IAS needs to reform and reinvent

Belu Maheshwari

The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is derided and venerated at the same time. On the one hand, it’s the steel frame that provides continuity, keeps the wheels of administration moving; on the other, the blame for all the ills besetting the country — the sluggish progress, the mai-baap culture, red-tapism, corruption, etc., is put on its door. Everyone has an opinion on the service and its personnel, including the aam aadmi, for whom they are collector sahebs. There have been many attempts from inside as well as outside to study this service. The Steel Frame — A History of the IAS by Deepak Gupta is yet another attempt by an insider to discuss and understand the trajectory the service has taken since its inception, first as the Imperial Civil Service and later as the Indian Civil Service.

The ICS was envisaged by the Britishers for the purpose of consolidating conquered territories, for which they used several laws, rules, codes and manuals. An epochal event in the history of the ICS took place in 1863 when SN Tagore cracked it in London, becoming the first Indian to enter the service. The feat was derided by the Britishers, with an insulting observation on the Indians: “Strong in intellect and confessedly weak in morals. We, as a race, are superior to them because nine out of 10 are born to rule, while 99 out of 100 are born to be governed.” The service during the British period was all powerful.

After the Independence, the service was re-named from ICS to IAS but the structure remained the same in spite of the changed political needs. The biggest votary of the continuity was Vallabhbhai Patel, while Jawaharlal Nehru had been a critic of the service. “No new order can be built in India so long as the spirit of the Indian Civil Service pervades our administration and our public services,” Nehru had said. But the circumstances and chaos of the Partition made him rely on the ‘steel frame’. There are many such nuggets of information in this book.

Extensive research 

The author has done extensive research on the working of the service. A  whole chapter has been devoted to a district officer called DC/DM, the most-prized posting for any recruit as he is the lord of the kingdom, overseeing all aspects of administration. Then, there are chapters analysing civil service examinations, age of entry, training programmes and service conditions. There is a sincere attempt to understand the problems besetting the service, along with the changing political and social scenarios. 

The book does not shy away from discussing what needs to be changed to move forward. Being from the service, the author is more aware and empathetic to the problems and challenges his fellow officers are facing. He says the IAS has come a long way in terms of functioning and morale from the ICS days. Yet, according to him, there are functional weaknesses and perverse incentives, leading to officers comprising and adopting the line of least resistance, playing safe or actively colluding with the unsavoury. 

The steel frame as envisaged by Sardar Patel has cracked and remedial measures are required urgently. This must start with the process of induction into the service. Skills and values would then need to be developed through training. Finally, there is an utmost need for structural changes within the system, and the necessity for the service to look within, reform and reinvent itself.