Role Played by Civil Servants

  • Determination of Policy – Civil servants are actively involved in the formulation and determination of the public policy. Although policy making is the sphere of the legislature but the technical demands (such as collecting statistics, grass root situations, targeted interventions etc.) of public policy require the intervention of public servants in the matters of policy formulation.
  • Implementation of Public Policies – Civil servants execute the policies passed by the legislature wherein they have been conferred with huge discretionary powers. They weigh carefully all the factors that may affect implementation before taking an action. They must act impartially and honestly according to legislative standards and the rule of law.
  • Delegated Legislation – Civil servants are tasked with work of framing departmental legislation which means they frame detailed rules and regulation of any public policy and legislations keeping in mind the grass-root level complexities. These rules and regulations are scrutinised by the legislature and then enforced by the civil servants.
  • Administrative Adjudication – Civil servants also exercise quasi-judicial powers wherein they determine the cases involving the rights and obligations of private citizens or parties. Some judicial powers have to be in the hands of civil servants in order to secure public interest and protect the poor from exploitation.