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Administrative Thinkers Series -
3
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
By Lieutenant Colonel H Sarat Singh
Sardar Patel, the "Iron man of India', would not give in and stood by his original proposal most tenaciously. He summed up the decision by emphasizing " a general consensus in favor of the formation of an Indian Administrative Service", and expressed the hope that "after the general scheme was framed, those who were at present not in favor, would be convinced that the adequate allowance had been made for provincial susceptibility regarding control and would agree to join in".
On the mode and the method of recruitment, it favors the adoption of rules and regulations prevalent in the case of the Indian Civil Service. Accepting the suggestion of Govind Ballah Paut, it recommended a combined Competitive Examination for the proposed Administrative Service and the Indian Foreign Service. Decisions taken on many other matters were demonstrably respectful of provincial susceptibilities and left substantial autonomy with the provinces. With regard to the fixation of cadre strength, the provinces were to work out the number required. The central government would determine its own requirements, and after receiving the provincial proposals would work out the details of the cadre.
The quota for promotion of the provincial civil service officers in the proposed service was recommended to be 25 per cent of the superior posts. The provinces were left free to select and to devise rules of selection for the provincial service quota, but the persons fully selected were to be subject to a certificate of fitness by the Federal Public Service Commission. It was also suggested that benefits to leave, pensions and other conditions of service should be designed on the basis of rules applicable to the provincial services. Above all, allotment of officers was to be made in consultation with the provinces and candidates should as far as possible, be allotted to their provinces of origin".
Sardar Patel persuaded the conference to make recommendation on many other matters. On the question of rates of remuneration for the proposed All India Administrative Service, it regarded the existing pay-scales of the ICS on the high side, and recommended a five years' scale at Rs
300-50-400-450-500, leaving the final decision in this respect to the First Central Pay Commission, which had already been appointed by the government. The representatives of the provinces also agreed that uniformity of pay scale even in the other provinces, which would not come in the central scheme, would be desirable so that if they later decided to join, the absorption of the officers of the provincial cadre into the All India Service would not be difficult. Another reason cited was prevention of inter-provincial competition.
Sardar Patel concluded the discussion by emphasizing the provincial premiers' general support to the proposal for the creation of the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service. That the conclusion did not basically follow from the discussion held did not apparently bother the Sardar. He wanted these services, and he got them. All this was a magnificent victory for the culture, and more truly, a personal triumph for Sardar Patel. Indeed, Patel may, rightly be acknowledge as the Father of All India Service.
Patel did not wish to lose time and so quickly made the successor service, now redesignated as the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), operational - and thus a fait accompli. The first batch of the IAS was recruited in 1946 itself from among the demobilized Armed Force Personnel and trained at the newly started IAS training school at Metcalfe House (Delhi) in April
1947. The iron was hot and Patel was determined not to allow any possible breakdown in the administration.
Addressing the probationers of the first batch of the IAS officers on 21 April 1947, Sardar Patel regarded the formation of the IAS as "an unmistakable symptom of the transfer of power" from foreign to Indian hands. He emphasized that the creation of the IAS to replace ICS "marks the inauguration of an All Indian service officed entirely by Indians and subject completely to the Indian control" and it will now be free to, or will have to adopt its true role of national service without being trammeled by traditions and habits of the past". He continued, "the days when the service could be masters are over... Perhaps, you are aware of the saying that it is neither Indian nor civil nor imbued with any spirit of service.. Your predecessors had served as agents of an alien rule; and even against their better judgment had some times to execute the bidding of their foreign employers.. A civil servant cannot afford to, and must not, take part in politics. Nor must he involve himself in communal wrangles. To depart from the path of rectitude in either of these respects is to debase public service and lower its dignity".
Elaborating his concepts of civil service, he observed: " It would be bad day if people did not look upto officials holding high positions. Ministers come and ministers go, but the permanent machinery (the civil service) must be good and firm, and have the respect of the people. The civil service is a source of stability ".
Soon after independence, he invited a group of senior civil servant to his residence and talked to them. He had worked for years with "only one burning desire - to save the country". Patel invited them "to dedicate themselves equally to the service of the country". He did not promise them " in return anything more than the joy which he himself and colleagues had experienced through such single minded devotion to what they regarded as the supreme duties and which he was certain they too would experience".
(To be continued)
(Courtesy: The Imphal Free Press)
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