Modi govt could soon reduce India’s 60-plus civil services to just 3 or 4
One plan to rationalise is to divide the civil services into technical, non-technical and security-related, with the aim of achieving better harmony.
The NDA government is likely to rationalize the 60-plus civil services in the country to just a few branches in order to remove the top heavy bloating which has taken place over the years.
According to a vision document prepared by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), the government is planning to drastically overhaul the excessive number of services created over the years to please both the political masters and their favorite babus. This will ensure that the state machinery functions more efficiently and in a coordinated manner.
Rationalising the services essentially means reducing the number down from the existing 60-plus civil services to about three-four. “The idea was proposed last year by NITI Aayog and the government will now seek to implement it.”
The civil services in India include a plethora of bloated services numbering 60 classified into Group A and Group B. Some of the more known Group A services include the IAS, IPS, IFS and the IRS, among others. At present, there are over 25 Group A services alone.
In comparison the Army having similarly placed specialized branches and different cadres is just one Single Service.
While the government has not yet finalized on how to undertake this rationalisation project, a possible suggested solution is to classify the civil services into three groups.
“One way of doing it is dividing the services into Indian Administrative Service, which would include all non-technical services; the Indian Police Service that would include all policing and security-related services and the Indian Technical Services, which would include all technical services,” the official said. “This is just one idea doing the rounds…the services could be rationalised in other ways too.”
In its ‘Strategy for New India @75’ document released last year, the Niti Aayog had suggested reducing the civil services significantly, and conducting a single exam, with an All India ranking for the services.
“The existing 60-plus separate civil services at the central and state level needs to be reduced through rationalisation and harmonisation of services,” the NITI Aayog document said.
“Recruits should be placed in a central talent pool, which would then allocate candidates by matching their competencies and the job description of the post.
Concomitantly, the number of exams for civil services should ideally be brought down to one with all India ranking. States may also be encouraged to use this pool for recruitments.”
The DoPT official quoted above said the government has been considering the idea of a single examination. “The government too has been exploring the idea of ‘One Nation, One Exam’ for some time now,” the DoPT official said. “However, the modalities have not been worked out yet.”
Other reforms
Among the other reforms proposed in the ministry’s five-year plan is the setting up of a National Recruitment Authority, which would conduct a common test for Group B (non-gazetted) and Group C posts.
The NRA would conduct a one-stop exam for all the non-gazetted Group B and Group C posts, which currently have close to 1.5 lakh vacancies, as per government estimates.
Additionally, the ministry plans to expand the recruitment of lateral entry at the director and deputy secretary level, and conduct a common foundation course for all civil service recruits, according to its five-year vision plan.
In addition to all the above, it must be made compulsory for all civil services entrant to serve for 3 to 5 years in the Armed Forces.
