the idea is to only make some money, then permission will not be given," says L.K. Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Personnel.

The Pilgrim Fathers

Jagdish Khattar, MD, Maruti Udyog, is perhaps the best-known example of a civil servant finding an alternative career, and a successful one at that, in corporate India. However, in the past, the utility of most civil servants as managers was limited. It was the public sector that was the preferred hunting ground for companies venturing into partially regulated industries (or newly deregulated ones). National Thermal Power Corporation, Indian Oil Corporation, Gas Authority of India Limited and ONGC were the largest source of people for private sector firms in the energy business (the situation hasn't changed even today). Anil Ambani's A-team for energy includes J.P. Chalasani, an ex-NTPC employee, who heads the business development function. Reliance's refinery business is headed by P. Raghavendran, an ex-IOC official, and its gas business is headed by a former director of GAIL (India) Ltd, R.P. Sharma. When retailing in the petroleum sector was deregulated in 2002, Reliance head hunted Rajiv Chaturvedi, then Executive Director, BPCL, for its operations. While the exodus continues, it has, evidently, now spread to the principal civil service cadre, the IAS.

Neither the changing face nor the aspirations of the bureaucracy can be ignored. Most of the civil servants who have stepped out have done so after a satisfying innings in service. In addition to the lure of a princely compensation (compared to the civil service), they opted for the private sector because they believed the government wasn't using their skills adequately. With the government pushing for public-private partnerships in various infrastructure sectors, such career shifts for civil servants will only become easier in the future.

Given this, the government is trying to work out ways to retain talent. One of the models under consideration is that adopted by the French civil service, which allows career civil servants to step out and work in the private sector in five-year patches, an approach that, if accepted, will institutionalise the 622 route and make it available for all IAS officers. While such options are at an exploratory stage, the 5,000-strong IAS cadre is watching the private sector with a keen eye.