The Civil Service system introduced in India by East India Company for the benefit of its commercial affairs got transformed into a well-structured machinery to look after the administrative affairs of the acquired territories in India. In fact, in the beginning, the term ‘civil services’ was used to distinguish the servants of the company engaged in commercial affairs from those people employed in the military and naval services. Gradually, civil servants were bestowed with other responsibilities and authorities.
Under Cornwallis (1786-93)
- He was the first to bring into existence and organise the civil services.
- He divided the public servants into two categories i.e., covenanted and non-covenanted.
- Where covenanted were the higher officials while the non-covenanted were clerical workers at lower rungs.
- Hence, he is considered the founder of civil services in India he enforced promotion through seniority.
- He also made efforts to curb corruption among public servants by barring them from engaging in private trade or taking bribes from natives.
Under Wellesley (1798-1805)
Fort William College (1800)
- Established in 1800 due to the insistence of Lord Wellesley. Also known as 'Oxford of the East'.
- Court of Directors opposed the establishment of it.
- Aimed at teaching oriental languages and training civil servants enabling them to administer without depending on Indian intermediaries.
- Young trainee civil servants were distanced from commercial character of EIC. Old designations from companies' commercial past of writers, factors and merchants were removed.
- Adoption of native practices was discouraged.
- Civil servants were paid better remuneration.
- Private trade by civil servants was strictly forbidden.
- Gambling, drunkenness and marriage, and open concubinage with Indian women were forbidden.
Haileybury College (1806)
- Court of Directors established Haileybury College in Oxford, as a rival to Fort William College to train civil servants to be worthy bureaucrats.
- Aimed that young boys recruited as civil servants of East India Company were indoctrinated well by Cambridge clergymen before they were sent off to India and placed under the influence of Orientalist scholars at Fort William.
Charter Act of 1853
- Recruitment system of civil services based on patronage was abolished by the introduction of competitive exams through public examination. This opened the civil services exams for Indians too.
- Haileybury College for training civil servants was abolished in 1858 and recruits to civil services were to be affiliated to different universities and colleges.
Indian Civil Services Act, 1861
- This Act reserved certain offices for covenanted civil servants, but the examination was held in England and English. The maximum permissible age was gradually reduced from 23 in 1859 to 22 in 1860 to 21 in 1866 and 19 in 1878 under Lytton.
- Covenanted Civil Services were higher administrative service in which recruitments were to be made in Britain. Lower executive services were called Provincial Civil Service.
Note: In 1863, Satyendra Nath Tagore became the first Indian to qualify for the Indian Civil services.
Statutory civil services
- In 1878-79, Lytton introduced the statutory civil services consisting of one-sixth of covenanted posts to be filled by Indians of high families through nominations by local governments subject to approval by the secretary of the state and the viceroy.
Montford Reforms 1919
- Recommended the holding of simultaneous examinations in India and England.
- Recommended that one-third of recruitment be, made in India itself to be raised annually by 1.5 %.
Government of India Act of 1935
- Provided for the establishment of a Federal Public Service Commission and a Provincial Public Service Commission under their spheres.