Who is known as the 'Father of the All India Services' in India?

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is known as the "Father of the All India Services" (and the "Patron Saint of India's civil servants"), because he played the main role in creating the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS) after Independence.

Background:

• Before Independence, the Indian Civil Service (ICS) and the Indian Police were the main services of British India.
• Many Indian leaders were critical of the ICS, which was seen as an instrument of British rule.

Patel's role:

• As the first Home Minister of independent India, Patel strongly argued for continuing an all-India civil service, with officers recruited at the national level and serving in both the Union and the states.
• He believed that such a service was necessary for the unity and integrity of the country.
• In his famous speech in the Constituent Assembly (October 1949), he said: "You will not have a united India if you do not have a good all-India service which has the independence to speak out its mind."
• He called the civil services the "steel frame" of the country.

Constitutional provisions:

• The Constitution provides for the All India Services.
• The IAS and the IPS were established in 1947-48, and the Indian Forest Service was added later (1966).

Civil Services Day:

21 April is celebrated as "Civil Services Day" in India, because on 21 April 1947, Patel addressed the first batch of officers of the Indian Administrative Service at Metcalfe House, Delhi.

About Patel:

• He was born on 31 October 1875 at Nadiad, Gujarat.
• He was the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India.
• He integrated more than 560 princely states into the Indian Union.
• He is called the "Iron Man of India".
• His birthday, 31 October, is celebrated as National Unity Day.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Cornwallis is called the "Father of the Civil Services" in British India.
• ✗Nehru and Ambedkar played other roles.