IAS - An outdated Leftover from the Colonial Era

News say that there are too many IAS officers in the state doing an average 1 hour/day work! (Keralasabdam News - 06.01.2002) "sF.-F.-F-kv-þ-sF.-]n.-F-kp-ImÀ¡p-th-­n-bpÅ sNehp \nÊm-c-am-sW-¶p-]-d-bp¶ apJy-a{´n Ah-cn Gsd-t¸À ]d-b-¯¡ tPmen-bn-ÃmsX i¼fw ]äp ¶-h-cm-sW¶v Adn-bm¯ Bf-Ã. ap¼v Ggp-sk-{I-«-dn-amÀ sNbvX tPmen Ct¸mÄ Fgp-]Xv sk{I-«-dn-am-cmWv sN¿p-¶-Xv. Zn hkw Hcp aWn-¡qÀt]mepw tPmen-bn-Ãm¯ sk{I-«-dn-amÀ [mcm-f-am-Wv. tPmen-`mcw icn¡v hn`-Pn-¨m At\Iw sk{I-«-dn-amÀ¡v tPmen ImWp-I-bn-Ã. hnI-k-\-¯n-\pÅ ]WwsIm­v ChÀ¡v i¼ fw \ÂI-Wtam?

Hmtcm hÀjhpw sF.-F.Fkv-þsF.-]n.-Fkv Izm«-bmbn tI{µ-¯nÂ\n¶v A tem«v sN¿p¶ DtZym-K-Ø-·msc \½Ä FSpt¯ ]äp-I-bp-Åpsh¶p apJy-a{´n ]d-bp-¶p. A§s\ Bh-iy-an-Ãm¯ DtZym-K-Ø-·msc kwØm\ Kh¬saân sâ Xe-bn sI«n-sh-bv¡p¶ coXn Ah-km-\n-¸n-¡-W-sa¶p Dds¡ ]d-b-Ww. CsÃ-¦n sF.-F.-F-kv-þ-sF.-]n.-Fkv {] f-b-¯n kÀ¡mÀ ap§n-t¸m-Ipw.'

IAS is a leftover from the Colonial Era. During the British Raj, the colonial rulers wanted a powerful executive authority to govern the regions within the British India or to undertake responsible duties in the Government. Indian Civil Service (ICS) was created. There was an exam to recruit Indians to this cadre. This was right at that time. So we had a Malabar Collector with ICS rank reporting to the Madras Governor of the British India. Malabar Colletor was a responsible job.

Many of the ICS fellows of those days had personal integrity and ability, though they were (rightly from their side) loyal to the British Empire. People could approach them with justifiable causes. We give one example: In the village of Engandiyur, Trichur District, there was no high school during 1943 period. People were mainly farmers of low castes (which mattered those days). A few educated people joined and submitted a memorandum to the Malabar Collector for an school. Mr Lawrence who was the Malabar Collector at Calicut immediately responded. "Yes, you get an high school, but first you must collect a sum of 10.000 rupees for the initial expnses of the building etc)!" This was a large sum of money those days, when 100 coconuts brought probably not more than 10 rupees. But the people collected this money and the school was granted!(Recall no third class politician is involved here, unlike now). This is the National High School. When this happened, the local Church submitted a request to Mr Lawrence. Another high school was granted. So the village had two high schools within 700 metres, something unthinkable in a village those days. The main point here is that there was no poitician, no bribe, nothing of that sort was involved here!

After Independence

ICS was converted to IAS. The idea was to have a band of high profile officers of high calibre. Soon over the years corruption entered the Indian public scene. Politicans introduced or forced corruption everywhere. IAS officers became corrupt, inefficient. Those who are not, could not survive. In short, IAS cadre is a worthless entity today. It has power. But illiterate ministers control these IAS guys (something unthinkable in the days of the Raj). IAS guys are puppets today. As per the Keralasabdam news, we have an excess of them doing nothing.

It is impossible to re-establish the 'ICS' calibre of the Raj today. Time and the needs have changed. What we need is industries not Civil Service employees! It is time to scrape these now. It is time to scrape the Governor's post too. At least the extravaganza surrounding the Governor post should be abolished.