Role of Civil Service in democracy

Evolution of Civil Services in India

 The Indian civil service system is one of the oldest administrative systems
in the world. In India, it had its origin in the Mauryan period.
 Kautilya’s Arthashastra lays down the following principles:
 selection and promotion of the civil servants,
 the conditions of loyalty for appointment to the civil service,
 the methods of their performance evaluation
 the code of conduct to be followed by them.
 During the medieval period (1000-1600 AD), Akbar the Great founded and
nurtured the civil service. His civil service had welfare and a regulatory
orientation.
 In medieval India, the Mughals set up their own civil service
systems which centred on the management of land revenue, administration
of government factories and establishment of the patrimonial state.

Civil Services During British Raj (Pre-Independence Era):

 The British civil service came on the Indian scene after the takeover of the
East India Company in the 1860s.
 Initially the British civil service was a part of a police state, with the major
task being that of carrying out law and order functions. It was separated as
the different provinces had different civil services.
 During the period of Warren Hastings, the institution of the collector was
created in 1772.
 Lord Cornwallis is known as the father of civil services in India. He
reformed and organised civil services. He separated revenue administration
from judicial administration. The collector was made head of revenue
administration of the district.
 Charter Act of 1853 provided for open competition to civil services. But the
Indian Civil Service was divided into covenant and non-covenant with Indians
being restricted to non-covenant posts of lower bureaucracy only.
 In 1854, on the recommendations Macaulay’s report, Civil Services
Commission was set up to recruit civil servants. Initially examination was
conducted only in London with minimum and maximum age being 18 and 23
years respectively.
  Satyendranath Tagore became first Indian to become a civil servant in 1864.
 Aitchinson Commission (1886) recommended the division of services into
three groups – Imperial, Provincial and Subordinate.
 The recruiting and controlling authority of Imperial services was
the ‘Secretary of State’ and for provincial services, it was states.
 The British government setup Indian Civil Service in 1911, primarily with the
objective of strengthening British administration.
 From 1922 onwards, examination was conducted in India as well. First in
Allahabad and then in Delhi with setting up of Federal Public Service
Commission.
 The Government of India Act 1919 divided the Imperial Services into All
India Services and Central Services. The central services were concerned
with matters under the direct control of the Central Government.
 This Act also provided for the establishment of Public Services Commission in
India. But it was established in 1926 after recommendations of Lee
Commission.
 Further, the Government of India Act, 1935 envisaged a Public Service
Commission for the Federation and a Provincial Public Service Commission
for each Province or group of Provinces.
 The Indian civil service was set apart from other imperial services for manning
top civil posts under a rigid hierarchy of a bureaucratic system which Lloyd
George termed as the “Steel Frame” of the British Raj.
Civil Services After Independence:

 In 1947, free-India inherited the Indian Civil Service (ICS). After prolonged
consideration, its Constituent Assembly decided to continue to run the Indian
Administration with the help of the Indian Civil Service.
 After independence the Indian Civil Service was reorganised as a two-tier
system. The central government controlled the All-India Services (AIS),
namely, the Indian Administrative Service (lAS), the Indian Foreign Service
(IFS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the central services which were
classified as Group A, B, C, and D services. The selections to the All India
Services and Group A and B services are conducted by the Union Public
Service Commission (UPSC).
 The All–India Services (AIS) are a unique feature of federal polity. It is the
view of any constitutional experts that the Constitution though federal form is
unitary in substance.
 The AIS scheme is a part of this general plan of making the Centre
strong in the overall constitutional arrangements.

· In 1864, Imperial Forest Department was set up. Imperial

Forest Service was constituted in 1867. From 1867 to 1885, the
 officers appointed to Imperial Forest Service were trained in
France and Germany.
· In 1920, it was decided that further recruitment to the
Imperial Forest Service would be made by direct recruitment in
England and India and by promotion from the provincial service
Forest in India.
Services
· With the inauguration of the Constitution of India in January
26, 1950, the Federal Public Service Commission came to be
known as the Union Public Service Commission under Article 315.

Constitutional Provisions Related to Civil Services

 As per Articles 53 and 154, the executive power of the Union and the States
vests in the President or Governor directly or through officers’ subordinate to
him. These officers constitute the permanent civil service and are governed by
Part XIV of the Constitution (Services under the Union and States (Article
308- 323)).
 Government of India (Transaction of Business) Rules: The manner in
which the officers are required to help the President or Governor to exercise
his/her executive functions is governed by these Rules.
 Article 309: Powers of Parliament and state legislatures – It empowers the
Parliament and the State legislature regulate the recruitment, and conditions
of service of persons appointed, to public services and posts in connection
with the affairs of the Union or of any State respectively.
 Article 310: Doctrine of Pleasure – Every person of Defence service, Civil
Service and All India Service holding any post connected with the above
services holds office during the pleasure of the President or Governor of the
State.
 Article 311 – Dismissal, removal or reduction in rank of persons employed in
civil capacities under the Union or a State.
 Article 312 – All India Services.
 Article 323A: Administrative Tribunals

Role of Civil Services in Democracy:

 Basis of government: All nations, irrespective of their system of government,

require some sort of administrative machinery for implementing policies.
 An instrument for implementing Laws and Policies: Civil services are
responsible for implementing the laws and policies of government.
 Participation in policy formulation: Civil servants participate in policy
making by giving advice to ministers and providing them the necessary
information.
 Provides continuity: Civil services carry on the governance when
governments change due to elections or otherwise.
 Role in socio- economic development: The developing nations are
struggling to achieve modernisation of society and economic development
and realize welfare goals. These objectives have placed challenging tasks on
public administration such as formulation of economic plans and their
successful implementation to economic growth and social change.
 Developing a sense of nationhood: Several divisive forces such as
communal and ethnic conflicts, caste feuds and regional rivalries often
threaten the national unity. In order to develop a sense of nationhood among
the people of these countries, the civil servants have to resolve the sub-
national and sub- cultural differences among the people.
 Facilitating democracy: The civil servants play a vital role in maintaining the
democratic ideals by assisting their political heads (Ministers) in policy-making
function and in implementing the policies made.
 Calamities and crisis: Natural calamities such as earthquakes, floods,
droughts and cyclones have also enhanced the importance of civil services
 Administrative adjudication: This is a quasi- judicial function performed by
the civil service. The civil servants settle disputes between the citizens and
the state.

Civil Servant’s Accountability for Good Governance:

 The civil servants have always played a pivotal role in ensuring continuity
and change in administration. However, they are dictated by the rules and
procedures which are formulated taking their advice into account.
 It is the ‘rule of law’ rather than the ‘rule of man’ that is often blamed for
widespread abuse of power and corruption among government officials.
 The explosion of media in the recent past has opened civil servants to
external scrutiny and called for transparent accountability mechanisms in
terms of outcomes and results not processes.
 The issues of accountability of civil servants in service delivery have
come to the forefront in all dialogues regarding civil service reforms.
The credibility of civil service lies in the conspicuous improvement of
tangible services to the people, especially at the cutting edge.
  Conceptually, the civil servants are accountable to the minister in charge of
the department, but in practice, the accountability is vague and of a
generalised nature.
 Since there is no system of ex ante specification of accountability the
relationship between the minister and the civil servants is only issue-sensitive.
 The civil servants deal with the minister as the issues present themselves.
The accountability relationship can be anything from all-pervasive
to minimalistic and it is left to the incumbent minister to interpret it in a
manner that is most convenient to him.

General Issues and Challenges:

 Shortfall in personnel: Overall shortage of personnel, especially in mid-level

and higher-level services as highlighted by the Baswan Committee Report
(2016) leads to delay in service, burden on existing staff, etc.
 Rule-Book Bureaucracy: Due to rule book bureaucracy, some civil servants
have developed the attitude ‘bureaucratic behaviour’, which evokes issues
like red-tapism, the complication of procedures, and the maladapted
responses of ‘bureaucratic’ organisations to the needs of the people.
 Undue political interference: This interference sometimes leads to issues
like corruption, arbitrary transfers of honest civil servants. Also, this led to
substantial inefficiency where the vital positions are not held by the best
officers and ultimately this can lead to institutional decline.
 Lack of specialized skills among bureaucrats: In decisions regarding
promotion and staffing, general competency is valued. However, lack of
specialised skills can make them redundant in a fast-changing world.
 Detachment from the public: This leads to a gap in policy formulation and
implementation, especially regarding welfare activities, if bureaucrats are
unaware of the ground reality.
 Increased corruption: High level of corruption in bureaucracy is associated
with low levels of investment and growth.
 Lack of transparency and accountability: This can result in discretionary
decisions by officers for their personal benefits.
 Resistance to change: Bureaucracy has often been criticized for its
resistance to change towards adopting technology and decentralization of
governance.

Cadre Based Civil Service

 Cadre literally means a small group of trained people who form basic unit of a
military, political or business organisation.
  In All India Services, once selected, candidates are assigned cadres based on
their preferences, merit and availability of positions.
 In India, each state is a cadre with some exceptions like AGMUT and
DANICS. These are joint state cadres with multiple states.

Need of Cadre system in civil Service

 Key administrative and police positions in state governments are designated

as ‘cadre posts’ signifying that they may only be held by IAS/IPS.
 This is deliberate features of All India Service to promote quality, impartiality,
integrity and All India outlook.

Issues with Cadre based Civil Services

Civil Services in India has been constitutionally designed in way that it maintains all
India character and ‘outsiders’ are posted in state cadre. ‘Outsiders’ to state cadre
would ensure a higher level of objectivity and neutrality in a system which was likely
to face enormous regional and local pressure. But in the 1980s and 90s,
partisanship, local considerations and nepotism crept into the system.

 Permanency of cadres: It results in inefficiency and ineffectiveness in the

working of civil services. It diminishes the all-India character and limits the
officers’ concern to local issues.
 Provincialization: According to ‘Public Institutions in India – Performance
and Design by Mehta and Kapoor’ there is a feeling that IAS officers are ‘all
India’ in name only. As the proportions of officers who genuinely alternate
between state and central government has declined.
 Adoption of best practices: Provincialization of civil services reduces
capacity of the civil services to adopt and disseminate good practices of other
cadres.
 Collusion with local politicians: For the want of preferred and plum
postings, the officers collude with local politicians and officers.
 Specialized Positions: According to 2nd ARC, cadre based civil services has
limited the recruitment of persons with specialized knowledge at important
positions through lateral entry.
 Large variation: There are large variations in the size of IAS cadres with
respect to total state populations. As a result, the IAS cadre in UP is 40%
smaller than it should be while in Sikkim it is 15 % more than it should be,
based on population alone.
  Central Deputation: According to ‘Public Institutions in India – Performance
and Design by Mehta and Kapoor’ many small states have much better
representation in central ministries and departments than their larger peers.
 Reluctance to ‘de-cadre’ positions: Due to changing social and economic
conditions some posts diminished in importance. But they were rarely ‘de-
cadred’. For ex – In many states, the post of Land Settlement Officer is still
en-cadred, decades after overwhelming majority of land tenure/land revenue
settlement work were completed.

New Cadre Policy (2017)

 In the new policy, aimed at “national integration”, divides the 26 states into 5
zonal cadres.
 Zone-I – AGMUT, Jammu, and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand,
Punjab, Rajasthan, and Haryana
 Zone-II – Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha
 Zone-III – Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh
 Zone-IV – West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam-Meghalaya. Manipur, Tripura
 Zone-V – Telangana. Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala
 Candidates have to give cadre choices in descending order of preference
from among the various zones. Candidates can only select one state/cadre
from a zone as their first choice.
 Their next choice has to be from a different zone. It is only after selecting first
choice in all the zones, one can select the second state/cadre from the first
zone.
 Earlier the candidates used to choose their home state as their first choice
and neighbouring states as their subsequent preferences.

Way Ahead

 The New Cadre Policy (2017) looks to resolve these issues. The new
policy is aimed at ensuring ‘national integration’ in the country’s top
bureaucracy.
 The new policy will seek to ensure that officers from Bihar, for instance, will
get to work in southern and north- eastern states, which may not be their
preferred cadres.
 All India Services officers are supposed to have varied experience which can
be earned if they work in different states
  Lateral Entry: Also, the recent move by the government to directly recruit
experts for specialised position is a welcome move and in accordance with
the recommendation of 2nd
 Reduction in size of cadres: The proliferation of inconsequential posts is a
proximate cause of both demoralisation and the ability to use transfer as a
penalty. Therefore, the size of cadres should be reduced after periodic
reviews.

Broader Issues with Civil Services in India

Weberian Model of Bureaucracy and Related Issues:

India inherited Weberian model of bureaucracy from the British. The Indian civil
service system is rank-based and does not follow the tenets of the position based
civil services. This has led to the absence of a specialised civil service system in
India. Thus, main issues associated with civil services in India can be summarized
as:

 Problems of All India Services

 Absence of accountability
 Out-dated laws, rules and procedures
 High degree of centralization
 Poor work culture and Lack of professionalism
 Politicization of services and political Interference
 Negative power of abuse of authority and Corruption
 Generalist civil servants in globalized world

All these issues create a conflict between civil services and democracy in
following ways:

 Rigid organization structures and cumbersome procedures.

 Elitist, authoritarian, conservative outlook.
 Men in bureaucracy fulfil segmental roles over which they have no control.
Consequently, they have little or no opportunity to exercise individual
judgment.
  The requirement that a bureaucrat should follow the principles of consistency
and regularity automatically limits his capacity to adapt to changing
circumstances.
 The general rules which may take for overall efficiency produce inefficiency
and injustice in individual cases.
 Civil services’ difficulty to cope with uncertainty and change is a key limit on
its efficiency.

Issues with All India Services:

 Relevance of AIS years after independence: The framers of the

Constitution provided for the AIS because of the serious problems of politico-
administrative management and instability then faced by the country.
However, the Union and the State Governments have since acquired
adequate political, administrative and managerial experience.
 Indian Police Service (IPS): As all key positions in the State police are held
by members of IPS, the State Government’s responsibility in regard to public
order has got whittled down.
 Against Federalism: It is argued that winding up AIS and separate civil
services of state and centre would bring the working of these Governments
closer to a federal system.
 The unity and integrity of the country and national integration should rest on
more durable factors, like economic prosperity, strong elective institutions,
etc., and not on an administrative apparatus, like the AIS.
 Authority –Responsibility Gap: AIS officers tend to think that they are under
the disciplinary control of the Union Government and not the State
Government. A few State Governments have emphasised that an AIS officer
should be under the full disciplinary control of ‘the State Government under
which he is serving.
 Cadre allocation Policy: The policy of the Union to induct at least 50%
outsiders in each State cadre of an AIS implies that these outsiders are more
amenable to the control of the Union Government than the insiders. This
approach accentuates hostility between the AIS and the State Services as
well as between the former and the political leadership in a State. States
perceive this to be a clever ploy of the union government to gain control over
state government.
 Son of soil theory: Outsiders are vaguely aware about language, ethos,
profile of the state which they are posted.
 AIS under Union List: AIS are joint responsibility of centre and state, yet it is
under Union list (Entry 70).
Sarkaria Commission recommendations

 The AIS are as much necessary today as they were when the Constitution
was framed.
 The AIS should be further strengthened and greater emphasis laid on the
role expected to be played by them. This can be achieved through well-
planned improvements in selection, training, deployment, development and
promotion policies and methods.
 Greater specialisation in one or more areas of public administration.
 Every AIS officer, whether be is a direct recruit or a promoted officer, should
be required to put in a minimum period under the Union Government and, for
this purpose, the minimum number of spells of Union deputation should be
laid down for direct recruits and promoted officers, separately.
 The Union Government may persuade the State Governments to agree to the
constitution of the Indian Service of Engineers, the Indian Medical and Health
Service and an AIS for Education.

Reforms Required in Civil Services

The important areas of civil services reforms and the recommendations of 2nd
Administrative Reforms Commission (2nd ARC) and some other committees in
these areas are as follows:

Bringing Accountability in Public Services

The traditional measures of accountability that rely upon line or top-down

measures do not necessarily provide a good guide to the accountability culture as a
whole. Thus, multi-dimensionality of accountability means both multiple measure and
new mandates is the need of the hour.

The 2nd ARC recommended the following in this regard:

 A system of two intensive reviews – one on completion of 14 years of

service, and another on completion of 20 years of service – should be
established for all government servants.
  The first review at 14 years would primarily serve the purpose of intimating
to the public servant about his/her strengths and shortcomings for his/ her
future advancement.
 The second review at 20 years would mainly serve to assess the fitness of
the officer for his/her further continuation in government service.
 The services of public servants, who are found to be unfit after the second
review at 20 years, should be discontinued.
 A provision regarding this should be made in the proposed Civil Services
Law.
 For new appointments it should be expressly provided that the period of
employment shall be for 20 years.

Emphasize Performance

 The present promotion system in civil service is based on time-scale and is

coupled by its security of tenure.
 These elements in our civil service are making the dynamic civil servants
complacent and many of the promotions are based upon the patronage
system.
 A government servant’s promotion, career advancement and continuance in
service should be linked to his actual performance on the job and the dead
wood should be weeded out.
 The promotions should be merit based and the respective authorities have to
benchmark the best practices and evaluate the performance of the civil
servants both qualitatively and quantitatively with a variety of parameters.
 Performance Related Incentive Scheme: The Sixth Pay
Commission recommended introduction of a new performance based
pecuniary benefit, over and above regular salary, for the government
employees. It is based on the principle of differential reward for differential
performance.

2nd ARC recommendations on Performance Management system:

 Making appraisal more consultative and transparent – performance appraisal

systems for all Services should be modified on the lines of the recently
introduced PAR for the All India Services.
 Performance appraisal should be year round: provisions for detailed work-
plan and a mid-year review should be introduced for all Services
 Guidelines need to be formulated for assigning numerical rating
  Government should expand the scope of the present performance appraisal
system of its employees to a comprehensive performance management
system (PMS).
 The PMS should be designed within the overall strategic framework
appropriate to the particular ministry/department/organisation.

Competition and Specialist Knowledge for Senior Level Appointments

 The task of policy making in government is complex and needs specialist

knowledge of the subject.
 Under the existing system, the most senior level appointments in the Central
secretariat as well as top field level posts are made from amongst the Indian
Administrative Service (IAS) officers who are generalists.
 The First Administrative Reforms Commission, far back in 1969, had
emphasized the need for specialization by civil servants as a pre-qualification
for holding senior level posts. It suggested that all the Services should have
an opportunity to enter middle and senior level management levels in Central
Secretariat and selection should be made by holding mid-career competitive
examination, which should include interview, to be conducted by UPSC.
 The Surendra Nath Committee (2003) and Hota Committee (2004) had
also emphasized domain knowledge and merit as the basis for appointment to
the posts of Joint Secretary and above.

2nd ARC recommendations in this regard:

 The 2nd ARC identified 12 domains in which officers should specialize such
as general administration, urban development, security, rural Development
etc. It has recommended that domain should be assigned to all the officers of
the All India Services and Central Civil Services on completion of 13 years
of service and vacancies at the level of Deputy Secretary/ Director should be
filled only after matching the domain competence of the officer for the job.
 The Commission has suggested introduction of competition for senior
positions in the Senior Administrative Grade and above (Joint Secretary level)
by opening these positions to all the Services.
 For Higher Administrative Grade posts (Additional Secretary and above)
recruitment for some of the posts could be done from open market.
 It has further suggested constitution of a statutory Central Civil Services
Authority which should deal with matters of assignment of domain, preparing
panel for posting of officers at different levels, fixing tenures and determining
which posts should be advertised for lateral entry.
 Effective Disciplinary Regime

 Presently, the provisions of discipline rules are so cumbersome that it

becomes very difficult to take action against a delinquent employee for
insubordination and misbehaviour.
 Thus, once appointed, it is almost impossible to remove or demote an
employee. This results in poor work culture and all-round inefficiency.

2nd ARC recommendations in this regard:

 The 2nd ARC has observed that legal protection given has created a climate
of excessive security without fear of penalty for incompetence and wrong
doing.
 In the proposed Civil Services law, the minimum statutory disciplinary and
dismissal procedures required to satisfy the criteria of natural justice should
be spelt out leaving the details of the procedure to be followed to the
respective government departments.
 The present oral inquiry process should be converted into a disciplinary
meeting or interview to be conducted by a superior officer in a summary
manner without the trappings and procedures borrowed from court trials.
 No penalty of removal and dismissal should be imposed, except by an
Authority, which is at least three levels above the post which the government
servant is holding.
 No penalty may be imposed, unless an inquiry is conducted and the accused
government servant has been given an opportunity of being heard.
 The two-stage consultation with the CVC in cases involving a vigilance
angle should be done away with and only the second stage advice after
completion of the disciplinary process should be obtained.
 Consultation with the UPSC should be mandatory only in cases leading to
the proposed dismissal of government servants and all other types of
disciplinary cases should be exempted from the UPSC’s purview.

Transforming Work Culture

Most government departments suffer from poor work culture and low productivity. In
order to provide cost-effective efficient services, following measures can be taken:

 The multi-level hierarchical structure should be reduced and an officer

oriented system with level jumping be introduced to speed up decision
making.
  Government offices should be modernized with provision of computer and
other gadgets and a conducive work environment should be created.
 Officers need to be motivated and empowered by giving them more
responsibility and decision-making authority.
 There is a need to create a lean, thin and efficient government
machinery by modernising procedures and work methodology and abolishing
the ‘babu’ culture in the government offices.

Streamline Rules and Procedures

 A large number of rules and procedures relating to citizen’s day to day

interface with government in matters such as issue of passport, registration of
property, sanction for construction of dwelling unit, licence for starting a
business, inspection of factories, are outdated and dysfunctional and give
opportunity to public servants to delay and harass.
 These rules should be updated, simplified and discretionary power of public
servants be eliminated.
 A good part of efficiency of a government office depends on personnel,
financial and procurement management systems. The rules relating to
personnel management are outdated and rigid and give no flexibility to
departments to adapt to local conditions resulting in inefficiency.
 The budgetary and procurement rules should be changed, giving sufficient
flexibility to departments to be able to use their judgement to secure the best
value for money.

Privatization and Contracting Out

 In an era of liberalization, there is economic logic to privatize those state

owned enterprises which are either running in loss or in the tertiary sector of
the economy such as hotel, tourism, engineering and textile sector, where
they cannot compete with private sector and are a big drain on national
resources.
 There is a strong case for privatization of services like municipal street
cleaning, garbage collection, power distribution, city transport etc.
 Experience has shown that increasing use of competition in the delivery of
public services, including competition between public and private sector
providers has improved cost effectiveness and service quality.
 Adoption of IT and E-Governance

 The revolution in information technology has brought into focus its adoption
for good governance.
 E-governance can reduce distances to nothing, linking remote villages to
government offices in the cities, can reduce staff, cut costs, check leaks in the
governing system, and can make the citizen-government interaction smooth,
without queues and the tyranny of clerks.
 But it must be remembered that e-governance is only a tool for good
governance. It cannot succeed independent or responsive officers and it has
to be owned by the political leadership.

Stability of Tenure

 There is a genuine problem being faced by officers, especially in the case of

All India Services serving in the state governments, relating to their tenures.
 There is usually a reshuffling of officers with change in government and in
certain states the average tenure of DM and SP has now come to less than a
year only. Such a rapid turnover of officers adversely affects delivery and
quality of services provided to the common man.
 The ever present threat of transfer also affects the morale of the officers and
their capacity to stand up to undesirable local pressures

In this context Hota committee on civil services reform suggested the

following:

 A fixed tenure of at least three years for an officer of the higher civil service
along with annual performance targets.
 A Civil Services Act has to be enacted to make the Civil Services Board /
Establishment Board both in the states and in the Government of India
statutory in character.
 If a Chief Minister does not agree with the recommendations of the Civil
Services Board/Establishment Board, he will have to record his reasons in
writing.
 An officer transferred before his normal tenure even under orders of the Chief
Minister can present the matter before a three-member Ombudsman.
 In all such premature transfers the Ombudsman shall send a report to the
Governor of the state, who shall cause it to be laid in an Annual Report before
the State Legislature.
Depoliticization of Civil Services

Following are the recommendations of 2nd ARC on relations between political

executive and civil servants:

 There is a need to safeguard the political neutrality and impartiality of the

civil services.
 The onus for this lies equally on the political executive and the civil services.
 This aspect should be included in the Code of Ethics for Ministers as well as
the Code of Conduct for Public Servants.
 While examining the definition of corruption under the Prevention of
Corruption Act, 1988, the “abuse of authority unduly favouring or harming
someone” and “obstruction of justice” should be classified as an offence
under the Act.

It is essential to lay down certain norms for recruitment in government to avoid

complaints of favouritism, nepotism, corruption and abuse of power. These norms
are:

 Well-defined procedure for recruitment to all government jobs.

 Wide publicity and open competition for recruitment to all posts.
 Minimisation, if not elimination, of discretion in the recruitment process.
 Selection primarily on the basis of written examination or on the basis of
performance in existing public/board/university examination with minimum
weight to interview.

To insulate the bureaucracy from political interference and to put an end to

frequent transfers of civil servants by political bosses, the Supreme Court in 2013
issued a series of directions to insulate civil servants from political influence.
Following are the directions issued by the Supreme Court in T.S.R. Subramanian
and others vs. Union of India:

 Officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), other All India Services
and other civil servants were not bound to follow oral directives, since they
“undermine credibility”. All actions must be taken by them on the basis of
written communication.
 Establishment of a Civil Services Board (CSB), headed by the Cabinet
Secretary at the national level and chief secretaries at the state level, to
recommend transfers and postings of All India Services (IAS, IFS and IPS)
 officers. Their views could be overruled by the political executive, but by
recording reasons only.
 Parliament to enact a Civil Services Act under Article 309 of the Constitution
setting up a CSB
 There should be fixed minimum tenure.
 Group ‘B’ officers would be transferred by heads of departments (HoDs).
 No interference of ministers, other than the chief minister, in transfers or
postings of civil servants.

Lateral Entry into Civil Services

 Lateral entry into civil services refers to induction of eligible candidates

into bureaucracy by bypassing the regular mode at a higher level of its
hierarchical structure.
 In June 2018, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued
notification inviting applications for 10 senior level positions at the joint
secretary level in the Departments of Economic Affairs, Revenue, Commerce
and Highways among others.
 The eligibility criteria include:
 “Individuals working at comparable levels in Private Sector Companies,
Consultancy Organisations, International/Multinational Organisations with a
minimum of 15 years’ experience”
 besides those working in central public sector undertakings, autonomous
bodies, statutory organisations, research bodies and universities

Need for lateral entry

 Shortage of Officers
 Specialists and domain experts
 Burden to Exchequer
 Incentives to innovations and out of the box thinking
 To induce Competition
Issues with Lateral Entry

 Bypassing UPSC: UPSC is a constitutional body and has retained legitimacy

and credibility of selection process over the years. Some experts opine that
lateral entry is unconstitutional in nature.
 Not a Panacea: It is also argued that it is a piecemeal effort to deal with a
systemic problem. Bureaucracy needs major overhauling.
 Offers not lucrative enough: Most of the times, the terms of recruitments are
not rewarding enough to attract best of talents. Even the recent lateral entry
initiative would recruit professionals for only 3 years with remuneration not
competitive with private sector.
 Open door to privatization: Some civil servants believe that it would open
the floodgates to privatisation. And eventually government would lose its
socialist and welfare characteristics.
 Transparency is recruitment: Government should ensure that the recruits
remain independent of “fissiparous tendencies”. The sanctity of the selection
procedure should remain for the services to stay insulated from the
government of the day.

Way Ahead

 2nd ARC recommended an institutionalized, transparent process for lateral

entry at both the Central and state levels. But pushback from bureaucrats,
serving and retired, and the sheer institutional inertia of civil services that
have existed largely unchanged for decades have prevented progress.
 Also the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs headed
by Shashi Tharoor has urged the government to facilitate the entry of Non-
Resident Indians (NRIs) into foreign service in order to expand the country’s
diplomatic corps.
 In addition to lateral entry, the method of civil service training also needs to be
revamped.

Mid-Career Performance Appraisal

 Mid-career Performance appraisal is meant to be a joint exercise between the

Government servant reported upon and the Reporting Officer particularly after
every fixed period for taking note on performance.
 While fixing the targets, priority should be assigned item-wise, taking into
consideration the nature and the area of work.
Importance of Mid-Career Performance appraisal

 It’ll update the knowledge and efficiency in work base of the participant in the
rapidly changing environment.
 Will help to develop competencies for changes in the job profile, as would
happen when a promotion takes place.
 Can also serve as a medium for enhancing formal qualifications, thereby
creating greater confidence in an officer.
 Good hardworking civil servants will get rewarded
 Clear performance standard shall be fixed.
 Reduction in political interference due to fixed targets and continuous
reports of performance of civil servants.
 It would compel bureaucrats to put more diligence to score a better review.
 Induce professionalism in the departments.
 Weeding out of the inefficient lot would make place for better candidates.

Compulsory Retirements

Positives of Compulsory retirements:

 Deterrence for non-performing officials.

 It may induce culture among officials of hard work and efficiency.
 Inertia among bureaucrats to start new work or take risk will be reduced
 Provide motivation to bureaucrats

Negative effects of Compulsory retirements:

 May be misused as a political tool against honest officers.

 Although ministers and bureaucrats work hand in hand but this may give
former greater control on latter sometimes detrimental to officers efficiency.

Conclusion:
Compulsory retirement is a desirable approach as the efficacy of a system is
determined by the set of incentives facing people who exercise power. As
bureaucrats continue to wield enormous power, a guaranteed job provides the wrong
incentives. Hence the mid-term appraisal and compulsory retirement might be the
much needed bureaucratic reforms in India.

Specialist Approach vs Generalists Approach:

Adopting Specialist Approach:

 In a developing economy specialist should be right at the top in the line

authority rather than in a staff-cell attached to the generalist line authority. The
advantage is the government would become less bureaucratic, more
programme-oriented and committed.
 The generalist administrator usually does not develop a sustained interest in
any particular field of activity. Even in exceptional cases when he does
develop such an interest, this becomes infructuous because by the time he
has learnt the job he is transferred to some other job.
 The management and the administration (such as that of PSUs) should be
well- trained in the know-how of the enterprises that they manage. The
emphasis should shift from mere theoretical, bureaucratic control to a self-
contained knowledgeable set-up.
 It is said that generalists are prisoners of rules, regulations and precedents
and there is too much stress on continuity, caution, and red tape.
 Understanding amongst experts (i.e. people with similar domain expertise) is
better and it may result in conducive work environment and better policy.

Adopting Generalists Approach:

 Generalists Administration is politics in action. As one rises up the

hierarchy, there is less hands-on job and more management of resources. It
vests in a bureaucrat a successively larger responsibility for enforcing the
general point of view of the government.
 Top management job requires a general understanding. It requires a view of
the whole.
 Most specialists usually employ an esoteric language to convey their ideas.
In administration it leads to difficulty in communication between the non-
expert minister and the highly specialized expert secretaries.
Civil services thus require a mix of both generalists and specialists. However,
the current stranglehold of career bureaucracy has prevented willing and able
experts from outside the system to join the government. Even in ministries as
complex as finance, academic economists have been confined to that of advisory
roles rather than executive roles in most cases. Creating a specialist system of
bureaucracy would mean ending of monopoly at the top with the introduction of
lateral entries, ending of ageism as younger people will get to hold higher positions.
These changes will improve performance management and bring rationalist
bureaucracy, as demanded by the 21st century.

Civil Service Neutrality

 Unfortunately, the concept of civil service neutrality no longer holds

good. Changes in governments particularly at the state level often lead to
wholesale transfer of civil servants.
 Political neutrality is no longer the accepted norm with many civil servants
getting identified, rightly or wrongly, with a particular political dispensation.
 There is a perception that officers have to cultivate and seek patronage
from politicians for obtaining suitable positions even in the Union
Government. As a result, the civil services in public perception are often seen
as increasingly politicized.
 The political neutrality and impartiality of the civil services needs to be
preserved. The onus for this lies equally on the political executive and civil
servants.
 Ministers must uphold the political impartiality of the civil service and
not ask the civil servants to act in any way which would conflict with the duties
and responsibilities of the civil servant.
 In a nutshell arbitrary and illegal interference by ministers or MPs or
MLAs in the work delegated to the bureaucracy is neither desirable nor
beneficial for an efficient government.

Criticality of relationship between Civil Servant and Political

Executive

 In a democracy, power vests with the people. This power is exercised

through its elected representatives who have the mandate to govern them for
a specific period.
  The civil services by virtue of its knowledge, experience and
understanding of public affairs assist the elected representatives in
formulating policy and are responsible for implementing these policies.
 Therefore, a healthy working relationship between Ministers and civil
servants is critical for good governance.
 Once a law is framed or rules and regulations are approved, they apply to
everyone, whether a member of the political executive or of the permanent
civil service.
 A civil servant is required to implement the orders of government without bias,
with honesty and without fear or favour.

Recent Initiatives by Government:

360 Degree Appraisal:

 A 360 degree system of appraisal has been passed by the government for
empanelment of senior level officers in the Government of India. This system
involves a multi-source feedback from various stakeholders in the government
such as seniors, peers and juniors.
 The empanelment process also takes into account the overall service record
of the individual, the vigilance status and the suitability of the officers
concerned.
 The government first introduced this system in April 2015 as a supplement to
the existing Annual Confidential Report (ACR) system.

Karmayogi Yojana:

 Karmayogi Yojana’ or the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity

Building (NPCSCB), in a bid to transform status-quoist and rule-obsessed civil
servants working in silos into “experts”.

iGOT:

 The iGOT (Integrated Government Online Training Programme) developed by

Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public
Grievances & Pensions, was launched.
 To provide a broad training eco-system creating synergies across various
premier training institutes of the country and to cater the training needs which
can encompass all the officials in the entire hierarchy of Central and State
Governments.