A U.S.-like DOGE for India is not far-fetched

The Hindu

29-05-2025

The United States President, Donald Trump, made headlines when he announced a U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with its focus primarily on cost reduction. Yet it is a move that opens a broader discussion on streamlining government operations in developing economies through dedicated efforts to drive efficiency in governance.
Going beyond the narrow, cost-focused American proposal, India could reimagine government efficiency through the lens of enhanced service delivery and governance. While India has made significant strides in advancing its economic and social agendas, the country still faces persistent challenges in addressing bureaucratic inefficiencies, excessive regulatory red tape, and misallocation of resources in public spending. 'Minimum government and maximum governance' are still a far cry from reality. There are often outdated practices embedded in standard operating procedures (SOPs) across government departments. Many of these non-value-adding activities, originally designed for valid operational contexts, have lost relevance in the wake of digitisation or changes in upstream and downstream processes. Despite no longer serving their intended purpose, they continue to be performed, leading to unnecessary delays and inflated costs. Such inefficiencies not only slow down the execution of critical government programmes but also undermine their overall impact and cost-effectiveness.
To tackle these issues, India could benefit from establishing a dedicated government efficiency department — a body that would focus on identifying inefficiencies, cutting waste, eliminating rework, and enhancing accountability across all levels of governance. This broader mandate could transform how citizens interact with government services while modernising administrative processes.
Lessons from within India
There are lessons to be learnt from within the country. India's private sector has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decades. Many Indian companies have demonstrated standards of world-class efficiency, often outperforming global competitors. These organisations have successfully implemented modern management techniques, digital transformation, industrial engineering and lean operations while operating within the Indian context. Similar changes are not seen in public governance, with many government departments still operating on legacy systems and processes designed decades ago. While private companies have dedicated departments focusing on continuous improvement, digitisation and customer satisfaction, government departments often lack structured mechanisms for service enhancement.
As India aims to become a developed economy, the quality of government service delivery and ease of citizen interaction with administration will play crucial roles. Such a dedicated efficiency department could provide the structured approach needed to transform government operations, focusing not just on how efficiently services are delivered but also on fundamentally improving what is delivered to citizens.
India's bureaucratic machinery, based on the Weberian model, despite being well-intentioned, is often perceived to be cumbersome and slow. This inefficiency translates into delays in the execution of projects that are crucial for economic growth and development. Public spending in India is often plagued by inefficiencies, with a significant portion of the Budget allocated to welfare programmes, subsidies, and public services. An efficiency department could focus on minimising waste and maximising the impact of these programmes. By implementing a systematic approach to detect and prevent leakages, inefficiencies, and misuse of funds, this department could ensure that India's already scarce public resources are directed where they are needed most.
In today's digital age, technology can play a pivotal role in driving efficiency across government operations. India has already demonstrated remarkable success with several large-scale digitisation programmes, such as Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), Aadhaar, land records digitisation across many States, and the Passport Seva project. These initiatives have streamlined processes, reduced inefficiency, and significantly enhanced service delivery. However, despite their success, these programmes have largely operated in silos, lacking mechanisms for a cross-pollination of ideas, expertise, and best practices. Each new government initiative often starts from scratch and often depends heavily on the private sector to build systems and frameworks. This not only leads to higher costs but also delays to implementation and a missing of opportunities for leveraging proven solutions from existing projects.
A centralised government efficiency department could act as a repository for institutional knowledge, technical expertise, and reusable digital infrastructure. By facilitating the sharing of best practices and standardised processes across Ministries and departments, this body could reduce redundancy, lower costs, and accelerate the implementation of new initiatives. By championing digital transformation across ministries, an efficiency department could help India keep pace with technological advancements while also cutting down on the costs and the delays associated with manual processes.
Modifying a department that exists
Interestingly, there is no need to build such an organisation from scratch. There already is the central government's Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. While the current mandate for DARPG primarily focuses on administrative reforms, disseminates successful good governance practices and grievance redress, much like the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (for multi-modal connectivity, a platform to bring 16 Ministries including Railways and Roadways together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects with the aim integrate and facilitate the last mile connectivity), it could be expanded to spearhead broader government-wide efficiency agenda.
Drawing inspiration from the private sector, where centralised efficiency teams often act as innovation hubs to streamline operations and implement transformative practices, DARPG could adopt a similar role in governance. In corporations, such teams focus on integrating technologies, optimising workflows, and eliminating waste to improve both financial and operational performance. Translating this model to the public sector, DARPG could lead initiatives to identify inefficiencies, benchmark performance, and implement solutions that drive cost savings and enhance service delivery across departments and States.
By leveraging its existing structure and expertise, the department could serve as a centralised body to standardise processes, eliminate redundancies, and foster cross-departmental collaboration. It could develop and house best-in-class digital capabilities for governance, creating reusable frameworks, platforms, and tools that can be cross-leveraged by various Ministries and State governments. Additionally, DARPG could institutionalise the use of process improvement methodologies such as Lean, Six Sigma, and data-driven decision-making tools. By embedding these practices into governance, the department could enable continuous improvements in efficiency and accountability, paving the way for a government that is both agile and citizen-centric.
The Indian bureaucracy
Unlike the political appointments to executive administration in the U.S., India operates under a system of permanent bureaucracy, wherein civil servants hold long-term positions independent of the political leadership, ensuring continuity, institutional memory, and stability in governance. Rather than uprooting the system, India's challenge lies in empowering and expanding the mandate of such institutions to drive efficiency without compromising the stability and consistency that permanent bureaucracy provides.
The path to operationalising this setup faces two formidable and intertwined challenges. First, the deeply entrenched bureaucratic structures, which have evolved over decades, often resist transformative changes that could alter existing power dynamics and administrative processes. Career bureaucrats, accustomed to traditional hierarchies and established workflows, may view such initiatives as threats to their autonomy and discretionary powers. Second, India's federal structure adds another layer of complexity, where the delicate balance between central and State authorities must be carefully maintained in consonance with the spirit of cooperative federalism. Any efficiency initiative would need to navigate the highly sensitive and political constitutional division of powers and respect State autonomy. Success would depend on creating a framework that not only addresses bureaucratic concerns through meaningful engagement and clear incentives but also provides enough freedom and flexibility for States to adapt implementation to their local contexts while maintaining core efficiency standards. Political will and public trust would be critical to enable success of such a programme.
While the journey toward such reforms would certainly be challenging, the potential benefits make it an opportunity worth exploring. As India moves forward in the 21st century, a commitment to government efficiency could be one of the most powerful tools for achieving sustainable development and a harbinger of inclusive growth.
Milind Kumar Sharma is Professor in the Department of Production and Industrial Engineering at MBM University, Jodhpur, Rajasthan. Sharad Sharma works with a 'Big 4' and is an executive PhD scholar at MDI Gurgaon. The views expressed are personal