Civil Service Activism

Civil service activism refers to all or some of the proactive initiatives civil workers take to make the system/administration more people-centred, honest, efficient, and democratically compatible.

Civil services’ activism may include a variety of activities, for example:

• Civil servants organising regular public conferences
• Inquiring for people’s opinions
• Teaching people about their rights
• Assuring that the government’s requirements for services and goods are met
• Working with vigilance
• Being intolerant of anti-constitutional activities or decisions by political elites or co-workers. (For example, corruption)

Therefore, this activity brings a major change, overhauling the office.

Challenges of Civil Service Activism in India

There are numerous challenges that Indian Civil servants have to face. A few of them are listed below.

• Regulations of Bureaucracy

The rule book of the bureaucracy is simple, which is to follow the rules and laws of the book without thinking about the people’s actual needs. This causes the growth of a bureaucratic attitude in a lot of the civil servants. As a result, difficulty in procedures, red-tapism, and bureaucratic organisations’ inadequate responses to people’s needs takes place.

• Structural Issues

Civil service activism has been facing several structural issues due to changes like globalisation and economic reforms. These also transform the core role of the State as well as administration slightly. It’s not just about maintaining law and order and implementing government rules any more. Instead, technological evolution such as cybersecurity and others requires special officers with domain knowledge at a policy level. Another problem within the administration is ensuring accountability and transparency and representative and participatory decision-making. The availability of lower employment opportunities in certain public services and recruitment corruption are significant structural issues.

• Indian Bureaucracy Claims Status Quo

Being an asset of the Indian administration, civil servants must accept changes. However, they refuse the changes and go against the orders in most cases as they are blended with their prospects and privileges. For this reason, the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments proposed some important changes. These changes enabled rural and local urban governments to be institutions of self-government. Although, the unwillingness and lack of confidence of bureaucrats in adapting to the changing role, accountability, and responsibility are hampering the intended Aims.

• Political Involvement

In a lot of cases, civil servants have to harmonise with local political representatives to conduct regional-level Tasks. Both of them must come together in order to help the common people with the help of wellbeing, development, and welfare. Although many a time, political representatives impact administrative functions to deliver populist interests. As a result, it pressures the officials to work according to the political head’s will. This kind of interference increases corruption, arbitrary transfers, and substantial inefficiency due to the inadequacy of capable and honest officers.

Few of the Civil Service Activism

A few of the Examples of Civil Service Activism are:

• T. N. Seshan(former Chief Election Commissioner) 

He is also regarded as the activist civil servant because he fought a long and hard war to reduce election fraud and make the Election Commission of India a credible, functional, and fair agency. By carefully following the MCC (Model Code of Conduct), he was able to conduct some of India’s cleanest elections ever.

• D. K. Ravi

He recently died as a result of his hard stance on the politician-mafia connection, which he investigated and brought to light.

• Kiran Bedi

By employing new tactics, she made significant changes in prisons. When she was an I.G., for example, there were yoga and meditation centres in prison, a vocational curriculum in the prison, etc.

• Vinod Rai

He is a former CAG who, without considering the repercussions, commented on the improper handling of the coal block distribution issue.

Rules and laws apply to everyone, and everyone must comply. Sometimes, whistleblowers may take an aggressive stance and go straight to the media, which in certain situations is unethical.

Although it is a popular misconception that one cannot be a “deadwood” government servant who observes everything but remains silent about systemic errors, corruption, and inactivity. Civil servant activists are, without a doubt, a grade above those who carry out all the unconstitutional acts in line with the law. As a result, public servant activism is the system’s silver lining, and now that the administration’s value system is strengthening, civil servant activism is also being embraced with open arms.It saves a civil servant from being impassioned in the name of civil servant impartiality because civil servant activism is often seen as a measure targeted against a specific political party/ideology.

Conclusion 

Civil services’ activism has no defined meaning or context. Civil service activism includes any proactive efforts taken by civil workers to make the system/administration more focused on people, clear, productive, and long-established by constitutional ideals. Although it is not legal to go against well-established regulations, public servant activism is the system’s silver lining, even if it benefits the system as a whole.