Indian Civil Service

Indian Civil Service

The Civil Services of India (Hindi: भारत की सिविल सेवा) (known simply as the Civil Services) refer to the civil service and the permanent bureaucracy of the Government of India. The civil service system is the backbone of the administrative machinery of the country.

In the parliamentary democracy of India, the ultimate responsibility for running the administration rests with the elected representatives of the people which are the ministers. The ministers are accountable to the legislature, elected by the people on the basis of universal adult franchise. The ministers are thus indirectly responsible to the people. But the handful of ministers cannot be expected to deal personally with the manifold problems of modern administration. Thus the ministers lay down the policy and it is for the civil servants to carry out this policy.

The executive decisions are implemented by the Indian civil servants. A civil servant is any person who is a citizen of India appointed by the Government to any civil service or post in connection with the affairs of the Union and includes a civilian in a Defence Service. The members of civil service serve at the pleasure of the President of India and Article 311 of the constitution protects them from politically motivated or vindictive action. Civil servants are employees of the Government of India; however, not all employees of the Government are civil servants. As of 2010, there are total 6.4 million civil servants in India. Civil servants in a personal capacity are paid from the Civil List. Senior civil servants may be called to account by Parliament.