Is the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) still the most appropriate institution to govern twenty-first-century India? Should a cadre of generalists head organizations as complex and diverse as industrial units museums and rural development boards? If it had to be replaced what is the best alternative? Drawing on his experience of thirty-six years in the IAS Bhaskar Ghose addresses these and other major questions regarding the role relevance and effectiveness of India s long-established but often controversial system of state administration in The Service of the State.