The civil services in India, often referred to as the “Steel Frame of India“— form the permanent executive branch of the Republic of India. They are responsible for the administration of the country, implementing government policies, and ensuring the delivery of public services at every level.
EVOLUTION OF CIVIL SERVICES
The history of the Indian Civil Service (ICS) is a fascinating journey from a commercial bookkeeping staff to a powerful administrative machinery. It evolved from a tool of colonial extraction into the administrative backbone of a sovereign democracy.
It was started by the East India Company and was called the Honourable East India Company’s Civil Service. In 1858, after the end of the East India Company’s rule in India and the beginning of the British Raj, it became the Indian Civil Service (ICS).
Interestingly, the examinations for ICS were conducted only in London. The age limit was 18 to 23 years. In 1864, ICS got its first Indian officer, Satyendra Nath Tagore, a brother of Rabindranath Tagore. From 1922, the ICS examination began to be held in India also, first in Allahabad and later in Delhi.
The ICS was the steel frame of the British colonial government, its key apparatus that ran India. In fact, much before Patel, British prime minister David Lloyd George had called it a steel frame in 1922. Jawaharlal Nehru once criticised the ICS by calling it “neither Indian, nor civil, nor a service”.
The East India Company Era (1600–1858)
In the early days, “Civil Service” distinguished the company’s commercial workers from its military and naval officers.
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- Mercantile Roots: Initially, employees were classified as apprentices, writers, factors, and merchants. They were often underpaid but grew wealthy through “private trade” and corruption.
- The Cornwallis Reforms (1786–1793): Lord Cornwallis is known as the “Father of Civil Service in the British India.” He raised salaries to curb corruption and strictly separated the commercial and administrative branches. However, he also institutionalized racism by excluding Indians from higher posts.
- Fort William College (1800): Established by Wellesley in Calcutta to train new recruits in local languages and customs. Later, training moved to Haileybury College in England (1806).
- The Charter Act of 1853: This was a massive turning point. It abolished the “patronage system” (where directors hand-picked recruits) and introduced Open Competitive Examinations, ensuring entry based on merit rather than connections.
