New Delhi, Dec 2: When the country attained freedom, a major concern of our founding fathers was to ensure that there was no disruption in administration and that the unity and integrity of the country was not undermined.

The task was not easy with over 600 Princely States spread all over the country, and each State having an administrative structure of its own. Besides achieving the integration of Indian States, the country had to face the aftermath of Partition and look after millions of refugees who had to flee Pakistan.

To add to the problems, the country had to fight a war in Jammu and Kashmir, with a depleted Indian Army. The British Indian Army as it existed in colonial India was divided between India and Pakistan, and British Officers left India. So also the officers of the Indian Civil Service.

Looking back, after a lapse of six decades, India was able to achieve most of its objectives, thanks to our founding fathers, as also the Indian Officers of the Indian Civil Service and the Armed Forces. From a situation, where they were in an almost adversarial relation with the national political parties during the fight for Independence, they became instruments for implementing the policies of the national government.

Even a person of the eminence of Jawaharlal Nehru had said that “no new order can be built up in India so long as the spirit of ICS pervades our administration and our public services…It seems to me quite essential that the ICS and similar services must disappear completely.” Much of the credit for the creation of the All India Services, particularly the IAS and the IPS should go to the first Home Minister of the country, Sardar Vallabhai Patel.

The administrative system was strengthened by the creation of the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service – as all-India Services. They were conceived as meritocracies. Selections were made on pure merit, on the basis of competitive examinations, followed by interviews.

The officers were posted to different States after training. While the States had control over them, as far as disciplinary matters were concerned the Centre retained authority.

A survey has indicated that the IAS community has been the “backbone of the Indian governmental system. The group comprises of officers who are intellectually bright, academically sound and well equipped to manage complex problems”.

One wished that the conclusion reached by the survey hold true today. According to Sanjoy Bagchi, the author of ‘The Changing Face of Bureaucracy’ (Rupa Publishers) this is not so.

He says: “There was a time when IAS officers were universally respected. Their honesty, integrity and devotion of duty were taken for granted. This is no longer the case. They do not stand out from the rest of the bureaucracy any more; there are as good or bad as the rest of the system. Degeneration has crept into its cadre although the service continues to attract best of talents in the country. “

According to the author: “The worst of the ills are high level of corruption, increasing politicisation and absence of accountability”

There are many reasons for the change that has occurred. Bagchi says: “Overwhelmed by the constant feed of adulatory ambrosia, the maturing entrant tends to lose his head and balance. He comes to believe in his infallibility, his intellectual superiority and his gathered wisdom accumulated while working in different fields of government. The diffident youngster of early idealistic years, in course of time, is transformed into an arrogant senior fond of throwing his weight around; he becomes a conceited prig.”

The dilution of the original concept of meritocracy has crept in over a period of time.

The first blow to Patel’s merit scheme came from the Constitution, which reserved seats for scheduled castes and tribes in the competitive examinations. Next, was the step taken by Charan Singh in 1979 when the promotion quota for the state civil services was increased from 25 percent to 33 percent.

This was followed by V.P. Singh who brought the total reservation to 50 percent by reserving seats for a new category of ‘other backward classes’. Further additions to the list were made by the ‘humble farmer’ Deve Gowda who proposed to slash the percentage of direct recruits, and Dr Manmohan Singh who has declared reservation of three percent for physically handicapped persons.

The impact of the national emergency between 1975 and 1977 was traumatic, when the leadership spoke of a ‘committed bureaucracy’. Sanjoy Bagchi quotes a senior IAS officer, “The value systems crumbled further in the 1980s and early 1990s, when degeneration of political leadership created an ethos of unashamed corruption. The corrupt politician started working hand in glove with the corrupt civil servants and the two blatantly threw political integrity and Service honesty completely overboard.”

The quality of the officers suffered Bagchi says: “The Service lost the habit of taking initiatives and became mere executors of policy, perhaps because a larger proportion of the annual intake drawn from technical disciplines found itself incapable of intellectual initiative.”

Sanjoy Bagchi has studied the reports of various administrative reforms commissions and committees over the years and come to the conclusion that ‘while some grave shortcomings have developed over the years that require immediate remedy of an unusual nature, it must be recognised that a complete overhaul of the IAS structure at this time is neither feasible nor possible.

He makes three suggestions for ‘transforming’ the IAS into an effective instrument of good governance. First is to make the Service politically neutral and to insulate it from political influences or interferences that distort its proper functioning. The second is to raise the level of accountability so that the performance of the IAS men and women in administrative delivery at every level are objectively analysed to decide their individual future. The third is to bring about systemic changes designed for qualitative improvement of the Service and the performance of its men and women.

Sanjoy Bagchi feels that should the ‘degeneration continue unchecked, the service may reach such a deplorable stage that the government and the people refuse to accept it as the premier service. All officers must read the book written by a former IAS officer, whatever is their seniority. It may be of benefit to politicians too.

I. Ramamohan Rao, former Principal Information Officer, Government of India. E:mail:raoramamohan@hotmail.com