Unit 11 All India and Central Services
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UNIT 11 ALL INDIA AND CENTRAL SERVICES Structure 1 1.0 Objectives 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Historical Development 1 1.3 Constitution of All India Services 1 1.3.1 Indian Administrative Service 1 1.3.2 Indian Police Service 1 1.3.3 Indian Forest Service 1 1.4 Importance of Indian Administrative Service 1 1.5 Recruitment of All India Services 1 1.5.1 Training of All India Services Personnel 1 1 5.2 Cadre Management 1 1.6 Need for All India Services 1 1.7 Central Services 1 1.7.1 Recwihent 1 1.7.2 Tra~ningand Cadre Management 1 1.7.3 Indian Foreign Service 1 1.8 Let Us Sum Up 1 1.9 Key Words 1 1.10 References and Further Readings 1 1.1 1 Answers to Check Your Progregs Exercises r 1.0 OBJECTIVES 'lfter studying this Unit you should be able to: Explain the historical development, importance and need of the All India Services; Discuss the recruitment and training methods of the All India Seryice; and Through light on the classification, recruitment and training of the Central Civil Services. 11.1 INTRODUCTION A unique feature of the Indian Administration system, is the creation of certain services common to both - the Centre and the States, namely, the All India Services. These are composed of officers who are in the exclusive employment of neither Centre nor the States, and may at any time be at the disposal of either. The officers of these Services are recruited on an all-India basis with common qualifications and uniform scales of pay, and notwithstanding their division among the States, each of them forms a single service with a common status and a common standard of rights and remuneration. Like other federal polities the Centre and the constituent states, under the Indian Constitution, have their separate public services to administer their respective affairs. Thus, there are Central or Union Services to administer Union subjects, like defence, income tax, customs, posts and telegraphs, railways, etc. The officers of these Services are exclusively in the employment of the Ur~ion Government. Similarly, the states have their own separate and independent services. 11.2 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT Ever since the creation of the Indian Civil Service in the days of the East India Cnmnnnv thew hna alwnvs existed in lndin nn All-Tndia cadre of service The All- India cadres were introduced almos~in all departmehts of the Central Goveniment. All Irdla and-Central These services were, however, not under the control of the Governor-&grid; Services they were directly under the Secretary of State for India and his Council,,,No.All- India service officer could be dismissed from his service by any tither' ailthoiity than the Secretary of State-in-Council, An officer had a right of appeal to that body .if he was adversely dealt with in important disciplinary matters. His salary, pension, etc. were not subject to the vote of any Indian legislature. I These elitist Services, unresponsive and unaccountable to public opinion, found i it difficult to adjust themselves to the reform-era introducing every limited i i responsible government under the Government of India Act of 1919. The ~ee Commission in 1924 recommended the abolition of certain all India Services, particularly those dealing with departments that had been 'transferred' to Indian hands under the Act of 1919 namely the Indian Educational Service, Indian Agricultural Service, Indian Veterinary Service and the Roads and Building Branch of the Indian Service of Engineers. It, however, recommended the retention of the Indian Civil Service, Indian Police, Indian Forest Service, Indian Medical Service and the Irrigation Branch of the Indian Service of Engineers. It also recommended the increasing Indianisation of these Services. The Commission further recommended that any British officer should be free to retire on a proportionate pension if at any time the department in which they were employed should be transferred to the control of responsible Indian ministers. These recommendations were implemented in practice. Further changes were made in the position of these Services by the Government of India Act of 1935. Indians had always been demanding the abolition of All India Services. It was argued before the Joint Select Committee of the British Parliament considering the draft of the Act of 1935, and emphasised by the British India delegation in their Joint Memorandum. It stated that further recruitment by the Secretary of State of Officers serving under the Provincial Governments which were to be handed over to popular control was undesirable, and that Services in future be recruited and controlled by the authorities in India. The Joint Committee, however, only partly accepted such demands, and recommended the continuance of ICS, IP and IMS (Civil). This recommendation 'was embodied in Section 224 of the Act of 1935. Thus, at the time of transfer of power in 1947 recruitment was open only to two all India services, namely the ICS and the IP, the recruitment to the IMS had been suspended. The most important and the highest ranking of all such services was the Indian Civil Service commonly known as the ICS which owing to its very high remuneration and enormous authority and prestige, constituted the 'steel frame' of the British Government of India. When the British were leaving India, there were ten all lndia services and twenty-two Central Services. While guaranteeing the rights of the old Services, the new Indian Government had foreseen the need for replacing them with Services controlled and manned by Indians. In fact, as early as October, 1946, Sardar Patel, the then Home Member in the Governor General's Executive Council, had secured the agreement of the Provincial Governments to the formation of the two new all India services, namely the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS), which were to replace the old ICS and IP. 11.3 CONSTITUTION OF ALL INDIA SERVICES - - - -- The Constitution also provides for the all India cadre of Civil Services. It adopts specifically the IAS and the IPS cadres which had already been created earlier (Article 312-2). It empowers the Union Parliament to create more of such all India services whenever it is deemed necessary or expedient in the national interest, provided the Council of States (the Upper House) passes a resolution to the effect supported by not less than two-thirds of the members present and voting (Article 312-1). Since the Council of States is composed of the < Central Administration representatives of different States, its support will ensure the consent of the States to the creation of new Services. The Constitution also authorises the Parliament to regulate by law the recruitment and the conditions of services of persons appointed to these Services. Accordingly, the All India Service Act was passed by the Parliament in October 1951. Since the inauguration of the Constitution,. ,.. only one, namely, the Indian Forest Service, has been setup. 111-1951 All India Services Act was passed. By virtue of powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section (3) of this Act the Central Government framed new sets of rules and regulations pertaining to the All India Services. It became necessary because the old rules at certain places had become redundant. The rules that were in force before commencement of the Act were also allowed to continue. Thus, there came into existence two sets of rules regulating the conditions of All India Services. The old rules made by the Secretary of State, or the Governor General in Council, which regulated the conditions of service of ICS and IP officers, and the new rules made under the 1951 Act were applicable to the officers of the Indian Administrative and Police Services. 11.3.1 Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the direct descendant of the old Indian Civil Service. As an all India service, it is under the ultimate control of the Union Government, but is divided into State cadres, each under the immediate control of a State Government. The salary and the pension of these officers are met by the States. But the disciplinary control and imposition of penalties rest with the Central Government which is guided, in this respect, by the advice of the Union Public Service Commission. On appointment, the officers are posted to different State cadres. The strength of each State cadre, however, is so fixed as to include a reserve of officers who can be deputed for service under the Union Government for one or more 'tenures' of three, four or five years before they return to the State cadre. This ensures that the Union Government has at its disposal the services of officers with first hand knowledge and experience of conditions in the States, while the State Governments have the advantage of their officers being familiar with the policies and programmes of the Union Government. Such an arrangement works for the mutual benefit of both governments. The majority of individual officers have an opportunity of serving at least one spell of duty under the Union Government; many have more than one such spell. The practice of rotating senior officers in and out of the Secretariat position is known in official parlance as the tenure system. Another distinctive feature of this Service is its multi-purpose character. It is composed of 'generalist administrators' who are expected, from time to time, to hold posts involving a wide variety of duties and functions; for example, maintenance of law and grder, collection of revenue, regulation of trade, commerce and industry, welfare activities development and extension work, etc. In brief, the IAS is intended to serve all the purposes formerly served by the ICS except providing officers for the judiciary.