The government of a Welfare State has to concentrate on the wider and more positive needs for an all-round development and progress in the agriculture, industrial and social Helds, rather than concern itself with the bare requirements of law and order. This shift of emphasis has been recognized and comprehensive economic and social planning has now been undertaken as a vital function of India's administration. The fuller materialisation of the plans and programmes formulated require the mobilization of competent technical manpover on an all-India basis. This postulates that the primacy of certain non-technical services and the pay scales attached and the status accorded to these should be removed to place the technical and scientific services on a par with them. It is common knowledge that, attracted by better pay and prospects, candidates with technical and scientific training now appear at the competitive examinations for the non-technical service. This trend has to be reversed and the importance of technical and scientific work recognized adequately in the treatment given to technical personnel in the employ of the State.

Scientific-Technical Service

It is also necessary to re-introduce recruitment on an all-India basis to ensure a high standard of efficiency and performance by enlarging the field of recruitment. The allIndia composition of the services would emphasise the unity of India and encourage the development of a national point of view. It would equally ensure that the administration of any State would have a leavening of officers from outside whose vision and outlook would not be circumscribed by a parochial horizon. The control of these services would not also vest solely in tne State Governments, but jointly in the State and the Central Governments. This would provide a measure of remote control which,

* Inaugural Address at the Annual Meeting of Class Two Officers Association of India, Audit Accounts Department held at Allahabad on 7th November, 1959.

by its very nature, would be objective. The officers should, therefore, be able to fulfil their responsibilities without being unduly subjected to the stresses and strains of local influence. It is my considered view that technical all-India services for Engineering, Agriculture, Forest, Scientific Research and Health should be reconstituted and the pay scales and the status attached to the Services should be equated to those obtaining for the Indian Administrative Service. On the British analogy, a single graded scientific/technical service should be constituted. Though inter-changeability between the departments of the service would not be practicable, there are advantages in forming a single service.

The existence of a large number of services as non-technical independent entities operating within the limitations of their cadres is another drawback of the present administration. Recruitment to these services is through a common competitive examination and the positions of the candidates in the proficiency list determine largely their allotment to one service or another. This tends to restrict their future promotion and prospects to their own service cadres. Even when officers show promise, develop personality and other attributes of leadership and a flair for specialised work, it is not always possible to utilize their talents to the best advantage of the administration, the regidity of the service structures comes in the way of their employment in fields for which they are better suited.

All the posts in the Central Secretariat of the rank of Under Secretary and above, were, at one time, reserved for the I. C. S., and a percentage of the higher posts in the cadres of the Central Services was also filled, till 1932, by the members, of the I. C. S., mainly to equip them for appointment to the Secretariat. Though this principle of reservation has now been eliminated, in effect, the bulk of the Secretariat posts comes

to be filled by the successor service, the Indian Administrative Service. Naturally, Naturally, this service distinction had developed complexes in the Central Services. This complex was further accentuated by the constitution of a Finance-Commerce cadre which established yet another privileged class in the hierarchy and did little to assuage the service distinctions. The exigencies of the war widened the field of selection and several officers who had not been previously absorbed in the Finance-Commerce cadre were appointed to the reserved posts. These they filled with distinction and some of them

occupied the highest position in the go

vernment.

Search For Administrative Talent

It is evident that search for administrative talent should be a continuous process and should not be restricted or hindered by service distinctions. More recently, a decision has been taken to constitute a large pool for the Central Secretariat. This, I consider, is a retrograde step. To have a cadre of young officers permanently absorbed for manning central appointments alone will place them in an ivory tower, isolated from à direct and essential contact with the country's changing needs and problems. The discontinuance of the system of a rotation of officers with the States on a tenure basis, now contemplated, will deprive us of having officers who will bring to the Centre a renewed contact with the background of our villages, on which all work of importance, wherever it is done, ultimately reacts in one way or another. Policies formulated within this limitation would tend to become unrealistic. Further, as is well-known, specialists functioning within the narrow compass of technicalities can hardly be expected to bring a breadth of vision and imaginative thinking in the formulation and examination of economic, social and industrial policies.

service and the rate of promotion varies from service to service and from time to time giving a pay differential between officers of the same seniority. Obviously, they cannot be brought together in a common cadre without creating service out creating service discontent. This may interfere with a free interchange of officers and it may not be possible always to interchange officers specially selected for wider experience, thus defeating the very purpose of such a scheme. Secondly, interchangeability between the I. A. S. functioning in the State field and the Central Services will raise certain technical and administrative difficulties. This scheme will tend to result in a one-way flow of I. A. S. officers to the Central Services, giving rise to the same problems as the earlier reservation of posts in the Central Services for the I. C. S. had created. Further, for a planned development of the country as a whole, the functions of the central services today have a larger impact on the States' administration than before. It is necessary, therefore, that officers employed in the central field should also have experience of district administration. It is only an appreciation of the problems which arise in the field in the execution of plans and programmes that will enable them to give a more imaginative and realistic treatment to their respective departmental work. There is not recognition enough of the important principle that all superior officers in a Welfare State should have an intimate knowledge of the basic structure of its administration and its basic problems. On all these considerations, the question of forming a single service should now be fully explored. The mere integration of the central non-technical services alone will be a partial solution, but the I. A. S. should also be brought within the scope of this integration to get the optimum result.

Northcote-Trevelyan Committee

It was a hundred years back that in the United Kingdom a single civil service was constituted to replace the conglomeration of the fragmentary disintegrated services. The Northcote-Trevelyan Committee said in justification: "Each man's experience, interests hopes and fears are limited to the special

branch of the service in which he is himself engaged. The effect naturally is to cramp

the energies of the whole body, to encourage the worth of narrow views and departmental prejudices". As a result of integration, the British Civil Service has emerged as a homogeneous body of men, capable of dealing with the varied and changing problems which arise in a modern State.

Experience of France and U.K.

There is, however, some dissimilarity in the functions of the civil service in the U.K. and the services in India. This dissimilarity arises because of the remarkable development of the institutions of local government in the United Kingdom, but this by itself would not justify the retention of a number of distinct and separate services. In this comparison. The administration of France provides a closer parallel. The administration there has responsibilities in the field akin to those in India. Yet, in 1945, France took the bold and rational step of integrating the services for fulfilling a diversity of function. The training arrangements were revolutionised to give the new service the necessary flexibility. Till then, a number of distinct and separate services were in existence in France. This arrangement, it was considered, did not encourage a feeling of unity in the services or assist in the development of a broad outlook in the evolution of administrative plans and policis. The reconstruction of the administration, which was undertaken after the war, made it possible to sweep away the cobwebs of narrow departmentalism and to constitute a single service organised on the lines of the U.K., but trained and equipped differently to undertake wider functions and responsibili

ties.

A Common Civil Service

The obvious solution is the constitution of a common civil service divided vertically into departments to provide for specialised training in the different spheres of governmental activity. Under such a scheme of re- organisation, the existing services could be incorporated in the departments without undue disturbance to their structure and functions.

Recruitment to the services is now made through a common competitive examination. and subsequent allotment is influenced lar

gely by the gely by the position of the candidates in a common list and not always on their expressed preferences. There are also no arrangements thereafter to ascertain the suitability or the aptitude of the candidates for the service to which they have been assigned. Misfits are therefore not uncommon. If these service distinctions were to be abolished by the institution of departments within a single service, it should be possible to arrange the allotment of candidates on a rational basis with reference to the subjects offered in the open examination and the impression created at the viva voce examination. A further test of their aptitude for particular types of work could be carried out during their basic training which should be organised in an administrative college. Subsequently also the suitability of an officer for any particular department could be continuously reviewed on his performance in a working post in the department to which he has been initially assigned. Being incorporated in a single service, transfers from one department to another should not present any complications. The constitution of a single service will bring about the introduction of uniformity in the pay scales and other conditions of service and afford an equality of opportunity to all for advancement, based on merit rather than on present service distinctions. The present disparities are a constant irritant to service personnel and act as a deterrent in the development of efficiency in administration which contented service alone can bring.

Secretariat Posts

of

It is also necessary to examine whether, under the new conditions, any justification remains for giving the officers and men employed in the Secretariat, the pay and status they at present enjoy. Pretensions built around the Secretariat and the services in charge of law and order in the past, have survived to-date, hindering the growth homogenity and unity in the services. The purpose and importance of most of our major projects are such that these should be placed in charge of officers of proved ability and integrity. Yet the conditions of employment in the projects are not such as to attract the best available people. Service in the (Continued on next page)

The wisdom of this recommendation is patent to all students of Indian politics. The feeling of one-ness which bound together the different parts of the country so long as we were under foreign rule seems to be fast weakening and regional and linguistic factors increasingly effective. While the correct composition of such a small group of men as the Indian Administrative Service may not by itself be effective in checking the tendency, there is little doubt that it will assist other progressive unifying forces.

(Continued from

Secretariat, with appreciably higher pay and status, has an irresistible and perhaps understandable attraction for service personnel. For the same reasons, once appointed, they do everything possible to continue in the Secretariat even after they complete their tenures. This may even influence them in adjusting their views on major questions.

As early as 1945, an experienced administrator, while reviewing the organisation of the government, came to the conclusion that the difference between the pay of Secretariat and district officers should be lessened. The justification for removing the disparities are far greater now when the accent is on having more competent officers in charge of our field projects. It would be stating the obvious that the responsibilities of an administrator who is placed in charge of a major project, say, the Steel Works, costing any thing between 150 to 200 crores, are no less, perhaps greater, than those of a Secretary to Government, whose function is primarily to advise the Minister at the Centre. A judicious distribution of available talent between policy-making functions and executive tesponsibilities would be possible only if the necessary readjustments in pay and status

All-India services are of two types, the first with State cadres like the IAS and the IPS and secondly, services exclusively intended for manning the Central Secretariat, the Income-Tax Department, the, Central Excise Department, etc. So far as the latter, are concerned, recruitment and postings are on an all-India basis and this discussion does not concern them. In regard to the former, their main features are (1) recruitment by the Government of India on the recommendations of the UPSC; (2) ultimate disciplinary control by the Government of India on the advice of the UPSC ; (3) availability of offices of State cadres to man posts under the Central Government; (4) link between the State administrations and the Central administration; and (5) an outlook which is not confined to a single State and can, therefore, be described as an all-India outlook.

previous page)

between the Secretariat and the field posts were now to be considered and effected. Clamour For Extension

The present pensionary provisions require also a re-examination. The maximum of the pay of the high-level posts. This is pension now admissiable is not even a fourth responsible for the clamour for extension of service after superannuation and the drift to trade and industry. The sudden drop in income, more particularly when, under present-day conditions, there is little margin for savings on the salaries allowed, make it impossible for high-level officers to live after retireme ot in dignity and a reasonable measure of comfort. It is tending to have an unsettling effect on service personnel. In the U. K., as also in most other countries, the pensionary benefits have been made more rational, being related to the last pay drawn. This has been made possible by the levy of a percentage of pay as contribution towards a Pension Fund. Under this arrangement, a suitable provision for the both pensioners and their families is ensured without any additional financial burden on the State. The possibility of introducing a similar scheme: should, therefore, be examined.

Usefulness

It is these feature which the Commission, apparently, had in mind when it emphasized the usefulness of all-India services as a factor which will contribute to and strengthen the unity of the country. "The raison d'etre of creating all-India services, individually or in groups, is that officers on whom the brunt of responsibility for administration inevitably falls may develop a wide and all

India outlook.” Does the recruitment to the services and the formation of the State cadres thereafter and subsequent arrangements for deputation to the Central Government tend to accord with this hope?

I have made a cursory examination of the Indian Civil Service before 1947 for the purpose of finding out to what extent the composition of the Indian personnel of its provincial cadres reflected this sense of the unity of the country which the Commission desires to emphasize and foster through its recommendations.

In Assam the proportion of non-local Indian officers to the total Indian strength of the ICS has always been very high. In 1937 it was 70 per cent; it rose to 77.7 per cent in 1946 and was 76.5 per cent in 1948. In Bihar the corresponding figures were 79 per cent in 1938, 84 per cent in 1946; and in 1948 it was 62.8 per cent.. The third State which had a similar large proportion of nonlocal Indian members of the ICS was the CP where the proportion was 69.7 per cent in 1936, 69.7 per cent in 1938, 79 per cent in 1946 and 75 per cent in 1948.

Among the States which have always had a very substantial portion of local officers in the composition of Indian section of the ICS, Bengal has these figures for non-local officers: 33.8 per cent in 1937, 36 per cent in 1938; and 44.4 per cent in 1946 and West Bengal 25.9 per cent in 1948.

This sharp fall in the percentage was caused by two factors: first the transfer of a large number of Muslim officers from the ICS to the Pakistan Administrative Service These Muslim officers were exclusively nonBengalis and had been allotted to Bengal not because of their inclinations, but to ensure that the Bengal cadre of the ICS did not suffer from a lack of Muslim officers.

The second and, for the purpose of this paper, more important cause was that as many as nine non-local Indian officers ob

tained transfer to the cadre of their States of origin.

It

In Bombay the percentage of non-local officers was 25 in 1937 and 20.7 in 1938 rose to 30.6 per cent in 1946, but fell sharply in 1948 to 22 per cent. In U. P. corresponding figures were 40.8 per cent in 1937, 40 per cent in 1938, 32.5 per cent in 1946 and 30.3 per cent in 1948. In Punjab the figures in the four years maintained a level: 14 per cent in 1937, 15.4 per cent in 1938, 10.2 per cent in 1946 and in East Punjab 14.37 in 1948. Conclusions

Excepting in the period between 1940 and 1946 Madras has never had more than an insignificant proportion of non-local Indian officers in its ICS cadre. The figures were 4.3 per cent in 1937 and 4 per cent in 1938; by 1946 the proportion had risen to 14.9 per cent. but in 1948 the non-local component of the ICS was lower than in the preceding 11 years being 2.9 per cent.

From these figures emerge certain conclusions we found that in those provinces which throughout have produced a large number of successful candidates in the competitive examination for the ICS whether in London or in Delhi, the tendency for the young men was to prefer to serve within their provinces of origin. This applies in particular to Bengal, Madras and Punjab. In provinces like Assam, Bihar and CP, which produced a similar number of successful candidates, they had perforce to take officers from outside. But here again the tendency was for men of local domicile to remain in their own provinces unless the bond of language attracted them to neighbouring

areas.

The overall conclusion to which these figures lead us is that between 1937 and 1947 the Indian officers preferred to serve within their own provinces and many of those who were posted to other provinces would have preferred their own provinces of origin had they been permitted to do so. To this extent the figures justify the gibe that the Indian Civil Service was no truly "Indian".