The suggestion to scrap the optional subjects in civil services examination by DP Agrawal, Chairman of the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), has kicked up a debate. Several questions have been raised: Are Indian civil services able to face the challenges of the 21st century. Does UPSC still follow the traditions set by the British? Is effecting a change in civil service's structure and composition essential to deal with the challenges of the liberalisation era in fulfilling political, social and economic needs?
The East India Company had introduced civil services in India to implement law and order and collect revenue on the basis of old Mandarin (Chinese) system. The term, civil service, was first used in 1759 by the company to differentiate between civil officers and the assistants engaged in religious and military duty. Gradually, the civil service changed to bureaucracy and the selection of candidates for this service was made through nomination. After reports of civil servants' involvement in corruption, bribery and illegal trade came to light, Lord Cornwallis, Governor-General of India (1786-93), took various steps to curb the corruption in the system. The steps included salary hike to the officers and giving an institutional form to the civil service. These steps proved successful in arresting corruption.
During the British rule, the civil services were aimed at strengthening the Empire. Lord Wellesley set up Ford William College in 1800 for imparting training to civil servants. A suggestion for introducing competitive exams was made in the Charter Act, 1833. In 1853, a committee chaired by Lord Macaulay fixed terms and eligibility criterion for this examination. Thereafter, Indian Civil Services, then known as ICS, emerged as one of most effective and powerful institutions. Its members played an important role in policy-making and running the British Empire.
After India achieved independence, the name of ICS was changed to Indian Administrative Service (IAS) but it continued to follow the British legacy. The political leadership, which wanted to make the bureaucracy more skilled and efficient, set up several commissions to find out ways to make it more efficient.
The first committee towards this direction was the N Gopalaswami Iyengar Commission which was set up in 1950. Later, AD Gorwala Report which was published in 1951 laid emphasis on transparency and efficiency in the civil services. An American scholar Paul H Appleby, who carried out a study on Indian administration in 1953, also suggested some reforms.
Ashok Chanda Committee in 1954 and TT Krishnamachari Committee in 1964 made several recommendations for improving the role of bureaucracy in dealing with corruption.
The Administrative Reforms Commission was set up in 1966 following growing resentment against bureaucracy. The commission, chaired by Morarji Desai, took some comprehensive measures to inculcate efficiency and integrity among the public servants. Following are the recommendations of the commission:
- The size of the council of ministers should be made according to the administrative needs and the department of administrative reforms should be placed directly under the deputy prime minister. Also, the government servant will have no right to strike.
- Official grievances should be redressed through Joint Conservative Machinery. There should be improvement in recruitment policy, fixation of work norms, overtime and holidays.
- An inter-state council should also be set up as per Article 263 of the Constitution. A civil servant, after completion of 50 years of service, should be allowed to take voluntary retirement.
- Provisions for appointment of Lok Pals and Lok Ayukts should also be made.
Emergency (1975-76) came as a jolt for bureaucracy that saw itself metamorphose into a bunch of individuals expected to be loyal to the government. This loyalty was not aimed at upholding socio-economic values, but at appeasing a particular person. The Shah Commission, which was set up to probe excesses committed during the Emergency, condemned the role of the bureaucracy.
In 1975, DS Kothari Committee was set up to bring about changes in structure and composition of bureaucracy, and in the method of civil service examination. In 1976, the committee submitted its report which was accepted in 1978 with some amendments. Following the recommendations, a new policy to recruit civil servants was introduced in 1979.
Reforms in recruitment method
In 1988, Satish Chandra Commission was set up to suggest reforms in recruitment policy and selection method of civil servants. The commission put forth several important suggestions, including holding 'preliminary examination' to eliminate non-serious candidates, 'mains' to test the analytical and logical understanding of the candidates in their optional subjects and an interview to judge the candidates' personality.
Hota Committee and Surendranath Committee also made important recommendations for reforms in civil services. Now, the question is: After all these recommendations, why are the civil servants unable to meet the socio-economic needs of the country?
Underlining the drawbacks of bureaucracy, German sociologist Max Weber had said that it thought itself to be different from others.
Nature of civil services
Bureaucracy, which is rather conservative by nature, always takes care of its own interest. Besides, while bureaucrats take the credit for good work, they happily pass the buck to public representatives for all the failures. Nowadays the misuse of power by bureaucrats has also become a big problem. It has been predicted that bureaucracy will come to an end in next 50 years because of terrific changes in global and socio-economic scenario; and a new system, more cooperative in nature, will replace it.
Recommendations for change
In the 21st century Bharat Nirman is just not possible without bringing about changes in bureaucracy. It has to keep pace with the economic liberalisation. The need of the hour is to make basic changes in selection policy, training and structure of the civil service, so that it can function efficiently and professionally.
The French bureaucracy is considered to be the best in the world. An administrative school called L'Ecole Nationale d'Administration (LENA), recruits civil servants who work with a missionary zeal.
Changes should be made in Indian bureaucracy keeping in mind this French model and in accordance with the basic needs of the country. Even today India follows a traditional system of recruiting civil servants who need to be trained to give them a sense of responsibility. There is also a dire need to make them accountable to public, Parliament and the judiciary.
Development of bureaucracy
Capitalism has played a crucial role in the development of bureaucracy which grew along with the industries. The growing role of the state also added to the complexities in the functioning of administration. After independence, when the need for social and economic freedom was felt, bureaucracy miserably failed to rise to the occasion.
Recommendations by Satish Chandra Committee – 1991
- Introduce essay question paper of 200 marks in Civil Service (mains) examination from 1993
- Interview- 300 marks
- Remove non-useful optional subjects
- Continuous research on social issues, development of administration and deep study of activities in Sardar Patel National Academy
Kothari Commission recommendations – 1976
- Common examination for all services
- Examination for IAS and other higher services should be conducted in two parts
- Preliminary examination should be objective and once the candidates qualify the preliminary examination, they should be allowed to take the main examination
- The main examination will consist of written examination and interview. However, the compulsory written examination should be of objective type
- After qualifying the written examination and interview, the candidates should go to Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy of Administration for training. They have to take a post-training examination to be conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. The service, to be allotted to them, will be decided only after the training. (This particular clause was not accepted)
(Published in By-Line – National Weekly News Magazine (English and Hindi))
No comments:
Post a Comment