THE STEEL FRAME: A HISTORY OF THE IAS - Book review

When a retired IAS officer writes a book, we generally expect it to be an anecdotal memoir of his glorious professional career. Deepak Gupta, a retired IAS officer of the 1974 batch of Bihar/Jharkhand cadre who, after serving in the state government in key assignments, rose up to the highest level of secretary to the government of India, and post-retirement held the prestigious post of Chairman, Union Public Service Commission, has all the credentials to bestow upon us a ‘When I was..’- type of tome. Such books are viewed with a degree of scepticism whether the officer really had all the wisdom and courage in service which he displayed in his post-retirement memoir. Gupta has avoided that temptation, and has written a well-researched, comprehensive history of the civil services, starting from the nascent days of the East India Company transitioning itself from trader to ruler, to the direct takeover by the British Crown in 1858, to the Independence in 1947 when there were conflicting views among the top leaders whether the Indian Civil Service (ICS) which was the administrative arm of the British empire can serve the people of India under a nationalist government, to its retention, albeit under a different nomenclature - the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) – to its current image problem and challenges.

Is there is any relevance of a history of the IAS when there are questions about the relevance of the service itself?  The criticisms are well known: The civil servants are risk averse to the extreme, reluctant to take responsibility for a decision which may turn out to be controversial;  they are arrogant, self-seekers, cosying up to the politicians for personal advancement; they lack the spirit of public service; they lack any domain expertise; they have iron-clad security of service and almost assured promotion based on number of years of service; and it is impossible to weed out the dead wood or the corrupt. Gupta does not shy away from addressing each of these issues. He also acknowledges that the default assumption of the ICS, and its successor IAS, being incorruptible, fair, just and upright has been dented a great deal in public perception. Yet he argues convincingly that the answer does not lie in throwing the baby with the bathwater;  nay, you may throw ‘a baby or two’, but not the bathtub itself. The IAS is as relevant today as it was at the turn of Independence when Sardar Patel underlined the need for an efficient All India Service for the unity of the country.

It is true that a good number of corrupt civil servants are not punished, but even more disconcerting is its converse of some top civil servants of unimpeachable integrity getting entangled in criminal investigation and trial, in some cases well after their retirement for administrative decisions taken in good faith. Gupta is forthright in discussing the flaws in the conviction of HC Gupta, retired coal secretary, widely admired for his honesty and simple living. Even in the charge sheet or the conviction order there is no imputation of his having made any personal gain. Such aberrations cause a great damage to the morale of the service. One reason for this distortion is the introduction of section 13(1)(d)(iii) in the Prevention of Corruption Act which widened the definition of ‘Criminal misconduct’ even when there is no mens rea or quid pro quo. Doing away with this provision would remedy it, but it is important that all the stakeholders – the Disciplinary Authority, investigating agencies and courts - work towards punishing the guilty expeditiously and protect the honest officers who acted in a bona fide manner.  

Gupta is optimistic that the cracks in the Steel Frame are not beyond repair. While making a larger point that the kind of the civil service the country gets would depend a great deal upon the kind of political leadership, he gives many suggestions for improving the quality of initial recruits, their training, especially their district training, and their refresher trainings, inculcating right values, building espirit de corps, specialisation etc. He has devoted a whole chapter to the scheme of (recruitment) examination, informed by his stint as the Chairman UPSC. It is self-evident that increasing the age limit, number of attempts, and lowering the threshold for English comprehension and analytical skills, or dispensing with them altogether, in the name of democratisation and the presumed handicap of rural students, compromises with the quality of intake. Between a fresh recruit at the age of 23-24 and another in the mid-30s who is married with children, and who has come after repeated attempts and has held a variety of jobs, there is a vast difference in motivation and idealism. It is difficult to  build a sense of camaraderie or belonging to a service with some common ethos in such a disparate group. There is no dearth of expert committees’ reports, but all proposals for reforms reach a dead-end at the political level. One hopes that some day an enlightened and bold political leadership would put a stop to politicisation of the recruitment for the top civil service and reverse the damage that pandering to the lowest common denominator has already done. 

When Gupta talks about the role, life and experiences of a ‘district officer’, and character and traditions of the ICS and IAS, in two separate chapters, he is dispassionate and clinical, and avoids the kind of romanticising in Philip Mason’s ‘The Men Who Ruled India’. But since Gupta has been a part of it in the recent past, it is very credible and relatable. This would be a useful primer to the new entrants who should have some sense of the great tradition they belong to, the kind of opportunities they would get to serve the people and make a difference. It is such sense of expectations and belonging to a great tradition that gives  nobility of character to a civil servant.

But the best part of the book are the first three chapters dealing with the historical evolution of the service starting from the East India Company days up to Independence and the transition from the ICS to IAS. This evolution is parallel to and, to some extent, converges with the evolution of the legal-constitutional processes initiated by the British government for allowing more Indian representation in governance. By the Second World War there were inexorable historical processes leading up to the Independence. ICS was the backbone of the imperial government. This premier service (and its successor IAS) was the only institution the government had at its disposal to deal with the communal carnage, bloodshed and mass migrations across borders sweeping the country.

The role of the civil service has been recognised in the nation building during integration of the princely states, and as the instrument to give effect to the dreams of the national leaders in planned economic development, and in policy formulation and implementation of important national programmes. The enormous administrative exercises carried by the civil services, such as in natural disasters, conduct of elections, decennial census, management of mass congregations such as Mahakumbh, evoke wonder in any outside observer. The massive evacuation of people by Odisha Government before Cyclone Fani, which resulted in negligible casualties has earned universal praise. One can contrast this from the ghastly aftermath of the recent elections in Indonesia where more than 300 election officials have died of fatigue-related illnesses after polls and counting of votes, and it would take more than a month after the counting to announce the results. There is a need to mend the Steel Frame, make it stronger and effective, but not to scrap it for some imaginary alternative no one has clearly thought through.

Deepak Gupta has written a scholarly book, which is divided into nine chapters and has 72 pages of Notes, Bibliography and Index, yet it is lucid and written with fluency. It is a timely book that should appeal to academics, civil servants, lay readers and anyone interested in having some insight into an important institution of the country. The long bibliography will be useful for any person interested in delving deeper and researching further on the subject.

Mr. Deepak Gupta is a retired IAS officer of 1974 batch from Jharkhand cadre. He has held many important assignments in the Governments of Bihar and Jharkhand. After retiring as Secretary to Government of India in the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy in 2011, he was appointed as a member of the Union Public Service Commission. He was Chairman UPSC from 2014 to 2016.

Anil K Upadhyay, IAS 1975 batch, Bihar cadre. Retired as Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India in January 2013. Thereafter, he worked as Member,  Central Administrative Tribunal from March 2015 to April 2018.