National Civil Service Day
- Posted By
10Pointer
- Categories
Polity & Governance
- Published
21st Apr, 2022
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Context
Every year, April 21 is observed as National Civil Service Day in India.
Background
- National Civil Services Day is observed each year in the memory of the 21st April 1947 when All India Services were inaugurated by Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel.
- The Indian Civil Service (Indian Administrative Services, IAS) includes the following services-
- Indian Administrative Service (IAS)
- Indian Police Service (IPS)
- Indian Foreign Service (IFS)
- The central Group A and Group B services in the country
Father of the Indian Civil Service
- Charles Cornwallis is known as the father of the Indian Civil Service because of his contribution to reforming and modernising the civil services in India.
- The foundation of civil services in India was laid by Warren Hastings, but it was Cornwallis who took on the responsibility of bringing a reform.
- Cornwallis also introduced two divisions of the Indian Civil Service, namely, covenanted and uncovenanted.
- While the covenanted division of civil service only included Europeans and those occupying the higher ranks, the uncovenanted division was to allow Indians, civil servants, at the lower level of administration.
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Why is Civil Services Day celebrated?
- The government of India celebrates Civil Services Day, every year as an occasion for the civil servants to rededicate themselves to the cause of serving citizens and renew their commitments to public service and excellence in work.
- The reason behind choosing this very date was to commemorate the day when the first Home Minister of Independent India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, addressed the probationers of Administrative Services Officers in 1947 at Metcalf House, Delhi.
- There he referred to civil servants as the ‘steel frame of India’.
- This meant that civil servants, employed at various levels of the government, act as supporting pillars of the country’s administrative system.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is also known as Sardar Patel and the ‘Iron Man of India'. He was the first deputy Prime Minister of India.
- Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel played an important role in the Indian Freedom Movement.
- On April 21, 1947, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel inaugurated the All India Services.
- Then, the previous Indian Civil Services under British India were changed to All India Services subject to complete Indian control.
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