DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

VISAKHAPATNAM, A.P., India

PROJECT TITLE
BUREAUCRACY UNDER INDIN BUREAUCRATIC SYSTEM

SUBJECT
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

NAME OF THE FACULTY

SRIDEVI MAM

Name of the Candidate

Roll No. & Semester

SV. Ruthvik
2016089
SIXTH SEMESTER
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The project consumed huge amount of work, research and dedication. Still, implementation
would not have been possible without support of my lecturer. I take this opportunity to express
my profound gratitude and deep regards to my lecturer for his exemplary support, monitoring
and constant encouragement throughout the course of thesis.
 CERTIFICATE OF DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this project titled “Bureaucracy under Indian bureaucratic system”
undertaken by me is an original work and have duly acknowledged all the sources of statistics
and other relevant information. The project is free from any kind of plagiarism.

Date:
Place:

Signature of the Student

 TABLE OF CONTENTS

 Historical Background
 Definitions
 Bureaucracy under the British Raj
 Bureaucracy after independence
 Role of Bureaucracy in India
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Bureaucracy in India
 Bureaucracy: Meaning, Features and Role of Bureaucracy
 Bureaucracy and Policy Implementation in India
 Conclusion
 Bibliography
 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The origin of traditional Indian bureaucracy can be traced to the days of the feudal kings of
Hindu mythology. The kings and the feudal lords used to appoint a group of officials who were
engaged in maintaining law and order and collection of revenues. During the reign of Ashoka,
the state activities were more organized and discharged through an army of civil servants who
ran the administration of the empire. The 'Rajukas' maintained peace and collected revenue
under the provincial governors. This system of administration was adopted by the Gupta
emperors also1. In ancient India, welfare activities undertaken by the state, except in the case
of a few benevolent rulers like Ashoka, were nominal.

Administration was controlled by the elites. This lei to recruitment in administration on the
basis of caste, heredity etc2. The structure of administration was generally loose and not
entrenched and institutionalized. The personality and temperament of the king and of his count
sellers often determined the pattern of administration. The Mohammedan administration in
India had been oriented to govern and rule and not to serve the masses. They came as
conquerors and were basically interested in the retention of their power. The administrators
made mass contact for the sake of revenue collection only, and this process quite often involved
coercion. Further, the officials were thoroughly corrupt. The officers of the state commanded
more than due awe from the ordinary people.

However, some of the Muslim rulers were benevolent and efficient, as was the case with their
former Hindu counterparts. Two examples of such type of Muslim rulers were Sher Shah and
Akbar. Sher Shah divided his empire into various circles like modern districts, the
administration of each being entrusted to one officer who was directly responsible to the
headquarters. Akbar found it inconvenient on his part to directly control such circles from his
capital. He reintroduced the system of provincial governorship that was in vogue during
Ashoka's time. His provinces were named 'Subas', ruled by the ’Subedars’. Akbar also
reformed the land revenue system, taxes being determined on the basis of measurement of
actual holding of the tenant.

1
Basudev Panda, Indian Bureaucracy (New Delhi’s Uppal publishing House, 1978) p.5.

2
Tara Chand, History of the Freedom Movement in India, vol. 1 (Delhi: Ministry of information and
Broadcasting, Govt, of India, 1961) p.152.
Bureaucracy under the British Raj
The British laid the foundations of modern Indian bureaucracy which was primarily meant to
serve the limited objectives of maintenance of law and order and collection of revenues in the
annexed or conquered territories of the British East India Company. Also, to the extent possible
and considered desirable by the British, the bureaucracy sought to provide the basic necessities
of civilized life to the native population: — but not at the cost of maintenance of law and order
which continued to be the primordial objective. Owing to political anarchy, fall of centralised
administration and consequent evils in the socio-economic sphere, even a moderate level of
achievement in these fields on the part of the bureaucracy, established by the British, earned
unparalleled gratitude of the native population.

The general masses of India thanked their new rulers for providing security of life and property
which had almost been non-existent for several decades. Achievement of the limited objectives
of maintenance of law and order and collection of revenues required relatively simple
administrative system. The bureaucracy can be exercised within unlimited authority on behalf
of the rulers, and the masses were overawed by their absolute power3.

The structure and function of the Indian bureaucracy during the British regime was highly
conditioned by the politics and economics of colonialism. The process of industrialisation was
not allowed to flourish in India by the British rulers and the pace of modernisation of the Indian
society and economy was considerably slowed down. It is true that railways had been
established for transportation, a few industries for large-scale production and universities for
learning. Also post, telegraph and telephone systems were introduced and radio reached far
distant areas. But these developmental activities were undertaken with a view to ensuring
effective administration in India. The Macaulay Committee, appointed in 1853, recommended
competitive examination as the proper method of recruitment. The first competitive
examination was held in 1855. The service came to be known as the Indian Civil Service. It
was manned by the elite from the best families of England. It was the premier service in respect
of pay, power and prestige. Sri Satyendra Nath Tagore was the first Indian to be selected in the
ICS in 1864. But the service remained mainly a service of the Britishers4.

3
G.K. Prasad, Bureaucracy in India (New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 1974) pp. 109-110.
4
T. Walter Wallbank, India (New York s Henry and Co., 1948) p. 30.
Bureaucracy after independence
When India became free in 1947, she inherited the bureaucratic structure from the outgoing
colonial regime. The administrative order remained almost intact at that moment not only as a
manual of office-procedures, office-buildings and former employees, but as established habits,
prejudices, interests and expectations among the government officials and the citizens. There
was no significant departure from the past administrative tradition although the bureaucratic
machinery established by the British was politically denounced. It was difficult to radically
change an administrative system that proved successful in maintaining political unity and law
and order in a vast and heterogeneous country like India. Only some minor modifications were
made in the bureaucratic structure —like substitution of the Indian Civil Service by the Indian
Administrative Service etc.
There was no significant departure from the past administrative tradition although the
bureaucratic machinery established by the British was politically denounced. It was difficult to
radically change an administrative system that proved successful in maintaining political unity
and law and order in a vast and heterogeneous country like India. Only some minor
modifications were made in the bureaucratic structure like substitution of the Indian Civil
Service by the Indian Administrative Service etc. Independence of the country was preceded
by several years of ravages and scarcity caused by the 2nd World War. The law and order
situation was complicated by the political turmoil arising out of freedom struggle. Again,
independence of the country was followed by several years of socio-political turmoil owing to
partition of the country and communal riots throwing unexpected socio-economic challenges
simultaneously on several administrative fronts, especially in the fields of refugee
rehabilitation, civil supplies, law and order etc.5
It became necessary to adopt quick, strong and authoritarian methods of policy-making and
control to tackle the problems, thus generated. The authoritarian orientation of the bureaucracy,
acquired during the British rule, became thereby further strengthened. In a country depleted by
the ravages of war, partition and riots, the only method that was easily identified and adopted
by the bureaucracy was that of imposing curfew and control, rationing of resources,
recommending cuts in expenditure and discouraging higher consumption. The question before
the rulers and the masses was only of assuring the security of life and property. At that moment,

5
S.G. Dube, "Bureaucracy and Nation Building in Transitional Societies;' -' International Journal of Social
Sciences, Vol. XVI (1962)
especially in the areas ravaged by partition, often the choice before the citizen was between
life and death. Life with a few restrictions was obviously preferable to death, quick or slow.
The bureaucrats in free India were entrusted with the responsibility of converting India from
one of the poorest nations in the world into an economically developed one. The depth and
breadth of scope of this responsibility qualitatively differ from those of the routine
administrative responsibility of the bureaucrats during the British rule.

The leaders of free India set the goal of changing traditional Indian social structure into a
modern one within a democratic framework. The public bureaucracy in India has been called
upon to shoulder the task of formulating and implementing the schemes of institutional changes
in the economic and social sphere. The role of public bureaucracy acquires more significance
as the activities of the state proliferate in fulfilment of the objectives of a welfare state.

"Bureaucracy forms an important element of modernising elite in many of economically less

developed countries which have attained national independence during the last two decades”

In rural areas, there has been greater penetration of governmental activities. Villages are being
visited by the government officials not only for the purpose of collecting revenue, but for the
purposes of imparting education, rendering help to improve agricultural yield, conducting
elections, constructing roads and bridges, advocating family planning programme etc. Most of
the villages have already been well connected by means of transport and communication
network, postal services and other amenities. Such involvement of governmental machinery in
the upliftment of Indian rural life is unprecedented6.
Since independence, government has been undertaking big industrial projects and setting up
financial corporations, river valley projects and steel plants. Government has also been
shouldering the responsibility of rationing and distributing different essential commodities in
the cities. Welfare organizations meant for improving the condition of the weaker sections of
the Indian society the scheduled castes, the tribal people, women and children are being set up
at the thrust of the government. Education and health services are expanding.
Big housing complexes are being constructed, and different town planning and slum clearance
schemes are being launched by the government. The government has become, so to say, the

6
Ishwar Dayal, "Direction of Change in Administration", Indian Management, vol.13 (July 1974).
main agency of socio-economic transformation in India today. Consequently, the role of
bureaucracy has become all pervasive it has to shoulder ever-increasing new types of
responsibilities in the new set-up7.

Role of Bureaucracy in India

 In the modern administrative system of India, the bureaucracy or the Civil Service plays
a crucial role.
 In a democratic system of government, the power to govern is entrusted to the elected
representatives of the people.
 In Parliamentary democracies such as that of India, the council of ministers with the
Prime Minister at the head ‘administers ‘the country. The ‘Council of Ministers’ for
all its acts of commission and commission remain responsible to the Parliament.
 The ministers thus constitute what is known as the political executive. The primary
function of the Council of Ministers to formulate the policies of the government.
 Every administrative department of government is placed under the charge of a minister
responsible to the legislature. A minister is thus, the political head of an administrative
department.
 The continuity and expertness in the administration are contributed by the bureaucracy
of the civil service. In an ideal situation, the minister contributes policy while the civil
service applies the policies in concrete situations.
 Thus, the minister and the Civil Service together make up the total administrative setup.
 The founding fathers of the Indian constitution were fully alive to the need for a well-
organized bureaucracy in India.
 Indeed India Bureaucracy is the inherited model of bureaucracy from the British Raj.
The Constitution improved on the model left behind by the “Raj.”
 Thus, since India is a federation there is provision for dual civil service; service under
the Union and service under the State governments. In the words of Dr. Ambedkar, “the
dual policy is followed by a dual service” in all federations. Ambedkar emphasized that

7
Arora, Satish K. 1971. "Political Policy and the Future of Bureaucracy". Indian Journal of Public
Administration.
 the Indian federation through a dual policy will have a dual service but with one
exception8.
 The Constitution provides that without depriving the states of their right to form their
own civil services, there shall be an All India Service, recruited on an All India basis
with common qualifications, the uniform scale of pay etc.”
 Thus, the Civil service in India is divided into two categories: All India Services and
the State Civil Service. Besides Art 312 create a special category of service—which is
common to both the Union and the State.

Two services of this type are

(1) The Indian Administrative service and

(2) The Indian Police Service.

The All India Services are designed to give greater cohesion to the federal structure and to
conduct to greater efficiency in the administration of the Union and the States. Such an
integrated Civil Service is a unique feature of the Indian political system. Given the diversity
and divisiveness inherent in the Indian political system, the integrated civil service was an
unavoidable necessity.

 The members of the civil service are recruited on merit on the basis of competitive
examinations conducted by the Union Public Service Commission in the case of All
India Service and State Public Service Commission in the case of State services.
 The members of the services hold office during the pleasure of the President in the case
of All India Services and of the state governor in case of state services (Art. 310). But
the pleasure of the President or the Governor cannot be arbitrary. Such pleasures are
exercised subject to legal limitations stipulated by Art 311 of the Constitution.
 As has already been pointed out, the bureaucracy in India, both at the union and the
states level constitutes the backbone of the administration.
 In Indian administrative hierarchy, the President at the union and Governor at the state
level is the constitutional head.

8
Bhambhri, C.P. 1971a. "The Administrative Elite and Political Modernisation in India ". Indian Jour nal of
Public Administration
  The council of ministers constitutes the political executive. But the real, permanent,
experienced and expert executive is the Civil Service or the bureaucracy.
 The role and function of the bureaucracy in India have increased enormously. The
normal function of the bureaucracy is to execute the policies of the Council of
Ministers.
 Under the system of delegated legislation, the powers of bureaucracy are steadily
increasing. As India has accepted the principle of the welfare state, the economic and
social functions of the State are steadily increasing9.
 Every increase in the power of the government means a corresponding increase in the
powers of the bureaucracy. It is on the successful and satisfactory functioning of the
bureaucracy that the success of the government to a very large extent depends.

DEFINITIONS

 “Bureaucracy means the civil servants, the administrative functionaries who are
professionally trained for the public service and who enjoy permanency of tenure,
promotion within service-partly by seniority and partly by merit.” -Garner
 “In its broad larger sense the term Civil Service is used to describe any personnel
system where the employees are classified in a system of administration composed of
a hierarchy, sections, divisions, bureaus, departments and the like.” -Willoughby
 “Civil Service/Bureaucracy is a professional body of officials permanent, paid and
skilled.” -Finer

Advantages and Disadvantages of Bureaucracy in India

Advantages of bureaucracy in India:

The bureaucrat in India being the President’s or the Governor’s appointee, and serving during
the President’s or the Governor’s pleasure, has to rise above party considerations. The
bureaucrat takes order from the minister and acts accordingly within the limits of the
Constitution. The civil servants also being administrative experts, remind the minister about

9
https://www.2thepoint.in/role-of-bureaucracy-in-india/
the feasibility or otherwise of a particular course of action. Thus, the top civil servant has two
duties towards his minister:

1. He has to remind the minister whether or not a particular course of action is

constitutionally permitted, and
2. Whether or not a particular course of action is practically feasible or not. The advice
of the top civil servant on both counts is of immense value to the minister.

The Civil Service provides the permanent element in government. As the fortunes of the civil
servants do not depend on political vicissitudes, they can take a dispassionate view on political
developments. Their long-term view of national interest, not coloured by immediate political
considerations, gives the minister a glimpse of long term interest of the nation. In India, civil
servants enjoy a measure of social respectability not easily attained by people in other
professions. Consequently, civil servants in most cases are honest and dutiful. The civil
servants also are administrative experts. Hence the ministers have to depend on them.

The bureaucracy, through experience, knows what policy is or is not feasible. Hence the
minister listens to the advice of the top civil servant as to the desirability of a policy from the
administrative point of view. Thus, in a healthy situation, the minister and the bureaucracy are
mutually complementary – the Minister contributing the policy decisions and the bureaucracy
executing the decisions. The bureaucracy in India works under the cloak of ministerial
responsibility. For every act of the government, the minister is answerable to the Parliament.
Though the bureaucracy executes government policies, they remain in splendid anonymity10.

They do not take part in Parliamentary debates nor are they members of political parties. The
actions of the civil servants must be defended by the minister on the floor of the House. This
system compels the minister to keep a close watch on the actions of the bureaucracy and the
bureaucracy to behave in such a way that the minister is not put into difficulty.

10
Chaturvedi, M.K. 1971. "Commitment in Civil Service". Indian Journal of Public Administration 17:44-45.
Chowdhry, Kamla. 1979.
Disadvantages of bureaucracy in India:
The bureaucracy in India is however not above criticism.

 Firstly, As the bureaucracy has not to own any political responsibility, they become
insensitive to popular demands. Government becomes inert and file bound.
 Secondly, the dependence of the ministers on the civil servants develops a sort
“dictatorship of the bureaucracy”.
 Thirdly, the bureaucracy forms a very powerful pressure group, intent on securing
group interest. This at times works counter to the national interest.
 Fourthly, since the bureaucrats execute the orders of the ministers, sometimes
creativity on part of bureaucrats gets lost.
 Fifthly, bureaucrats often become inefficient and even resists to positive changes in
state policies.
 Sixthly, our bureaucratic framework has often been criticized for redtapism and
excessive adherence to rules and regulations leading to a delay in the decision-making
process.
 Finally, charges of corruption and bribery against the bureaucracy are rampant.

Yet with all these defects, the bureaucracy is an institution without which democratic
governments cannot work. Bureaucracy may be reformed but cannot be done away with.

Bureaucracy: Meaning, Features and Role of Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy or the Civil Service constitutes the permanent and professional part of the
executive organ of government. It is usually described as the non-political or politically neutral,
permanent, and professionally trained civil service. It runs the administration of the state
according to the policies and laws of the government political executive. Upon the qualities
and efficiency of bureaucracy depends the quality and efficiency of the state administration. It,
however, works under the leadership and control of the Political Executive.

The terms bureaucracy, civil service, public servants, public service, civil servants, government
service, government servants, officials of government, officials, permanent executive and non-
political executive are used to describe all such persons who carry out the day to day
administration of the state. The terms Bureaucracy’ and ‘Civil Service’ are popularly used as
synonyms.

Narrow and Broad uses of the term Bureaucracy: In a narrow sense the term Bureaucracy
is used to denote those important and higher level public servants who occupy top level
positions in the state administration. In the broad sense, it refers to all the permanent employees
of the government right from the peons and clerks to the top level officials. Presently, we use
the term in its broader dimension.

Bureaucracy: Main Features:

1. Permanent Character: The civil servants hold permanent jobs in government departments.
They mostly join their services during their youths and continue to work as government
servants till the age of retirement which is usually 58 to 60 years.

2. Hierarchical Organisation: Bureaucracy is hierarchically organised in several levels. Each

official is placed at a particular level of hierarchy and he enjoys the privileges and powers
which are available to his co-level officials. He is under his immediate higher level officials
and is above his immediately lower level officials. The principle of rule of the higher over the
lower governs the inter-relations between various levels of bureaucracy.

3. Non-partisan Character: The members of the Bureaucracy are not directly involved in
politics. They cannot join political parties and participate in political movements. They are not
affected by the political changes which keep on coming in the political executive. Whichever
party may come to power and make the government, the civil servants remain politically
neutral and carry out their assigned departmental roles impartially and faithfully.

4. Professional, Trained and Expert Class: The Bureaucracy constitutes the educated and
professionally trained class of persons which helps the political executive in carrying out its
functions. The members of civil service are recruited through competitive examinations for
appearing in which they have to possess some minimum educational qualifications. Before
their appointments, they get special trainings. During the course of their service they attend
orientation and refresher courses. They have the knowledge, training and expertise necessary
for carrying out their administrative work.
5. Fixed Salaries: Each member of the Bureaucracy receives a fixed salary. Right at the time
of appointment he is allotted a scale of pay, which depends upon the nature and level of his
job-responsibility. All the civil servants belonging to a particular class of administrative
hierarchy are placed in one scale of pay. Each job also entitles them to some allowances.

6. Bound by Rules and Regulations: The Bureaucracy always works in accordance with
‘rules and regulations’. ‘Strict obedience to rules’, ‘Through Proper Channel’, ‘Decision-
making after satisfying the rules’, are the principles which always guide, direct and regulate
the working of bureaucracy. Each official works only within the sphere prescribed for him by
the rules of his department.

7. Class Consciousness: The Civil Servants are highly class conscious. They jealously work
to protect and promote the interests of their class of civil servants. They are called the white-
collar class because of their faith in their ‘superior status’ as government officials.

8. Public Service Spirit as the Ideal: Modern Bureaucracy identifies itself with public service
spirit. It always tries to project itself as the civil servants devoted to the promotion of public
welfare through the satisfaction of public needs. They are expected to behave as ‘officers’
responsible for public welfare, with service as their motto.

9. Bound by a Code of Conduct: The civil servants have to follow a code of conduct. They
have to act in a disciplined way. Their rights, duties and privileges stand clearly defined. The
procedure of work is definite and settled. They can be punished for misbehaviour,
incompetence or negligence or for a violation of their conduct rules. In short, Bureaucracy is
characterised by political neutrality, professional competence, permanent/ stable tenure, fixed
salaries and strict obedience to rules.

Role of Bureaucracy: Functions: Bureaucracy or Civil Service plays a key role in running
the Public Administration e by performing the following functions:

1. Implementation of Governmental Policies and Laws: It is the responsibility of the

bureaucracy to carry out and implement the policies of the government. Good policies and laws
can really serve their objectives only when these are efficiently implemented by the civil
servants.
2. Role in Policy-Formulation: Policy-making is the function of the political executive.
However, the Bureaucracy plays an active role in this exercise. Civil Servants supply the data
needed by the political executive for formulating the policies. In fact, Civil servants formulate
several alternative policies and describe the merits and demerits of each. The Political
Executive then selects and adopts one such policy alternative as the governmental policy.

3. Running of Administration: To run the day to day administration in accordance with the
policies, laws, rules, regulations and decisions of the government is also the key responsibility
of the Bureaucracy. The political executive simply exercises guiding, controlling and
supervising functions.

4. Advisory Function: One of the important functions of the Bureaucracy is to advise the
political executive. The ministers receive all the information and advice regarding the
functioning of their respective departments from the civil servants. As amateurs, the ministers
have little knowledge about the functions of their departments. They, therefore, depend upon
the advice of bureaucracy. As qualified, experienced and expert civil servants working in all
government departments, they provide expert and professional advice and information to the
ministers.

5. Role in Legislative Work: The civil servants play an important but indirect role in law-
making. They draft the bills which the ministers submit to the legislature for law-making. The
ministers provide all the information asked for by the legislature by taking the help of the civil
servants.

6. Semi-judicial Work: The emergence of the system of administrative justice, under which
several types of the cases and disputes are decided by the executive, has further been a source
of increased semi-judicial work of the bureaucracy. The disputes involving the grant of permits,
licences, tax concessions, quotas etc. are now settled by the civil servants.

7. Collection of Taxes and Disbursement of Financial Benefits: The civil servants play a
vitally important role in financial administration. They advise the political executive in respect
of all financial planning, tax-structure, tax-administration and the like. They collect taxes and
settle disputes involving recovery of taxes. They play a vital role in preparing the budget and
taxation proposals. They carry out the function of granting of legally sanctioned financial
benefits, tax reliefs, subsidies and other concessions to the people.

8. Record-Keeping: The Civil Service has the sole responsibility of keeping systematically all
government records. They collect, classify and analyse all data pertaining to all activities of the
government. They collect and maintain vital socio-economic statistics which are used for the
formulation of Public policies and plans.

9. Role in Public Relations: The era of modern welfare state and democratic politics has made
it essential for the government to keep close relations with the people of the state. The need for
maintaining active and full public relations is a vital necessity of every state. The civil servants
play an active role in this sphere. They are the main agents who establish direct contacts with
the people. They serve as a two way link. On the one hand, they communicate all government
decisions to the people, and on the other hand, they communicate to the government the needs,
interests and views of the people. Thus, Bureaucracy plays a vigorously active and highly
important role in the working of the government.

Control over Bureaucracy - The rise of modern welfare state and increase in its functions has
been a source of big increase in the powers and role of Bureaucracy. It has, therefore, given
rise to an additional need for exercising control over bureaucracy. An effective control system
has become essential both for preventing the civil servants from abusing their powers as well
as for ensuring their active and positive role. In fact, every state maintains a system of internal
and external control over Bureaucracy.

(A) Internal Control: It means control applied from within the organisation i.e. by the
administrative machinery. The administrative organisation is hierarchical and is divided into
wings, divisions, branches and sections. There are present some internal controls in its every
section. The tools of control are budgeting, accounting, auditing, reports, inspections,
efficiency surveys, personnel control, code of conduct, and discipline and leadership control.
In particular, regular internal inspections, auditing of accounts and evaluation of the
performance of each civil several act as main means of internal control over Bureaucracy
Internal control is necessary for keeping the bureaucracy efficient and productive of desired
results.
(B) External Control: External control is that which flows from outside agencies. These
agencies are the people, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary.

Bureaucracy and Policy Implementation in India

The bureaucracy's role in decision-making and policy implementation in India. Scholars have
in general identified five key parameters of policy and decision-making within the executive.
 First and foremost, is the basic function of Anticipating the policy needs. At times this
may mean the need to discover the policy requirements of the country.
 Secondly, the bureaucracy has to develop systematically the various alternatives or
choices which are indicated by the value premises and an assessment of what is possible
in other words, to identify the different manners in which the political and the policy
needs of the country can be met.
 Thirdly, the bureaucracy is expected to suggest a specific choice of alternatives or
alternative depending upon its assessment of what is the course of action that would
yield the maximum achievement of the objectives.
 Fourthly, as the expert group and the directly concerned party, the bureaucracy is
expected to decide upon the instruments of implementation.
 Lastly, the bureaucracy has to apply the general policy to specific instances, that is to
say, decision-making in individual cases.
This is likely to consume the maximum time and attention on the part of the bureaucracy and
is the most obvious part of the policy implementation process. The actual role of bureaucracy
in the decision-making and implementation of process.

The Indian bureaucracy, although modelled as British pattern provides, the consensus of
opinion in post-independent India, reflected in the accepted policies of successive governments
in the country, is that Indian society should be built on the socialist pattern of democracy based
on secularism and social justice. Such policies need the existence of a higher civil service
intellectually in sympathy with the policy objectives in order to be implemented.
Implementation implies the use of discretion and enthusiasm on the part of officials 11.

11
Mosher, Frederick C. 1968. Democracy and the Public Service. New York: Oxford University Press.
Although it is possible for an individual of a superior authority, but as observed by a senior
civil servant, "where for an individual to subjugate his personal wishes to carry out the
categorical in the thought process has to be invoked, where an element of discretion is involved,
it is contrary to human nature to expect that he will be able to substitute his own thinking by
that of the rulers and exercise the discretion fully consistent with all the nuances of the original
policy objectives. But, for a civil servant functioning at the cover all the circumstances which
may arise from day to day on the basis of which higher levels, such an exercise of discretion is
essential, for no policy directive can numerous decisions have to be taken"12.

Bureaucracy has been involved in politics and political activity in a number of ways." A recent
study of the Indian bureaucracy has pointed out that the "Indian They were "not only not neutral
in politics, they exercised more powers in reality than the law permits". Many times ministers
were found wanting in effectively con trolling their departmental bureaucracy.

Another similar study about the relations between politicians and administrators at the District
level in India has stated "that the conventional notion of a clear-cut and clean division of
functions between administrators and political leaders does not obtain in practice". This is also
the contention of a senior civil servant, who maintains that the "classical doctrine of the
neutrality of the civil service has broken down in the modern times and especially in the Indian
situation". The only connotation in which this doctrine can exist further is an idea of non-
partisanship and impartiality (impartiality in the sense that where the civil servants are
executing a corpus of statutory laws and regulations, they shall act impartially and will not
import into these operations any political considerations which are not contemplated in the
statutory laws). However, for the large bulk of their activity that is non statutory, a new doctrine
ought to be propounded to suit modern times. In the absence of a better phraseology we may
say that in place of the doctrine of neutrality, there should be encouraged or adopted a doctrine
of political responsiveness which may have the generic name of "commitment”13

In any decision-making process and policy formulation, there is always a need for a detailed
working out of strategic programmes and suitable administrative organizations and operational

12
"Bureaucracy and Development Tasks" in S.C. Dube (ed.), Public Services and Social Responsibility. New
Delhi: Vikas Publishing House
13
The Ronald Press Company. Rai, E.N. Mangat. 1976. Patterns of Administrative Development in
Independent India. London: Athelone Press.
steps. Administrative planning begins where economic planning ends. It is, as argued, a
conveyor system where there is no dichotomy between planning and implementation, but there
is always a feedback from the implementation to make planning much more purposeful. From
time to time, the bureaucracy in India has risen to deliver the goods in times of crises.

It is thus the responsibility of the bureaucracy to ensure that the policies are conceived in such
a way that they are relevant to the prevailing conditions and that they are implemented with
patience and conviction. At the implementation stage, numerous problems crop up requiring
decisions. Many of these decisions have strong policy overtones14.
These decisions are usually taken by the bureaucracy and it is usually impossible for any
minister to either supervise or go into the details of every case where such supplementary
decisions are taken. Thus the bureaucracy has to be left with a great deal of discretion. There
have been many instances where even a good policy enunciated by the political executive has
been badly implemented by the bureaucracy.

It is, clear that neither the political executive, nor the bureaucracy can adapt an isolationist role
at a higher level. Unfortunately, in the Indian system, the distinction between the planning and
implementation process and the assumption that one process is more prestigious and elegant
than the other has been very often a source of ineffectiveness in the functioning of the
bureaucracy. In recent years the role-occupants from the planning and implementation
functions have not moved much back and forth to establish an equal status between the two,
and this has been presumably a more important reason why implementation of policies have
suffered so much. For effective policy-making and implementation, it is necessary that such a
collaborative culture be established between the occupants of these two roles.

Bureaucracy in India differs from bureaucracy in the Western World. In the latter, social
change and modernisation took place mainly owing to indigenous, factors. This is in sharp
contrast with the experience of India where social change and modernisation were the direct
outcomes of colonial domination. Consequently and also owing to late start here, the pace of
modernisation in India has been slow and uneven, and it cannot be equal to that in the Western
World. Modern democracy is interwoven with this modernisation phenomenon. The

14
Presthus, Robert. 1975. Public Administration (6th ed.). New York:
incompletion of modernisation process, which also includes underdevelopment of bureaucratic
efficiency, has led to the perpetuation of the authoritarian values and weakening of the
democratic spirit in India. The following observations made by I.L. Horowitz about the Third
World, which also includes India, "Technological advance and bureaucratic efficiency have
not advanced to the point where this is possible. A verbal commitment to democratic values is
retained. The democratic society remains the goal to be attained, while authoritarian solutions
are considered temporary necessities."
In India, modern bureaucratic structure was superimposed by the colonial rulers. Democracy
here followed, and not preceded, bureaucracy. Consequently, Indian bureaucracy has still
remained ill-adapted with the parliamentary democracy which is unbefitting with the colonial
tradition of the civil servants. But in the Western countries, where modern bureaucracy has
followed modern democracy, there has been comparatively better adjustment between the two.

T. S. R. Subramanian & Ors. versus Union of India and Ors15

The case was filed as a PIL, civil writ petition by T. S. R. Subramanian, retired Indian
Administrative Service (IAS) officer and former Cabinet Secretary; T. S. Krishnamurthy,
retired IAS officer and former Chief Election Commissioner, N. Gopalaswami, retired IAS
officer and former Chief Election Commissioner, Abid Hussain, retired IAS officer and
former Indian ambassador to the United States VedPrakashMarawh retired Indian Police
Service (IPS) officer and former Manipur governor, Joginder Singh, retired IPS officer and
former director of the Central Bureau of Investigation, and others in 2011. It was heard by
a division bench comprising justices K. S. Panicker, Radhakrishnan and Pinaki Chandra
Ghose from 2011 to 2013.

The petitioners were retired top civil servants from among others the IAS and the IPS. They
sought mandatory court injunctions to support the independence of the various Indian civil
services and their freedom from political interference, by requiring the Indian federal and state
governments to implement the recommendations made by several commissions of review that
oral instructions given by politicians to civil servants must be recorded in writing, that senior

15
[2013] Insc 1003 (31 October 2013)
civil service appointments should be made for a fixed term, and that civil services boards
should be established to advise on postings. In addition, politicians in state government were
seen to have been transferring civil servants repeatedly

JUDGEMENT – The Officers of the IAS, other All India Services and other civil servants
were not bound to follow oral directives, as they "undermine credibility".

 Establishment of a Civil Services Board (CSB), headed by the Cabinet Secretary at the
national level and chief secretaries at the state level, to recommend transfers and
postings of All India Services (the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Forest
Service and the Indian Police Service) officers.
 Group 'B' officers would be transferred by heads of departments.
 No interference of ministers, other than the chief minister, in transfers or postings of
civil servants at the state level.
 To insulate the bureaucracy from the political interference and to put to an end to the
frequent transfers of the civil servants by the political bosses, the supreme court directed
the centre and state to set up a Civil Services Board (CSB) for the management of
transfers, postings, inquiries, process of promotion, reward, punishment and
disciplinary matters.

Many useful models for the study of human organizations have been developed in the last thirty
years or so. Some of these could with much advantage be used for the study of government
systems. These models have been increasingly applied in research and study of government
administration in other countries. Examples could easily be found in journals such as Public
Administration Review, Policy Sciences, and the work of several universities and institutions.
Public administration research in India would have to emerge from its self-imposed isolation
and use relevant concepts from the basic disciplines and applied sciences.
It is encouraging that the types of studies in public administration are wider in scope than they
were in the sixties, even while the need is great for developing greater conceptual clarity in
research methodology and in defining research problems. The study of district administration
by Dayal, eta, is perhaps another example.
We need to study both the content and the process of administration in government. Changes
in the nature of work in this area in' the post decolonization period have been extensive,
creating a gap between past practices and present needs and urgency for reforms in
administration. In the developing countries, government is intimately concerned with inducing
and managing social change. Hence, a study of administration's ability to bring about change
in society becomes necessary. To manage societal change, administration has to absorb change
as well. It is a cyclical process that has to characterize development administration.
There are no studies of the dynamics of change in public administration in India, nor are there
reports of such change in the available literature. The nature of research studies required in
government systems can be conceptualized in many ways.16
The policy formulation in government would cover a wide range of subjects to include:
a. The process of policy formulation.
b. The evaluation of specific policy areas.
c. The organization for policy analysis and review.
d. The impact of legislative and extra government institutions and other power systems on
policy formulation,
e. The role of the specialist in policy formulation and use of the newer models or techniques
for the purpose.
The dynamics of change in government systems including the analysis and diagnosis of how
government identifies and resolves problems at the individual, group, organizational, or
national levels.
The patterns of interaction and influence between:
a. The centre and the states.
b. The political and administrative elites.
c. The administrative system and the power blocs in society.
d. The power centres in administration at the centre and in the states and how balance is
achieved between them.
e. The influence of extra-national agencies on administrative decisions, etc.

Studies of the administrative system:

a. Organizational design for tasks of government.
b. Departmental and interdepartmental relations.
c. Specialist, service, and operating roles.
d. Functional areas of administration, such as finance, personnel, agriculture, and science and
technology. These studies would have to include the substantive areas of study such as the
problems of motivation, efficiency, and morale of employees. They would have to cover all

16
I. and Sharma, B. R. Management of Trade Unions. New Delhi : Shriram Centre for Industrial Relations &
Human Resources, 1976.
national, state, district, local levels, etc., and also the variety of organizations relating to the
union and state governments, social and welfare institutions, and those created for economic
purposes, etc.
Citizen responses and grievances:17
a. The machinery.
b. The dynamics of relationship.
c. The evaluation of the intervention, etc.
d. The response to public protest.
e. The response to organized public agencies.

17
A. Pand Pelz, D. C. Administering Agriculture Development. New Delhi : Indian Institute of Public
Administration.
 CONCLUSION

The above analysis indicates that one could possibly conceive of three distinct phases in the
evolution of the role of the bureaucracy in India. In the first phase, that is, in the pre-
independence era, when the bureaucracy was the government and had enjoyed almost ultimate
authority in policy-making and implementation, the bureaucracy as an instrument of state had
been very powerful both in its policy development and implementation role. Despite the clear
distinction between the officials performing such roles, a sort of cohesiveness, solidarity and
coordination had existed amongst them, because of the strong sense of loyalty, esprit de corps,
integrity and efficiency of the steel-frame of the ICS. In the second phase of its evolution in
the post-independence era, we clearly notice certain changes in this traditional role of the
bureaucracy. Until 1967, that is before the one-party dominant system of the Congress Party
had suffered a major set-back after the Third General Elections, the political leadership greatly
depended on the advice of bureaucracy in key policy sec tors. A comparatively strong and
stable leadership had provided a sense of direction to the goals visualised for the development
and progress of the nation and had established priorities in resource development and
allocation. The bureaucracy served as an instrument of advice, influence and arbiter in respect
of policy-making and had also carried on the onerous task of its implementation, though not as
effectively as in the previous phase.
However, the third phase, i.e., the period after the death of Prime Minister Lai Bahadur Shastri,
marks the erosion of most of the fundamental administrative practices consolidated during the
years after independence. With the gradual deterioration in political institutions and processes,
and progressive inability for goal-setting and objective formulations on the part of political
leadership, the fact became clear that the political will no longer formulated and directed the
decision-making process in terms of policy; instead it simply ordered the administration to
action in various situations. It appeared to rouse and then waited on populist urges, and sought
hereafter to square the policy account within the terms of immediate practical possibilities and
limitation.
Above at the headquarters and vice versa. Above all, it would be of crucial importance to build
an effective information system in each government and public organization to provide the
basic data and infrastructure for policy development and implementation. Unfortunately, at this
juncture of the development of the Indian polity, there is little evidence to indicate that the
Indian administrative system is moving from its existing position of ad hocism to maturity,
stability and dynamism in the crucial areas of public policy processes.
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`