TRAINING OF IAS OFFICERS

R. Venkatanarayanan

I Ntionary
this article, attention has been given to the training of proba-
recruits to the IAS and their subsequent in-service training
before they shoulder heavy responsibilities. The article restricts itself
largely to a discussion on the present and proposed training syllabi.
Details of imparting training, such as institutional and other practical
arrangements, have not been dealt with.

THE PRESENT SYSTEM

The recruit to the IAS undergoes, at present, a four-month

foundation course alongwith the recruit to the Central Services at the
National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. The latter leaves
the institution at the end of the foundation course and the IAS proba-
tioner is taken through what is called the professional course. This
course is of the sandwich pattern. The first part lasts two months
(November and December) and is followed by training of the proba-
tioner for about one year in the field. Thereafter, he returns to the
Academy to complete the professional course. The second part of
this institutional training lasts four months.

In the foundation course, the subjects taught are: Public Adminis-

tration, Law, Political Theory and Constitution, Economics and Five-
Year Plans, Indian History and Culture, and Hindi. Under Public
Administration, it appears that considerable details are sought to be
conveyed to the probationers through a large number of lectures. The
subjects covered include theory of bureaucracy, principles of delegation
and decentralization, administrative ethics and personnel administra-
tion (principles and techniques of recruitment, training, performance
evaluation, etq, financial administration, social administration, public
undertakings, etc. Principles of law and jurisprudence, personal laws,
company law, etc., are also taught. A large range of economic concepts,
principles and problems is sought to be covered under Economics.
Lectures on monetary policy, fiscal policy and price policy as well as on
the theories of economic growth are given. There are a set of written
examinations to be passed by the probationers.
 Training of /AS Officers 271
A further dose of lectures on Public Administration, Political
Theory and Economics is administered to the probationers in the
two-month professional course preceding the field training. More
examinations follow.

The field training of the probationers in different States is far

from uniform. Some States train their officers in special schools while
many States do not have these schools. Period of attachment to the
State Secretariat, Agricultural University, etc., and that of field training
in development administration and land records also vary widely from
State to State.*

There does not appear to be a separate syllabus for the second

part of the sandwich course but it is presumed that the syllabus of the
professional course is continued and completed.

At present, there is no organized programme for IAS Officers'

In-service training after they complete six or seven years of field duty
in order to equip them for higher responsibilities.

Weak Points of the Present System

A few critical comments on the present scheme of things appears
appropriate at this stage. It is doubtful if the entire syllabus from the
beginning of the foundation course to the end of the second half of
the professional course has been prepared with single, integrated pers-
pective. This doubt arises because quite a few topics dealt with in the
foundation course appear to be more suitable for being taken up in the
professional course and there is also some amount of repetition in the
syllabi. The topics to be covered in second part of the foundation
course have not been clearly distinguished to account for the fact that
the participants would have had a year of subordinate field experience
behind them. A very large number of lectures and a series of written
examinations characterize the training programme in the Academy.
It appears that not all the written examinations are necessary and the
lecture method of training needs modification. There is no evidence
in the syllabi of the use of modern training techniques. It is not clear
if an integrated view has been taken of lectures, seminars, syndicate
studies and self-study as means of training. If this were to be done,
it would be necessary to allocate weeks and hours for different subjects
and for different modes of imparting training. The syllabi leave one
with impression that too much is attempted to be put into the minds of
probationers in too little time. Some of the material can be safely
• Recently steps have been taken to bring a measure of uniformity in this matter.
272 R. Venkatanarayanan

omitted. The syllabus does not also show that the right amount of
emphasis by way of number of lectures, topics covered, etc., is ensured
for different subjects. The impression one gets is that undue emphasis
is given on some topics and inadequate on some others. For example,
under Public Administration, in the foundation course, there does not
appear to be need to lecture the probationers on local administration,
manpower planning, principles and techniques of recruitment, perform-
ance budgeting, functioning of public undertakings, delegated legislation
and tribunals, social security administration, etc. The utility of lectures
on laws of contract and torts, company law, administration of justice,
etc., is doubtful. Much use also cannot be claimed for lectures dealing
with national income, market price and factor cost, theories of economic
growth, techniques of planning and intricacies of monetary and fiscal
policy. These lectures are likely to be redundant to economics
graduates and likely to convey little to non-economics graduates on
account of inadequacy of available time.

A similar critical examination of the syllabus of the professional

course also reveals some ambiguities, vagueness, repetition and
avoidable topics. The period of two months for the first part of the
sandwich professional course is too little to impart an adequate amount
of professional knowledge to the IAS probationers that will be useful
to them before they undertake their field training.

A closer study of field training programme will show that there

are quite a few shortcomings in the present scheme of field training of
IAS officers. The large divergence in the duration of training in various
areas and the substantial difference in emphasis on different aspects
of training in the States will be self-evident. There is also good reason
to suspect that the actual content of the training program.me in attach-
ments, such as in the Secretariat, planning and development depart-
ments, etc., does not have a close relation to what the probationers
learnt prior to coming to the field and the types of job expected to be
handled by them within the first few years of their service.*

THE PROPOSED SYSTEM

The most important feature of the revised programme has to be

that the various parts of it (including the in-service training scheme
discussed later) are to be treated as an integral whole. The syllabus of
foundation course should attempt the inculcation o( only the broad
principles of Civil Service and of governmental functioning. The

• Recently t!tjs part of the programme h!lS been rcvisi;d.

 Training of !AS Officers 273
professional course syllabus should comprise subjects and topics which
are closely relevant to the actual field work of the officer in the first five
or six years of service. On the other hand, the subjects for the subse-
quent in-service training programme to have a bearing on the much
broaJer range of responsibilities that have to be shouldered by the
officers at the level of Deputy Secretary to the Government of India or
equivalent and upward.

While the main thrust of the foundation course should be, as

indicated earlier, to educate the probationers in broad principles of
administration, a thorough grounding in the Constitution of the land is
essential. Beyond this, all that is required is only a general treatment
of the problems of economic development of the country with some
reference to Five-Year and Annual Plans. Quite a few topics may
be omitted from the foundation course if this approach is accepted. It
is felt that this would make the foundation course compact and more
meaningful. Its present duration of four months can be safely cut down
to three.

Duration and Syllabus

On the other hand, the present duration of two months of the

first part of the professional course is too inadequate. It should be
increased to at least three months. No change, however, is called for
in the duration of the field training (U months) and of the second part
of the sandwich course at the Academy (four months).

The revised syllabus for the two parts of the institutional training
of the professional sandwich course can be devised keeping the following
observations in mind:
(l) There is a need for educating the IAS probationer intensively
in the practical features of district administration, problems
of economic development and those relating to welfare of the
people.
(2) There is also a need for a good grounding in the political
framework and the constitutional constraints within which
an IAS officer has to function.
(3) Detailed knowledge of parts of specific statutes, such as IPC,
IEA, Cr.PC, etc., is essential. There is no need to take the
probationer through the entire Cr.PC, CPC, IPC, etc. Any
such attempt will only result in racing through these bulky
tomes to the chagrin and amusement of the probationer.
274 R. Venkatanarayanan

(4) The syllabus of the second part of the institutional training of

the sandwich course should take into account the fact that the
probationer would be in a better position to contribute his
own views during his study at the Academy on the strength of
his field observations and experience. As mentioned earlier,
the main thrust of this part of the programme would be to
prepare the officer to obtain adequate professional background
for handling the sub-divisional and other related charges in
the first few years of service.
(5) As a large number of these officers would be holding posts
which carry responsibility for executing and supervising
programmes of economic development, a good dose of Govern-
ment policy in economic development, of the main problems
faced and of the functioning of public sector should form
part of this programme.

Field Training

Coming to the field training, the most important requirement is

to ensure a measure of uniformity in the training of probationers in
different States. The objective of the field training programme should
be three-fold:
(1) Thorough familiarization of the probationers with the Revenue
Law of the State;
(2) Some acquaintance with the administrative aspects of
development of the State; and
(3) Concentrated immersion in the judicial and executive aspects
of district administration.

Every element in the field training programme should subserve

the above mentioned objectives.

A training manual should be prepared by each State and special

care should be taken in selecting Collectors to train probationers.

It appears essential that each State Government must run an

administrative training school of its own. Facts and problems relating
to the administration of land tenure, reforms and revenue are so widely
different from State to State that on this score alone a separate training
school would be justified. Besides these, there are widely differing
features of various States in regard to law and order, economic develop-
ment and social welfare of the people. Without such a school, a State
 Training of !AS Officers 275

level perspective can.not be imparted to the probationer on these pro-

blems nor can a thorough grounding on the various State Laws given
to the probationer. The period that he spends in such a school may
be around five weeks. Three weeks should be devoted to the revenue
and land reform law of the State and two weeks to the problems of
law and order, general administration and economic development
(agriculture, irrigation, education, medical, social welfare, etc.). The
probationer should be introduced to these problems through reading
material and talks by State level officers.

Attachment of the probationer to an agricultural university for

more than three weeks is unnecessary. The aim of this attachment
should be to give the probationer a state-wide perspective in agricul-
tural and allied problems of the State and a comparative idea of problems
in different zones of the State.

The main aim of the Secretariat attachment should be to introduce

the probationer to the set up of the State Government organization and
the inter-relationship of important departments. The probationer
need be attached to only three departments of the Secretariat, one week
in each, namely, Finance, Planning and Revenue. During this period,
he can devote some time in the Board of Revenue also. What the
probationer will do during this period is to discuss with officers of the
department the broad features of the work of the department, study
some important files and sit in as an observer in a few inter-departmental
meetings.

The attachment of the probationer to the judiciary in the district

should not be restricted to a week or two but should go hand in hand
with his attachment to the district office. It should be expected of him
to observe the proceedings in a Judge's Court for the duration of one
complete case, of a judicial officer (independent of the executive and
trying IPC cases) for the duration of at least two cases and to a magis-
trate (an executive-cum-magisterial authority) for the duration of at
least four cases.

It is currently fashionable and popular to suggest that the

probationer should be made to work in rural areas during the training
period in posts of Patwari, Village Level Worker (VLW), etc. But
such actual working in the field is hardly necessary to bring to the
IAS probationer the insights that would be needed when he goes on
regular posting. The element of unreality that attends the posting of
the probationer as a Patwari, or VLW or Block Development Officer
(BDO) for a few weeks or even months is too strong to make for a serious
276 R. Venkatanarayanan

approach on the part of the probationer or, for that matter, on the part
of the district administration itself, to the basic training objective. The
result is that both the administration and the probationer do nothing
more than a sort of play-acting. The requirement has been dispensed
with in the revision proposed.

The field training should comprise the following four parts:

(I) Formal captive training;
(2) Attachment of the probationer to certain offices to enable him
to observe and grasp;
(3) Putting the probationer in subordinate charge of certain
important offices to make him gather the courage and the
ability to shoulder independent responsibility; and
(4) Full charge of a subordinate office.

The last three parts have two distinct aspects, the line or executive
aspect and the staff or management aspect. The schedule of field
training should provide opportunity to the probationers to learn both
on the line and on the staff side and ma,ke him a reliable fulfledged
junior officer of the Service by taking him through increasingly difficult
steps. The various elements in the parts of the field training programme
should be arranged in the order in which they should actually be
executed in the programme.

Two important reports should be prepared by the probationer

during his field training. This is besides the inspection notes that he
will record on various items of work both in the field and in the office.
One report should be on the problems of development of a Taluka
or a Tehsil of a district. If this report were to be on a single village,
highlighting its problems, it is not likely to result in any substantial
education to the probationer. A village is too small an economic unit.
His report on the Taluka or Tehsil can cover various aspects of develop-
ment, such as agriculture, irrigation, electricity industry, education,
medical and health, social welfare, etc. The second report should be
at the end of his training, sitting at the district office. This should con-
tain the impression of the probationer on the training received by him
in the form of a self-appraisal-cum-evaluation of the programme and
should contain any other observation that the probationer would like
to make on the entire gamut of the State/district administration.

These two reports should be forwarded by the probationer to the

Director of the National Academy through the Collector of the district.
 Training of !AS Officers 277

Copies may be sent by the Academy to the Chief Secretary of the

State Government concerned. The objective behind these reports is
the following:
(1) In straining to prepare a good Tehsil development report,
the probationer will have to demonstrate his report-writing
ability which involves collection of facts, their appreciation,
analysis and presentation. In doing it, he will also be forced
to keep his feet firmly planted on the ground-a requirement
which will be of immense benefit to him after his academic
training in public administration.
(2) The evaluation report would be useful to the Academy and
to the State Government as a feed-back on the field training
of probationers.

It was mentioned earlier that the syllabi should indicate broadly

not only the overall duration of the different training courses but its
break-up in terms of different subjects and in terms of different modes of
imparting knowledge. Training courses do have a tendency to become
an unrelieved series of lectures making the participants unresponsive.
Emphasis disproportionate to the importance of topies may also occur.
The possibility of this can be mitigated by describing inasmuch detail
as possible the specific topics under each subject, in which training
should be imparted and by laying down broadly the division of the
training programme into the four categories, viz., lectures, seminars,
practical exercise/syndicate study, and self-study. The revised overall
duration of the different courses and a broad indication of the number
of hours to be devoted to the different subjects could accordingly be
worked out. The latter should be taken to convey the measure of the
relative extent and intensity of knowledge imparted in the different
subjects.

Written Examination
Too many written examinations are not advisable during the
institutional training for more than one reason. Firstly, they tend to
make the probationer unresponsive to anything other than the need to
get over them. Secondly, they are an irritant to the probationer who
after all has passed a graduate or post-graduate examination in the
university and has also passed a difficult examination through written
tests on a number of subjects and through a personality test, prior to
entering the Service. The basic objective of the pre-entry training
should be to activate the curiosity of the probationer, energise his faculty
to locate information and digest it and to grasp the broad essentials
278 R. Venkantanarayanan

of the responsibilities he is likely to shoulder in the initial few years.

Too many examinations do not help achieving this objective. It would,
therefore, appear that the following schedule of e.xaminations should
suffice:

Course Subject Duration (hrs.)

Foundation 1. Constitution 3
2. Hindi 2
Sandwich I Part 1. Regional language 2
2. Law (IPC/IEA/Cr.PC) 2
Sandwich II Part 1. Public Administration 3
2. Economic Development 3

IN-SERVICE TRAINING

We now come to the syllabus for the training of the IAS officer
after he completes a few years of service. By and large, an IAS officer
enters the senior scale (Collector or equivalent) around the fifth year of
his service. Around the nineth year, he becomes eligible to hold fairly
senior posts both in the State and at the Centre (equivalent to Deputy
Secretary to Government of India.) It would, therefore, be appropriate
and profitable if the in-service training is given to him between five and
nine years of service. Economic implications are assuring greater
importance in executing and planning programmes of Government
activity. It is, therefore, necessary that a substantial dose of applied
economics with special reference to economic management in
Government should be included in this training. The intricacies of
programme administration in respect of important fields, such as
agriculture, industry, infrastructure, etc., have also to be brought home
to the officer at this stage of his career. Thirdly, concepts of modern
management and techniques in higher general administration should
also be dealt with. Accordingly, this training programme is divided
into three sub-classifications namely:
(1) Management (Economic) in Government;
(2) Management (General) in Government; and
(3) Management (Programmes) in Government.

The in-service training should be compulsory for all IAS officers

and should last 12 weeks, with about thirty hours per week of formal
working. Ten hours per week should be given to lectures (not more
 Training of !AS Officers 279
than that), fourteen hours per week for seminars, and six hours per
week for practical exercise/syndicate study. At least six hours per week
should be left for library and self-study.

Five weeks may be spent on economic management, four weeks

on general management and three weeks on programme management.
It is likely that the number of hours for lectures will be more and those
for practical exercise less in the economic management part than in
the other two parts. These minor changes in the weekly work pattern
can be left to the training agency.

This ti:aining should be organized and administered by the

National Academy. However, it need not depend only on its own
faculty members but should draw on additional talent both in Govern-
ment and outside it. For a series of related topics, directors of training
can be appointed on short-term basis with responsibility not only to
give lectures but to prepare background notes for distribution to the
officers, to lead seminars, and to organize syndicate work.

CONCLUSION

There is a need to re-examine the syllabi for probationery training

of IAS officers. There is also a need to organize a substantial training
programme for officers who complete a few years of service in order to
familiarise them with modern concepts of economic and programme
management. Decisions on the different parts of these training courses
should be taken in a single perspective and their syllabi should form
in integrated whole.