Having dealt with litigation and public policy for long, one thing that constantly bothers me is the lack of proper inputs to the political executive. Even the higher bureaucracy is misguided at times, leading to improper decisions, which do not reflect the collective will of the government. Often policies mirror personal opinions and limited understanding, or lack thereof, of the army of section officers and under-secretaries who initiate file notings. This drawback has resulted in issuance of policies that at times go against the broadly stated position of the government itself.
Limited understanding of the initiators of file notings, at the lowest echelons of the government, is imposed upon millions of citizens in the form of public policy. Whether are good or bad, the government later has to defend such policies that becomes a prestige issue for the higher-ups who signed it.