Civil service at a critical juncture: Aruna Roy

The civil services is at a critical juncture. While the level of aspiration to be a civil servant is not on decline, several IAS officers have quit ascribing their resignations to violation of constitutional guarantees by the government.

This was stated by Aruna Roy, founder-member of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) and the National Campaign for People's Right to Information (NCPRI), here on Saturday, while delivering a lecture on 'Working the System: Between constraints and Possibilities', at the 5th M.L. Mehta Oration at the B.S. Mehta Auditorium.

The oration was jointly organised by the M.L. Mehta Memorial Foundation (MLMMF) and the HCM Rajasthan State Institute of Public Administration (RIPA).

Roy said there had been many lateral entries into the civil services and discussions were on to restructure the UPSC. It might reduce its independence, she added.

She said the importance of permanent civil service and its importance in today's context should be openly debated and examined.IANS