Minister – Civil Servant Relationship

In a democracy, power vests with the people. This power is exercised through its elected representatives who have the mandate to govern them for a specific period. The civil services by virtue of its knowledge, experience and understanding of public affairs assist the elected representatives in formulating policy and are responsible for implementing these policies.

Parliamentary democracies are usually characterized by a permanent civil service which assists the political executive. Under the Presidential form of government (like in the US), the higher echelons of the civil services are, in contrast, appointed by the government of the day (spoils system). India has adopted the British model.

Advantages of independent, permanent and impartial civil service

Some advantages of having an independent, permanent and impartial civil service are as follows:

• The spoils system has the propensity to degenerate into a system of patronage, nepotism and corruption. Having a credible recruitment process through an impartial agency provides a defence against such abuse.
• Public policy today has become a complex exercise requiring in-depth knowledge and expertise in public affairs. A permanent civil service provides continuity and develops expertise as well as institutional memory for effective policy making
• A permanent and impartial civil service is more likely to assess the long-term social payoffs of any policy whereas the political executive may have a tendency to look for short term political gain.
• A permanent civil service helps to ensure uniformity in public administration and also acts as a unifying force particularly in vast and culturally diverse nations.
• A permanent civil service like any other reputable profession is likely to evolve over time an ethical basis for its functioning.

Minister-Civil Servant Relationship

There is a clear democratic line of accountability which runs from the electorate through MPs to the Government which commands the confidence of a majority of those MPs in Parliament. The duly constituted government – whatever its political complexion – is assisted by the Civil Service which is permanent and politically impartial. Hence, Ministers are accountable to Parliament; civil servants are accountable to Ministers. That is the system we have in this country.

A healthy working relationship between Ministers and civil servants is critical for good governance. While the principles governing the roles and responsibilities of Ministers and civil servants are well defined in political theory, in the actual working of this relationship this division of responsibility becomes blurred with both sides often encroaching upon the other’s sphere of responsibility. In any democracy, Ministers are responsible to the people through Parliament and therefore the civil servants have to be accountable to the Minister.

However, an impartial civil service is responsible not only to the government of the day but to the Constitution of the land to which they have taken an oath of loyalty. At the same time, implementing the policies of the duly elected government is a core function of civil servants. That is why the division of responsibility between the civil servants and ministers needs to be more clearly defined. A framework in which responsibility and accountability is well defined would be useful. {Source-ARC Documents}