Civil Services Reforms in India

As the services receive criticism from political executives, it is important to understand the steps to help it perform better and be more accountable.Recently while speaking on the floor of the House

As the services receive criticism from political executives, it is important to understand the steps to help it perform better and be more accountable. Recently while speaking on the floor of the House, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was critical of the functioning of the  in India, especially IAS. In the words of the PM, “Officers will do everything. By becoming IAS officers, they will operate fertilizer factories, even fly airplanes. What is this big power we have created? What are we going to achieve by handing over the reins of the nation to these officers?” The statement has rightly raised a valid question about the need for Civil Services . To understand the essence of the PM’s criticism, we must understand the origin and evolution of  in . The present system was created by the British to serve imperial interests. It was called the Imperial Civil Service. They were expected to perform regulatory functions like maintaining law and order and generating revenue. It must be noted that ICS was considered the most efficient  in the world in the 20th Century.