POL- 128

INDIAN POLITICS GOVERNMENT

AND ADMINISTRATION
District is the basic unit of administration in India. The
Oxford Dictionary defines it as a 'territory marked off
for special administrative purpose'. A district is generally
named after the largest town or city of the territorial area
of the concerned district
Concept of Distract administration

Therefore, a district is an administrative unit in the hierarchy of

administration which consists of a number of territorial areas, namely,
villages, towns and cities. Hence, the word 'District Administration'
means the management of the tasks of government as it lies within an
area legally recognised as a district. The five types of the district in India
are the rural district, urban district, industrial district, backward district
and the hill district.
Features of District Administration

“ the work of government would never be done if there are no secretaries of

stae and other heads of the department, in other words ministers to do it.
These people cannot do the manifold tasks. The multifarious activities
rather fall to the body of officials and employees knwon ad permanent civil
service. It is the great body of men and women that translates law into
action from one end of the country to the other and brings national
government
Features
1. It is at district level that the state government comes into
contact with the people.

2. District administration is a field work as opposed to staff or

secretariat functions.

3. The problems at the district level are local relating to the

district.

4. At district level, policy formulation ends and the

implementation begins.
5. The District Officer is the last agent of the state government and the 'man of the spot'
for any activity or incidence in the district; and

6. At the district, there is functional aggregation of units. A large number of departments

have their field agencies located in the district.
Functions
1. As Collector, he has to collect land revenue.

2. As District Magistrate, he has to maintain law and order in the district.

3. As District Officer, he has to deal with the personnel matters like salary, transfer, etc within th
. 4. As Development Officer, he is responsible for the implementation of rual
development programmes.

5. As the Returning Officer, he is the chief for the elections to the Parliament, the
State Legislative Assembly, and the local government in the district. Hence, he
coordinates the election works at the district level.
Disadvantages of system of position classification

•It brings an element of rigidity in personnel administration. Thus, it

hinders horizontal and vertical mobility.

•It is a detailed system of classification having many classes. Hence, its

preparation consumes more time and money

•The classification plan under this system tends to get outdated in a short
period. Hence, it has to be revised continuously to keep it updated.

•It makes the employees feel insecure about his status and compensation.
Hence, there is a constant pressure from the employees to seek more
favourable job descriptions for themselves, to upgrade their positions.

•It is not suitable for developing societies undergoing speedy socio-

economic transformation. This is because, the duties and responsibilities of
many officials like District Collector in India, cannot be defined precisely.

•It is difficult to administer as it requires various types of sophisticated

technical skills.
Advantages of the system of rank
classification
• It brings an element of flexibility in personnel administration. Thus,
interdepartmental transfers can be made easily.

•It is more suitable for the generalist cadres of civil services. This is
because it lays more emphasis on the generalist qualities in an employee,
and not on the specialist qualities.

•It is general or less detailed scheme of classification having fewer numbers

of classes. Hence its preparation consumes less time and money.

•It promotes loyalty to the civil service as a whole, rather than to a

post/position in it.

•The classification plan under this system can be used for a longer period.
Hence, frequent revision of the plan is not necessary.
Disadvantages of system of rank classification

• It does not promote much specialization in the civil servants. Hence, It

is not suitable for specialist services

•It violates the principle of equal pay for equal work. This is because
employees in this system are paid regardless of the difficulty and
responsibility of their job.

•It does not specify the contents of any job in detail, Hence, the
performance appraisal of an employee can be subjective.

•It smacks of class distinctions and feudal tendencies as it revolves around

the individual, not the position.
•It is not conducive to the preparation of scientific and objective standards
on which various aspects of personnel administration like recruitment,
promotion, training, manpower planning, ad career development can be
organized. Hence, it makes the entire field of personnel management
subjective.

•There is no match between the requirements of a job and the qualifications

of the incumbent.
Classification before Independence:

During Company Rule

• Covenanted
• Non- Covenanted

Aitchison Commission (1892)

• the Imperial Services
• Provincial Services
• Subordinate Services
• Inferior Services

The Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules 1930

•All India Services,

•Central Services, Class I, Class II, Subordinate Services, Inferior Services
•the Provincial Services,
•the Specialist Services
Classification since Independence

Recommendations of the First Central Pay Commission 1946-47

Class I, Class II, Class III and Class IV

Recommendations of the First Central Pay Commission 1970-73

Group A, Group B, Group C and Group D

Gazetted Officers Non- Gazetted Officers

•All India Services (common to both Centre & States)

Super time
Senior Scale and
Junior Scale

• Central Services (for purely Central subjects) and

•State Services (for administration of subjects under State jurisdiction).
All India Services

The All-India Services, like the Central Services, are recruited and trained
through the Central Government, but, for work, they are assigned to
dissimilar States.

They serve state governments and their service circumstances are also
governed through states, except that the disciplinary action against them
can only be taken through the President of India in consultation with the
UPSC.

Regularly, they also serve the central government on deputation, and after
a fixed tenure they are expected to return to their respective states.

They facilitate the system of communication between the various states

and the central government.
Central Services

The Civil Services of the Union are classified into four categories as
follows:

o Central Services Group A: This category has services like Indian Foreign
Service, Central Health Service, Railway Service, Central Secretariat
Service etc.

o Central Services Group B: This comprises services like Central

Secretariat Stenographer Service Grade I, Telegraph Engineering Service,
and Telegraph Traffic Service etc.

o Central Services Group C: This comprises services like Central

Secretariat Clerical Service, Post, and Telegraph Accounts Service etc.

o Central Services Group D : This category consists of peons, sweepers,

gardeners etc.
State Civil Services

These are services exclusively under the jurisdiction of the state

government, and primarily administer the state subjects. Though, in recent
years, 33-1/3% of posts in the All-India Services are filled through
promotion from the State Civil Services.

This triple scheme of services viz., All-India, Central and State, somewhat
reflects the constitutional pattern of concurrent subjects, union subjects and
state subjects. This is a unique characteristic of the federal system in India
which is not found elsewhere.
•Generalist services: IAS, IPS, IFS, and the Central Secretariat Service

•Functional services: Indian Revenue Service, the Indian Customs

Service, the Defense Accounts Service, and the like.

•Technical services: Central Engineering Service, Telegraph Engineering

Service, etc.
Functional Classification:
Fifth Pay Commission (1994-1997)

1. Top Executives (Secretaries, Special Secretaries, Additional Secretaries

and equivalent).
2. Senior Executives (Joint Secretaries, DIGs. , and equivalent
3. Executives (all others in Group A)
4. Supervisory Personnel
5. Supporting Personnel
6. Auxiliary Personnel
 Defining Bureaucracy

The term bureaucracy signifies ‘ a body of regular government servants

performing routine governmental functions.’

H. J. Laski:

bureaucracy is the term usually applied to a system of government , the

control of which is completely in the hands of the officials that their power
jeopardizes the liberties of the ordinary citizen”.

E.N.Gladden defines bureaucracy as “a government of officials”.

Marshal E. Dimock:
bureaucratization means specialization, hierarchies and long lines of
communication.

Max Weber describes it as a system of administration characterized by

expertness, impartiality and the absence of humanity.
 TYPES OF BUREAUCRACY

F. Marx in his book The Administrative State gave a four-fold

classification of bureaucracy:

• Guardian Bureaucracy
•Caste Bureaucracy
•Patronage Bureaucracy
• Merit Bureaucracy
Features of Bureaucracy

• Administrative Class:
Bureaucratic organisations generally have administrative class responsible
for maintaining coordinative activities of the members.
Main features of his class are as follows:
(i) People are paid and are whole time employees,
(ii) They receive salary and other perquisites normally based on their
positions,
(iii) Their tenure in the organisation is determined by the rules and
regulations of the organisation,
(iv) They do not have any proprietary interest in the organisation,
(v) They are selected for the purpose of employment based on their
competence.
•Hierarchy

•Chain of Command

Secretary → Additional Secretary → Joint Secretary → Deputy

Secretary →Under Secretary → Section Officer → other lower ranks

•Division of Work

•Adherence to Rules and Regulations

• Official Record

•Impersonal/Faceless and Apolitical

Evils of Bureaucracy

•Red- tape

In the words of Bagehot “it is an inevitable defect that the governments will
care more for routine than for the results”.

•Formalism
•Unresponsiveness
•Despotism
•Corruption
•Empire Building
•Yesmanship
Advantages of Bureaucracy:

1. The rules and procedures are decided for every work it leads to,
consistency in employee behavior. Since employees are bound to
follow the rules etc., the management process becomes easy.

2. The duties and responsibilities of each job are clearly defined there is no
question of overlapping or conflicting job duties.

3. The selection process and promotion procedures are based on merit and
expertise. It assists in putting right persons on right jobs. There is optimum
utilization of human resources.

4. The division of labor assists workers in becoming experts in their jobs.

The performance of employees improves considerably.

5. The enterprise does not suffer when some persons leave it. If one person
leaves then some other occupies that place and the work does not suffer.