Indian Civil Services - How it Started To What it is Now.

The modern life is filled with complexity and hence the importance of public administration in such a scenario is increasing. This is because of the need of the state to intervene in day-to-day activities of its citizens. There is no aspect of the life of citizen which is out of purview from the administration.

 The subject of public administration deals with the effective management of the resources-finance, human, intellectual etc. to deliver services to the people. 

Hence, civil servants essentially mean the appointed government officials, that are neither political nor judicial.

We are all aware of the tremendous significance of civil servants in nation-building of modern India. Indian civil servants are considered one of the smartest, most practical and sincere officers of our country. Afterall, they are the ones to pull out hundreds of policies, welfare schemes that are rolled out by the centre. Civil services is the backbone of our country as it is policy-implementing and plans-executing body of our country. 

Think, the very foundation of a government's influence over the nation is in the hands of our civil servants. They are the ground-level, grassroot level changemakers of our society.

In this modern era, the Public Administration is seen as the face of the government. They are the vital link connecting the people with the government. But that was not exactly the case in the British Raj.

By 1784 the East India Company's administration of India had been brought under the control of the British government and its economic policies were being determined by the needs of British economy.

The British administration in India was based on three pillars: the Civil Service, the Army, and the Police. This was so for two reasons. For one, the chief aim of British Indian administration was the maintenance of law and order and the perpetuation of British rule. Without law and order, British merchants and British manufacturers could not hope to sell their goods in every nook and corner of India. Again, the British, being foreigners, could not hope to win the affections of the Indian people; they, therefore, relied on superior force rather than on public support for the maintenance of their control over India.

 The Civil Service was brought into existence by Lord Cornwallis. The East India Company had from the beginning carried on its trade in the East through servants who were paid low wages but who were permitted to trade privately. Later, when the Company became a territorial power, the same servants assumed administrative functions. They now became extremely corrupt. By oppressing local weavers and artisans, merchants and zamindars, by extorting bribes and 'gifts' from rajas and nawabs, by indulging in illegal private trade, they amassed untold wealth with which they retired to England. Clive and Warren Hastings made attempts to put an end to their corruption, but were only partially successful.

Cornwallis, who came to India as Governor-General in 1786, was determined to purify the administration, but he realised that the Company's servants would not give honest and efficient service so long as they were not given adequate salaries. He, therefore, enforced the rules against private trade and acceptance of presents and bribes by officials with strictness. At the same time, he raised the salaries of the Company's servants. For example, the Collector of a district was to be paid Rs 1500 a month and one per cent commission on the revenue collection of his district. In fact, the Company's Civil Service became the highest paid service in the world. Cornwallis also laid down that promotion in the Civil Service would be by seniority so that its members would remain independent of outside influence.

In 1800, Lord Wellesley established the College of Fort William at Calcutta for the education of young recruits to the Civil Service. The directors of the Company disapproved of his action and in 1806 replaced it by their own East Indian College at Haileybury in England.

Till 1853 all appointments to the Civil Service were made by the directors of the East India Company who placated the members of the Board of Control by letting them make some of the nominations.

The directors fought hard to retain this lucrative and prized privilege and refused to surrender it even when their other economic and political privileges were taken away by Parliament. They lost it finally in 1853 when the Charter Act decreed that all recruits to the Civil Service were to be selected through a competitive examination.

A special feature of the Indian Civil Service since the days of Cornwallis was the rigid and complete exclusion of Indians from it. was laid down officially in 1793 that all higher posts in administration worth more than £500 a year in salary were to be held by Englishmen. This policy was also applied to other branches of government, such as the army, police, judiciary, engineering. In the words of John Shore, who succeeded Cornwallis:

"The fundamental principle of the English had been to make the whole Indian nation subservient, in every possible way, to the interests and benefits of ourselves. The Indians have been excluded from every honour, dignity, or office, which the lowest Englishmen could be prevailed to accept." 

Why did the British follow such a policy? Many factors combined to produce it. For one, they were convinced that an administration based on British ideas, institutions, and practices could be firmly established only by English personnel. And, then, they did not trust the ability and integrity of the Indians. For example, Charles Grant, Chairman of the Court of Directors, condemned the people of India as "a race of men lamentably degenerate and base; retaining but a feeble sense of moral obligation; ... and sunk in misery by their vices". Similarly, Cornwallis believed that "Every native of Hindustan is corrupt." It may be noted that this criticism did apply to some extent to a small class of Indian officials and zamindars of the time. But, then, it was equally if not more true of British officials in India. In fact, Cornwallis had proposed to give them high salaries in order to help them resist temptations and to become honest and obedient But he never thought of applying the same remedy of adequate salaries to eradicate corruption among Indian officials.

Initially, the examinations for Indian Civil Service were conducted only in London. Maximum age was 23 years and minimum age was 18 years. The syllabus was designed such that European Classics had a predominant share of marks. All this made it difficult for Indian candidates. Nevertheless, in 1864, the first Indian, Shri Satyendranath Tagore brother of Shri Rabindaranath Tagore succeeded. Three years later 4 other Indians succeeded. Throughout the next 50 years, Indians petitioned for simultaneous examinations to be held in India without success because the British Government did not want many Indians to succeed and enter the ICS. It was only after the First World War and the Montagu Chelmsford reforms that this was agreed to. From 1922 onwards the Indian Civil Service Examination began to be held in India also, first in Allahabad and later in Delhi with the setting up of the Federal Public Service Commission. The Examination in London continued to be conducted by the Civil Service Commission.

The Indian Civil Service gradually developed into one of the most efficient and powerful civil services in the world. Its members exercised vast power and often participated in the making of policy. They developed certain traditions of independence, integrity and hard work, though these qualities obviously served British and not Indian interests. They came to believe that they had an almost divine right to rule India. The Indian Civil Service has often been called the 'steel-frame' which reared and sustained British rule in India. In course of time it became the chief opponent of all that was progressive and in Indian life and one of the main targets of attacks by the rising Indian national movement.

According to Gerald Caiden, Public administration has taken up the following crucial roles in the modern contemporary society:

• Preservation of polity;

• Maintenance of stability and order;

• Management of large scale commercial       services;

• Ensuring growth and economic development; • Institutionalisation of Socio-economic     changes;

• Formation of public opinion;

• Influencing public policies; and

• Formation of public opinion.

Here are some of the finest definitions of Public Administration I have found so far :-

 "Administration is a long and slightly pompous word, but it has a humble meaning, for it means, to care for or look after people, to manage affairs."

"Administration is a determined action taken in pursuit of a conscious purpose. It is the systematic ordering of affairs and the calculated use of resources aimed at making those things happen which one wants to happen and foretelling to the contrary."

"It is the organisation and use of men and materials to accomplish a purpose."

"In its broadest sense, administration can be defined as the activities of groups cooperating to accomplish common goals."

I would like to end, finally, by some of the most profound words on the significance of administration by scholars.

Woodrow Wilson:

 "Administration is the most obvious part of the government; it is the government in action, it is the executive, the operative and the most visible side of the government."

 Brooke Adams:

 "Administration is an important human faculty because its chief function is to facilitate social change and to cushion the stock of social revolution."

Paul H. Appleby: "Administration is the basis of government. No government can exist without administration. Without administration government would be a discussion club, if indeed, it could exist at all."

Thanks,

Daksh Parekh.