The civil servant is the term used to designate servants of the state or the central government employed as civilians. It does not include ministers of the state or center neither cabinet members nor the Judiciary.
Now we are explaining the historical background of UPSC in below.
Who are they?
These are the common men and women with high administration skills to handle, to advise on, and execute its policies. So that the Government can run the show smoothly.
When do we require such civil servants?
History says that the concept of civil services in India is very ancient. In the past, civil servants performed the role of servants of the king. So, to handle the operations of a large dynasty, implement the policies of the king. For example, the Mauryan administration employed civil servants in the name of Adhyakshas and Rajukas.
Gradually we moved to the medieval period of Muslim invasion, civil servants became State Servants, who contributed their efforts in the development and implementation of the land revenue system during the Mughal period.
Even The East India Company has a civil service to perform their commercial functions and operations. Afterward, during British rule, they started as servants to the Crown, but slowly they started becoming ‘Public Servants’. For this purpose, In 1854,a Civil Service Commission was set up in London and candidates were selected through competitive examinations from 1855. Initially, the examinations for the Indian Civil Service were conducted only in London. Indian candidates found it difficult to crack the esteem examination because the syllabus was designed such that European Classics had a predominant share of marks. Nevertheless, in 1864, the first Indian, Shri Satyendranath Tagore, brother of renowned Nobel prize winner Shri Rabindranath Tagore, succeeded.
Three years later 4 other Indians succeeded. Afterward, Indians petitioned for simultaneous examinations to be held in India, It was only after the First World War and the Montagu Chelmsford reforms that this was agreed to. From 1922 onwards the Indian Civil Service Examination began to be held in India also, first in Allahabad and later in Delhi with the setting up of the Federal Public Service Commission. This was the journey of the esteemed examination of civil services.
Credit: UPSC.gov.in