Statecraft Over Politics

As India looks to 2047, Sardar Patel's vision of a neutral, ethical civil service offers vital lessons for rebuilding the steel frame of governance

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Independent India will reach its centenary in 2047, a milestone that coincides with the launch of Vikshit Bharat and a renewed commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals.

This second-generation nation-building effort unfolds within a neoliberal framework, and the government has introduced Mission Karmayogi to nurture a civil service steeped in Indian ethos. In this evolving architecture, bureaucracy remains the pivotal engine of progress, a role that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel envisioned when he helped lay the foundations of the Indian administrative system. Mission Karmayogi, with its emphasis on digital empowerment and ethical leadership, seeks to translate Patel's ideals into a contemporary governance model.

A Colonial Legacy and the Need for a New Ethos

The Indian civil service still bears the imprint of its colonial past, a fact that even Patel noted when the British left in 1947. The machinery they bequeathed was designed to extract revenue, not to serve a democratic polity. Patel, who had witnessed its excesses as a lawyer and freedom fighter, argued that simply inheriting the old structure would be insufficient. Today, the nation celebrates the 150th anniversary of his birth and the towering Statue of Unity, yet tribute alone will not be enough. Patel believed a service rooted in Indian values could become the "steel frame" that holds the nation together, provided it shed its colonial veneer and embraced public service. Moreover, Patel's contributions to the Constituent Assembly debates highlighted the need for an administration that would protect the unity of a newly independent nation.

Defining the New Indian Administrative Service