Why we have tears in our eyes.

"Nearly seven decades ago, an erudite statesman from Gujarat came up with a distinctive idea of creating a politically neutral and independent civil service. This 'steel frame', as he rightly put it, would form a permanent executive to deliver fair and just administration to the newly independent country," wrote SS Dhillon, a retired IAS officer. The "erudite statesman from Gujarat" was Sardar Vallabhai Patel who continued with officers of the Indian Civil Service, ICS, despite being labeled a "kept service" and an "expensive luxury" by Jawaharlal Nehru and the officers being accused of "clinging to their superiors and bullying their inferiors". For those who are young, 'kept' meant a 'mistress' or 'whore' in those days, as in 'a kept woman'. Apparently it was Lloyd George, then Prime Minister of Britain, who referred to the ICS as Britain's steel frame in India. Dhillon should hardly be proud of that description. As politicians have become corrupt and criminals have become politicians so the IAS has become a partner in all the corruptions in this country. "Seven decades hence, another leader from Gujarat is making a half-baked attempt to 'reform' the civil service. A 'bold experiment' is being carried out in the form of lateral entry at joint secretary-level in the government of India," wrote Dhillon scornfully. He is talking about Prime Minister Modi and direct appointment from outside the IAS. In response, SA Aiyer asks, "Why just 10 posts for lateral entry into the bureaucracy? Why not 500?" He names several non-IAS people who were employed directly to high posts and were highly successful but the IAS has reacted so venomously that the government backed down. Bureaucrats are promoted on seniority and not on merit. One told Aiyer "Merit is a matter of opinion, seniority is a matter of fact." "The Indian bureaucracy may think it is the cat's whiskers but its actual performance has been pathetic. The public believes that the civil service is neither civil not delivers service." The IAS has changed from a steel frame to a "steel cage", wrote Chattopadhyay and Johnson because a lack of specialization makes them poor administrators in this age of fast changing technology. The IAS is a "powerful magnet for competent, capable, and proficient graduates from various fields and diverse fields" who "must undergo an application process that makes getting into Harvard look like a walk in the park". Hence, those who "make it to the IAS are exceptionally intelligent individuals", thinks Dhillon. Delusions of grandeur. "You want us to leave India. We would leave very soon but one thing you must remember that you would not be able to maintain those vaulting standards of fairness, honesty, efficaciousness and diligence in administration which we have maintained because of the conspicuous role of the ICS, and other services despite difficulties of governing and numerous odds faced by us. Time would come when many of you would remember us with tears in your eyes and nobody to console you," said Sir Evans Jenkins ICS, in 1947. Hear, hear. Absolutely.