Public Administration and Civil Services
Public administration is the machinery of policy implementation. The exam tests its principles, constitutional safeguards for civil servants, and reforms such as RTI and Panchayati Raj.
Core rules and concepts
- Public administration covers the executive branch in action. Luther Gulick’s POSDCORB summarises planning, organising, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting.
- Bureaucracy (Weber): hierarchy, written rules, impersonality, merit recruitment.
- Civil services: All India Services (IAS, IPS, IFoS), Central Services and State Services. Recruitment is by UPSC (Article 315) and State Public Service Commissions such as APPSC.
- Article 311 safeguards: no dismissal by a subordinate authority; no dismissal without inquiry; exceptions include conviction and security of the state.
- 73rd and 74th Amendments (1992) gave constitutional status to panchayats and municipalities, with Eleventh and Twelfth Schedules, State Election Commissions and Finance Commissions.
- RTI Act, 2005; e-governance; Citizen’s Charter; good governance.
Worked example
A district collector is dismissed by the state government without inquiry for alleged misconduct. Is it valid? Reasoning: Article 311(2) requires an inquiry with charges and a hearing, and dismissal only by an authority not subordinate to the appointing authority. Unless an exception applies, the dismissal is void. The answer must state the safeguard, the exception and the remedy of review.
Traps
- Claiming civil servants make policy; ministers do.
- Treating Article 311 as absolute.
- Confusing the spoils system with merit recruitment.
- Forgetting that panchayats are constitutional bodies after 1992.
- Assuming RTI has no exemptions.
Key points
- POSDCORB describes administrative functions.
- UPSC and State PSCs recruit civil servants.
- Article 311 protects against arbitrary dismissal.
- 73rd and 74th Amendments constitutionalised local government.
- RTI and e-governance promote transparency.