Macaulay Committee (1854)
Topic: Civil Services: Role, Accountability and Reforms · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Macaulay Committee (1854) recommended that Indian Civil Service officers be chosen through an open competitive examination based on merit. Before this, high posts were often given through patronage, meaning jobs handed out as personal favours. The Charter Act 1853 had already ended patronage. Macaulay's report laid down how the merit system would work. It is the base of merit recruitment in India's civil services.
Example
Following the committee's report, the first ICS examination was held in London in 1855. The same idea of open, merit-based examination continues today in the UPSC civil services examination.
Don't confuse with
- Northcote-Trevelyan Report (1854): this was the British report that brought merit recruitment to the UK's own home civil service. The Macaulay Committee dealt with the ICS.