• DOI:10.1080/14662043.2010.522032
• Corpus ID: 144605629

The Indian Civil Service and the nationalist movement: neutrality, politics and continuity

@article{Burra2010TheIC,
  title={The Indian Civil Service and the nationalist movement: neutrality, politics and continuity},
  author={Arudra Burra},
  journal={Commonwealth \& Comparative Politics},
  year={2010},
  volume={48},
  pages={404 - 432}
}

• A. Burra
• Published 1 November 2010
• Political Science, Sociology
• Commonwealth & Comparative Politics

How was it that the Indian Civil Service (ICS), involved as it was in various activities to secure the British Raj against the pressures of Indian nationalism, was able to survive and flourish in the new political order after independence? This article argues that part of the explanation lies in the fact that it was, and was seen to be, a ‘politically neutral’ institution. In the course of making this argument, it surveys the changing role of the ICS vis-à-vis the nationalist movement before independence, and also considers the theoretical question of what is meant by the claim that bureaucratic work is ‘apolitical’ or ‘neutral’ with respect to politics.