The civil service system introduced in India by the East India Company for the benefit of its commercial affairs got transformed into a well-structured machinery to look after the administrative affairs of the acquired territories in India.

In fact, in the beginning, the term ‘civil service’ was used to distinguish the servants of the Company engaged in commercial affairs from those people employed in the military and naval services. Gradually, the civil servants were bestowed with other responsibilities and authority.

Role of Cornwallis

Cornwallis (governor general, 1786–93) was the first to bring into existence and organise the civil services.

He tried to check corruption through:

● raising the civil servants’ salary;

● strict enforcement of rules against private trade;

● debarring civil servants from taking presents, bribes etc.; and

● enforcing promotions through seniority.

Role of Wellesley

In 1800, Wellesley (governor general, 1798–1805) set up the Fort William College for training of new recruits. In 1806, Wellesley’s college was disapproved by the Court of Directors and instead the East India College was set up at Haileybury in England to impart two years’ training to the recruits.

Charter Act of 1853

The 1853 Charter Act ended the Company’s patronage, enjoining recruitment to be through an open competition henceforth.

The Indians, however, were barred from high posts from the very beginning. Cornwallis thought, “Every native of Hindustan is corrupt.” The Charter Act of 1793 had reserved all posts worth 500 pounds per annum for the covenanted servants of the Company.

The reasons for exclusion of Indians were:

● the belief that only the English could establish administrative services serving British interests;

● the belief that the Indians were incapable, untrustworthy, and insensitive to the British interests;

● the fact that there was high competition among the Europeans themselves for lucrative posts, so why
offer them to the Indians.

Although the Charter Act of 1833 theoretically threw open the services to the Indians, the relevant provisions were never really implemented. After 1857, when the Indians claimed a share in higher services, the Proclamation of 1858 declared the British intention of including the Indians, freely and impartially, in offices under the civil service.

Indian Civil Service Act of 1861

This act reserved certain offices for convenanted civil servants, but the examination was held in England in the English language, based on classical learning of Greek and Latin. The maximum permissible age was gradually reduced from 23 (in 1859) to 22 (in 1860) to 21 (in 1866) and to 19 (1878).

In 1863, Satyendra Nath Tagore became the first Indian to qualify for the Indian Civil Service.

Statutory Civil Service

In 1878–79, Lytton introduced the Statutory Civil Service consisting of one-sixth of covenanted posts to be filled by Indians of high families through nominations by local governments subject to approval by the secretary of State and the viceroy. But the system failed and was abolished.

Congress Demand and Aitchison Committee

The Indian National Congress raised the demand, after it was set up in 1885, for:

● lowering of age limit for recruitment, and

● holding the examination simultaneously in India and Britain.

The Aitchison Committee on Public Services (1886), set up by Dufferin, recommended:

● dropping of the terms ‘covenanted’ and ‘uncovenanted’;

● classification of the civil service into Imperial Indian Civil Service (examination in England), Provincial
Civil Service (examination in India), and Subordinate Civil Service (examination in India); and

● raising the age limit to 23.

In 1893, the House of Commons in England passed a resolution supporting holding of simultaneous examination in India and England, but the resolution was never implemented. Kimberley, the secretary of state, said, “It is indispensable that an adequate number of members of civil service shall always be Europeans.”

Montford Reforms 1919

The Montford reforms:

● stated a realistic policy—“If a responsible government is to be established in India, the more Indians we
can employ in public service, the better;”

● recommended holding of simultaneous examination in India and England; and

● recommended that one-third of recruitments be made in India itself—to be raised annually by 1.5 per cent.

Lee Commission (1924)

The Lee Commission recommended that:

● the secretary of state should continue to recruit the ICS, the Irrigation branch of the Service of Engineers, the Indian Forest Service, etc.;

● the recruitments for the transferred fields like education and civil medical service be made by
provincial governments;

● direct recruitment to ICS on the basis of 50:50 parity between the Europeans and the Indians be reached in 15 years; and

● a Public Service Commission be immediately established (as laid down in the Government of India
Act, 1919).

Government of India Act, 1935

The 1935 Act recommended the establishment of a Federal Public Service Commission and Provincial Public Service Commission under their spheres. But the positions of control and authority remained in
British hands and the process of Indianisation of the civil service did not put effective political power in Indian hands since the Indian bureaucrats acted as the agents of colonial rule.

Evaluation of Civil Services under British Rule

Just as Indians were systematically excluded from law and policy-making bodies, they were mostly kept out of the institutions responsible for policy implementation. European supremacy was assured in the civil service as in other spheres of governance. This was done in mainly two ways.

Firstly, although Indians had begun to enter the coveted ranks of the Indian Civil Services (ICS) ever since 1863, entering the civil services was still extremely difficult for the Indians. The entrance examination for the ICS was held in London in English medium only, and the subjects included classical Greek and Latin learning. Moreover, the maximum age for appearing at the examination was reduced from 23 in 1859 to 19 in 1878 under Lytton.

Secondly, all key positions of power and authority and those which were well-paid were occupied by the Europeans.

Though a slow process of Indianisation occurred after 1918 under nationalist pressure, important and senior positions continued to be occupied by Europeans. But gradually, the Indians came to realise that Indianisation of civil service had not, in any way, transferred effective power into Indian hands. The Indian members of the civil service continued to serve the imperialist interests of their British masters.

Must read: Economic policies of the British in India

External link: https://upsc.gov.in/sites/default/files/History%20of%20the%20Commission%20final%20%281%29_0.pdf

PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUES . Wellesley established the Fort William College at Calcutta because: UPSC 2020

(a) he was asked by the Board of Directors at London to do so

(b) he wanted to revive interest in oriental learning in India

(c) he wanted to provide William Carey and his associates with employment

(d) he wanted to train British civilians for administrative purpose in India

Show Answer