Drishti Sharma, Roll Number: 2124244

Assignment: Public Administration in India

“From Empire to Republic: The evolution of Civil Services in India”

The Indian Administrative Services (IAS) as known today, the successor to the Imperial Civil Services
(ICS), is the only one of its kind in the world known for sheer breadth of its jurisdiction. The Civil Service
in India is the collection of Civil Servants of the government who constitute the permanent executive branch
of the country. But the current formulation of Civil services in India traces its roots back to the colonial
legacy in India. The British – era civil services transformed into the current Indian civil services by shifting
from serving colonial interest to focusing on democratic governance and national - development, while
retaining much of its original bureaucratic framework. The following document provides a brief on the
evolution of the elitist services in India, From EMPIRE to REPUBLIC.

INITIAL TRACES

1937- Diploma in Public Administration Course

introduced in University of Madras

1943- Diploma in Public Administration course

introduced in Lucknow University

1950- Department of Public Administration opened up

in Nagpur University

1954- Indian Institute of Public Administration

established in New Delhi

1957- Harishchandra Mathur State institution of

Public Administration opened up at Rajasthan

LAL BAHADUR SHASHTRI NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ADMINISTRATION (LBSNAA)

It was established on 2nd October 1972.

• It was earlier known by the name of The National Academy of Administration which was
established by abolishing The Training School, Delhi and the Staff College, Shimla.
 • PURPOSE: It serves as the main training centre for All-India services as well as the central
services of India

Evolution of STRUCTURE of Civil Services in India

During British East India:

Kinds of services during the era

Naval services. Military services Commercial Affairs

To differentiate between people employed in military and naval and commercial affairs, the term civil
services was used to denote to to military and naval services.

The foundation of Civil Services in India was layed by Warren Hastings in around 1770’s

The civil services in British India were structured into three levels:

• Imperial Civil Services: It was the highest level, responsible for important administrative
roles.
• Provincial Civil Services: Managed Administration at the provincial level.
• Subordinate Civil Services: Responsibility for lower-level positions, such as law
enforcement and revenue collection.

On the basis of admission to civil services:

• Covenanted Services: Had British servants in higher government positions. No indians

were allowed to enter these services.
• Uncovenanted Services: Introduced to allow Indians to enter lower-level administration
positions.

Recruitment:
The civil servants during the British East India were not recruited through any competition but rather
were appointed by the Court of the Directors.
 Reforms there after:

CHARLES CORNWALLIS

❖ He is also known as the father of Civil Services in India.

❖ To eliminate corruption, he raised the salaries of civil servants. He introduced it as a law that
no civil servant could be involved in any private trade.
❖ Promotions were introduced based on seniority every 5 to 6 years.

RICHARD WELLESLEY
❖ He set up Fort William College on 10 July 1800 in Calcutta to train the newly recruited Civil
Servants in India.
❖ It was then replaced by another college in Haileyburry, London to train the new recruits.

THE CHARTER ACT, 1853

❖ The recruitment was now done through an open competition.

❖ To conduct the examination the civil Service Commission was set up in London in 1854.
❖ However, this examination was only conducted in London and the age for appearing in this
examination was fixed at 23 years.

THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE ACT, 1861

❖ Now Indian civil servants could also be the part of covenanted service which was earlier
primary reserved for the British.
❖ Now the people appearing for the examination had to pass a vernacular language exam for the
district where they were to be employed.

By 1920, there were five methods of entry into higher civil services:

Open competitive Separate competitive Promotion from

examinations in exams in India Provincial civil service
London

Nomination in India to Appointments from the

satisfy provincial and bar (1/4th of posts of ICS
communal were to be filled from
representation. bar)
CHANGES AFTER GOVERNMENT OF INDIA ACT, 1919

➢ With the passing of the Government of India act 1919 the imperial services headed by the Secretary
of State for India was split into 2 - All India services and central services.
➢ From 1922 onwards Indian candidates were allowed to sit for the Indian civil service examinations
in Delhi.
➢ In 1924 the Lee Commission chaired by Arthur Lee made several recommendations including that
the Indian civil service officers should receive increased and more comprehensive levels of
compensation.
➢ From 1924 to 1934 administration in India consisted of 10 All India services and 5 central
departments all under the control of Secretary of State for India and 3 central departments under
joint provincial and imperial control.

After the Government of India act 1935

➢ Due to the outbreak of war in 1939 Second World War, it had immediate consequences for
recruitment to the Indian civil services, the examinations in London were now suspended.
➢ The examinations however continued to be held in Delhi for Indian candidates until 1943. By this
time, the British government felt that it could no longer rely on the loyalty of the Indian officers due
to the Indian national movement, so no recruitments were made.
➢ During the period of interim Government of India 1946 to 1947 a few British candidates were given
emergency appointments in the civil services through ultimately none of them made into serving
the independent india.

Partition of India
➢ The part which went to India after the partition was named the Indian administrative services while
the part that went to Pakistan was named the civil services of Pakistan.
➢ The present modern civil services were formed only after the partition of India in 1947.
➢ The civil services stood on the foundation laid by Sardar Vallabhai Patel that civil services should
strengthen national unity and should uphold the values of integrity impartiality and merit of the
Indian civil services.

The Ministry of personnel public grievances and pensions which is in New Delhi is unofficially the ministry
of civil services and the ministries responsible for training reforms and pensions for the civil service system
in india.

The Present Civil Services framework

Constitutional Provision

Constitutional provision under the Article 312, Rajya Sabha has power to set up the new branches to All
India services with the 2/3rd majority vote. Also, the Indian administrative services, police services and
Indian forest services have been established under this constitutional provision.
Guiding Principles

The guiding principles of civil services are as follows, that a member of civil service should maintain
absolute integrity, allegiance to the constitution and the law of nation. He or she is also expected to discharge
official duty with responsibility, honesty, accountability and without any discrimination to ensure effective
management leadership development as well as personal growth.

Responsibilities

The responsibility of the civil services in India is to run the administration.

The country is managed through a number of central government agencies in accordance with policy
directions from the ministries.

Civil servants are the actual makers of Indian law and policy. The civil servants work on behalf of the
elected government and cannot publicly show their interest or disapproval for it.

The civil servants cannot be removed by any state or central government but can only be retired.

Among the members of the civil services, appointments are made to administrators in the central
government and state government as well as emissaries in the foreign missions or embassies

Civil servants are employed to various agencies of India and can also be appointed as advisors, special duty
officers or private secretaries to ministers of the union and the state government.

Head of the Civil Service

The highest-ranking civil servant is the Cabinet Secretary of India.

He is the ex officio chairman of the civil services board as well as the chief of the Indian administrative
Service and head of all civil services under the rules of business of the Government of India.

He also holds the 11th position in the order of president of India.

Current ongoing reforms in the 20th century in civil services.

The central civil Services Authority

The defence minister A. K. Antony set up this organisation; to professionalise the civil services in India it
used to oversee the higher bureaucracy.

Alignment with strategic national goals

• Under the initiative started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi named as minimum government and
maximum governance, several reforms were undertaken in the civil services, aligned with national
goals including lateral entry forcibly retiring inept and corrupt officers.
• From 2014 the civil servants were first deployed within the central government ministries as
assistant secretaries for a few years
 • From 2020 onwards the government conducted government foundation course for all the Group A
services.
• Now officers from other services with domain experience are also appointed into the Indian
administrative services to widen the pool for selection of competent domain ability.

Removal and Punishment of Corrupt Officers

Empowering the citizens to sue corrupt officers.

After 2016 the government decided to empower citizens to seek prosecution of corrupt Indian
administration services officers.

For this the Department of Personnel and Training along with the Ministry of personnel, public grievances
and pensions has accepted to receive request from private persons seeking sanction for prosecution and
respect of Indian administrative services officer without any proper proposal and supporting documents.

Forced retirement of corrupt and inept officers.

In 2011, the Department of Personnel and Training along with the Ministry of personnel, public grievances
and pensions created a proposal to retire and remove incompetent and inefficient All India services officers
after 15 years of service which was accepted as a law on 31st January 2012.

In 2016, under this law only the Ministry of Finance dismissed 72 officers as well as retired another 33
Indian revenue officers for the first time on the grounds of non performance and discipline.

Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013

The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013, commonly known as The Lokpal Act, is an anti-corruption Act
of Indian Parliament in India which seeks to provide for the establishment of the institution of Lokpal to
inquire into allegations of corruption against certain important public functionaries including the Prime
Minister, cabinet ministers, Members of parliament, Group A officials of the and for matters connecting
them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the journey of civil services in India reflects a remarkable transformation from a colonial
administrative system to a robust institution driving the governance of a Democratic Republic. Initially
designed during the British era to serve imperial interest, the civil services have evolved post independence
to align with the aspirations of a sovereign and diverse nation. Over the years, reforms have been introduced
to enhance efficiency, transparency and inclusiveness with significant shifts such as lateral entry and digital
governance aiming to modernise the system. However, challenges like excessive bureaucratic red tape,
accountability gaps and the need for citizen centric governance persists. Ongoing reforms coupled with the
push for performance-based evaluation and technological integration indicate that while considerable
progress has been made, continuous efforts are essential to ensure that the civil services remain relevant
and responsive to the challenging needs of the nation.