Indian Civil Services
Encyclopedia
The Indian Civil Service (ICS), which after 1886 was officially called the Imperial Civil Service and was also known as the British India Civil Service, was the civil service
of the Government of India in the period of the British Raj
. Its members were appointed under Section XXXII of the Government of India Act, 1858
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
.
At the time of the Partition of India
in 1947, the ICS was divided between the new dominion
s of India
and Pakistan
. Although these are now organised differently, the contemporary Civil Services of India
and the Pakistan Civil Service are both descended from the old ICS.
's rule in India, the British civil service
took on its administrative responsibilities. The cause of the change in governance had been the Indian Rebellion of 1857
, which came close to toppling British rule in the country. In the beginning, the British civil service was a key institution in maintaining a colonial form of rule over the Provinces of British India, its major tasks including law and order functions. The different provinces controlled their own civil services.
After 1858, there was a clear distinction between the 'Indian Civilians' of the ICS, who were government officials, and the military officers of the Indian Army
, and a career in both was unusual. Before 1858, the officers of the East India Company's Presidency Armies
were company employees, like its administrators, and a career in both was not unusual.
Successful candidates underwent one or two years probation in England, according to whether they had taken the London or the Indian examination. This period was spent at the University of Oxford
, the University of Cambridge
, or the School of Oriental Studies in London, where a candidate studied Law and the procedures of India, including criminal law
and the Law of Evidence, which all gave the knowledge and the idea of the revenue system, reading Indian history and learning the language of the Province to which they had been assigned.
By 1920, there were a total of five methods of entry into the higher civil service: firstly, the open competitive examinations in London; secondly, separate competitive examinations in India; thirdly, nomination in India to satisfy provincial and communal representation; fourthly, promotion from the Provincial Civil Service and lastly, appointments from the bar which by one-fourth of the posts, out of the total posts reserves for the ICS, were to be filled from the bar.
peddlers. The name Imperial Civil Service was changed to Civil Service of India. However, the term Indian Civil Service (ICS) persisted. The acronym ICS continued to be used to denote the covenanted civil servants.
A third group, the Statutory Civil Service which functioned in the second half of the nineteenth century, was disbanded by the beginning of the 1890s. To this group were recruited young men from respectable and affluent Indian families. This service was replaced by the provincial civil services, which was constituted on the basis of the recommendations of the Aitchison Commission
. It consisted of two cadres, Provincial Civil Service and Subordinate Civil Service. Further developments took place as a result of the application of the scheme of cadre organization to the administrative departments. Thus, for example, the departments of Forest and Public Works had both the imperial, and provincial branches. The basic pattern of the cadre system in the civil service was thus established following the recommendations of the Aitchison Commission.
In 1912, the Islington Commission
was appointed, but its report could be published only in 1917, by which time its recommendations had become outdated due to the First World War and Edwin Montagu
's August Declaration presented before the House of Commons on August 20 1917, that in order to satisfy the local demands, the government was interested in giving more representation to the native Indian population. Therefore, no consideration was given to them. By 1934, the system of administration in India came gradually to consist of seven All India Services and five Central Departments, all under the control of the Secretary of State, and three Central Departments under joint Provincial and Imperial control. The ICS and the Indian Police (Service) were in the 'transferred field', that is, the authority for the control of these services and for making appointments were transferred from the Secretary of State to the provincial governments. It seems relevant to mention that the All India and class I central services were designated as Central Superior Services as early as 1924 in the Lee Commission's report.
, the Indian Civil Service was divided between the new Dominion
s of India
and Pakistan
. The parts which went to India retained the name "Indian Civil Service", while Pakistan renamed the parts it inherited as the "Civil Service of Pakistan" (CSP).
Speaking in the House of Commons in 1935, former British prime minister David Lloyd George
said of the ICS that it was "the steel frame on which the whole structure of government and of administration in India rests".
At about the same time, Jawaharlal Nehru
, later the first Prime Minister of India, wrote
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
of the Government of India in the period of the British Raj
British Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
. Its members were appointed under Section XXXII of the Government of India Act, 1858
Government of India Act 1858
The Government of India Act 1858 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed on August 2, 1858. Its provisions called for the liquidation of the British East India Company and the transference of its functions to the British Crown...
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
.
At the time of the Partition of India
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
in 1947, the ICS was divided between the new dominion
Dominion
A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...
s of India
Dominion of India
The Dominion of India, also known as the Union of India or the Indian Union , was a predecessor to modern-day India and an independent state that existed between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950...
and Pakistan
Dominion of Pakistan
The Dominion of Pakistan was an independent federal Commonwealth realm in South Asia that was established in 1947 on the partition of British India into two sovereign dominions . The Dominion of Pakistan, which included modern-day Pakistan and Bangladesh, was intended to be a homeland for the...
. Although these are now organised differently, the contemporary Civil Services of India
Civil Services of India
The Civil Services of India refer to the civil service and the permanent bureaucracy of the Government of India...
and the Pakistan Civil Service are both descended from the old ICS.
Origins and History
From 1858, after the demise of the East India CompanyEast India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
's rule in India, the British civil service
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
took on its administrative responsibilities. The cause of the change in governance had been the Indian Rebellion of 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
, which came close to toppling British rule in the country. In the beginning, the British civil service was a key institution in maintaining a colonial form of rule over the Provinces of British India, its major tasks including law and order functions. The different provinces controlled their own civil services.
After 1858, there was a clear distinction between the 'Indian Civilians' of the ICS, who were government officials, and the military officers of the Indian Army
British Indian Army
The British Indian Army, officially simply the Indian Army, was the principal army of the British Raj in India before the partition of India in 1947...
, and a career in both was unusual. Before 1858, the officers of the East India Company's Presidency Armies
Presidency armies
The presidency armies were the armies of the three presidencies of the East India Company's rule in India, later the forces of the British Crown in India...
were company employees, like its administrators, and a career in both was not unusual.
Entry and Setting
The competitive examination for entry to the civil service was combined for the Diplomatic, the Home, the Indian, and the Colonial Services. Candidates must be aged between 21 and 24, which gave everyone three chances for entry. The total marks possible for the examination were 1,900.Successful candidates underwent one or two years probation in England, according to whether they had taken the London or the Indian examination. This period was spent at the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
, the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, or the School of Oriental Studies in London, where a candidate studied Law and the procedures of India, including criminal law
Criminal law
Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...
and the Law of Evidence, which all gave the knowledge and the idea of the revenue system, reading Indian history and learning the language of the Province to which they had been assigned.
By 1920, there were a total of five methods of entry into the higher civil service: firstly, the open competitive examinations in London; secondly, separate competitive examinations in India; thirdly, nomination in India to satisfy provincial and communal representation; fourthly, promotion from the Provincial Civil Service and lastly, appointments from the bar which by one-fourth of the posts, out of the total posts reserves for the ICS, were to be filled from the bar.
Working and Types:
There were two exclusive groups of civil servants during the formative stage of direct British rule in India. The higher employees who entered into covenants with the Company came to be known as "covenanted" servants, whereas those not signing such agreements came to be known as "uncovenanted". The latter group generally filled the lower positions. This distinction between the covenanted and the uncovenanted virtually came to an end with the constitution of the Imperial Civil Service of India based on the recommendations of the Public Service Commission, 1886–87, though the phrase covenanted continued to be used of anyone in a salaried position with a long term contract — including boxwallahBoxwallah
Boxwallahs were small-scale travelling merchant peddlers in India. They were known as boxwallahs because of the large boxes in which they carried their merchandise , though the term has been known to be applied to any traveling peddler and also to people involved in business and commercial activities...
peddlers. The name Imperial Civil Service was changed to Civil Service of India. However, the term Indian Civil Service (ICS) persisted. The acronym ICS continued to be used to denote the covenanted civil servants.
A third group, the Statutory Civil Service which functioned in the second half of the nineteenth century, was disbanded by the beginning of the 1890s. To this group were recruited young men from respectable and affluent Indian families. This service was replaced by the provincial civil services, which was constituted on the basis of the recommendations of the Aitchison Commission
Aitchison Commission
The Aitchison Commission was set up in 1886 under the chairmanship of Sir Charles Umpherston Aitchison to come up with a scheme for fulfilling the claims of Indians to higher and more extensive employment in public service...
. It consisted of two cadres, Provincial Civil Service and Subordinate Civil Service. Further developments took place as a result of the application of the scheme of cadre organization to the administrative departments. Thus, for example, the departments of Forest and Public Works had both the imperial, and provincial branches. The basic pattern of the cadre system in the civil service was thus established following the recommendations of the Aitchison Commission.
In 1912, the Islington Commission
Islington Commission
The Islington Commission was the public name of a 1912 Royal Commission on Public Servcies in India under the Chairmanship of Lord Islington....
was appointed, but its report could be published only in 1917, by which time its recommendations had become outdated due to the First World War and Edwin Montagu
Edwin Samuel Montagu
Edwin Samuel Montagu PC was a British Liberal politician. He notably served as Secretary of State for India between 1917 and 1922.-Background and education:...
's August Declaration presented before the House of Commons on August 20 1917, that in order to satisfy the local demands, the government was interested in giving more representation to the native Indian population. Therefore, no consideration was given to them. By 1934, the system of administration in India came gradually to consist of seven All India Services and five Central Departments, all under the control of the Secretary of State, and three Central Departments under joint Provincial and Imperial control. The ICS and the Indian Police (Service) were in the 'transferred field', that is, the authority for the control of these services and for making appointments were transferred from the Secretary of State to the provincial governments. It seems relevant to mention that the All India and class I central services were designated as Central Superior Services as early as 1924 in the Lee Commission's report.
Partition of India
At the time of the partition of IndiaPartition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
, the Indian Civil Service was divided between the new Dominion
Dominion
A dominion, often Dominion, refers to one of a group of autonomous polities that were nominally under British sovereignty, constituting the British Empire and British Commonwealth, beginning in the latter part of the 19th century. They have included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland,...
s of India
Dominion of India
The Dominion of India, also known as the Union of India or the Indian Union , was a predecessor to modern-day India and an independent state that existed between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950...
and Pakistan
Dominion of Pakistan
The Dominion of Pakistan was an independent federal Commonwealth realm in South Asia that was established in 1947 on the partition of British India into two sovereign dominions . The Dominion of Pakistan, which included modern-day Pakistan and Bangladesh, was intended to be a homeland for the...
. The parts which went to India retained the name "Indian Civil Service", while Pakistan renamed the parts it inherited as the "Civil Service of Pakistan" (CSP).
Support and criticism
Dewey has commented that "in their heyday they [Indian Civil Service officers] were the most powerful officials in the Empire, if not the world. A tiny cadre, a little over a thousand strong, ruled more than 300,000,000 Indians. Each Civilian had an average 300,000 subjects, and each Civilian penetrated every corner of his subjects' lives, because the Indian Civil Service directed all the activities of the Anglo-Indian state."Speaking in the House of Commons in 1935, former British prime minister David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
said of the ICS that it was "the steel frame on which the whole structure of government and of administration in India rests".
At about the same time, Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...
, later the first Prime Minister of India, wrote