Upholding The Sacred Trust

April 21 is celebrated as Civil Services Day because on this day, the Hon’ble former Home Minister of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, addressed the first batch of officers of the newly created IAS service as the successor to the ICS. Addressing them, he said, “You are the pioneers in the Indian Service, and the future of the service will depend much upon the foundation and tradition that will be laid down by you—by character and abilities, and by spirit of service.”

He highlighted five qualities that the IAS should embody: impartiality and incorruptibility, integrity, work without any expectation of extraneous rewards, sovereignty, and spirit of service. He went on to paint a vision for the future of the service by saying, “Along with discipline, you must cultivate an esprit de corps, without which a service has little meaning. You should regard it as a proud privilege to belong to the service—the covenants of which you will sign and uphold, through your service, its dignity, integrity, and incorruptibility.”

The IAS today has to look within and ask itself whether it has lived up to the lofty ideals with which it was created. I guess the answer would be mixed. The service has produced outstanding and dedicated officers who have contributed to the building of the nation. Officers of the civil services conduct elections with fairness, impartiality, and great efficiency; they do outstanding work in handling natural calamities and stand for the values enshrined in the Constitution, as well as work with a sense of service to the people in policy formulation and execution.

Yet, a large section of people bear animosity towards the IAS and consider it a legacy of the colonial regime, insulated from the problems of the citizens of India. Some of the criticism of the IAS is valid, but the rest is largely based on an inadequate understanding of the conditions in which IAS officers work and perform. Clichés like the IAS is ‘rule-bound, resistant to change, overbearing, arrogant, self-seeking, obstructionist, and not suited for the 21st century’ are thrown around. Many of these criticisms are ill-informed and turn a blind eye to the yeoman service rendered by many IAS officers in building the nation.

There is no doubt that there has been a decline in the basic values of integrity, impartiality, and incorruptibility in the service. But it is also true that there are a large number of officers working with total commitment, integrity, and dedication in the service of the nation.

The IAS opens up a path to a lot of power, influence, and immense opportunity. Yet, it is also the portal to numerous challenges. Today, on Civil Services Day, the service must introspect and reflect upon its performance.

There is no denying that there is still a gap in the delivery of public services to the people. Despite becoming the fifth-largest economy in the world, we are still a developing country, with per capita income, human development, and hunger indicators far below those of most nations. This indicates a governance failure somewhere, and the IAS, being at the apex of the structure of governance, cannot escape responsibility. Each IAS officer must introspect and reflect on this. The service needs to rediscover and reinvent itself; otherwise, it faces an uncertain future. The IAS has few friends, and it must redeem itself through performance and integrity.

IAS officers are supposed to work in anonymity and not chase personal or professional publicity. Ironically, this virtue has worked to the detriment of the service. People are not aware of the outstanding work done by many IAS officers. Today, some IAS officers have taken to social media to talk about their achievements, but these are only a few, while a large number are working quietly with dedication. There is an urgent need to document the initiatives and proactive work done by various officers and also to develop achievement-based case studies.

In this light, it is heartening that some IAS officers are recognised for their performance and honoured with the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Governance on the occasion of Civil Services Day. I was also very happy to see that the Indian Express Group gave awards to District Magistrates and Collectors who did transformative work in their districts. I feel if more such examples are brought to the knowledge of the people, they will view the service more favourably.

In a democracy, the elected political representative is the one who holds the reins of power, and the civil service has to work in close conjunction with them. The job of the IAS is to advise in policy formulation and take the lead in implementation. The politician is aware of the pulse of the people and articulates their vision, which has to be translated into action by the civil servant. Governance cannot move forward if both these wheels of good governance do not work together.

Political intervention is essential in a democracy, but political interference leads to suboptimal results. In general, there is a harmonious relationship between the politician and the civil servant, but often there is conflict, which can have negative consequences. My take is that things move in the right direction if both understand each other’s viewpoint. The civil servant has to appreciate that politicians must respond to the wishes of their voters, while the politician should understand that a civil servant must work according to the Constitution and the rule of law.

In the State Governments today (not so much in the Government of India), the identity of officers is linked to their caste or community. This is unfortunate because the only identity of an officer should be that he is an officer. This has reached such proportions in some states that officers are shuffled like a pack of cards with every change of government. So much so, that officers holding important positions under one government are packed off to insignificant posts by the new government.

Realising this, many officers have also started using this card and are now openly aligning themselves with political parties in order to reap the harvest when a particular political party comes to power. Even more ominous is the disturbing trend of inquiries being ordered against officers presumed to be close to the outgoing government. It is also true that some officers bring this upon themselves by their actions. When asked to bend, many are willing to crawl in the lure of powerful assignments.

Today, the IAS must redeem its pledge to the nation and be responsive to the needs and aspirations of the poor and marginalised sections of society. It must realise that its future is at a crossroads and will be determined by the path it takes. It has to do a lot of soul-searching to overcome its weaknesses, build on its strengths, and take India forward on the path of becoming a developed nation.

It is through its efficiency, effectiveness, leadership, problem-solving approach, decision-making, and absolute integrity that the IAS will be able to refurbish its image and truly don the mantle of a premier service. It is only then that the service will be able to fully justify the immense faith with which Sardar Patel had supported its creation.

The writer is an ex-Chief Secretary, Govt of Uttar Pradesh. Views expressed are personal