The civil service system is the backbone of the administrative machinery of the country.
The civil service system in post-independent India was reorganized. At the central level, the civil services include the All-India services, namely the Indian Administrative Service, the Indian Forest Service, and the Indian Police Service. There are various central services like the Indian Income Tax Service, Indian Railway Services etc.
There are three tiers of administration-Union Government, State Governments and the Local governments. The State Governments have their own set of services.
Reforms in Pre-Independent India:
Administrative reforms in India have a very long. Kingdoms existed in India since several hundred years B.C. so have reform practices. In the earlier era the civil servants performed the role of servants of the king. (Kautilya’s Arthshastra describes the civil service of those days and lays down various norms 300 B.C. to 1000 A.D) During the medieval period, they became State servants. The land revenue system was established during the Moghul period.
The East Indian Company had a civil service to carry out its commercial functions. During the British rule, the system started as servants to the Crown, but gradually these servants became ‘Public Servants’. The British government set up the Indian civil service, primarily with the objective of strengthening the British administration.