INDIAN CIVIL SERVICES : A Brief History and Prospects.
This blog would be primarily focussing on Indian administrative services(IAS) in which i'd try and seperate myth , hyperbole and state with clarity what it really is and means to be an IAS officer in india.
First a Little bit of History:
Indian civil service in modern sense have thier genesis in East india company's Conventated servents. These bunch of Writers cum accountants ran entire gamut of "Civilian" operations of the honorable EAST INDIA company. Usually, when some paper "packets" came along the shores of calcutta aboard ships from england, the officers looked for Administrative Instructions and ran the entire adminstration accordingly.
Slowly, these bunch of "Civil" servants became highly specialized and organized and had to perform much more complicated and complex activities. So much so , Lord cornwallis, who having just lost to bunch of rag tag band of patriots the entire continent of AMERICA, found a little organisation Lacking when he came over to INDIA.
He was to later become the father of the indian civil services and responsible for its modernisation in the year 1883.
Details aside, this heralded the golden era of Administration in the subcontinent.
This entire band of dispersed "Civil servents" were critical to maintaing Her majesty's Colonial empire thousands of miles away from England.
There were probably a Hundred of these english officers ruling india with her vast population of 40 crores and a multitude of religions, languages, races etc. Remember, There were only 2 lac britishers at any point of time spread over this entire subcontinent.
So crucial were these officers to the Empire that Lord Byron famously declared them the "Steel frame of india". These officers were the Mai baap of the entire administration.
This was Epitomized best by the Superhuman role played by the "District collector". In the eyes of natives, he was Government personified, for there was nothing he couldn't do; fix houses, grant loans, assist flood and famine rehabilitation, protect against aggressive tribal hordes, maintain law and order etc.
For instance, in one story it is said, a poor villager barged into the office of a collector and begged for intervention as his child had been carried away by a tiger. The collector, who was probably busy with paper work , immediately wore his vest and gun, mounted a horse and rode away only to return having killing the tiger and retrieved the child safely.
Albeit romanticized, this illustrates the godly role of a collector in erstwhile era. This was pretty much the attitude of her majesty's civil services, with thier overbearing artisocratic demeanor they look down upon teeming stretches of wretched, famished and crippled humanity, sometimes with sympathy. This was willing taken up by some as "white man's burden", a concept evolved by Rudyard kipling, not without some controversy
So, Eventually on August 15th , 1947 , this was Civil service in India as it was handed over lock,stock and barrel to newly independent India. From Here on, it was to play an even bigger role, one of "Development" and Empowerment of masses, albiet under a democratic setup.
Why should someone Aspire to be an IAS officer?
Ok, so why should anyone try and join the IAS. What should aspire the country's Brightest and the smartest lads to have a go at what is the TOUHGEST exam in the world?
What should motivate you to fling yourself into this mad race for the high pedestal of Bureaucracy?
I try to elucidate what i think the major motivators are, however, please be advised, they are by no means exhaustive or even IDEALISTIC. Some of them may even seen Machiavellian.
Firstly; Prestige, Power, Job security and Respect in life.
Have you ever landed at busy bustands and railway stations and been lost amongst the teeming crowds?
You must be fairly convinced that you are hotshot in your area/ company, have loads of cash , have a cushy job, heck, even a lovely girlfriend, but out of the geography of your area, you have NO IDENTITY.
You go to tirupati, queue up for a darshan on a special ticket, and find there are lacs of similiar people. You sometimes start feeling WORTHLESS, just another SPECK in this vast swathes of humanity.
A roadside constable may have harassed you someday, and you might have argued by citing your honorable IT "ENGINEER" tag which might have only enlarged his casualness and invited his greed for a larger bribe. You might get into some minor scuffles as a youngster in some distant city, and though innocent, might get picked up the local police, you would spare no effort to get you naked on a table.
Later down the line , you might have to queue for your Daughter's admission into a nursery school, only to find exorbitant donations. Helpless, you take a loan and dutifully satisfy the greedy Principal. Later she may be harassed by some goons, but you can only register a complaint on account of your old age.
of course, you may occasionally get out of these situations by saying you are "SO and SO" of some "SO and SO".
Such situations are not very difficult to conceieve for a common man. Did you know there are more than 15 lac IT employees in india. There are crores of Business men and wealthy traders in india, some of them worth a couple of crores. There are 4 lac Engineers passing out every years, mostly Computer science graduates, and many times more are the Regular commerce and arts graduates. There are lacs of MBA students as well. You may be anyone of these, may feel you are special , may feel you are worth a million, but eventually , at a practical level, you are just another COMMON Man.
One common man without much of an identity in this sea of humanity numbering 100 crores.
*****************
From kashmir to kanyakumari, from Siliguri in assam to Porbandar in gujrat, across ravines of Thar desert, mangrooves of Bengal,Plains of Gangetic UP and bihar, forested areas of chattisgarh and jharkhand and across developed regions of Gujrat and maharastra there are only about 4500 odd ELITE cadre of IAS officers. Every year, we have only about 150 new IAS officers.
They are not Goverment servents,
They ARE the GOVERMENT.
Once an IAS, you have an Identity that is nation wide, resolute and powerful. An IAS officer in charge of a district rules over an average area of 5000sq Kms, and the territories of about 12 MLAs. (Try being a simple MLA on your own these days!). Its like being a Zamindar of a vast estate, paid for, of course, by government.
Power.
As part of administrative cadre , your writ would run directly and indirectly over entire country. A phone call here a letter there, and entire towns and villages go on HIGH alert. Constables and traffic policemen line up roads to make sure your Blue Beaconed vechile passes without a hitch. Schools , collleges are decked up to make sure they are in your good books. Hospital staff run helter skelter and put on uniforms that might have been unused in years. Every district official , from DSP to teachers are standying by. That is POWER. And who can aspire to get these at a Young age of 25 plus?. Forget about anyone messing with your family or illegally harassing you, instead you now dicate the lives of millions.
Job security.
As an IAS officer , you are appointed by none less than His Highness the President of INDIA. Under article 311, An ias Cannot be removed by state politicians like CM or a minister. His removal is subject only to UPSC recommendation agreed to by the President. You have a Job for entire life and you are the master of your fate, the captain of your soul.
Perks :
How about a Huge palatial Bungalow, which was priorly the Mahal of some Local raja, as your Residence? Free telephones, Free Cars, couple of servents , drivers to take your wife and kids to where they want to ..etc.
However, the best perks are not these but ones i will elucidate below.
ABILITY TO MAKE DIFFERENCE:
Which job in the world gives you the ability to Decide the lives of more than 20 Lac people? As a Big manager in a huge MNC, i might be able to command a couple of hundred lives, but that pales in comparison to IAS in scale and grandeur.
Did you know that Goverment is SUPREME in whatever you do? we live in an age , where from the time you were born out of your Mum's womb to the time you die, Goverment plays a role. And this is not peculiar to india. Goverments across the world be in USA, or Europoen countries, are becoming more massive and overbearing.
As you are born, a berth Certificate is needed. As you grow up a caste certificate perhaps. When you die you are given a death certificate. you use telephones which relay on guidelines set by TRAI, you use Television beamed by Govt satellites(INSAT), you drink water wihch is purified by govt. authorities, You drive on roads built by govt.
You might have not noticed the Invisible hand of Govt because either you have a Stinkingly rich Papa or might be living in an Highly Urbanized Environment.
But for rest of india, About 70% to be precise, who live in villages, towns and ravines, GOVT is GOD. They depend on govt. for survival. They eat Food Distributed through one of Fair price shops at subsidized rates. they send thier kids to Govt sschools. Farmers depend on govt for Seeds, pesticides. Widows get pensions, young lads get employement,poor wretched kids get scholorships, women get loans and farmers get credit. GOVT IS SUPREME in these areas. In urban areas, where money rules, and it can buy eveything except love, it may not be so conspicious.
Enter the District collector. He commands the lives of an entire district population. Of 2 Million on an average. At the age of late 20's. Imagine that.
He grants funds, sets up schools, decides on what govt land is used for what and by whom, he controls the Law and order, grants special scholarships, helps in building houses for poor, Under famine code he controls Food scarcity, under "defence of India rules" he protects district in times of war. When disaster strikes, as in say an earthquake or tsunami, he is chief officer in charge. Nothing can be done in a whole district without his direct or delegated consent, from granting of gun licences to Appropriation of new Found TREASURE(Under Treasure Trove act).
HE IS GOVT Personified in a District, which is about the size of a small country.
Imagine what a lad of 29 years can do with such an opportunity. Perhaps no other country in the world rests the well being of SO MANY in the hands of SO FEW.
As an IAS officer you can help thousands of destitutes, beggared, homeless and wretched mongrels. You can build houses for people who never dreamed of one(IWY). You can make sure electricity reaches the Godforsaken areas of the planet.
Can you do these being in a Private company? Surely you can be a mittal or a ambani, roam around in porches or Lamborghini's , but what can you do about the teeming millions?
JOB VARIETY:
Civil service is dream come true for anyone seeking Creativity and Change. IF you are in private trade or enterprise, you will eventually get stuck with same line of business. A IT engineer would have to work with same Computers and same technologies all his life, though he may diversify his "SKILL" set. However, this will not change the job character substantially leading to Mundaneness and monotony after some time in life.
Figure this. A Typical IAS officer goes a compelety different Job profile change every couple of years. In fact , apart from the French Prefecture, this perhaps is the only job in the world which is bound to a FUNCTION. In other words, you are a generalist, a jack of all trades. It was old Thomas Macaulay during British times who wanted "Gentleman" with Liberal education and Extraordinary intellect to "ADMINISTER" whatever job that may be assigned to them as against "MENIAL" specialist like scientists, Engineers, Doctors who were to be Parochial and Bound to certain profession all thier life.
This had its basis in John locke's Concept of Aristocratic class ruling over entire gamut of society. Luckily for us, it has survived in the instiution of IAS. AN IAS is like the BIG DADDY of Goverment of india, he's usually given an assignment, a due time to master the content , and he has to be in a position to not only administer the project, but also advice others on it.
SO , a typical officer such as this(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkfDCUvMeAI&feature=player_embedded) can be posted as Head of Income tax dept, Head of Defence Estb, then maye a District collectorship, then as Head of an Electronic Corporaton, then as head of "Industrial explosives" , then head of Secretariat then maybe on a foregin mission to negotiate NAMA agreement of WTO.
Do you see the amazing variety of context that this job offers. You have to constantly learn and Relearn. Its so exciting to know that 2 years down the line, you make finally quit this dull job and do something else, staying in the same service!.
This , for me, is the most exciting reason for you can change JOBS like you can change Girlfriends!
Policy Powers:
As an IAS you have enormous Policy powers. you can dicate how the country behaves, how it runs. The Reserve bank of india is run by couple of Ias officers. RBI , for example, has an authoritative say on how much money is in markets and in what denominations. Simililiarly at higher levels, you have enormous policy powers. You can have a say in which dam is built where, which villages are connected, which treaties are negotiated, which rules have to followed by private operators like, say Telecom bigges. You decide which markets have to be exploited by indian companies, how exposed the domestic markets should be, how institutional investors are to be allowed in india etc.
With one stroke of Pen you can decide how country runs, though this power is usually wielded by IAS when they are sufficiently senior.
SELF ACTUALIZATION:
In every man's life, there comes a time when he wonders what the sum total of his life was. That may not bother a youngster like me but when we are finished with whatever career we choose for life, we stare back and think what good was it.
IAS, with all its powers, privileges and Opportunities , gives you that ONE single chance to do whatever you wanted to do in life. That may have been helping millions of people or creating playgrounds so that more people take to say FOOTBALL. YOU GET THAT CHANCE.
YOU CAN make the difference in IAS. Of course, whether we have the capacity to do that or are willing to do that is entirely different matter.
One day, as all animals, we will die. We will be gone but our legacy may live on.
Civil servants Can leave behind a great legacy. With a single stroke of Pen Lord Macauly changed the education system, because of which most indians are well versed with ENGLISH.
Colonel Sleeman Systematically eradicated infamous band of Murdering Dacoits of Central india, known as Thugees, so much so that there still exists a village called SLEEMANABAD, so named by grateful villagers.
Some collectors forever lived on in people's memory by dining and eating with Plague ravaged people in Poona and Bombay. Some others live on by planting hundreds of trees in all the districts they have been.
More recently, People like Sukumar sen, the first head of Election commission, who created the institution which conducts some of the FAIREST elections in the world. People like TN seshan , who refused entry to Indira gandhi into kalpakkam since he deemed it wasnt conducive for her safety.
There is Mr Rajendra Ratnoo, whose honest and brilliant work in implementing a Employment scheme called NREGA won him a Presidential award.
There are people like J Radhakrishanan, whose brilliant and selfless work on Tsunami ravaged district of nagapattinam won international accolades, so much so that even the then Prez of usA, Mr. BILL Clinton wished to have an audience with him. Even today poor wretched kids of nagapattinam want to grow up and be an IAS.
Having said that, The choice is yours.
As timothy Mcveigh once said " you are the Master of your own fate, The captain of your own soul".
