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Chapter 32: INDIAN ADMINISTRATION
Introduction
Evolution of civil service in India was done by the East India
company in 17th century. Servants of company engaged in
commercial functions were called civil servants to separate
them from naval, military employees. When the company acquired
territories these employees were to have administrative
responsibilities too. Cornwallis was the Father of
civil service started reformation, modernization
and rationalization. He felt the civil service should be
reserved for Europeans as he didn't trust integrity, ability
of Indians, Wanted to reserve positions for British elite and
believed administration on British model could be established
by British. He also felt that the task of consolidating
British rule in India should not be left to Indians.
Central Secretariat
The central secretariat comprises of all ministers and
departments of the central government. The central
government has many departments and ministries and they are
in totality present in the central secretariat.
Advantages:
- Helps secretariat officials plan keeping in view
aggregate national interest , goals, requirements. So they
are freed from policy implementation.
- Secretary in charge of a department is a secretary of
the government and so can objectively assess proposals
from different agencies.
- Secretariat ensures specialization, delegation and
decongestion at top.
- Program implementation is separated from policy making.
Roles and functions:
- Helps ministers in policy formulation.
- supervises executive agencies.
- staff agency of government ensures its decisions are
implemented.
- Liaison with state administration.
- Frames rules, regulations and makes policy proposals.
- Assist ministers in discharging parliamentary
responsibilities.
Advantage of tenure system:
- Administrative coordination between center and states.
Thus strengthens federal polity.
- Officers who have first hand experience in field
administration are appointed to secretariat.
- State officials get national perspective.
- Officials help in formulating national policies which
have less difficulties in implementation in field.
- Can remove inefficient secretariat officials.
Breakdown of the tenure system:
- District or field experience isn't necessary in many
areas of secretariat work.
- Doesn't ensure specialization as its based on the myth
of high caliber of generalists.
- Leads to office dominated over bureaucratization as new
officer depends too much on permanent office to get things
done.
- Development of central secretariat service meant that
tenure system was curtailed to top posts.
- Specialization services don't fall under tenure system.
- Officials don't go back to parent state, states also
don't share best officers.
- Ministers at center and state need permanent advisors
not birds of passage.