The role of bureaucracy inpolicy making is informative, suggestive and analytical.

Role of Middle Level Bureaucrats

It is often presumed that only the top officials – heads of the state departments and their immediate subordinates, i.e. the two top ranks – are actually involved in policy advice, policy formulation and policy monitoring. In practice, however, the incumbents of ranks three and four from the top (the so-called middle ranks) are actively engaged in policy making as well as policy execution. It is usually the incumbents of the middle ranks, who are responsible for the actual drafting of bills and proposed amendments to existing legis lations, compiling white papers, pointing out to their supervisors whether the imple mentation of existing policies meets with the laid down requirements or not and suggesting alternative strategies that need to be followed. In fact, they are actively involved in policy for mulation, innovation, monitoring, and advice.

Role of Top Level Bureaucrats

The top echelons of bureaucracy have a significant role in the policy process. The idea should not be created that the top-level bureaucrats only serve as a sort of clearing house between the minister and middle level bureaucrats. The reality is farfrom that. True, the top level bureaucrats are in direct contact with the minister, but their function is to challenge the proposals put to them by their subordinates, to add their own knowledge and insight into the proposals, and above all to see to it that the proposals eventually put before the minister have taken cognisance of the policy of the government of the day.

There are many factors that put bureaucrats at an advantage vis-à-vis policy formulation:

i) Information Base Under the Indian Constitution, the higher civil servants or top echelons of bureaucracy have a Constitutional responsibility to advise on policy options. The secretaries to the Government of