Subjects or Citizens? Political Parties, Indianisation, and the Contest over Bureaucratic Reform (1930–1950)

Abstract

This paper examines the role of political parties in reshaping the Indian Civil Service (ICS) between 1930 and 1950, situating bureaucratic reform within the larger context of nationalist politics and decolonization. It argues that while democratic structures were adopted after independence, administrative social relations persisted, creating a distinctive administrative service where citizens are treated more as subjects. The paper explores the historical roots of the interaction between administrative services and political parties practice across pre- and post- independence era. To understand the critical dimensions, of political party theories of   democracy within the Indian Administration Service (IAS), it is essential to focus on changing guidelines, spending patterns, and assessment evaluations over the years. The Indian National Congress and the Forward Bloc’s determination made Indianisation a symbol of imperial domination and an obstacle to representative governance. Thus, survival of Indianisation became a wider struggle over sovereignty and legitimacy in a decolonizing polity. The paper analysis that ICS serves as a microcosm of larger challenges in India’s journey from a colonial subject-based system to participatory democracy. It calls for fundamental reforms in how development schemes are conceived, implemented and evaluated to achieve meaningful democratic self-governance. The paper concludes that gradual transformation of the ICS into IAS in 1950 did not merely signify administrative continuity but embodied the negotiated outcome of these political struggles. It stipulate fundamental reforms in how developmental schemes are conceived, implemented and evaluated to achieve meaningful citizen empowerment and democratic governance.