Why join the Civil Service, and howNote: The note below was based on an email I wrote to someone who had asked me about the IAS sometime in 1996 or 1997. This note was updated slightly a couple of years later – before I resigned from the IAS in 2001. I found that this note was cited recently in 2008 by someone. I’ve added a few clarifications at the end so that my consolidated view is available, for whatever it is worth. 16 August 2008 |
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Very often young people ask me about the civil service, whether it is worthwhile to aspire for it, and sometimes, they ask me how to qualify for it. I thought that I could make a little contribution by putting my limited understanding of the issues involved on my web page. Why join the Civil ServiceAt the end of about 15 years of service in the IAS, I still feel that a career in the Civil Service is a worthwhile one. Despite the stench of corruption that pervades bureaucracy and politics in India, there is, in my (perhaps biased) opinion, no job in the great nation that is India, that even closely parallels this job in sheer range and scope, and challenge. I feel that the civil services need major reforms in India, as does our economic policy, but perhaps the best way to bring about these reforms is from within, where one can help in the dialog that leads to change. I know that many of the activities that I have carried out in my service career have not been productive in the true sense of the word, by which I mean that there has not been a transformation of incentive systems for the people, nor as great a reduction in transaction costs for them as I would have liked. I also know that a vast majority of the efforts that one undertook came to naught due to the great difficulty of motivating various levels of the bureaucracy, and in coordinating these efforts in the absence of an efficient communication system. But I must say that whatever I was determined to do, and was willing to put in the effort and hours into, I was by and large able to, such as introducing computers at the district level in Assam in 1986, and re-organizing the Collectorate in a district of Assam in 1989 to make it more "user-friendly" for the people, etc. It was the act of working actively in the rural development sector that taught me that something is severely wrong, and that no amount of honest, sincere, implementation of the anti-poverty programs can create a dent in our poverty. The experience of operating within the confines of a socialistic economy has shown me at first hand the often perverted incentive systems that are at work, leading to corruption and inefficiency at various levels. And that has led to a personal search for better policy options. If one fails to take into account the history of our nation and the tremendous constraints operating on the system and sets expectations that are unrealistic, one is bound to aspire for things that will not materialize. On the other hand, once one has understood the system to some extent, one can try to influence it toward change. That is, in my humble opinion, perhaps more possible through a civil service career than in others (except politics). Therefore, at this stage of my career, when I am spending virtually five years in theoretical analysis of economics, I am in a better position to think about suitable policy changes and possible ways of creating such change , than I would be in some other job, say. Being in the IAS gives me the hope that I will be able to influence at least some change. That, ultimately, is the greatest charm of this job: an opportunity to understand India and to possibly influence it. Also, an opportunity to discover oneself, one's limitations and one's creative potential. Therefore, despite the pervasive cynicism prevailing about the role of the civil services in the nation, I would commend this job to those who are seeking more in life than mere personal economic stability. Of course, you would need grit and determination, and ability, as well as some luck, to qualify to be a civil servant. PS:
3. Finally, I must mention that very often serious doubts arise in one's mind about the system in which IAS officers function. There are by now a number of IAS officers in the country who have lost their lives in the course of their duty as well as many who have been publicly humiliated for being honest, apart from being beaten. For example, read this story about how an IAS officer was beaten badly by a Minister recently. |
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Note added on 16 August 2008
I left the IAS over 7 years ago and have come to the firm conclusion that the IAS or any other 'tenured service' is inappropriate for India. Its disadavantages in terms of inefficiency considerably outweigh its few advantages. It might have been suitable while kickstarting the country, but it is now anachronistic and irrelevant.
I wrote an article in the Times of India last year to clarify what can be done: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Editorial/Reform_the_bureaucracy/articleshow/2242779.cms
More importantly, I've proposed a considerable analysis and alternative solutions in my forthcoming book 'Breaking Free of Nehru' at: http://www.sanjeev.sabhlokcity.com/breakingfree.html
The question arises: who is to 'bell the cat'? I don't believe existing political forces in India are interested in reform of any sort. They gain by having corrupt and inefficient civil servants around them. So the solution is to build an alternative political platform based on world-best models of governance and freedom. For that I have established the Freedom Team of India (http://freedomteam.in) as one such possible platform.
Regards Sanjeev |