Our composite culture and the IAS
By: Cheema, G.S.
Material type:
ArticlePublisher: 2001Description: p.1-10.Subject(s): Civil service
In:
AdministratorSummary: The Argument: Although appointments to the IAS are made after a highly competitive countrywide examination and the officers are supposed to be the cream of Indian youth, not many of them (in the viewpoint of the author) really share the supposed values of our much talked about Composite Culture. Very few have more than the most cursory acquaintance with religious groups and communities other than their own, and what is more disturbing, most of them are singularly incurious and lack any strong desire to acquire knowledge of this kind. Since IAS officers are expected to administer people, at least during their field postings, this relative ignorance on their part makes the encounters between officialdom and the public frequently awkward, embarrassing and prone to misunderstandings. This is further aggravated by the fact that at least half the members of the service in any state cadre are expected to be from outside the state. The situation is really not very different from colonial times and most of the officers remain `outsiders' to the state all their lives. But white the foreign born ICS officer was at least expected to acquaint himself thoroughly with the territory and people he was expected to administer, there is very little emphasis on acquiring this kind of knowledge today. The officers are expected to `know', their knowledge is presupposed, after all they are Indians. But unfortunately their knowledge i usually very shallow. The author feels that there is an urgent need to remedy this state of affairs. A working knowledge of the local language is not enough. But at present that is about all that is considered necessary. - Reproduced.
| Item type | Current location | Call number | Vol info | Status | Date due | Barcode |
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Articles
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Indian Institute of Public Administration | Volume no: 44, Issue no: 2 | Available | AR53088 |
The Argument: Although appointments to the IAS are made after a highly competitive countrywide examination and the officers are supposed to be the cream of Indian youth, not many of them (in the viewpoint of the author) really share the supposed values of our much talked about Composite Culture. Very few have more than the most cursory acquaintance with religious groups and communities other than their own, and what is more disturbing, most of them are singularly incurious and lack any strong desire to acquire knowledge of this kind. Since IAS officers are expected to administer people, at least during their field postings, this relative ignorance on their part makes the encounters between officialdom and the public frequently awkward, embarrassing and prone to misunderstandings. This is further aggravated by the fact that at least half the members of the service in any state cadre are expected to be from outside the state. The situation is really not very different from colonial times and most of the officers remain `outsiders' to the state all their lives. But white the foreign born ICS officer was at least expected to acquaint himself thoroughly with the territory and people he was expected to administer, there is very little emphasis on acquiring this kind of knowledge today. The officers are expected to `know', their knowledge is presupposed, after all they are Indians. But unfortunately their knowledge i usually very shallow. The author feels that there is an urgent need to remedy this state of affairs. A working knowledge of the local language is not enough. But at present that is about all that is considered necessary. - Reproduced.
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