The civil services in India are at a historic crossroads. Either they reform and reclaim their lost glory, or they continue their descent into irrelevance and infamy. The stakes are high. A nation as vast and diverse as India cannot afford a dysfunctional administrative machinery. Civil services day on April 21 and the ritual of the prime minister’s message may be fruitful if bureaucrats come up to the expectations of people in the country which still seems to be a far cry.

Once revered as the “Steel Frame of India” by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Indian Civil Services, birthed in the colonial era to uphold the writ of the British Empire, now teeters on the brink of irrelevance, cynicism, and corruption. The bureaucratic behemoth, once the pride of an emerging republic, has now become a metaphor for inefficiency, red tape, and backroom dealings. The dream of an impartial, meritocratic, and morally upright administrative machinery lies tattered under the weight of political interference, erosion of ethics, and cronyism.

Representative Image | File Photo

Genesis: Colonial Legacy with a Democratic Mask

The Indian Civil Services trace their origin to the Indian Civil Service (ICS) of British India, designed to serve imperial interests. The colonial masters crafted a bureaucracy that was loyal, elitist, and impervious to popular will. Its mandate was governance without accountability — a tool of command, not compassion.

Post-Independence, the Indian leadership retained the structure but failed to reinvent its soul. The nomenclature changed — from ICS to IAS — but the mind-set remained colonial: aloof from grassroots, obsessed with hierarchy, and structurally inclined towards secrecy and status quo.

Instead of becoming the engine of democratic transformation, it often functioned as a feudal holdover — privileged, insulated, and distanced from the pulse of the people. The transformation of ICS to IAS became cosmetic, not cultural.

The Civil Services Today: A Story of Decay

Civil servants in today’s India are no longer seen as the wise helmsmen of public policy but as careerists manoeuvring for plum postings, security, and patronage. The prestige remains; the performance does not. For the average citizen, the bureaucracy is a maze of delays, bribes, and unresponsiveness.

The syndrome is systemic. The incentives are perverse. Integrity is penalized; pliability is rewarded. Officers who refuse to bend the knee to political bosses are shunted, humiliated, or marginalized. Those who become willing accomplices in corruption are decorated with power and privilege. It’s no wonder then, that the steel frame is now seen as rusted, not robust.

Corruption: The Unholy Worm in the Core

Corruption in the civil services is no longer an exception; it is becoming the norm. From manipulating land records to diverting welfare funds, from siphoning off developmental budgets to running extortion rackets in licensing and enforcement — the bureaucracy has developed a dark parallel economy.

Cases like the Vyapam scam, the Adarsh Housing Society scandal, and illegal mining in Bellary were not possible without bureaucratic connivance. In many states, civil servants auction postings, demand cuts from contractors, and treat public office as a means of private enrichment.

The pre-retirement bonanza and........

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