Public Administration Mains 2018 : Model Question and Answer - 92

(Public Administration Paper II / Chapter: Civil Services)

(Current Based) Question: Time has come to debate on the pattern of training and system of evaluation. Comment. (20 Marks/300 Words)

Model Answer:

A higher civil service, which maintained law and order and, therefore, an understanding of a very general kind which required understanding of the need to protect the rights of individuals, the impact of technology, globalisation and changes in environment on local issues.

Alagh Committee had suggested that after their basic training, entrants to the higher civil service could indicate apart from the state cadre, they would prefer to join the broad areas of specialisation in which they would like to work. This would include economics and finance, internal security areas and the social services. This would cover, by and large, the domain of the civil services like finance, economic policy, internal security, civil and minorities’ rights, apart from ensuring constitutional provisions on rights and obligations, the emerging areas of the environment like air and water quality, pollution etc. The committee also felt that these subjects would have to be understood in the context of the emerging trends of globalisation.

The committee had recommended a life-time pattern of training and a system of evaluation which would include, apart from internal reports, carefully structured external inputs. As the report got into its implementation phase, many critical comments were heard about vested interests looking to distort its implementation structure — like the story on transfers.

The same trend is apparently taking place in the allocation of trainees to different subjects and states. A well-intentioned proposal to encourage broad specialisation in fields like internal security, civil rights, economic policy and emerging environmental issues is being apparently deliberately misinterpreted to allocate civil service entrants specific departments and states depending on the discretion of the political institutions implementing the system. This was certainly not the intention of the intended reform. It is of some importance that the authorities give a detailed reasoning in the light of the committee’s report on the policies they are implementing. (Total Words- 300)

Valuable inputs from The Indian Express Coulmn: ‘Mending The Frame' by Yoginder K Alagh

(Linkages: Civil Service and Pattern of Training, Civil Service and System of Evaluation, Civil Service and Allocation of Trainees)

 Public Administration Test Series For IAS Mains Exam 2018

Public Administration Study Kit For Mains Examination

Online Crash Course for Public Administration Mains Examination 2018

Go Back to the Main Page