NATIONAL CIVIL SERVICES DAY

  • 18th National Civil Services Day celebrated on 21st April 2025.
  • Commemorates Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s address in 1947 at Metcalf House, Delhi.
    • Referred to civil servants as the “steel frame of India“.
  • First celebration: 21st April 2006 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi.
  • Organised annually by DARPG and Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions.
  • Objectives:
    • Motivate civil servants to rededicate to public service.
    • Evaluate departmental performance.
    • PM felicitates best-performing officers/teams.

Historical Evolution of Civil Services in India

Ancient India – Mauryan Empire

  • Described in Kautilya’s Arthashastra:
    • Key roles: Swamin (king), Amatya (officials), Janapada, Durga, Kosa, Danda, Mitra.
  • Bureaucracy divided into Mantris (advisors) and Amatyas (administrators).
  • Merit-based recruitment for efficiency in vast empire.

Medieval India – Mughal Empire

  • Mansabdari system by Akbar (1571).
    • Integrated civil & military administration.
    • Officials ranked by competence and responsibility.

British Period

  • Term “Civil Service” originated under East India Company.
  • Warren Hastings laid foundation; Charles Cornwallis known as “Father of Indian Civil Services”.
  • Macaulay’s Report (1835) introduced merit-based recruitment.
    • Civil Service Commission setup in London (1854); exams from 1855.
    • First Indian to qualify: Satyendranath Tagore (1864).
  • Civil Services Exams started in India in 1922 (Allahabad, later Delhi).
  • Formation of Federal Public Service Commission.

Post-Independence

  • UPSC formed under Article 378(1) of Constitution (1950).
  • Role in:
    • Implementing Five-Year Plans, economic policy, and Nehruvian socialism.
    • Ensuring national integration and development.
  • Shift from commanding heights to liberalization era.
  • Adaptation needed due to public expectations, decentralization, and tech advances.

Role of Civil Services in Nation-Building

  • Backbone of national administrative machinery.
  • Functions:
    • Implement government policies and public service delivery.
    • Ensure law and order, disaster management, and crisis response.
    • Connect government with people; ensure welfare schemes reach beneficiaries.
  • Uphold values of integrity, impartiality, and accountability.
  • Crucial for social, economic, and political development.

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