Role of Civil Services in Democracy

In a democracy, the civil services play an extremely important role in the administration, policy formulation and implementation, and in taking the country forward towards progress and development.

Democracy is an egalitarian principle in which the governed elect the people who govern over them. There are three pillars of modern democracy:

1. Legislature
2. Executive
3. Judiciary

The civil services form a part of the executive. While the ministers, who are part of the executive, are temporary and are reelected or replaced by the people by their will (through elections), the civil servants are the permanent part of the executive.

• The civil servants are accountable to the political executive, the ministers. The civil services are thus, a subdivision under the government.
• The officers in the civil services form the permanent staff of the various governmental departments.
• They are basically expert administrators.
• They are sometimes referred to as the bureaucracy or also the public service.

India is a democratic country and in this system, power confers with the people. The power is exercised through its designated representatives who have the command to manage them for particular period. The civil services by quality of its knowledge, experience and understanding of public affairs support the chosen representatives to device effectual policy and have great responsibility to implement these policies for the welfare of society and enhancement of nation. Parliamentary democracies are generally pigeonholed by a permanent civil service which helps the political policymakers and political executives. India is a constitutional fairness and its operations are usually depends upon four supports that include Legislature, Executive, Judiciary, and Free Press. Each one of these has been assigned its role in democratic establishment. First pillar is associated with the governance of the State. Effective and efficient institutions form the strength of an efficacious development and governance process.

What is the purpose of the civil service exam?

One of the basic components of Indian governance planning is the concept of an unbiased, honest, efficient and valiant civil service which is the core of the Executive whether it is All India Services or the other Civil Services. They form the stable structure and support of Indian Administration System.

Historical Evolution of Civil Services

In India, the idea of a systematic public administration system has been in place since ancient times.

• The Mauryan administration employed civil servants in the name of adhyakshas and others. See more on Mauryan Administration.
• Chanakya’s Arthashastra reveals that the civil servants were recruited on the basis of merit and excellence and that they had a stringent investigation method.
• In the Mughal period, there were state officers who took care of the land revenue system.
• In modern times, the East India Company had a civil service to do their commercial activities.
• The British government in India established the civil services chiefly with the aim of strengthening their control over their Indian possessions.
• In 1800, Lord Wellesley, the Governor-General of India from 1798 to 1805, established the College of Fort William where every worker of the Company was sent for a three-year course. They were taught international law, ethics, Indian history and eastern languages, etc.
• The East India Company College was established in Hertfordshire, near London to train members of the civil service.
• In post-independence India, the civil service was reorganised.
• During the British Raj, law and order enforcement, and collection of revenue were the major concerns of civil services officers.
• After independence, when the government assumed the role of a welfare state, civil services acquired an important role in executing national and state policies of welfare and planned development.

Importance of Civil Services

• Service presence throughout the country and its strong binding character.
• Non-partisan advice to political leadership in the midst of political instability and uncertainties.
• Effective policy-making and regulation.
• Effective coordination between institutions of governance.
• Leadership at different levels of administration.
• Service delivery at the cutting edge level.
• Provide “continuity and change” to the administration.

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 serviceand 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 311 – Dismissal, removal or reduction in rank of persons employed in civil capacities under the Union or a State.
• Article 312 – All India Services.

Functions of Civil Services:

It has been found that The Civil Servant has crucial role to ensure continuity and change in administration. The civil servants are dictated by the rules and procedures.

1. The prime responsibility of civil services executives to society is to serve the government it has elected. It denotes that civil services must offer same standard of free, frank, impartial and responsive advice, and the same level of professionalism in administration and delivery of services, policies, programs irrespective of political party in power.
2. Another accountability of civil services executive is to openly involve in all actions within the framework of ministerial actions to government and legislature.
3. Specifically, civil servants are responsible for public interest in maintaining the law and ensuring that proper procedures are followed.
4. Civil servants has close relations with society as they serve array of services. It entails that they must adopt ethical practices to deal with public.
5. Civil servants need to serve the society by ensuring that entitlement and services provided to it under law and government policies are delivered effectively, impartially, courteously and professionally.
6. Civil services officers also responsive to the need of people, treating its member with courtesy and with sensitivity to their rights and aspirations.

Factors that contributed to increasing importance of civil service in modern day society:

• The scientific and technological development:They have led to revolutionary changes in transportation and communication system. The invention of telephone, telegraph, railways and airways has made big government and large scale administration possible.
• Industrial revolution:It brought about certain changes in society. It led to the growth of large scale industries and factory production, over-crowded industrial towns and urban slums. The factory system also resulted in certain evils such as growth of capitalism, large scale unemployment, exploitation of labour etc. In the interest of socio-economic justice, governments in the developed and developing countries have to assume new responsibilities to set right the bad effects of the above evils. The tasks and responsibilities as well as the importance of civil service have thus vastly increased.
• Economic Planning:Modern governments have resorted to planning as a method of achieving economic development and goals of welfare state. The new responsibilities relating to planning activities, i.e., plan formulation and implementation and creation of elaborate necessary administrative machinery have naturally widened the scope of public administration. However, in the new liberalized economic reforms, planning as a method of economic development and the administrative functions relating to it are gradually getting diminished.
• Calamities and crisis:Natural calamities such as earthquakes, floods, droughts and cyclones have also enhanced the importance of civil services. In the event of occurrence of such natural calamities, the public administrators have to act quickly and undertake rescue operations in order to prevent loss of life and property of the affected people. Thus crisis management is an important function of public administration.
• Population and the problems of metropolitan cities: The rapid growth of population in almost all the countries of the world, especially in developing countries, has complicated the problems of providing food, shelter, education, health and sanitation etc. to the people. Also, the growth of metropolitan cities has created certain problems peculiar to them. Some of the problems include congestion, growth of slums, housing scarcity, insufficient water supply, increasing urban crime rate etc. $he responsibility for tackling these acute social and economic problems has resulted in the increase in the sphere of activity of civil service.
• Emergence of welfare state: As a welfare state, governments have to perform major functions such as dispenser of social services, a provider of essential commodities, a manager of key industries and banking services and a controller and regulator of private economic enterprises and activities. This has naturally increased the importance of civil service.

Problems Affecting Civil Services Today:

• Lack of professionalism and poor capacity building.
• An ineffective incentive system that does not reward the meritorious and upright civil servants.
• Rigid and outmoded rules and procedures that do not allow civil servants to exercise individual judgement and perform efficiently.
• Lack of accountability and transparency procedure, with no adequate protection for whistle-blowers.
• Political interference causing arbitrary transfers, and insecurity in tenures.
• An erosion in ethics and values, which has caused rampant corruption and nepotism.
• Patrimonialism (a form of governance in which all power flows directly from the leader).
• Resistance to change from the civil servants themselves.

Politicization of Bureaucracy:

• Over the years, whatever virtues the IAS possessed – integrity, political neutrality, courage and high morale – are showing signs of decay. Some civil servants are deeply involved in partisan politics: they are preoccupied with it, penetrated by it, and now participate individually and collectively in it.
• One of the main reasons why systemic reforms have not been taken up earnestly by the states is the lack of stable tenure for IAS officials.
• Transfers have been used as instruments of reward and punishment, as tools for controlling and taming the bureaucracy. There is no transparency, and in the public mind transfer after a short stay is categorised as a stigma.
• Officers who are victimised are not in a position to defend themselves. Internally the system does not call for any reaction to explain one’s conduct, while externally public servants are debarred from going public to defend themselves.
• A high degree of professionalism ought to be the dominant characteristic of a modern bureaucracy. The fatal failing of the Indian bureaucracy has been its low level of professional competence.
• A civil servant spends more than half of his tenure on policy desks where domain knowledge is a vital prerequisite.
• However, in the present environment prevailing in the States there is no incentive for a young civil servant to acquire knowledge or improve his skills. There is thus an exponential growth in both, his ignorance and arrogance.
• For instance, it is said that in the house of an IAS officer one would find only three books – the railway timetable, because he is always being shunted from one post to the other, a current affairs magazine because that is his level of interest, and of course, the civil list – that describes the service hierarchy!
• An important factor which contributes to the surrender of senior officers before political masters is the total lack of any market value and lack of alternative employment potential.
• Of late, some senior officers are being hired by the private sector, not so much for their professionalism, but for their ability to influence government in favour of the hiring company.
• Bureaucrats remain busy in tadbir management instead of trying to improve their capabilities since party “loyalty” and strength of tadbir are the only requirements for getting promotion.
• The most threatening thing is that thousands of brilliant civil servants have been penalised from time to time in the name of “loyalty.” Such a situation will certainly discourage qualified and talented graduates from competing for the civil services.

Major benefits of having an independent, permanent and impartial civil service are as follows:

1. Having a trustworthy recruitment process through a neutral agency provides a defence against such abuse.
2. Public policy today has become a difficult exercise requiring in-depth knowledge and expertise in public affairs. A permanent civil service offers continuity and develops expertise as well as institutional memory for effective policy making.
3. A permanent and unbiased civil service is more likely to assess the long-term social payoffs of any policy while the political executive may have a tendency to look for short term political gain.
4. A permanent civil service assists to ensure consistency in public administration and also acts as a uniting force particularly in immense and culturally diverse nations.
5. A permanent civil service is likely to develop over time on principled basis for its functioning.

It is well recognized in theoretical studies that smooth functioning civil service helps to nurture good policymaking, effective service delivery, accountability and responsibility in utilizing public resources which are main attributes of good governance. “Good Governance” is being used as an all-inclusive framework not only for administrative and civil service reform, but as a link between Civil Service Improvement and an all-embracing framework for making policy decisions effective within practical systems of responsibility and citizen participation. Main intent of civil services is to strength the administrative capacity to perform important government functions. These reforms raise the quality of services to the citizens that are essential to the advancement of supportable economic and social development. There is continuous need of civil services reforms for betterment of society.

From thorough review, it is established that the basic role of the civil servant is to initiate and actively participate in all the processes leading to the development of policy and ensure that the policy is agreed by government and it is faithfully and honestly executed. The civil service is the most important single institution affecting the lives of the citizens of a state. Its influence is all persistent, in the modern world where most states perform extensive functions in providing social services and regulating the economic life of their inhabitants.

To summarize, civil services in India constitute a major support in governing rules and implementing policies. It has vital role in the Indian governance system. From the British rule in India, civil services had been modified and effective in its operations. The role of civil services has changed over the time. Currently, rapid economic growth has led to increase in the quantum of work. The Government is not perceived as a law enforcer or a controller of national resources. It is progressively viewed as a provider although an efficient provider of basic services and public goods. Populace of India expect from Government to facilitate growth and development. With reference to civil services, civil servants have been trained to deal with upcoming challenges arising out of globalisation. They will have to shift their orientation from being controllers to facilitators and from being providers to enablers. They need to prepare themselves with the essential skills and capabilities to tackle these new challenges. They need to be proficient in new technologies and new styles of functioning for the growth of nation.

How the Indian civil service is different from the American model?

In India, bureaucracy or civil services is permanent and does not change with the government. The recruitment is based on merit and through competitive exams. This is in contrast to the system followed in the US, where civil servants, especially in the higher echelons, change with the government. This is called the spoils system where people who are close to the government of the day get posts.

Key Facts about Democracy in India:

• Democracy in India federal republic.
• Democracy in India is headed by the President as the head of the state and Prime Minister as the head of the government.
• There is a parliamentary form of government at the central level.
• There is a universal adult franchise.

Measures or recommendations given by relevant committees to address any concerns associated with Civil service in India:

Recommendations of 2nd ARC for civil service reforms:

• Bringing Accountability in Public Services:
• Multi-dimensionality of accountability
• system of two intensive reviews
• Civil Services Law
• Emphasize Performance:
• Making appraisal more consultative and transparent,
• performance management system (PMS),
• “360 degree” performance appraisal mechanism
• Competition and Specialist Knowledge for Senior Level Appointments:
• 2nd ARC identified 12 domains,
• Surendra Nath Committee (2003)
• Hota Committee (2004)
• Effective Disciplinary Regime:
• Minimum statutory disciplinary and dismissal procedures.
• Consultation with the UPSC should be mandatory
• Transforming Work Culture:
• Multi-level hierarchical structure should be reduced.
• Government offices should be modernized,
• Need to create a lean, thin and efficient government machinery
• Streamline Rules and Procedures:
• Rules should be updated, simplified
• Privatization and Contracting Out:
• competition between public and private sector providers have improved cost effectiveness and service quality.
• Adoption of IT and E-Governance:
• Robust Vigilant Mechanism, Centralized Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMs)
• Implementation of e-Office.
• Stability of Tenure:
• Fixed tenure of at least three years
• Civil Services Board / Establishment Board.
• Depoliticization of Civil Services:
• Need to safeguard the political neutrality and impartiality, “abuse of authority unduly favouring or harming someone”,
• Obstruction of justice should be classified.
• Capacity building
• Training
• Code of Ethics,
• Mid-career exams/skill assessment

Way forward:

• In a democracy it is essential that the politicians play the role of masters assisted by the civil servants. However, the extent of interference of the bureaucracy in the affairs of the state is crossing every limit.
• This is mostly because of the bow-down policy and inefficiency of our political leadership.
• The political leaders should be able to spell out their requirement to the bureaucracy and distinguish the jurisdiction of the bureaucracy in the affairs of the state.
• Only then will the bureaucracy remain confined within their jurisdiction and consider themselves as the servants of the people.
• After the first ten years of service each IAS officer should be encouraged to specialise in one or two chosen sectors by not only giving them long tenures but even permitting them to join academic or research organisations where they could improve their intellectual skills.
• a model in which politicians would be casteist, corrupt and will harbour criminals, whereas civil servants will continue to be efficient, responsive to public needs and change-agents cannot be sustained indefinitely. In the long run administrative and political values have to coincide.
• In his article demanding ban on bureaucrats entering politics the retired high level bureaucrat Madhav Godbole has stated that politics and administration should have separate status and if it is jeopardized, the very spirit of the constitutional provision would be eroded.