Ah, if only he were serious! If only he realised the importance of taking stern measures against bureaucrats who sabotage his timid attempts to change the moribund, obsolete system of governance he inherited. Atal Bihari Vajpayee has not made many bold attempts to bring about change. Having little administrative experience himself and surrounded by a cabinet that had even less, he has for most of his tenure allowed Delhi's powerful, manipulative, Machiavellian bureaucracy to make decisions- even lead-on his behalf. The result is that nothing has changed in terms of governance and the Vajpayee Government has acquired a reputation of being incompetent and ineffectual.

Worse, petty officials have taken to disregarding orders even when they come from the prime minister himself. In this column, some weeks ago I praised Vajpayee for intervening to ensure that street vendors in Delhi were not prevented by corrupt policemen and officials from exercising their right to livelihood. I mentioned that the prime minister had personally written to Delhi's lieutenant-governor, ordering him to get down to some "genuine policy reform" that would "eliminate the scope for rent-seeking and harassment by licensing and enforcement officials, recognise street hawking and pulling rickshaws as legitimate occupations which help reduce poverty, and facilitate their integration into the formal economy".

To make it clear that he meant business, Vajpayee sent the Delhi Administration a concept note that detailed the manner in which this policy reform could be carried out. The note was dated August 10. Guess what has happened since? Nothing. Delhi's policemen continue to arrest and intimidate the poorest, most helpless of our citizens.

According to Manushi magazine, which has been leading the campaign for the rights of street vendors and rickshaw-wallahs, "raids, confiscation of goods, rehris and rickshaws are being carried out with greater ferocity and vengeance, just to drive home the message that the municipal authorities and local policemen are the real gods-that even the prime minister's writ cannot run contrary to their wishes".

The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has been told about what is going on but it appears incapable of taking action against the officials who are so openly insubordinate. Why? Could it be that Vajpayee is just a tired, old man who can only occasionally bestir himself into showing a flicker of leadership? Or is it that he is too afraid to take on the bureaucracy?

Whatever the reasons for his timidity, Vajpayee must surely have noticed that there is general disenchantment with his Government's inability to do anything that goes beyond the motions of governance. With some honourable exceptions, most of his ministers seem to do little more than push files, cut ribbons and do other meaningless things usually at the behest of their officials.

If there is one thing that Indian bureaucrats fear it is change. They think-and they are probably right-that speeding up governance or bringing in more people-friendly methods will reduce their powers. Changes hence happen only when they are forced through by politicians. Since Vajpayee and his merry band of amateur ministers are in the clutches of the bureaucracy his Government has become famous for being comatose.

So comatose that even those who have complained to senior ministers and the PMO against some high-handed official have usually found that there is no possibility of redress. Corruption has soared to new heights with the Finance Ministry's Enforcement Department officials leading the race.

As Vajpayee enters the second half of his term as prime minister, he needs to keep in mind that when election time comes it will be he who will have to answer the people. The bureaucrats he relies so much on will simply disappear into the woodwork of the new government. It will be left to him to explain why he ran such a lousy government and why it was unable to protect the poorest of India's citizens from the depredations of corrupt policemen and officials. So, if he was not serious when he hinted at the inflexibility of the bureaucracy he should start getting serious now. A good beginning would be to ask Delhi's lieutenant-governor and police commissioner to explain why they have dared to disobey his orders.