Civil services should get credit for smooth transfer of power: Cabinet Secretary
Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan said on Monday (April 21, 2025) that unlike other countries in the neighbourhood which have seen military coup and violent overthrow of governments, India has always seen a smooth transfer of power for which the credit should go to the All India Services (AIS) and the civil services officials.
He said it was the duty of the civil services to preserve the constitutional order such as democracy, rule of law, national unity and the federal structure.
The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer said that in a democracy, it is the elected government which has the mandate, and it is the duty of the civil servant to assist the government in carrying out its policies. He said the officers should be politically neutral 'because we don't serve only those who belong to some particular party or a community.'
Speaking on the occasion of Civil Services Day, Mr. Somanathan added that lateral entry will be a necessity in future and there was a need for greater competence and subject matter expertise among civil servants as the era of the good generalist was over.
'I think without the All India Services and the central services, free and fair elections would not be possible. Governments have been defeated both at the Centre and in the States in elections conducted by civil servants. We have smooth transfer of power whenever a government changes. We don't have tanks on the streets when there's a change of government. We also have imposition of President's rule, which passes off with no problem at all... That is because of the civil services. So, this is an unqualified success,' the country's top bureaucrat said during an interactive session on Civil Services Reforms - Challenges and Opportunities.
He said that ever since transparency was introduced in the Annual Performance Assessment Report system for the AIS officers, it had become useless.
'And particularly in IAS, this is a disease. Everybody is between 9 and 10 (rating). There is not a single non outstanding IAS officer in the country, almost which is not true. There are crooks in our service. There are bad people in the service. How can everybody be 9 to 10,' Mr. Somanathan asked while responding to an Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS officer who suggested transparency in empanelment process of officers at joint secretary rank and above.
'There is a criterion that they should at least work for Government of India for two years and otherwise they will not be empanelled as Joint Secretary. But if somebody has applied for JS level position and in case he doesn't get a no objection certificate (NOC) by the State and the Centre doesn't pick that officer... the officer should be considered because it is not his fault. I know many junior officers who are suffering because of this rule... the officer is also not given any feedback on why the empanelment was not done... we have been hearing this for so many years that we need to promote transparency, if the same transparency is denied to us, why do you expect us to pass on that transparency downwards,' Amit Kumar, a 1995-batch IAS officer, asked.
When Bidur Kant Jha, an officer appointed in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways through the lateral entry mode, asked about the low salary structure, the Cabinet Secretary remarked, 'Pay is not part of today's discussion.... you give it to the Pay Commission when it comes, but we are not talking about pay and benefits. So, if we are underpaid, we have alternative careers. We can pursue them.'
V. Srinivas, Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) said the respect for AIS officers emanates from a perception that decision making would be neutral and unbiased, and would enable the nation to achieve the objectives outlined in the preamble of the Constitution.
Officials also spoke about multiple government schemes with overlapping features, and several web and mobile-based applications which they were unable to keep pace with.
Earlier, while inaugurating the conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India's bureaucracy and policymaking cannot operate on outdated frameworks. He said the policies that his government is working on are going to shape the future of the next 1,000 years and asked everyone to work tirelessly towards this shared vision.
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