2.1. Substantive Role of Civil Servants
Civil services perform the following important functions:
♤ Basis of government: No government can exist without administrative machinery. All nations, irrespective of their system of government, require some sort of administrative machinery for implementing policies.
♤ An instrument for implementing Laws and Policies: Civil services are responsible for implementing the laws and policies of government. By carrying out laws, it regulates the behaviour of the people in society. By implementing public policies and programmes, it delivers the promised goods and services to the intended beneficiaries. An efficient civil service can avoid waste, correct errors; limit the consequences of incompetence or irresponsibility while implementing laws and public policies.
♤ Participation in policy formulation: Civil servants participate in policy making by giving advice to ministers and providing them the necessary information. The administrative tasks of public bureaucracy include formulation of policies and plans, executing and monitoring
programmes, laying down laws, rules and regulations, which affect human actions in almost all walks of life.
♤ Provides continuity: Civil services carry on the governance when governments change due to elections etc. Ramsay Muir has remarked that while governments may come and go, ministers may rise and fall, the administration of a country goes on forever. It is needless to say that civil services form the backbone of administration.
♤ Role in socio- economic development: The developing nations are struggling to achieve modernisation of society and economic development and realize welfare goals. These objectives have placed challenging tasks on public administration such as formulation of economic plans and their successful implementation to economic growth and social change. Civil servants play an important role in socio-economic development in the following ways:
o To develop agriculture, civil servants have to properly manage community resources such as land, water resources, forests, wetlands and wasteland development.
o To facilitate industrial development, infrastructural facilities such as roads, electricity, communications, market centres etc. have to be provided. In these countries, the civil service manages government owned business, industrial enterprises and public utility services
o Setting right developmental goals and priorities for agriculture, industry, education, health, communications etc.
o Formulation and implementation of strategies and programmes for the development and modernisation of the nation.
o Mobilisation of natural, human and financial resources and their proper utilization for accomplishing developmental objectives.
o Development of human resources to secure the necessary managerial skills and technical competence to carry out the developmental tasks.
o Creation of new administrative organisations and improving the capacity of the existing ones for the developmental purposes.
o Securing the support of the people for developmental activities by involving them in the process of development by creating appropriate attitude towards the socio- economic changes that are taking place in society.
o Promotion of clean and green environment and protection of human rights.
♤ Developing a sense of nationhood: Several divisive forces such as communal and ethnic conflicts, caste feuds and regional rivalries often threaten the national unity. In order to develop a sense of nationhood among the people of these countries, the civil servants have to resolve the sub-national and sub- cultural differences among the people.
♤ Facilitating democracy: The civil servants play a vital role in maintaining the democratic ideals by assisting their political heads (Ministers) in policy-making function and in implementing the policies made. Since developing countries are new to the democratic institutions, it is only the stable and efficient civil service that can strengthen the democracy.
♤ Calamities and crisis: Natural calamities such as earthquakes, floods, droughts and cyclones have also enhanced the importance of civil services. In the event of occurrence of such natural calamities, the public administrators have to act quickly and undertake rescue operations in order to prevent loss of life and property of the affected people.
♤ Administrative adjudication: This is a quasi- judicial function performed by the civil service. The civil servants settle disputes between the citizens and the state. For this purpose, the Administrative Tribunals, with civil servants as judges are established. For example: The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
♤ In addition to above, some other functions performed by civil service are:
o Assisting ministers in fulfilling their responsibilities towards the parliament and its committees.
o Handling financial operations of the state.
o Reforming and improving administration through O and M (i.e. organization and methods)