SSC
What was the full form of 'ICS', the elite civil service of British India?
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Answer: Option A — Indian Civil Service
Detailed Solution
ICS stands for the "Indian Civil Service", the elite higher civil service of British India from 1858 to 1947.
About the ICS:
- It grew out of the "Covenanted Civil Service" of the East India Company.
- Lord Cornwallis (Governor-General, 1786-1793) is called the "Father of the Civil Services in India", because he organised and reformed the civil services.
- Lord Wellesley set up the "College of Fort William" at Calcutta in 1800 to train civil servants.
- The Charter Act of 1853 introduced open competitive examinations for recruitment to the civil service, ending the system of nomination by the Company's directors.
- After the Revolt of 1857, the Government of India Act, 1858, transferred control to the British Crown, and the service came to be called the "Indian Civil Service".
- The examination was held only in London, and the maximum age was low (it was reduced to 19 in 1876 under Lord Salisbury), which made it very hard for Indians to compete.
Indians in the ICS:
- Satyendranath Tagore, elder brother of Rabindranath Tagore, was the first Indian to join the ICS (selected in 1863, joined in 1864).
- Surendranath Banerjee qualified in 1869 but was dismissed on a minor ground; he later became a leading nationalist.
- Subhas Chandra Bose passed the ICS examination in 1920 (ranked fourth) but resigned in 1921 to join the freedom struggle.
Reforms:
- The Aitchison Commission (1886) recommended renaming it the "Imperial Civil Service".
- After the Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms (1919), simultaneous examinations were held in India from 1922.
- The Lee Commission (1924) recommended setting up a Public Service Commission, which was established in 1926.
After independence:
The ICS was replaced by the "Indian Administrative Service" (IAS) in 1947. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India's first Home Minister, strongly supported the all-India services and is called the "Father of All India Services". He described them as the "steel frame" of India.
Article 312 of the Constitution provides for All India Services. There are three: the IAS, the IPS (Indian Police Service) and the IFoS (Indian Forest Service, 1966).
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), under Article 315, conducts the Civil Services Examination.
21 April is observed as "Civil Services Day" (Patel addressed the first batch of officers on 21 April 1947).
Why not the other options?
- ✗"Imperial Commission Service" is not the correct expansion.
- ✗"Indian Central Secretariat" is not the correct expansion.
- ✗"Indian Council Service" is not the correct expansion.
Quick tip
Remember: ICS = Indian Civil Service (Cornwallis = father of civil services; open exam from 1853; first Indian = Satyendranath Tagore, 1864; exams in India from 1922); replaced by IAS (Patel = "steel frame"); Civil Services Day = 21 April.
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British Acts & Policies — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of British Acts & Policies, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the constitutional and administrative acts passed during British rule, from the Regulating Act of 1773 and Pitt's India Act of 1784 to the Charter Acts, the Indian Councils Acts, the Government of India Acts of 1919 and 1935, and the Indian Independence Act of 1947, along with British economic, land revenue and education policies. Exam questions usually ask what a particular act introduced: the Indian Councils Act 1909 introduced separate electorates for Muslims, the Government of India Act 1919 brought dyarchy to the provinces, and the 1935 Act provided for a federation and provincial autonomy. Land revenue systems (Permanent Settlement, Ryotwari and Mahalwari) and education milestones such as Wood's Despatch (1854) are also tested. Practise the British acts and policies questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.