The political leaders at the time of Independence were not in favour of creating a clone of the Imperial Service. Sardar Patel, the Home Minister, alone was convinced that a Westminster system of parliamentary democracy had to be complemented by a Whitehall type of Civil Service. He convinced the ALL-India Service, serving the federal service and the constituent states, politically neutral in character and recruited on merits through open competition.

The IAS lived up to its expectations in the first half of its existence. It successfully controlled the communal disturbances, maintained law and order and grappled with the refugee problem. It provides the unstinted support to the system of parliamentary democracy. It was engaged throughout in economic development and planning process, in introducing community development blocks and in establishing public sector.

Despite the years of training and experience, it generally failed at the first hurdle that it faced, that of the emergency. The rank and file, from the top to the bottom, largely succumbed to political pressure and allowed dismantling of the rule of law.

The second phase that began after the emergency that witnessed the decline of the service. The Prime Minister called for a Committed Bureaucracy and personal loyalty. The IAS surrendered and became highly politicized. It was a partner in corruption in collusion with the political masters. It progressively lost its elite character. Pure merit is now limited to only one-third of its members. Its training has failed to take into account its changing needs of governance. An obnoxious system of `bhai-chara' allows every member to rise to the top without any consideration of merit.

The urgent need is to be depoliticize the service and make it more accountable at every stage so that the deadwood and the unfit are weeded out. The steps suggested in book would go a long way in making the IAS a suitable instrument for the administration of economic liberalization.

Sanjoy Bagchi

-Published by Rupa & Co. pp 592, Rs 795

About the Author

Sanjoy Bagchi, born in 1929, was educated in India obtaining a Master's Degree. Standing first in the university, he was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal in 1951. He took the All-India Civil Services Examination and was selected for the IAS, which he joined in 1953. He was allotted to the state of Madhya Pradesh. He served the state and central governments for 25 years from 1953 to 1978 in various capacities.