Indian Administrative Service- its dialectic and dilemmas

Date01 June 1979
DOI10.1177/002085237904500209
Published date01 June 1979
Subject MatterArticles
Indian
Administrative
Service -
its
dialectic
and
dilemmas
by
Syamal
Kumar
RAY,
M.A.,
Ph.D.,
Reader
in
Political
Science,
University
of
Burdwan,
West
Bengal,
India
The
Indian
Administrative
Service
popularly
known
as
the
I.A.S.
is
a
direct
carry-over
from
the
British
administrative
legacy.
It
is
an
All-
India
Service
as
defined
by
Article
312
of
the
Constitution
and
so
its
personnel
are
common
to
both
the
Union
and
the
States.
The
Union
Government
has
no
cadre
of
its
own,
it
has
to
draw
officers
from
the
States
on
deputation.
The
Union
Public
Service
Commission
is
res-
ponsible
for
recruitment,
while
training
is
under
the
direct
control
of
the
Department
of
Personnel.
As
an
All-India
Service,
the
I.A.S.
is
under
the
joint
control
of
the
Centre
and
the
States.
Ultimate
control
rests
with
the
Central
Government
but
immediate
control
is
exercised
by
the
State
Government,
to
which
a
member
has
been
allotted.
The
I.A.S.
holds
the
reins
of
power
in
that
it
controls
the
key
positions
in
administration,
both
at
head-
quarters
and
in
the
field,
both
on
policy-
making
and
policy-implementing
levels.
During
the
British
days,
the
most
celebrated
All-India
Service
was
the
Indian
Civil
Service,
which
was
once
characterized
by
Lloyd
Geor-
ge,
the
British
Prime
Minister,
as
the
&dquo; steel
frame &dquo;
of the
imperial
administration
in
India.
Indeed
but
for
the
stormy
days
of
the
Sepoy
Revolution
(1857)
the
I.C.S.
preserved
the
in-
tegrity
of
the
administrative
apparatus
through
many
troubled
decades.
Naturally
the
Indian
people
had
always
looked
down
upon
the
I.C.S.
as
the
symbol
of
oppression
and
their
sentiment
found
expression
when
Jawaharlal
Nehru
declared
in
1929
that
the
first
duty
of
independent
India
would
be
the
liquidation
of
the
I.C.S.
But
the
I.C.S.
has
not
been
liquidated.
Despite
a
change
in
nomenclature
the
old
insti-
tution
continues
both
in
concept
and
structure
through
the
I.A.S.
The
very
fact
that
the
Indian
Constitution
(1)
recognises
the
existence
of the
Indian
Administrative
Service
at
the
time
of
the
commencement
of
the
Constitution
stresses
the
superior
authority
that
this
service
was
destined
to
play.
Unlike
all
other
future
All-India
Services,
the
I.A.S.
and
the
I.P.S.
(Indian
Police
Service)
are
not
the
‘ creation ’
of the
.Indian
Parliament.
The
Pay
and
Service
Commission
of
1959
in
India
(Das
Commission)
did
not
consider
the
case
of
the
I.A.S.
as
the
Union
Ministry
of
Finance
ruled
that
it
was
outside
their
terms
of
reference.
Ashok
Chanda,
A.D.
Gorwala
and
Paul
Ap-
pleby
suggested
a
unified
service
(2)
but
it
did
not
find
favour
with
the
Government.
Not
only
has
the
Indian
Administrative
Service
come
down
to
our
days
sharing
almost
all
the
.
essential
features
of the
Indian
Civil
Service,
but
it
is
also
believed,
as
in
the
past,
to
be
competent
enough
to
man
the
key
positions
in
government
and
administration.
The
members
of
the
I.A.S.
share
with
their
pre-
decessors
almost
the
same
recruitment
and
training
methods,
service
conditions,
socio-eco-
nomic
background
and
elite
psychology.
It
is
just
at
this
point
that
the
dilemmas
of
the
I.A.S.
began
to
manifest
themselves
and
the
higher
bureaucracy
in
India
finds
itself
at
a
crossroads.
The
landscape
and
contextual
framework
of
Indian
Administration
has
undergone
radical
transformation.
In
1950
the
democratic
re-
publican
Constitution
of
India
enshrining
the
principles
of
social,
political
and
economic
justice
was
formally
inaugurated
and
new
res-
ponsibilities
devolved
upon
the
higher
civil
servants.
The
members
of
the
I.A.S.
unlike
their
I.C.S.
predecessors,
would
have
to
share
power
with
the
representatives
of
the
people.
Elections,
political
parties,
MLAs
and
M.P.s
appeared
on
the
political
scene,
developmental
planning
commenced,
socialism
and
pan-
(1)
Article
312
(ii) -
"The
Services
known
at
the
commencement
of
this
Constitution
as
the
Indian
Ad-
ministrative
Service
and
the
Indian
Police
Service
shall
be
deemed
to
be
services
created
by
Parliament
under
this
article
".
(2)
Ashok
Chanda,
Indian
Administration
(London,
Allen
and
Unwin,
1958),
p.
127.
A.D.
Gorwala,
Report
on
Public
Administration
(Government
of
India,
1951),
p.
17.
Paul
Appleby,
Sunday
States-
man
(Delhi),
April
16,
1961,
p.
4.

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