TOWARDS SANE SERVICE

Civil Service being the trunk of the tree of democratic

Governance, Praveen Kumar wants it to be safeguarded

From the axe of job reservation policy.

It is a historical fact that India which is characterised by its unity in diversity was

never a single nation at any time in its long course of history of several millenniums, till

the feat was achieved in the 20th century.

Neither Asoka Mourya or Samudra Gupta or Chandra Gupta nor Akbar or

Aurangzeb of Mughul dynasty in Indian history can boast of binding all the regions

stretching between Cape Camorin and Karakorampass, and Rann of Kutch and

Arunachal Pradesh under a single rule to give meaning to the concept of a single nation.

No military strength, no religion, no cultural similarities, no unity of civilisation,

no linguistic resemblances nor geographical proximities at any time before succeeded in

forging a single nation out of the vast land masses south of the Himalayas.

If India is a single nation today, though in its rather moth-eaten form, the credit

should go to its distinguished civil service of early and middle 20 th century vintage

which was rightly called as the steel-frame of Indian unity.

 Should India continue as a single nation, it has to be through the grit, strength and

quality of its civil service alone.

Any tampering with the quality of the civil service and doing anything that may

mangle the ‘steel-frame’ grade of Indian civil service certainly go fatal to the very

existence of India as a single nation.

The worst curse on India and its people is the classification and stratification of

humanity on the basis of births and adoption of rigid codes of social conduct to rule the

relationship between those in different strata.

The lower strata being condemned to be treated less than street dogs and denied

equality and any opportunity of growth and decent life.

This curse for several millenniums permanently handicapped certain accurst

social groups from breaking away from primitive way of life.

This cancer in Indian social life develops a major moral responsibility on India

not only to get rid of the nasty disease, but also to rehabilitate the victims of the age-old

social bevue.
 Post-independent India, as welfare state, took innumerable measures, both

constitutional and legislative, towards absterging the sins perpetrated by its past practices

of ages on the unfortunate sections of the society.

The removal of untouchability, prevention of atrocities, reservations, in jobs and

educational opportunities to quote but a few.

Sine dubio, such special treatments alone can somewhat remedy the inhuman

treatment and delour meted out to some without an iota of fellow-feeling and kindness for

generations after generations.

Such measures on special footing are not only compensations India must pay for

having deprived some of its children of their growth opportunities for so long, though

belated and inadequate as they are.

They are also a kind of remorse the country suffers for its past sins.

But the cardinal question is the direction such measures must take.

Wrong policies in such matters may not only fail to make the measures

efficacious, but may also block the existing opportunities too.

 It may also further weaken the social fabric of the country and ipso facto pose

real threat to the very existence of India as a country.

The apollyon in question is the policy of job reservation in civil service which

may eat up the quality and steel-frame toughness of the setup to disintegrate and

balkanise India sans its only binding force namely a sound civil service to keep the

country united in its diversities.

The victims of the age-old stratified class system actually deserve many more

special privileges than delivered to them at present.

The necessarily need easier access to educational opportunities to prepare them

for higher slots in life.

Hence, the need of reservations in educational institutions.

Perhaps, institution of an apex development bank with branches in all districts or

taluks of the country, exclusively for their financial needs of nonconsumptive nature at

nominal rate of interest a la rural or agricultural banks may prove a significant step in this

direction.

Institution of liberal scholarships, concession in or exemption from, application

fee for jobs, wider network or board and lodging facilities for students, free higher
studies, special vocational training for men and women, concessional hostel facilities for

working men and women, easy housing schemes, free advanced medical treatment

facilities, etc are other welfare schemes for the unprivileged classes that may help to

bring them on par with others.

This will wipe out the achilles’ heel from the face of Indian social structure to

make Indian society civilised without affecting the quality of its governance and

parameters of survival.

It was Winston Churchill who said democracy is the worst type of governance

except for all other types of governance. Basically, democracy signifies rule of common

man and rule of mediocrity and ergo, more dangerously the rule of hoi polloi or mob.

This definition applies principally to the political system of the democratic

governance and not to the civil service system which is expected to be the subtle spine of

the democratic rule. A sound civil service as amicus curiae draws the metes and bounds

of governance within which the democratic system must function and also inspire a

sense of moderation, discipline, fairness, legality and reasonableness in the political

leadership of the system.

It absorbs the jerks and shocks of the political follies and helps the political

leadership in taking sound and intelligent decisions at right times.

 In this sense, a sound civil service structure is sine qua non for running a

democracy and the strength of the democracy depends entirely on its soundness and

quality. A democracy without sound civil service slumps like a mass of flesh without a

spine to support it.

The well being of the repressed class of India depends solely upon the survival of

India as a single nation and therefore on the quality and soundness of the civil service.

If there is anything scanty in the present world, it is high quality and excellence.

They are such a rare commodity that even slight distractions in the swink to cultivate

them end up in their disappearing in thin air. Excellence has a distinct tendency of light

from mediocrity and regrouping otherwise at its own level. This tendency renders

maintenance of the tempo of high quality and excellence a difficult task. Any allowance

to mediocrity leads to a sustained flight of quality and excellence till mediocrity

completely takes over. This is what is feared about present Indian civil service thanks to

reservation policy.

The fear that the steel-frame civil service of the pre-independent India vintage

have crumbled into a mediocre setup now by wrong policies of selection and recruitment

in independent India needs serious attention it deserves.

 Several opinion polls point to the diminishing attraction of the civil service to

crème de la crème of the Indian youth in preference to foreign and private industrial

houses and banks as job opportunities.

This trend deserves deeper concern than at present in those who are interested in

the survival of India as a nation and democracy. The interest of the country lies in

marshalling the best talents of the country in service of maintaining the country as a

nation and democracy and that need must get the first priority over all other issues

including developmental and welfare vintage. Unfortunately, it is not happening in

India now.

Civil Service is the trunk of the tree of democratic governance and breaking the

trunk itself is self-defeating for all national goals including justice for all. By the policy

of job reservation to civil service, India is venturing to the folly of cutting its own s trunk.

Stracient damage has already been done by this in the last five decades. No distraction

like reservation of any kind must deter the criterion of genuine merit and competence in

civil service.

Real merit and competence emerge from exemplary unity of diverse human

faculties like sound character, strong intellect right attitude, commitment and devotion

to work. Doing anything to subvert these virtues in civil service in tantamount to

wrecking the interests of the country.

 It is not that somebody wants to subvert the interests of the country by hoisting

job reservation policy on civil service. The intentions of reservation is beyond reproach .

The fault lies in its pursuance.

Reservation of any kind in civil service clearly proves to be wrong means to reach

the right end. How early India realises this fact, so fast is served India’s best interests.