UPSC » Governance Notes » Civil Services Neutrarlity

Civil Services Neutrarlity

The practice of civil services neutrality is important successful functioning of parliamentary democracy

  • There are two key elements that provide the basis for a non-discriminatory public service.

⇒ Public servants must have a nonpolitical system of employment where employment, promotion and termination are based on merit (or, in the case of termination, absence).

⇒ All the tasks and works of the Civil Servants must be performed in an open environment, which should be accountable at any point of time, fair treatment for everyone including official staff and decisions should be taken in a manner that should always be based on the Principle of Neutrality.

  • As Paul Appleby says Civil Servants no need to be confused between “Political Neutrality” and “System Neutrality”. For policy making it is the duty of the Civil Servants to give advice and directly involve in policy formulation to ministries and departments of any minister. This act should not be looked at from the political unneutral of the public servants.
  • When the elected government passes any policy for implementation, it is the duty of the bureaucracy or public servants to carry out implementational work honestly and with due respect for welfare of the masses in general and benefitting the targeted masses in particular. If there is misconduct or irregularity appears from the civil servant’s side, then proper inquiry can be performed and based on its strict action can be initiated against responsible public servants.
  • But nowadays the value of neutrality from public servants does not seem to remain valid. As change in power in the central level takes mass transfer of the civil servants. These expectations of political neutrality cannot be acceptable as most of the public servants identified, correctly or wrongly, at a particular time political party time.
  • There is a common perception that public servants can build good relations and develop good understanding so that they can secure appropriate key positions in the central government. This trend among civil servants is often seen among the public that increasing political policies and from the Bureaucratic end.