From nominations of its members by the East India Company to introduction of competitive entrance examinations, being the first major reform introduced by Cornwallis in 1855, the erstwhile coveted Indian Civil Service [ICS] has come a long way since.
The next reform effort was setting up entrance examination centre in Delhi in 1922. Arthur Lee recommendations in 1924, as a follow up was a step forward in the direction of Indianisation of the ICS as it provided for an equal share of 40 per cent each for Indian and European candidates, while the rest 20 per cent being promoted from the provincial civil services.
Independent India
Rechristened Indian Administrative Service, the successor service of ICS, the role of IAS and allied services has metamorphosed together with its structure, recruitment and aspirations to suit the needs of a rapidly developing Independent India. Their journey, from Haileybury College in London, Oxford, Cambridge or Trinity College Dublin and Metcalf House New Delhi, where they spent two years of their probation; to Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration, is replete with how the heroes and heroics of the future were incubated.
From a bare 980 officers of combined Indian Civil Service [ICS] that included diplomats, Indian Police [IP] and Judicial Officers, the successor IAS and all its 18 allied services now run into several hundreds of thousand members. Add to this other All India Services and State Civil Services, the number would probably be several millions.
The civil services would need to brace up to ensure the high quality of service delivery at the cutting-edge of governance
The expansion across several specialised functions is the system response to increase in population, diverse demographies, mounting aspirations, Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs], growing size of economic activity, social & cultural reawakening & alignment and a clutch of domestic and international challenges.
Role and responsibilities
The role and responsibilities of civil services have changed considerably. They have become function specific and hence more professional. Their journey of transformation continues – from being rulers and representatives of colonisers to becoming civil servants in a functional sense. But the essential question is as what has been the bottom line contribution of civil services thus far and what shall it be, as they resurrect, in the making of New India and what is it that civil services must do and achieve over the next 25 years, being the ‘Amrit Kal’ of Independent India.
Though there is a big bucket list of the continuing reforms across all fronts, the civil services would need to brace up to ensure the high quality of service delivery at the cutting-edge of governance – thus ensuring ease-of-living for the common man.
Service delivery
Amongst many others, corruption and poor and erratic service delivery at the cutting-edge levels continues to be a huge challenge. How will the IAS and allied services in the upper echelons ensure a friendly, transparent and enabling environment that enables and empowers citizens and ensures service delivery in letter and spirit. This calls for revisiting and revising the archaic rules and regulations, leverage technology, and induce an attitudinal shift and reinforce the spirit of public service.
As they attempt to meet this confrontation, the essential questions to be addressed are how will they rein in the lower rungs of administration and how would they rid the governments at all levels of this deeply entrenched attitude of superiority over the populations they are expected to serve? When and how will the common man get his due without having to beg or lobby? What shall we do to ensure speedy dispensation of justice in order to protect lives and the social fabric? What are we doing about spiralling judicial activism that goes well beyond the constitutional mandate?
Transformation continues
Looking back, we can surmise that on becoming independent the Indian Civil Service, generally known as the ‘steel frame’, a sobriquet, provided India a head-start in embarking on the journey of building a new India. Given its resilience, the IAS and allied services continue to transform in response to new challenges of an evolving global society. The Steel Frame, though rusted in parts, is still intact and holding the country together.
